Billy Joel - Piano Man 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Mch SACD of Quad mix from Sony Japan)

[quicksrt]

I think what we've seen in the US market for 3D blu-ray will be similar. The technology wasn't great until the last year of TVs being made with both 3D and 4K, with astonishing results, but most folks never experienced what that looks like. If the manufacturers would begin production again on 3D TVs that can upscale to 4K I'm sure the format would experience a renaissance as Quad is seeing now.

We are probably seeing a renaissance for surround formats in general, and quad format gets to piggy-back on that. And the main reason for quad getting in on the sales action, and some public attention is that the 1971-1975 era of albums which got mixed in quad happen to be a real creative peak period for music (imo). They are damn good albums. Whatever the other reasons and factors contributing, we are for sure benefitting. The right type of disc formats and 5.1 systems in homes for movies did not hurt did it.

 

[esimms86]

We are probably seeing a renaissance for surround formats in general, and quad format gets to piggy-back on that. And the main reason for quad getting in on the sales action, and some public attention is that the 1971-1975 era of albums which got mixed in quad happen to be a real creative peak period for music (imo). They are damn good albums. Whatever the other reasons and factors contributing, we are for sure benefitting. The right type of disc formats and 5.1 systems in homes for movies did not hurt did it.

Creative, yes, but also in the sweet spot for bommers’s taste in music. Streaming in surround(Atmos) is also a major boost.

 

[bookofsaturdays]

the 1971-1975 era of albums which got mixed in quad happen to be a real creative peak period for music (imo).

If it were up to me to rewrite history I would’ve loved to have quad last until at least 1979! So many phenomenal albums produced from 1976 onwards that would’ve been absolutely killer in quad.

A few examples being:
Utopia - Ra (1977)
Jean-Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean (1977)
The Wall, of course
Brand X - Unorthodox Behaviour (1976) (could’ve been a candidate since Chicago X was released in quad the same week!)
Steely Dan - Aja (1977)
ELO - Out of the Blue (1977)
Steve Miller - Book of Dreams (1977)

I realize these records would be outside of the record label’s supposed target audience for quad buyers (e.g. older demographic), but hey, a man can dream…

 

[quicksrt]

If it were up to me to rewrite history I would’ve loved to have quad last until at least 1979! So many phenomenal albums produced from 1976 onwards that would’ve been absolutely killer in quad.

A few example being:
Utopia - Ra (1977)
Jean-Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean (1977)
The Wall, of course
Brand X - Unorthodox Behaviour (could’ve been a candidate since Chicago X was released in quad the same week!)
Steely Dan - Aja (1977)
ELO - Out of the Blue (1977)
Steve Miller - Book of Dreams (1977)

I realize these records would be outside of the record label’s supposed target audience for quad buyers (e.g. older demographic), but hey, a man can dream…

I don't think quad was only an older crowd's medium, but somewhat and a money crowd's format. While I would have also liked a ton of quad albums through '79, my choices would not have included as many of your picks, but rather - titles I would have liked are:

London Calling
Some Girls
Black and Blue
Katy Lied
Who By Numbers
Darkness on the Edge of Town
The River
Judas Priest - Hell Bent for Leather
UFO - No Heavy Petting or Obsession

And thankfully, we did get so many great 1972 - 1983 albums mixed to 5.1 which definitely helped satisfy me anyway.

Remain in Light
Avalon
Animals
Goats Head Soup
Quadrophenia
Who's Next
Blood on the Tracks

 

[quicksrt]

Creative, yes, but also in the sweet spot for bommers’s taste in music. Streaming in surround(Atmos) is also a major boost.

In the recent Steven Wilson interview - I think he mentions that for all new albums being recorded and mixed (at least by major artists and or labels) there is a stereo as well as an Atmos mix being completed. So that’s an encouraging sign. But it seems to me that it would be quite an added expense to the tab. Will they make that money back? Is the audience really there now for that expense and effort? On all those albums?

 

[barfle]

I don't think quad was only an older crowd's medium, but somewhat and a money crowd's format.

I was in my early-mid 20s when quad came out. I didn’t have money to burn, but I was OK for the most part. I bought albums regularly, and had a fair SQ setup early on. Better gear would have been nice, but surround (quad) was pretty good even if it was a bit tinny in the back.

 

[Michael Marshall]

We are probably seeing a renaissance for surround formats in general, and quad format gets to piggy-back on that. And the main reason for quad getting in on the sales action, and some public attention is that the 1971-1975 era of albums which got mixed in quad happen to be a real creative peak period for music (imo). They are damn good albums. Whatever the other reasons and factors contributing, we are for sure benefitting. The right type of disc formats and 5.1 systems in homes for movies did not hurt did it.

I absolutely agree! 1971 through 1976 was an absolute green patch for artistic performance, recording quality and output.

 

[quicksrt]

I was in my early-mid 20s when quad came out. I didn’t have money to burn, but I was OK for the most part. I bought albums regularly, and had a fair SQ setup early on. Better gear would have been nice, but surround (quad) was pretty good even if it was a bit tinny in the back.

I wanted a Q8 rig but could not have it. Just too expensive. But maybe if I tried harder at the time. There were so many records and tapes I wanted to own in stereo, that quad was a bridge too far. But I lusted after those Q8s and dreamed of hearing them surrounding me.

It all happened - it just took 30 to 50 more years is all. Not too long a wait right?

 

[jaybird100]

I wanted a Q8 rig but could not have it. Just too expensive. But maybe if I tried harder at the time. There were so many records and tapes I wanted to own in stereo, that quad was a bridge too far. But I lusted after those Q8s and dreamed of hearing them surrounding me.

It all happened - it just took 30 to 50 more years is all. Not too long a wait right?

Good things come to those who wait. You just had to wait a little longer.

 

[barfle]

I wanted a Q8 rig but could not have it. Just too expensive. But maybe if I tried harder at the time. There were so many records and tapes I wanted to own in stereo, that quad was a bridge too far. But I lusted after those Q8s and dreamed of hearing them surrounding me.

It all happened - it just took 30 to 50 more years is all. Not too long a wait right?

By that time, I’d had my fill of 8-tracks. I’d owned two or three players, and had already experienced tapes getting twisted and stretched and pinch rollers furning liquid and gumming up the capstan, way down there in the player. And today, I’m virtually mag-tape free. I have a couple of non-music cassettes (SSTV, if anyone cares to dig into that, and my EVR films have mag stripe audio tracks), but other than that, tape has gone the way of piano rolls in my system.

I’m somewhat interested in how hobbyists like ourselves deal with the issues that soured me on the format, though.

 

[Cassetto]

In the recent Steven Wilson interview - I think he mentions that for all new albums being recorded and mixed (at least by major artists and or labels) there is a stereo as well as an Atmos mix being completed. So that’s an encouraging sign. But it seems to me that it would be quite an added expense to the tab. Will they make that money back? Is the audience really there now for that expense and effort? On all those albums?

A lot of where the money is in music today is in sync licensing, licensing for film, television and advertising. An album can completely fail in terms of sales, but make substantial money in licensing. Since most broadcast and streaming is now in 5.1 and/or Atmos now, having the music ready in surround means it can appear as you want it to appear and not be mixed poorly at the last minute without producer, artist, etc input. Sync licensing can be hugely lucrative, for example the for the series Mad Men a Beatles song was licensed for $250,000 and apparently 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC commands half a million per film (and appears in a lot of films at that price). But ordinarily songs license for anywhere from $10K-$60K and more is made if they land on a soundtrack, compared to streaming it's huge.

In some cases, licensing can take an obscure piece of music to something that generates significant sales and streaming (best example being the VW commercial which moved Nick Drake from being an obscure cult artist to a legend in the late 90's) or it can take songs from people like Kate Bush or Linda Ronstadt and introduce them to a new generation (via Stranger Things and The Last Of Us). It's likely also why you're starting to see some surround albums, or boxed sets include instrumental mixes of the whole album. In the past 10-15 years some publishers have been putting out promos (often as CDr's) with released album and an instrumental mix of the whole album (I have a a couple of Decemberists releases like this). This is an effort to generate sync licensing opportunities for incidental instrumental use in film, TV, etc.

 

[Bill B]

A lot of where the money is in music today is in sync licensing, licensing for film, television and advertising. An album can completely fail in terms of sales, but make substantial money in licensing. Since most broadcast and streaming is now in 5.1 and/or Atmos now, having the music ready in surround means it can appear as you want it to appear and not be mixed poorly at the last minute without producer, artist, etc input. Sync licensing can be hugely lucrative, for example the for the series Mad Men a Beatles song was licensed for $250,000 and apparently 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC commands half a million per film (and appears in a lot of films at that price). But ordinarily songs license for anywhere from $10K-$60K and more is made if they land on a soundtrack, compared to streaming it's huge.

In some cases, licensing can take an obscure piece of music to something that generates significant sales and streaming (best example being the VW commercial which moved Nick Drake from being an obscure cult artist to a legend in the late 90's) or it can take songs from people like Kate Bush or Linda Ronstadt and introduce them to a new generation (via Stranger Things and The Last Of Us). It's likely also why you're starting to see some surround albums, or boxed sets include instrumental mixes of the whole album. In the past 10-15 years some publishers have been putting out promos (often as CDr's) with released album and an instrumental mix of the whole album (I have a a couple of Decemberists releases like this). This is an effort to generate sync licensing opportunities for incidental instrumental use in film, TV, etc.

Another great example is the Faces "Ooh La La". That song spent it's entire life in relative obscurity (at least in the circles I travel) until someone decided to use it in a commercial several years ago. Now I hear it quite a bit in even more commercials and on the radio,

 

[mutant_matt]

It's likely also why you're starting to see some surround albums, or boxed sets include instrumental mixes of the whole album. In the past 10-15 years some publishers have been putting out promos (often as CDr's) with released album and an instrumental mix of the whole album (I have a a couple of Decemberists releases like this). This is an effort to generate sync licensing opportunities for incidental instrumental use in film, TV, etc.

This. If you check out <streaming service of choice> and Epidemic Sound are on there (I used Qobuz), a large number of their albums do this (which I really like for artists I listen to).

Wildflowers and Humble Hey are just two that come to mind, but there are many!

For a more "mainstream" (ish) example, Steve Wilson has been doing this for some time also... (obvs)

 

[Gmat25]

If you have an OPPO BDP-95/103/105 or UDP-203/205 this small app will remove DVD region restrictions (has no effect on Blu-ray region lock).
It was issued by OPPO for Australia but also works with US models.

It worked perfectly on my UDP-205.

https://archive.org/details/oppo_superdisc

This worked great on my Oppo BDP 103 - now off to load on my UDP-205! Thanks so much for this link!

 

[Hope&Dreams]

I got my copy of Piano Man this week and I'm hoping someone can help me out. The vocals sound way too low on my set up. In stereo, the vocals are significantly better balanced (though I wish they were a little louder) but in mult-ch the vocals are buried.

I'm listening on a 5.1 set up. Denon 4311 and an Oppo 93. I've listened with Pure Audio On and without. I'm kind of stunned and am hoping that someone can make a suggestion or at least tell me I'm not the only one. I've even experimented with turning off my center channel to make a proper 4.0 set up but it didn't help.

 

[bookofsaturdays]

I got my copy of Piano Man this week and I'm hoping someone can help me out. The vocals sound way too low on my set up. In stereo, the vocals are significantly better balanced (though I wish they were a little louder) but in mult-ch the vocals are buried.

I'm listening on a 5.1 set up. Denon 4311 and an Oppo 93. I've listened with Pure Audio On and without. I'm kind of stunned and am hoping that someone can make a suggestion or at least tell me I'm not the only one. I've even experimented with turning off my center channel to make a proper 4.0 set up but it didn't help.

Your setup is likely fine, it’s the way it was mixed.

I don’t have this disc yet nor have I heard the quad but I’m sure others will tell you that’s the one issue with this quad mix.

 

[GOS]

So, I just listened to the new Quad and then the 2011 stereo SACD, and I can't tell one bit of difference between how the vocals sound. In fact, to me the vocals sound absolutely normal, easy to hear, not masked in the slightest. But, who knows...

 

[GOS]

I got my copy of Piano Man this week and I'm hoping someone can help me out. The vocals sound way too low on my set up. In stereo, the vocals are significantly better balanced (though I wish they were a little louder) but in mult-ch the vocals are buried.

I'm listening on a 5.1 set up. Denon 4311 and an Oppo 93. I've listened with Pure Audio On and without. I'm kind of stunned and am hoping that someone can make a suggestion or at least tell me I'm not the only one. I've even experimented with turning off my center channel to make a proper 4.0 set up but it didn't help.

If you have a Denon, you need to turn off Dynamic EQ. That will absolutely trash some multi-channel recordings and the way they sound..

 

[Hope&Dreams]

If you have a Denon, you need to turn off Dynamic EQ. That will absolutely trash some multi-channel recordings and the way they sound..

Thanks. I listened again yesterday after turning off Dynamic EQ. "Pure Audio" from the Oppo and the Denon and it was the same. To me, the vocals get lost. The music itself sounds incredible in quad, but overall, it's disappointing for me. The Stereo mix is excellent and I will enjoy it for many years to come. But knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have spent the money. Your mileage may vary. I hope everyone else is very happy with the quad mix. And thanks for the guidance.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Having listened to it TWICE [just arrived TODAY] I must commend SONY JAPAN again for another SUPERB QUAD reissue. If the packaging doesn't blow you away, the sheer brilliance of the SACD remaster should. And in the interest of FULL DISCLOSURE, on first listen I did notice a lack of bass [and my new speakers with four self amped subs put out prodigious DEEP BASS], so I decided to rim the edges and inner ring of the SACD with my trusty notched permanent black ink pen. Not only did the bass increase [and might I add tastefully] but the vocals were more pronounced. And because my speakers match perfectly front to rear I never felt a need to turn down the rears ... IMO, the remix engineers including Don Young did a memorable discrete remix. And the included DVD played fine on my OPPO 205 ..... haven't played the included Blu Spec CD though.

A 9.5 on my scale because of the need for a bass boost* but I'm rounding it out to ten. In all my years, Piano Man has never sounded this AMAZING!

*I play ALL my discs at flat response ...never touch the tone controls!