Other than lowering the level a little and adding fades at the start and end of the programs, I don't detect any further processing from what I submitted.
One of the real advantages of the fostex conversions is manually adjusting the head by ear to the tape. I've really found that the head adjustment does vary from tape to tape, and that really helps get every little bit you can out of the tape, so this will be a better experience than just popping some dude's old 8-track into a standard deck. Part of me wonders if I should have held off on revealing my discovery to see where the speculation would have gone in the discussion, as no one suggested it sounded like a Q8 in their early reviews, although I don't think anyone said they definitely think it's the master either. But in the end, I'd rather people know what they're buying. I just hope no one dismisses it as a poor old worn sounding tape without hearing it.
AOQ, I listened to Journey tonight critically on my Meridian 800 DVD~A player on my main system and first of all I marvelled at the s/n ratio. There was very little hiss as I was aware from your post that it was your conversion from a Q8 tape operating at 3 3/4 ips. Secondly, there was no distortion but because of the low encoding level I had to raise my volume to 82 (normally, I play RBCDs at 64 and most DVD~As at between 68~72). The transfer was seamless and the surrounds were perfectly integrated with the fronts resulting in a nicely immersive effect.
I then switched players and spun the DVD~A 96/24 stereo version on my Meridian Reference 808 player which I assumed came from the master utilized by Mobile Fidelity to cut their vinyl and/or 24k Gold RBCDs and no offense to you but the uptick in quality was extremely apparent to me.
Journey is by no means an audiophile recording as it was recorded LIVE and I had previously read Wakeman had stated that it was not economical to record it in a studio environment like the previous Wakeman DVD~A releases, Six Wives and King Arthur.
The Night before, I listened to the Universal Hong Kong Stereo SACD of Don McLean's American Pie and although I love the album, the HISS was unbearable. Since no source was listed, I am wondering if they accessed the original masters or if it was replicated from a tape a few generations removed.
In closing, although I did enjoy Journey and compliment you on your marvelous conversion, my favorite in terms of Sound Quality remains King Arthur and to a lesser extent Six Wives (had the SQ Surround Master been available I truly believe it would've sounded much better).
As a former Open Reel buff I was never fond when the majors started releasing their Open Reels at 3 3/4 ips (to SAVE tape naturally) and I never owned an 8 track with adjustable heads (nor a Q8 machine), so I was naturally impressed with your efforts but wonder in the future if utilizing Q8 tapes is such a grand idea when transferring classic albums to a higher resolution format.
Am I glad Journey was released as a Quad DVD~A.....Absolutely......but....with reservations.
