HiRez Poll Flack, Roberta - KILLING ME SOFTLY [Blu-ray Audio]

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Rate the BDA of Roberta Flack - KILLING ME SOFTLY


  • Total voters
    29

rtbluray

Hi-Res Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
QQ Supporter
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Messages
9,631
Location
Middle TN
Please post your thoughts and comments on this new Blu-ray Audio release from Rhino Records of the classic Roberta Flack album "Killing Me Softly".
This new Blu-ray Audio release is part of Rhino's ongoing Quadio series and features the first release of this classic Quadraphonic mix since the 1970s! o_O

(y) :) (n)

RobertaFlack_KillingMe_Quadio-min.png
 
OMG. I've heard the song Killing Me Softly a couple thousand times in my life, but I've never heard it so beautifully crystal clear like this. I was totally blown away. In fact, I wasn't expecting much as far as surround sound in the tune. I mean, it's pretty soft and plain as far as music goes. Wow. Was I wrong. I never noticed all the instruments and the surround could be used as a demo tune -- it's that good. The harmony is in the rear, which I found very cool.

Everyone should buy this disc, if only for this song alone.

Flack's voice is smooth and stunning at times through the entire album. Easy 10.

Sidenote: it's so cool that Rhino included a photo of the original 4 track tape case/cover in the inside liner notes.

PXL_20240515_174138648.jpg
As of me writing this, this Blu-ray isn't on Discogs yet. (Same with Hot Tuna.) If I were smart enough and had more patience, I'd try to add it.
 
Last edited:
Absolutely BRILLIANT. Over the years I have heard this recording many times and it always seemed to have a fair amount of hiss. Rhino's BD~A remaster is thankfully concise and clear. Never have I heard this classic in such extraordinary sonics. ALL music and absolutely NO filler! Her heartfelt version of Leonard Cohen's SUZANNE is especially stunning!

A Perfect 10!
 
Last edited:
Like everyone, heard the title song a thousand times. What surprised me on this release was the prominence of the bass drum. Not sure if I like it. I guess I never noticed it on AM radio (LOL) back then. I listened to the stereo version and it thumps pretty hard with a sub woofer.
 
Last edited:
First generation mixed master tapes, with no wear and tear is of course going to be revealing.

The lead title track always sounded great on headphones, my mother and I each would listen to the 45 on phones and were pretty amazed. In quad it just adds that much more real depth and space to the instrumental accompaniment.
 
Hearing the title. song on the radio never did it justice. The clarity and detail, brought out on the Quadio disc, was like hearing this track for the first time, and had me repeating this disc after the first play, to verify I heard what I did, The mix suits the music perfectly. This disc rated a solid 10.
Me too! I actually played it twice, just to make sure I was actually hearing what I thought I was hearing.
 
Absolutely BRILLIANT. Over the years I have heard this recording many times and it always seemed to have a fair amount of hiss. Rhino's BD~A remaster is thankfully concise and clear. Never have I heard this classic in such extraordinary sonics. ALL music and absolutely NO filler! Her heartfelt version of Leonard Cohen's SUZANNE is especially stunning!

A Perfect 10!
New to this, what is "BD~A remaster" I don't know the term ?
 
Yes, yes, yes - This is a beautiful album, and the sound quality is amazing. Sure beats the AM radio from a small car speaker or clock radio, which is the way I heard the title track as a kid. As a side note, the bass on this is off the charts in richness, and this is EXACTLY what one would have expected from the Deep Purple Atmos release, but didn't get... I am stunned by her version of Suzanne - plus this is what a good singer should sound like IMO, no auto tune needed here.
 
I played it today, and have to admit that Killing Me Softly never sounded so good, it's amazing really. I only rememered a couple of the tunes that were popular enough to make it to the radio when I was a kid, but the other songs on the album seemed more lounge music to me, but the title song was worth the price of admission alone, it's a reference quality recording iif there ever was one.
 
Yes, yes, yes - This is a beautiful album, and the sound quality is amazing. Sure beats the AM radio from a small car speaker or clock radio, which is the way I heard the title track as a kid. As a side note, the bass on this is off the charts in richness, and this is EXACTLY what one would have expected from the Deep Purple Atmos release, but didn't get... I am stunned by her version of Suzanne - plus this is what a good singer should sound like IMO, no auto tune needed here.
Beats the AM radio? Hell, it blows away even the FM stereo radio! This disc is one of the best sounding discs I've heard, and I've heard a lot!
 
I voted 9.
Stunning release.
My listen Blu Ray rip. 4.0 FLAC 24bit/192Khz, DTS HD MSTR. DR's are 11, 12's, 13.
Why a 9? The kick drum on Killing Me Softly, Track 1 caught me off guard, very strong and I noticed a couple clicks, here and there on the entire release, very minor. I believe a little tape damage?
I own this stereo release and two others prior, she really has the voice.
I came into Roberta Flack thru Donny Hathaway in the 70's a great pair.
I have not listened to the stereo.
 
I'm going with a 9 also.
Kick drum was part of it but that's a issue on the original mix. I have the HDTracks 24/192
version I could swear it sounded a bit louder even but without a way to accurately match the
playback levels it was simple a guess.
The other thing that hurt it for me was the comparison to the recently released Joni Mitchell - Court & Spark. Now that to me is a reference quality recording and mix, a real 10. It will be tuff to give a 10 to another early analog recording after it. :p
 
Kick drum was part of it but that's a issue on the original mix.
Yes, that kick drum is something else, and not in a good way. At first I thought something went wrong with my system....
Also, I find the overall quad mix to be somewhat disjointed. Individually, everything sounds very good i.e. Flack's voice and other instruments, but I just can't get past some what I don't like about this quad release. I'm going with a 6.
 
Back
Top