Various digital disc quad formats question

[gvl_guy]

I'm not new to old quad stuff..... various album formats, Q8s, Q4s. But I am totally new to discs, recently buying my first Oppo and connecting it into my vintage receiver. I bought one BlueRay audio disc so far, Alan Parsons Eye in the Sky and have another from Dutton Vocalion listed as "SACD Hybrid Multi-channel" on the way.

My question is, how do you know whether the disc you find for sale on line is quad/multi channel or just stereo? Most listings I see on eBay or in Discogs don't mention anything. Even on the MFSL site, it often never says anything about that on their SACDs. So no idea if it's stereo or more.

Thanks!

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

If I'm in any doubt, I message the vendor to ask them. It doesn't guarantee success, but means you're on solid ground to ask for a refund if it isn't. If they don't know I always ask if they want to sell it on the understanding that I get a refund if it isn't.

 

[EricKalet]

I'm not new to old quad stuff..... various album formats, Q8s, Q4s. But I am totally new to discs, recently buying my first Oppo and connecting it into my vintage receiver. I bought one BlueRay audio disc so far, Alan Parsons Eye in the Sky and have another from Dutton Vocalion listed as "SACD Hybrid Multi-channel" on the way.

My question is, how do you know whether the disc you find for sale on line is quad/multi channel or just stereo? Most listings I see on eBay or in Discogs don't mention anything. Even on the MFSL site, it often never says anything about that on their SACDs. So no idea if it's stereo or more.

Thanks!

Most discs will have an indicator on the front or back of the package, to tell you if it's multichannel or not. There isn't really a "standard" indicator, so you have to rely on a sticker or printed info on the disc packaging -this is where you still have to be careful. High resolution music can be encoded into SACD, blu ray pure audio, etc, and still only be 2 channel. So definitely look for that small grid with the 6 dots. I posted some samples below. The descriptions on websites can be suspect, some are really good at identifying multichannel, some just plain suck. Seeing the indicators on the packaging is usually going to be your best bet.

MFSL is a waste of time these days, they do not make any multichannel product.

 

[gvl_guy]

Most discs will have an indicator on the front or back of the package, to tell you if it's multichannel or not. There isn't really a "standard" indicator, so you have to rely on a sticker or printed info on the disc packaging -this is where you still have to be careful. High resolution music can be encoded into SACD, blu ray pure audio, etc, and still only be 2 channel. So definitely look for that small grid with the 6 dots. I posted some samples below. The descriptions on websites can be suspect, some are really good at identifying multichannel, some just plain suck. Seeing the indicators on the packaging is usually going to be your best bet.

MFSL is a waste of time these days, they do not make any multichannel product.

View attachment 54699
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View attachment 54703
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View attachment 54705

Awesome info!! Thank you!!
....and disappointed in MFSL. Their LPs are usually wonderful.

 

[EricKalet]

The Original MFSL was owned by Brad Miller, a pioneer in quad and later 5.1. He worked with dts on their music discs back in the mid-90's. I believe there are a few 5.1 MFSL discs made while Miller was the owner (Surround Series). A few years after Miller passed away, MFSL was sold and the focus became stereo only and disc and LP's.

 

[EricKalet]

Awesome info!! Thank you!!
....and disappointed in MFSL. ☹ Their LPs are usually wonderful.

Here is how hard it was to distinguish a MFSL disc from a stereo version. Not very noticeable unless you are really looking hard...

This is inside the brochure that comes with the disc

 

[~dave~~wave~]

My question is, how do you know whether the disc you find for sale on line is quad/multi channel or just stereo? Most listings I see on eBay or in Discogs don't mention anything.

Discogs is very good about this if you look at the "view all versions" page for the title you're browsing.
The format is specified in parentheses after the title, clicking on it takes you to the listings for sale in multichannel.
Line 7 below:

Click on line 7 link:

 

[gvl_guy]

Discogs is very good about this if you look at the "view all versions" page for the title you're browsing.
The format is specified in parentheses after the title, clicking on it takes you to the listings for sale in multichannel.
Line 7 below:



View attachment 54711

Click on line 7 link:



View attachment 54712

Wow. Nice. I guess the titles a was looking at didn't have multi channel. Thanks!

 

[~dave~~wave~]

Wow. Nice. I guess the titles a was looking at didn't have multi channel. Thanks!

🛠 The tool on this forum is to look at this page to find what's been released in multi-channel and in which formats.
QuadraphonicQuad - Surround Polls

Go to the fifth tab at the far right.
The default is an alphabetical list by artist, rather than poll score.
Be advised that some bands with "The" in the name are in the "T" section.
Titles with less than 10 votes will show up here, but not on the first four tabs broken down by format.

 

[jaybird100]

The Original MFSL was owned by Brad Miller, a pioneer in quad and later 5.1. He worked with dts on their music discs back in the mid-90's. I believe there are a few 5.1 MFSL discs made while Miller was the owner (Surround Series). A few years after Miller passed away, MFSL was sold and the focus became stereo only and disc and LP's.

And the quality of both their analog and digital products went down...