Here we go again, folks!
Well, I gave this one another listen tonight and was reminded again why I rarely listen to it. This was one of the first Q8 tapes I ever got and listened to it over and over. Now, to use a big word, this mix clearly lacks any definition whatsoever. As Aquadad pointed out in another thread, it seems as though the rears are louder than the fronts - and he's right! There's at least 5dB difference front to rear, in favor of the rear.
For the bulk of the album drums, guitars, vocals, backup vocals, and piano come from left and right rears. Vocals, the occasional overdub and basically bleed from all the other instruments in the front. It would make sense to flip the soundstage around, but then you'd still get the same mess you had before.
Using my big word again, there is no definition of instruments. Everything comes from everywhere! Dare I say it's glorified mono, with the occasional room circling gee-gaw? The only real seperation going on is that one instrument might be louder in one speaker by 2db. That same instrument will still be in all the others and be just as noticable.
I love the Guess Who, so we get points for content. This is a great tape to listen to from splice to splice
but as for mix? Bah, let a blind monkey loose at the board. I'm sure he could come up with something more interesting.
This album gets a 6 from me.
Oh, and I did an A/B comparison to the Q4 Reel and there's no difference I can find, other than the Q4 is clearer and you can hear some of the lighter instruments better (acoustic guitar, percussion, etc) but that's it. I can hear no difference between Q4/Q8.