Jim Croce Canadian Q8's (RCA Carts)

[JonUrban]

I bought these on eBay quite a few years ago, and today I finally decided to take some time a putter around with them because for some reason I was in a "Jim Croce" mood. 3 of them were sealed, so I figured I'd better open them all up and check their integrity. Of course, they all needed a bit of internal tweaking.

Once I got them ready, I started getting them into the computer. I started with the "Photographs and Memories", the greatest hits tape. It was one of the still sealed tapes. It recorded fine, and when I got the files into Sound Forge 10 and put them together, they sounded great. Nice fidelity, good highs, clear, not much hiss (if any), and a real nice play. So, I went on to the next, for which I chose "Life and Times". When I got those files into the PC, something seemed amiss. Upon visual inspection, I saw what my ears told me - DOUBLE STEREO!!!! WTF!!!!

It was a 'crap shoot' Q8, a tape that some poor Canadian dude bought for his car and when he played it thought "This is crap!". :yikes

I just started recording in "I Got A Name", and it looks to be double stereo too! This is pathetic. I have all of the US Q8's on a reel that I made years ago, and this material is all very discrete. It's hard to believe that these tapes could have been released as double stereo - what a sham. Another brick in the "death of quad" wall.

Check out the wav files of the tune "Roller Derby Queen". The rip from the 40020 tape is discrete and clear as hell. The guitars are exposed and sharp like they should be. The wav files (top) from the 40007 tape are a cloud of crud. Nothing is clear.

Kinda pisses me off! :howl

 

[JonUrban]

UPDATE: All three of the album tapes (not including the Greatest Hits tape) are all double stereo. The "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" CQT-40006, the "Life and Times" CQT-40007, and the "I Got A Name" CQT-40008, are double stereo. The CQT-40020 is discrete.

What a suck ass job by RCA/ABC. I guess ABC sent them shitty masters for the first three.

 

[Q-Eight]

Sorry, I could have warned you. I had the Life and Times Q8 a few years back. Luckily, I got it for free from an Audiophile buddy but I was just as disappointed. If you ever want to borrow all four of my US/ABC carts, you're more than welcome

 

[JonUrban]

Thanks for the offer. It's not that big of a deal because I have the reel I made in the '70s, and I didn't pay a lot for these - it was a lot sale. Also, there have been many conversions done of these and of the LPs, so it's not like it's a big find. I was just curious as to what these would sound like. But again, thanks for the offer.

It just seems strange that a "quad master" could have been used to gen these tapes. I mean, these are literally dual stereo, there is nothing in the rears that's not in the fronts, and vice versa. They may as well have been called "Quad/Stereo compatible 8 tracks", like those strange classical tapes that came out back in the '70s.

Oh well, they look kinda cool - and like I said, the 40020 tape sounds amazing!

Let this thread stand as a warning to future collectors.