VOX Audio-Only DVD ... QS Quad Maybe ???

[Quadzilla]

I have seen these things around for a while, and I have always wondered if they were QS encoded like the original LP and DBX LP releases. I figured for $17 (including shipping), I would take the risk. Does anyone have any experience with these? I have heard that the sound quality is very good, and if the QS encoding is intact ... might be a cool find. If not, I like these versions anyway. Mike.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2549541194&category=46353&rd=1

 

[larryclifton]

I can't tell from the listing whether it contains just a two-channel mix or includes a multi-channel one as well. If the latter, could be that the engineer went back to the original multi-track masters, from which Vox made the original quadraphonic recordings on LP.

If it contains just a two-channel mix, it might be QS-encoded, but it's unlikely.

The Mussorgsky recordings first appeared on the quadraphonic Turnabout LP, QTV-S 34633 and later on one of the earliest Moss Music Group Vox Cum Laude CDs, MCD-10014. I was still buying new stock for my MultiChannelSound Shop when the CD appeared. My contact at Moss confirmed that this CD retained the QS encoding.

If the DVD used the same master, then you are in luck.

Unfortunately, the LP quad mixes for both the Mussorgsky and Holst recordings provide only ambience from the rear channels. Therefore, it's very hard to tell whether the surround effects are decoded or synthesized. In the case of the Mussorgsky CD, I had to take my contact's word for it.

In general, the digital descendants of quad recordings on Vox Box, Candide and Turnabout have lost their encoding. A couple of the recordings actually contained direct sounds from the rear. On Turnabout QTV-S 34594, an alarm bell sounds from the rear in "Hurricane" from "Catfish Row". Vox Box QSVBX-5132, Gershwin: All the Works for Piano & Orchestra also contains this. On my 1990 Vox Box CD (CDX-5007), the bell comes from the front.

Same is true of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suites on Turnabout QTV-S 34603 and Vox Box QSVBX-5133, Ravel: All the Works for Orchestra. In Suite No.2, the female chorus appears in the rear channels. (I learned recently that this is as specified by Ravel.) I picked up a 1991 Vox Box CD of the recording, CDX-5032 to learn if it provided this effect. Not surprisingly, the chorus comes from the front.

If you get your hands on a DVD-Audio release of one of these, you'll be able to tell with some certainty whether the two-channel mix contains the QS encoding.

Unfortunately, unless you have specific information to the contrary, you should assume that CD and DVD-Audio releases of these old quad recordings are now stereo.

Larry

 

[Quadzilla]

Thank you Larry. I appreciate your explanation. It was just a shot in the dark anyway, since I like these LPs. In any case, they are 96/24 DVDs, so they should be good sound quality. Mike.

 

[bmoura]

Same is true of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suites on Turnabout QTV-S 34603 and Vox Box QSVBX-5133, Ravel: All the Works for Orchestra. In Suite No.2, the female chorus appears in the rear channels. (I learned recently that this is as specified by Ravel.) I picked up a 1991 Vox Box CD of the recording, CDX-5032 to learn if it provided this effect. Not surprisingly, the chorus comes from the front.
Larry

Actually the Vox recordings have been licensed by Mobile Fidelity for release on Surround SACD.

The first one, due out later this month, is the Ravel with the female chorus in the rear. Check the story on High Fidelity Review at http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=15509970 for more details.

 

[Quadzilla]

Well Larry, I got the disk and I tried it out with Dolby Pro-Logic in my HTIAB system and through a Variomatrix receiver in QS mode and it does appear to be quadraphonic. There is a lot of virtually discrete material in the rear channels using both methods. In QS, it is actually quite astounding ... better than most of the stunning 5.1 sound on DVD-Audio. I can't say for sure, but it is worth a listen, especially with the fidelity of the 96/24 disk. It does say though, that it is mastered from the original master tapes, so if they are QS encoded ...

Cheers, Mike.

 

[bmoura]

Same is true of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe Suites on Turnabout QTV-S 34603 and Vox Box QSVBX-5133, Ravel: All the Works for Orchestra. In Suite No.2, the female chorus appears in the rear channels. (I learned recently that this is as specified by Ravel.) I picked up a 1991 Vox Box CD of the recording, CDX-5032 to learn if it provided this effect. Not surprisingly, the chorus comes from the front.
Larry

The Ravel is now available on Surround SACD from Mobile Fidelity. I had a chance to listen to it a couple of days ago and they did a wonderful job with it. The female chorus is definitely in the rear channels now!

Check the story on High Fidelity Review at http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=17526218 for more details.

 

[Cai Campbell]

Hey Quadzilla, thanks for turning me onto this. I have the complete catalog of Classic Records' DAD discs, which includes five titles originally from VOX/Turnabout. I didn't even think to check to see if these were QS encoded like the original LP's, but it certainly makes sense that they would be.

Of the five Turnabout titles, I'm 99% certain that four of them are QS encoded, including the one you've already mentioned:

DAD 1018 - Gershwin - All the Works for Orchestra & for Piano & Orchestra

DAD 1021 - Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky / Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade

DAD 1025 - Ravel - All the Works for Orchestra

DAD 1027 - Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition / Holst - The Planets

I've run these through my QSD-2 decoder, and they all decode wonderfully. They are all most certainly of the ambient-hall surround recording type, and they work amazingly well. You get a very real sense of the concert hall. The 24/96 high-rez digital provides an eminently clear and stable signal to the QS decoder, making for the best QS decoding presentation I've ever heard. These recordings are truly remarkable! What a great retro-surround discovery!

The only caveat is that the recordings do exhibit a few warts, both in performance and recording quality, but nothing terribly objectionable. The excellent surround performance more than makes up for these minor shortcomings.