DTS-CD Report from my experiments with Quad...

[Cracower]

Hello everybody!

I haven't been here from such a long time, but it doesn't mean, that I gave up! I've made some nice conversions...

Purchasing Quad vinyls isn't too easy in Poland, although we've got 'Polish Ebay' called Allegro.pl, where sometimes you can get them - usually in good price. I've bought some items, which aren't on Mark Anderson's list:
- L. van Beethoven's 9th Symphony by Rudolf Kempe with Munchener Philharmoniker
- 2 LPs with highlights in German from Verdi's 'Aida' and Gounod's 'Margarethe' (better known as 'Faust')
All of them are from EMI Electrola. I've bought also Verdi's 'Ballo in Maschera' by Muti with New Philharmonia - it's on Mr. Anderson's list, but what is interesting, only German edition on Electrola label (which I own) has got SQ sign. As I see, it was common for EMI not to mark their quadraphonic records, esp. if they weren't on German or English labels.

I've got also two records from Angels Records (under license of EMI):
- Lanner's 'Waltzes & Galopps' by Boskovsky with Johann-Strauss-Orchester
- Strauss' 'Wiener Blut' by Boskovsky and Philharmonia Hungarica
The last is just being decoded, and in queue I've got Haydn's 'Creation' in QS by Vox and famous 'Four Great Toccatas and Fugues' by E. Power Biggs playing four organs in cathedral of Freiburg.

Now something about by 'technologies'. 'Cause my player is Sony, ot definitely doesn't accept DVD-A... So I'm using DTS 96/24, which as I read is good enough.

And what can I say about the sound? Well... Marvellous, that's certain. Especially vocal recordings; in orchestral sounds it makes audio more spacious, nothing more. But when you're listening to the opera, it makes you just sitting in the middle of the action - so something, which is impossible ever in live stage performances!
And so, e.g. in 'Aida' you find yourself in the middle of Egyptian temple, or surrounded by screaming crowd and monks, while victorious Radames is returning in sounds of triumphal march... And the powerful Easter chorus form finale of 'Faust' in rear channels is something really great.
BTW, those German vinyls have got quite good descrition, what and where should quadraphonic listener hear. And it is so, which shows, that Mr. Kempfand's scripts work really good!

Huf, that's enough, I think...

 

[watzman]

Nice findings! Thank you.

 

[JonUrban]

Great report! THANKS!

 

[Cracower]

Well, that's a time for the next report! Maybe the things I'll write wiould be helpful for you.

I've decoded the following LPs:

- 'Wiener Blut' (EMI - Angel, 2 LPs) of Johann Strauss, by Boskovsky with Philharmonia Hungarica. That's an example of well-made operetta recording in Quad; really discrete, with actors dailoging and singing around the listener, with choirs on the sides or back etc. For lovers of Strauss, Vienna and operetta - obligatory!
- 'Beverly Sills sings Victor Herbert' (EMI) with Andre Kostelanetz and LSO. And here we have really well done ambience recording, with great depth of the orchestra, although a bit too silent vocal.
- 'Four Great Toccatas and Fugues' (CBS Canada) of Bach, by E. Power Biggs. I've read only positives about that recording, so I expected a lot - but, although it sounds quite good in stereo, Quad version is a great piece of chaos. Localisation of the four organs is harder than in stereo! I don't know why, maybe I've got too weak rear speakers...
- 'Die Schopfung' (Vox - FSM, 2 LPs) of Joseph Haydn, by Wolfgang Gonnenwein with Orchester der Ludwigsburger Festspiele. That's the only QS LP in that list - and it's another good ambience recording. Choirs and vocals are clear, although I expected more 'discrete' using of the rears, which would be a good idea in such a spectacular oratorio.
- 'Julius Fucik - Marches' (Supraphon) by Rudolf Urbanec with Czechoslovak Military Band. It's quite a rare thing - Quad recording of military music. And it's worth of buying; we've got good orchestra, good dirigent, great composer and - really nice, discrete recording, with rataplan in right rear and part of brasses in left rear.
- 'Der Vogelhandler' (EMI - Marcato) of Carl Zeller, by Boskovsky with Wiener Symphoniker. I've risked, buying that EMI recording (which I know was Quad) in Marcato label, saying it's stereo. By the risk paid - as it was told, EMI porobably haven't made Stereo versions of Quad recordings. And so I found it as one more discrete operetta recording, again with Boskovsky. Intersting moments are e.g. Entree of Adam ('Gruss euch Gott, alle miteinander') with choir in left rear and soloist moving (!) from right rear to front. And a duet of two comic music professors ('Ich bin der Prodekan') with the two placed in right rear and left rear - is one of the most discrete operatic pieces I've ever heard.
- 'Monster Concert' (CBS Germany) by professors and students of Eastman School of Music. In spite of problems with 'Four Great Toccatas and Fugues', I've tried with another CBS experimental discrete recording. Here we've got 16 pianists playing 10 pianos (although only in one or two pieces really all of them simultaneously) - and the result is much better than in organ recording. The power of pianos in 'Stars and Stripes forever' is incredible; you're really being surrounded by the sound coming from all sides! Although in another pieces balance engineers didn't make too much use ofr right rear channel, it's an example of spectacular quadraphonic curiosum, worth of listnieng.

Hope those findings could help you!

 

[watzman]

Thanks again!!! I am very keen to get these conversions from the usual suspects / channels