5 More Vocalion Surround SACD Releases - Earth, Wind & Fire, O'Jays, Harold Melvin & Blue Notes, Miracles, Helen Reddy (Jan 2020)

[Scott65]

its a good one and a real surprise for me in this latest batch, not least since i didn't know half her renditions of the album tracks at all and there are some great performances and nice arrangements.
the Quad mix seemed maybe a bit more 'surround-ily active' on the "Long Hard Climb" album than on "I Am Woman" but i thoroughly enjoyed both of them and if DV were to do more of her Quads i'm encouraged now to get those as well. the liner notes by our man humprof are excellent too. all-round a nice little unexpected Pop release in this hugely impressive R&B batch

its a good one and a real surprise for me in this latest batch, not least since i didn't know half her renditions of the album tracks at all and there are some great performances and nice arrangements.
the Quad mix seemed maybe a bit more 'surround-ily active' on the "Long Hard Climb" album than on "I Am Woman" but i thoroughly enjoyed both of them and if DV were to do more of her Quads i'm encouraged now to get those as well. the liner notes by our man humprof are excellent too. all-round a nice little unexpected Pop release in this hugely impressive R&B batch

I would love more Helen Reddy in quad. Compared to the rest of the batch I have sampled so far (EWF, Miracles) perhaps not as good (surround mix), but, it's Helen Reddy and still great to have in 2020!

 

[Scott65]

taking all aspects into account; musical content, sound quality, surround mixes, liner notes, if you were going to choose only one at this stage i would prioritize the EW&F.

then if you like that one, try Harold Melvin..
and if you enjoy that one, then you're ready for The O'Jays.

tbh all 3 of those discs are unmissable and the high-water mark of DV's Quad releases so far, imho.

Of these I have tried the EWF and it is superb.

 

[ar surround]

Of these I have tried the EWF and it is superb.

I’m still doing some “fine dining” on the Christmas six...taking my time. You know, there are oodles of excellent tracks scattered within these titles. I probably would never have bought them had they not been released in hi-res Quad. What an eye opener! The January set should be here shortly assuming priority shipping delivers as advertised.

 

[Q-Eight]

I got the email that mine were shipped on 01/13, shipped Priority and I'm still waiting. Which strikes me a bit odd in that I ordered the last batch 12/10 and got them 12/27. But I've also noticed USPS has been a bit slow with my usual eBay stuff as of late, so I guess they're still slogging through the Christmas Rush stuff but geeeeeeeez.... I'm getting cabin fever! Need something new!

 

[jefe1]

Mine arrived today!
Pretty quick regular mail with tracking.

And I broke Gos's law and survived
Three sacds and not one crack

Now to open and listen...harold Melvin. Ojays earth wind and fire.
Wake up everybody!

 

[sculptorD5]

Got my Helen Reddy yesterday. Now I can finally retire those 2 Q8 tapes. Hopefully her other 2 quad albums will get released.

The 2 that still need to be released, "Free and Easy" and "Love Song For Jeffrey" have similar sounding mixes to "Long Hard Climb".

 

[John Svensson]

A late order placer for these, I'm still waiting. I had to pass on Helen though, I still recall wanting to throw things at the television whenever she popped up, and then they gave her a show! But hey, I have plenty of stuff others would consider cringe-worthy. haha

 

[ar surround]

A late order placer for these, I'm still waiting. I had to pass on Helen though, I still recall wanting to throw things at the television whenever she popped up, and then they gave her a show! But hey, I have plenty of stuff others would consider cringe-worthy. haha

You would be surprised at how much better her stuff comes across in quad than in low-res stereo. Heck, just about everything sounds better in quad as long as they had enough to work with.

 

[Q-Eight]

You would be surprised at how much better her stuff comes across in quad than in low-res stereo. Heck, just about everything sounds better in quad as long as they had enough to work with.

Stereo is soooooo 1967.

 

[The56Kid]

Since my prior D-V order of 3 titles yielded a badly broken case for the BW Stevenson twofer, I decided to observe the GOS even number rule for this order and added the Rick Derringer twofer (which I didn’t really want) to my order of EW&F, The O’Jays, and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. I guess I’m just shit out of luck because the Derringer has a small crack and the O’Jays has a more sizeable one. Dammit!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Since my prior D-V order of 3 titles yielded a badly broken case for the BW Stevenson twofer, I decided to observe the GOS even number rule for this order and added the Rick Derringer twofer (which I didn’t really want) to my order of EW&F, The O’Jays, and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. I guess I’m just shit out of luck because the Derringer has a small crack and the O’Jays has a more sizeable one. Dammit!

As I keep asserting, time for D~V to switch to MoFi /Japanese Mini LP cardboard packaging. Better for the environment and the s/h costs from the UK will be greatly reduced....not to mention they'll take up less shelf space. Doesn't even have to be gatefold unless it contains 2 discs!

And NO MORE CRACKED CASES!

 

[GOS]

Since my prior D-V order of 3 titles yielded a badly broken case for the BW Stevenson twofer, I decided to observe the GOS even number rule for this order and added the Rick Derringer twofer (which I didn’t really want) to my order of EW&F, The O’Jays, and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. I guess I’m just shit out of luck because the Derringer has a small crack and the O’Jays has a more sizeable one. Dammit!

Yeah, that's just wild. I'll still take my chances ordering evens. Sorry you got the cracked cases.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Yeah, that's just wild. I'll still take my chances ordering evens. Sorry you got the cracked cases.

Gene, I've had cracked cases even when I've ordered even numbers! That's why I switched to Priority shipping......spend less time in the 'clutches' of the postal services.

 

[The Rang]

Cracked cases are no biggie IMO.
If they ever go with MoFi style packaging I’ll probably stop buying

 

[shakti]

At the recommendation of several members here, I dipped my toe with EW&F and the O'Jays from this batch. Excellent stuff! Liking it much, much more than I expected. The EW&F disc especially was just stellar. I expected it to be sleeker and closer to a disco sound, but this is just a very smooth concoction of funk, soul and jazz with superb musicianship.

Would I be disappointed by the Harold Melvin or Miracles disc?

 

[JediJoker]

Cracked cases are no biggie IMO.

But totally avoidable for what would appear to be minimal, if any, additional outlay.

 

[ss9001]

A late order placer for these, I'm still waiting. I had to pass on Helen though, I still recall wanting to throw things at the television whenever she popped up, and then they gave her a show! But hey, I have plenty of stuff others would consider cringe-worthy. haha

As a soon-to-be 70 yr old, I thought about good old Helen and can't get past hearing all the times on FM I heard "I am woman, hear me roar". Yuck.

So dated, cringe-worthy message-bubble-gum. I didn't like her as a singer, that type of bubble-gum or the song when it played on FM, let alone now! I sampled all the songs on Amazon and I don't think even in quad, I could listen to the whole disc even once!

For me, even if it's quad or multichannel, it still has to be music one wants to listen to.

This one is probably the most cringe-worthy title D-V has acquired. If it came to a choice for that style of music, I'd rather listen to The Carpenters

 

[DuncanS]

As a soon-to-be 70 yr old, I thought about good old Helen and can't get past hearing all the times on FM I heard "I am woman, hear me roar". Yuck.

So dated, cringe-worthy message-bubble-gum. I didn't like her as a singer, that type of bubble-gum or the song when it played on FM, let alone now! I sampled all the songs on Amazon and I don't think even in quad, I could listen to the whole disc even once!

For me, even if it's quad or multichannel, it still has to be music one wants to listen to.

This one is probably the most cringe-worthy title D-V has acquired. If it came to a choice for that style of music, I'd rather listen to The Carpenters

Having got it I am really not sure what to make of it, not what I remembered of the famous song, too much like lift music, I suspect it'll end up in the corner along with Primus and a few of the CDs I got based on listening to albums years ago in the follies of youth whilst not quite on the planet!

 

[GOS]

Cracked cases are no biggie IMO.
If they ever go with MoFi style packaging I’ll probably stop buying

I will NEVER stop buying.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

... I suspect it'll end up in the corner along with Primus and a few of the CDs I got based on listening to albums years ago in the follies of youth whilst not quite on the planet!

Primus? in the corner with Helen Reddy. Oh the inhumanity....