dsk3331/disc rider
Well-known Member
Being a Newbie just now getting into Quad, I was wondering where to find quadraphonic recordings that I could purchase for my system. I have an Akai GX 270D SS R2R and a Sansui QRX 6001 quad receiver.
Two major caveats with the above post:
1) The majority of quadraphonic recordings have not been released on digital formats (only 95 out of CBS' almost 400 quad releases are available digitally), and I fear many never will be.
2) Much like the old quad software, many of the best digital surround releases are long out-of-print and command incredibly high prices
In my opinion, if content that one enjoys has been mixed into surround and released in some form, it's worth seeking out and hearing - regardless of the limitations of old technology.
And NOT a single poster on this forum after hearing a well conceived DIGITAL SURROUND REMASTER has contended that it doesn't sound better than its QR, Q8 or Vinyl counterpart!
No one is suggesting that. The OP asked about quadraphonic recordings in their original post, so that is what I addressed with my response. It is my opinion that if one wishes to fully explore all that the surround music hobby has to offer, both analog and digital releases are worth pursuing.
Quad mixes on Blu-ray include:
Darkside of the Moon
Wish You Were Here
Idlewild South
There's One in Every Crowd
Best of The Doors
Disturbing the Universe
That's quite true, but would you agree it's mixed in a quad style?Idlewild South is a new 5.1 mix by Kevin Reeves, not an old quad.
Eat A Peach was released on SACDwhile the Eat A Peach quad mix has not had a digital release.
Eat A Peach was released on SACD
Eat A Peach was released on SACD
Was the SACD of Eat A Peach a Quad or 5.1 / 5.0 mix?
Being a Newbie just now getting into Quad, I was wondering where to find quadraphonic recordings that I could purchase for my system. I have an Akai GX 270D SS R2R and a Sansui QRX 6001 quad receiver.
Pretty thorough and detailed. Thank you.That's a pretty broad question - I'll do my best to give a detailed answer, but in short your best options for old quad LPs or tapes are eBay and Discogs.
The first thing you should do is check out Mark Anderson's Quadraphonic Discography, which has become a sort of bible for quad collectors. Get a feel for what's available in quad and what titles you might want to pursue.
Your QRX-6001 includes decoding circuitry for SQ and QS matrix-encoded LPs. The major downside to matrix-encoded quad is that you're hearing a somewhat inferior version of the quad mix for a given title - it's impossible to fully separate the original discrete four channels after they've been mixed together with a studio encoder, so on playback you'll hear information intended for the rear channels leaking into the fronts at something like 50-75% volume, and vice versa. How much separation between front/rear (and left/right) you get out of the LPs depends on a number of factors - how much separation was in the original quad mix prior to the encode/decode process, which matrix system was used, and how good your decoder is.
You're in good shape for QS, as the Sansui QRX-x001 units contain the circuitry for the single-band QS 'Variomatrix' decoder (also available in the QSD-2 standalone unit). The only better QS decoders are the Sansui QSD-1 and the Involve Audio Surround Master, both of which offer tri-band decoding.
For SQ, you're not in quite as good shape. The Sansui receiver has a SQ decoder with 'front-to-back' logic that won't yield much separation between the front and rear channels. The later 'full-logic' or 'wave-matching' decoders, such as the Lafayette SQ-W and Sony SQD-2020, offer more separation. The gold standard for hardware SQ decoding is the Fosgate Tate II, but those units are hard to come by and generally on the expensive side. Involve Audio's Surround Master unit also does a solid SQ decode - some say it's comparable with the Fosgate unit, but I disagree.
As for your quad reel-to-reel unit, I haven't begun collecting quad reels myself as they tend to be incredibly rare and expensive. Desirable titles from WEA such as Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Deep Purple's Machine Head have sold in excess of $300 on eBay in the past. The quad 8-track tapes are much less expensive, but there's a lot of baggage with those - obviously you'll need to invest in another piece of vintage equipment (a quad 8-track tape deck), some technical knowledge is required in repairing the internal winding of the tapes prior to playback, and sometimes the sound quality can be subpar (speed warble, wow/flutter, dropouts, etc). But the great thing about the tape formats is that you're hearing the quad mixes in their discrete form, exactly as the engineers intended.
That’s good to knowOver 100+ titles in quad records recorded on tape using a Dual 721 turntable decoded using JVC 4DD-5 or Sony SQD 2020. Cleaned up using two KLH TNE 7000A (Transit Noise Eliminator) on to an Akai GX 270D SS.
You did select a fine tape deck.
Being a Newbie just now getting into Quad, I was wondering where to find quadraphonic recordings that I could purchase for my system. I have an Akai GX 270D SS R2R and a Sansui QRX 6001 quad receiver.
Enter your email address to join: