Extracting From Surround CDs

[Cassetto]

I have a 2 fold question, can anyone advise on how you can extract surround files or play Dolby Surround CD's and/or QS/SQ encoded CD's on an iMac desktop? And is there anyway to get the surround benefits of both kinds of these CD's on a multichannel AVR that uses only HDMI ports?

The Dolby Surround CD's (specifically Alan Hovhaness Star Dawn on Delos, an Aaron Copland CD on Intersound, World Of Krautrock on ZYX Music...all mastered as Dolby Surround). Apparently these are capable of providing decoded Dolby Surround audio, but they predate any AVR currently available where I am in the UK, at least any I can afford (probably any) I would imagine. Is there an affordable decoder, or can you convert them through a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drive to flacs and play them?

Secondly, the surrounddiscography site lists numerous CD's that were mastered from original analog sources with quadraphonic encoding intact. Of these I have a several (John Coltrane's Live In Seattle, Hollins & Starr, Rich Mountain Tower, Sun Ra's Magic City, Howard Roberts' Equinox Elevator Express, Taj Mahal Travellers...all QS except the last one which is SQ), but absolutely no clue as to how a CD encoded with QS or SQ can be played through modern tech without buying an entirely new (old) AVR.

Thanks!!!

 

[gene_stl]

The encoding of these CDs should come out of any CD player or drive intact. You could then feed them into an AVR that can decode Dolby PLIIm which would divide them into the four channels. That would be the easiest and most economical way to play them.

You also could purchase a Sound Master and feed its stereo inputs with the output of the CD player either directly or via a receivers tape loop.
List member @hobie1dog has a used SM2 for sale.

There are also some legacy decoders you might run across used such as the Shure HT5000/5200/5300 systems that could do a decent job of taking the two channel in and putting the four channels out. There are others too but you would have to ask Sonik Wiz or Par4ken or one of our other decoder mavens. Sometimes such things appear on fleabay for reasonable prices. Other times they are outrageously overpriced.