Stereo is Quad (CD-4 type) Downmix - More Titles ?

[kfbkfb]

Did this unusual technique (of offering the Quad mix without needing any type of decoder) turn out to be financially successful?

Is there any reason to expect more titles along the lines of the Jackson 5 (downmix) LP?


Kirk Bayne

 

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

Black Sabbath: Paranoid, Super Deluxe edition from 2020 was another case where a discrete quad version of an album was downmixed to stereo. And Deep Purple: Stormbringer 35th Anniversary edition from 2016 was too, while I'm thinking about it.

I wouldn't figure it's particularly financially successful on it's own, except when us surround fans are initially fooled into thinking a release is either modern discrete or still vintage encoded. These seem to be anniversary and deluxe releases with live performances included, so all of the extra versions of songs probably combine to make it somewhat financially successful. In the case of Paranoid, some of the tracks are different from the traditional stereo version, so it gives fans a chance to hear those alternate versions. With The Jackson 5 I'm not sure if any tracks are different from their traditional stereo counterparts when collapsed down to stereo.

 

[winopener]

AFAIK, that was the first BIG mistake:

https://www.discogs.com/Diana-Ross-Last-Time-I-Saw-Him/release/1112820
Disc 2 is the cd4 mix folded to stereo.

 

[furui_suterioo]

With The Jackson 5 I'm not sure if any tracks are different from their traditional stereo counterparts when collapsed down to stereo.

IIRC Jackson 5 CD-4 has slightly different mix or there was a verse omitted somewhere, but I've only played it once ever.