HiRez Poll Doobie Brothers, The - QUADIO [Blu-ray Audio]

[DAlba]

Hi Everyone, I am in US and ordered from Rhino on 10/5 and it still hasn’t shipped. Is this normal?

 

[musicmemorabiliashoppellc]

Hi Everyone, I am in US and ordered from Rhino on 10/5 and it still hasn’t shipped. Is this normal?

They take their time

 

[fizzywiggs41]

I know I'll be happy with my box set. Small miracle the shop even had this.

Picked it up Friday , Nov 06 (retail sales day).
Listened so far to my 2 favorite quad albums of this 4 album set ....."Vices" , and" Toulouse" .

Pleased with both and do not mind the teeny gap in Black Water on Vices, kinda brings me back to when I listened to this track many times in CD-4 .

The mixes in quad are true to their discreet counterparts , and very worthwhile for any fan of quad. I'm guessing the quad mixing is courtesy Don Landee with Templeman Supervising production. A little booklet with the credits regarding quad would be nice though. (just a little pet peeve I have)

I used to have all 4 of these in CD-4 so I know what to expect , and love the fact there is no CD-4 breakup occuring as you would have with the vinyl.

So far it's a ten and I'll post that score now , kinda doubt I'll change my mind after listening to the other 2.(Captain,and Stampede)

Thankyou Rhino and hope more quads will be considered.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Although I paid $112.00 for this box I had a coupon for $ 30.

So total was $82.00 , still a bargain for 4 quad blurays . And looking forward to hearing the other 2 discs
of this highly recommended quad box set.



Edit. $12 was tax.

 

[Ninecats]

Wow, there really is something about well made quad mixes from back in the day, this one can hardly be beat not even by todays standards. Discreetness perfection! I haven’t been through it all, the very first track I played was I Cheat the Hangman and it was exactly as magical as I imagined it.

 

[perzon57]

I waited a long time to receive this from Rhino so I received it between the Santanas.Had good time to read all the praise for it.Played all four through once,the only one I had not heard before in stereo was Vices,and for me that's the weakest musically.This set left me a little cold compared to the two Santanas.I have not played anything from the set again,gave it 8.Maybe I will revisit at a later time and find more joy in it.

 

[CRWSurround]

My Doobies Quadio set just arrived yesterday and I am not yet ready to enter a rating until I have critically listened to all four (4) discs. Toulouse Street is one of my favorite albums from "back in the day" so I could not resist listening first to a few of my favorite tracks. Last night I did listen to all of "What Were Once Vices, etc." and the sound of everything I have heard thus far is exceptional. Here is the strange thing that I want to mention. I have a 6.1 set up. I fully expected the front center channel speaker to be silent - as these are Quad recordings - and as expected nothing comes out of it. The imaging of these recordings is so well done that a center channel is not necessary - because it is already there! The odd thing is that there is plenty of output from the rear center channel!! What is that? This is Quad!! I like it - but it does not seem to fit the Quad format and this does not happen with the Quad SACD's I have. Any ideas? I will provide my score and comments after I have completed all of my listening.

Appreciate the responses from those who tried to assist me. The Rear Channel Center content actually sounded pretty good in the mix of the other four speakers - but I knew it was not supposed to be there. Quite frankly I have forgotten that there was a button on my AVR remote that enables me to toggle between ES and normal DTS - ES adds the Rear Center channel. That solved the problem and got me back to straight 4.0.

So - to finally add my review and rating. So much has been written that I am not sure I can add insight - just some personal reflections. First - this really is an outstanding set that is so reasonably priced. It gets so frustrating to find example after example of new surround mixes on DVD or BR that are ONLY available as part of some high priced box set, etc, - - when all we really want is the surround mix!! So, here we get 4 BR surround discs for $60!! Second - agree there is some uneveness across the entire set with sound levels and even "warm" vs. "shrill". But one must consider these are 4 DIFFERENT albums produced over a considerable time period - so lots of variables that will understandably prevent "total package consistency". Third - I was much less familiar with Stampede and Vices than the other two albums - so getting acquainted with these two completely from the Quadio versions has been a terrific introduction. Toulouse Street is my sentimental favorite of the set and hearing in the surround version is so satisfying. This is the warmest sound of the four albums and Stampede is the most shrill IMHO. Fourth - Following the vocals is an interesting and varied experience. The imaging of the vocals on some tracks is fascinating - as it just seems to hover in the room - and its very effective. In other cases it seems the vocals are overwhelmed by the instruments and could have been made more prominent in the final mix. Finally - as others have said - the use of the 4 channels is outstanding - especially when considering how long ago these recordings were made. All four of these albums were carefully mixed into Quad in a way that not only demonstrates what Quad/Surround can do - but more importantly it adds to and enhances the music such that you would not want to hear it any other way. Many of today's surround discs are not nearly as effective and compelling as provided in this package. Sorry I did not make specific track references to illustrate my musings above. If you have listened to the whole set - you'll know what I am referring to. So much fun to put any of these 4 albums on. Sure wish more sets like this were forthcoming. My rating is 9 but I am entering 10 because it reflects my enthusiasm for this release.

 

[AYanguas]

......
- Following the vocals is an interesting and varied experience. The imaging of the vocals on some tracks is fascinating - as it just seems to hover in the room - and its very effective. In other cases it seems the vocals are overwhelmed by the instruments and could have been made more prominent in the final mix. o much fun to put any of these 4 albums on. Sure wish more sets like this were forthcoming. My rating is 9 but I am entering 10 because it reflects my enthusiasm for this release.
......

I have notice this 'low level vocal mix' in other QUAD listenings compared to their correspondent stereo mixes. As the instruments level is higher in rear channels compared with other 5.1 mixes, I think that's why the vocals level becomes comparatively lower.

When listening 5.1, specially films, I use to increase the Center channel level to hear better the dialog ove the "explosions'. BUT in QUAD mixes, you cannot do that for the vocals, like when I do sometimes for 5.1 music mixes when the main vocals are at Center channel.

I am not specially a fan of Doobie Brothers, only know the main hits. BUT YOU have talked so much good about this Doobie Brohers QUADIO release, that I finally bought it.

I have received it this morning after one month and a half purchase ago. I'm really eager to see what it sounds like.

 

[kap'n krunch]

....
When listening 5.1, specially films, I use to increase the Center channel level to hear better the dialog ove the "explosions'. BUT in QUAD mixes, you cannot do that for the vocals, like when I do sometimes for 5.1 music mixes when the main vocals are at Center channel.
....

After living in Madrid for 26 years I noticed that, besides CASTILLIAN Spanish dubbing being extremely irreverent (adding cuss words to The Simpsons??? HELL YEAH!), usually the mixes for films and series are VERY dialog heavy, as opposed to the USA mixes where the dialog is mostly buried in the mix...
I actually prefer the Spanish dubbing on many films (Amelie, South Park:the movie, etc.)

Sorry for the derail...

I find this box set a class act...was listening to Stampede the other day and it's really growing on me...the weakest one for me is "Vices"....for now...

 

[Madman Riley]

Not sure how much the Doobies blu ray box prices have varied ...

>>Although I paid $112.00 for this box I had a coupon for $ 30.
So total was $82.00 , still a bargain for 4 quad blurays .<<

...but I ordered mine from AMAZON a few minutes ago for $69.34
($64.28 + $5.06 tax)

Pulled the trigger after watching AMAZON's "available stock" bounce from way down to back up -- a small amount -- this week.
Some buys just have to be made when they can be and well before holiday-shipping season!

Speaking of which...

I used to patronize Acoustic Sounds for buys like this but swore off them after a horribly bad experience last year for which they offered no inducement to keep me as a regular, long-term, customer.
And their price is $79.98 anyway as well as "Not Eligible for Additional Discount"

Sometime Saturday I'll be ears-deep in Doobie quad!

 

[Audiowannabee]

Importcds has Doobie Brothers Quadio for $47


Im gonna be "taking it to the streets"
message re the GREAT RESET

please do the same not music related...my public service announcement

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

Rhino posted a podcast with Tom Johnson of the Doobies to talk about the new Quadio box set. It's nearly 40 minutes long and very interesting...except they don't talk about the quadraphonic mixes at all, other than mentioning they are on the discs. No questions about the mixing, his opinion of the mixes, his views on surround sound, etc. They talk about how good the hi-res stereo sounds - completely missing the whole point of the box set. That's a fail, Rich.
I haven't even listened to the stereo mixes on this box or the Chicago Quadio. I'm sure they are fine, but without the quad mixes I would not have bought either box.

 

[ar surround]

Rhino posted a podcast with Tom Johnson of the Doobies to talk about the new Quadio box set...they don't talk about the quadraphonic mixes at all, other than mentioning they are on the discs...but without the quad mixes I would not have bought either box.

That‘s strange that they don’t even delve a little bit into the quad mixes given that the box set is called a Quadio. I suspect that Johnston and the interviewer may have never listened to the quad mixes.

 

[Matt Wilson]

Geez, I've been locked out of this forum for months now. Something about my email address... which there was nothing wrong with, so I just re-logged in with another email address. Anyway. I went with a 10. I now have all of these albums in quad, the Mobile Fidelity SACDs, and the old Captain and Me DVD-A. I guess you could say I'm covered.

EDIT: Oops, just realized I'd already voted in this thread months ago!

 

[Ranasakawa]

Very impressive
I found these a bit louder than the Chicago box but overall the sound is stunning

 

[MrSmithers]

Might be a daft question, and apologies if it's bit answered before? But were these excellent quad mixes done by Ted Templeman? They're not listed in the Surround Engineers thread... He seems to be the Doobies go to engineer in regard to these titles...

 

[fredblue]

Might be a daft question, and apologies if it's bit answered before? But were these excellent quad mixes done by Ted Templeman? They're not listed in the Surround Engineers thread... He seems to be the Doobies go to engineer in regard to these titles...

we don't know who mixed them, the old CD-4 Quad LPs didn't have any Quad credits and there was no specific information held by Warner either.

if Templeman and Landee did remix them they should've done more Quad they were good at it!

 

[quicksrt]

I took the discs out of their plastic inner sleeves, they were already starting to fog the discs. They wiped clean with a soft cotton cloth. Nice idea, but they needed to use rice paper like Japanese imports and not a poly plastic type inner here in the Doobies boxes.

 

[Imbobman]

Geez, I've been locked out of this forum for months now. Something about my email address... which there was nothing wrong with, so I just re-logged in with another email address. Anyway. I went with a 10. I now have all of these albums in quad, the Mobile Fidelity SACDs, and the old Captain and Me DVD-A. I guess you could say I'm covered.

EDIT: Oops, just realized I'd already voted in this thread months ago!

Good to have you back Matt. I had the same thing happen to me a while back where I couldn't log back in. Then after a few weeks I was able to. Go figure?

 

[albertop]

I’ve finally voted on this one. It’s a 10 for me. I’ve been enjoying the Doobies for the last couple of weeks, in both stereo and surround. Great stereo remasters (same as the 2016 remasters), great quad mixes. The quads sound incredibly modern for their time, in terms of mixing strategies. There are a couple of exception which I found real fun, such as Without You, with both drummers in the rear channels.

For Captain, I think I prefer the 5.1 overall, but a couple of tracks are more fun on the quad mix, Long Train Runnin and Without You being two examples.

Vices and Stampede seem better produced, or at least I’m noticing an improved fidelity in both albums. I think Black Water sounds great in quad. These mixes are far superior to the Santana’s quads, perhaps with the exception of Caravanserai

Nice little packaging for an affordable price, no unnecessary extras, good artwork replicas. That’s all you need.

A final note: I’ve read in some reviews that the quad and 5.1 for Captain were mixed similarly. I have to disagree with that finding. It might be song dependant but I find the two mixes quite different and showing their respective age!

Full marks this time. I really hope that Minute by Minute and Takin’ it to the streets will receive a surround treatment in the future. Captain and Takin’ are their two best albums in my opinion.

Grab this box set as long as it’s available!