My S&V arrived yesterday with a headline on the cover "Doors Legacy Lives on in 5.1". I read the article and it spoke of the Perception Box and the Infinite SACD box, but nothing about the new Doors Best of SACD from Audio Fidelity. So I sent them the following Letter to the Editor. I thought you all would like to see it.
Maybe you don't, but here it is anyway:
Maybe you don't, but here it is anyway:
To the Editor of Sound and Vision Magazine:
As the "caretaker" of the non-profit surround sound enthusiast's internet web forum 'QuadraphonicQuad', I am always very pleased when the latest copy of “Sound and Vision” arrives with an article or review concerning artists who create and release their music in more than two channels. Your magazine is one of the few places anywhere that gives its readers information and reviews of surround music, and it seems you do it almost every issue, which is very appreciated.
The latest issue arrived yesterday and there on the cover was a blurb about the Doors and their surround sound legacy in 5.1. It was a very informative article and a good showcase for both the Perceptions DVD-A Box Set and the Infinite SACD box set, both containing all of their classic catalog albums in new 5.1 surround mixes created with loving care by those who should care.
That article, however, missed a very important piece of their surround sound history. In 1973, at the dawn of the Quadraphonic era, a Doors greatest hits album was created by Elektra with the express purpose of showcasing the newborn "quadraphonic sound". This album was only available in quad and remained that way well into the '80s (with the exception of a record club only stereo pressing). Everyone who purchased this album got the quad version, although the majority of the many people who owned it never got to hear it in surround because they did not have the proper CD-4 decoding equipment of the time to hear it in quad. This summer this album has been remastered in stereo and quad by Steve Hoffman and released as a 2.0/4.0 hybrid SACD by Audio Fidelity. The sound on this disc is spectacular, and just as many music fans long for their favorite stereo albums to be released in their original form instead of some modern remix, this SACD gives the surround sound community a way to hear the original quad mix from that 1973 album the way it was meant to be heard, and cleaner than ever before.
I hope you guys get to listen to it and review this release, as it is not only an important piece of surround sound history, it is an album that belongs in the collections of every Doors fan and collector.
Keep up the good work with your surround artist and release articles. They are very much appreciated and looked forward to.
Jon Urban
QuadraphonicQuad