HiRez Poll Wakeman, Rick - SIX WIVES OF HENRY THE VIII [DVD-A]

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Rate the DVD-A of Rick Wakeman - SIX WIVES OF HENRY THE VIII

  • 10 - Excellent Surround, Excellent Fidelity, Excellent Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5 -

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4 -

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3 -

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1 - Poor Surround, Poor Fidelity, Poor Contact

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    38

JonUrban

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this February 2015 CD/DVD-A re-release of Rick Wakeman's "Six Wives of Henry the VIII" album from UMe. Sourced from the original quadraphonic master tapes by Andy Walters at Abbey Road, the original quadraphonic mix is presented in High Resolution on the DVD-Audio disc included with a CD.

Original pre-release discussion thread: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?19892


Henry Front.jpg
Henry Back.jpg
View attachment 17335
 
I've modified my original review slightly, especially in light of the fact that it's sourced from tape, but here it is from the Rick Wakeman thread:

Every once in a while, I hear some faint noise resembling vinyl, but overall, this is a pretty clean transfer, and I have not heard any sort of noises or dropouts like I did on "Arthur".

Plus I think the music is much better on this one, without an annoying singer to get in the way.
Like "Arthur", it certainly is a very adventurous mix that makes full use of the surround channels.

Unlike "Arthur" (which gets a '7' for me), this one gets an '8'.
My advice however would be to only buy these reissues if you are a huge Rick Wakeman fan, or if you really love Quad. (and I would definitely suggest you choose "Six Wives" over "Arthur").
My REAL advice would be to save your money for the upcoming surround DVD-As in March ("Sparkle in the Rain", "Trilogy", and "Geese & the Ghost"), not to mention all of the wonderful SACDs on the way from Audio Fidelity. These discs should all be worth more than these Rick Wakeman Quad DVD-As.

Finally, I'm now realizing that these discs were not always meant to be DVD-As. You'll notice there is no mention of DVD-A or MLP on the back, plus the DVD itself is labeled as a DVD-V.
Also what the hell is "LPCDM" and "DTX"? Someone's been drinking lately, and it's not me… ;)
 
Its a 6 from me. Sounds very similar to the Quad fan made DVD from a few years back. the CD sounds great I might add.
 
Was anyone else amazed to read that this LP has sold nearly 15 million units? I knew that it was popular but I find that number astonishing. Anyway, I’ve always had a soft spot for this album but was surprised to learn that it doesn’t appear to be in my collection anymore, so I was glad to rectify that with this release. I still love the stereo mix but find the quad mix, as presented here, a bit of a challenge to enjoy. I’m not sure how much of this is based on the mix or fidelity. Overall I don't get the sense of a well-defined soundstage and instruments often sound rather woolly. Regardless of the source, this is what we were given so I won’t speculate as to what might have been. I doubt I’ll be returning to the quad much.

The video clip from The Old Grey Whistle Test is a nice addition although I was disappointed to see that the performance was mimed - which I think was unusual for that program, yes? Well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given the amount of keyboard overdubs and settings involved but I thought he might deliver a streamlined version.

I give the quad mix and fidelity a 5 but the inclusion of the hi-res stereo brings my overall rating up to a 7.
 
It was nice of Universal to show interest in quad and include a quad mix on a release, we've been asking for this long enough. And, it has a nice hi-res stereo mix, some fun bonuses, and a nice package, and well authored dvd-a.

However, my biggest draw to this was the quad mix, and they got that very wrong on here. Between the confusion of just what is on this disc, the horrible communication, and the less than ideal source used when better sources exist and would have been easy enough for the label to obtain, this release was a huge disappointment for me. Not to mention, other than stating it includes the quadraphonic mix in the booklet and on the back of the package, there's no real information about the quad mix, not even a credit for the guys that did the quad mix.

And so I unfairly give it a 2. I realize that it may be unfair given that it includes hi-res stereo from the master tape, and is a nicely put together package. But, that's the only reason it gets the 2 points. My big draw to this was the quad mix, and they messed that up so badly I needed to give it a score that reflects that disappointment. This will be getting very little play by me, maybe if for some reason I need to listen in stereo I might grab it, but otherwise I'm going to be listening to my CD4 conversion.


Anyways, this has inspired me to start a quad podcast, the quadcast, which is an idea I've been kicking around for a while, and have decided to do as a youtube channel. The first episode is all about this quad mix, and the dvd-a, and the different formats it was released on, and a bit of analysis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1OA81R41_0
 
I used to have the stereo mix on vinyl but that was essentially my experience with this album. While I understand the frustration with the "less than ideal" quad source, and elements of the packaging/labeling are odd at times as noted, I give this a 7 overall. The quad mix and the music itself are interesting enough to warrant that. I'll get my money's worth with occasional listens over time (both quad and stereo), so that's good enough for me.
 
I voted 8 on this one. I like the music on King Arthur better. But this is still very good. Glad to have it.
 
From the moment I saw Rick Wakeman play a track on the Old Grey Whistle Test, I knew I wanted this album, sadly my younger brother beat me to it and got it on cassette. I have this on SQ Quad Vinyl. So I had to get this 4.0 release. Its a 9 for the music, a 7 for the sound quality (it is an old album), and a 7-8 for the 4.0 mix. So an 8 overall from me.

As an aside. The first time I listened to it I thought it was a vinyl transfer and decode of the SQ, but I don't now, as the noises I originally though were surface noise I am pretty sure are the Leslie speakers - which always produced a lot of rumbling swooshing noise akin to that from vinyl when mic'ed up. Plus we have Neil Wilkes statement the 4.0 was from the master tape.
 
This is chamber/pop/rock in quad at it's finest.I always enjoyed this disc and had it in stereo before aquiring it in SQ.

This A&M quad disc is a very good mix compared to others by that label.

As far as the source goes, I've heard worse, I can't and won't complain.I thank Neil for his work in bringing this quad to us consumers.It sounds pretty clean to me.

This is an imaginative album and my favourite quad disc from Wakeman.

I give this an easy 8.




btw . Someone sometime back on a prior post wanted to know how to tell if the A&M quad album was SQ ? This album did not have the gold SQ sticker to my knowledge.But it was the only disc that did have SQ in print. (pic)20150718_154323.jpg20150718_154251.jpg
 
I own the Q8 of this. I couldn't find a thread for the original quad release so I thought I'd throw my thoughts in here.

After some deliberation, I gave this a 7. Rick Wakeman himself needs no introduction, as he is one of prog rock's finest keyboard players and this is a great album with a really cool concept.

As far as the quad mix goes, to my ears, it mostly seems to be set with Keyboards/Bass in the fronts and drum tracks in the rears, with some occasional keyboard parts appearing behind you at times. Not the most adventurous or creative mix out there, though separating the drums to the rears does open up the sound field and allow the keyboard parts to be heard more clearly. In my opinion, the mixer could have taken more advantage of the soundfield to showcase Rick's wide assortment of keyboards, but it is overall a very enjoyable listen and definitely recommended for any surround prog fans.
 
since i couldn't access the pre-release bust up, ahem, pre-release discussion that Jon linked to in post 1 of this Poll, i'll just add these two wee piccies here.

they depict firstly my Q8 Akai transfer from October 2017 and pic 2 is the Grundig demodulated CD-4 needledrop i did last month.

while i accept 'waveform whispering' doesn't tell the whole story (and i think the Front channels may be a bit higher in volume than they should be on my Q8 transfer, it sounds a bit front-heavier than the CD-4 to me) you can "see" how close the CD-4 is to the Q8 a lot of the time and listening comparisons bear that out.
it's pretty impressive imho and its only really in approx 3-4 small spots the CD-4 falls down a tad and doesn't acquit itself with absolute flying colours. either way, sheer listening alone you'd be hard pushed to identify which is the fully discrete presentation (no slight on the Surround Master at all but that isn't something i could mistake my SQ LP decode for! i'll post up a pic of that for fun too, soon!)

U.S. Q8 on Akai CR-80-SS deck:

E3019F07-4C2B-4C12-8FB2-0A15B82AD340.png

Japanese CD-4 LP demodulated through Grundig Quadro demodulator:

ED069ECA-6520-407A-A527-334F1206EB50.png
 
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Was anyone else amazed to read that this LP has sold nearly 15 million units? I knew that it was popular but I find that number astonishing. Anyway, I’ve always had a soft spot for this album but was surprised to learn that it doesn’t appear to be in my collection anymore, so I was glad to rectify that with this release. I still love the stereo mix but find the quad mix, as presented here, a bit of a challenge to enjoy. I’m not sure how much of this is based on the mix or fidelity. Overall I don't get the sense of a well-defined soundstage and instruments often sound rather woolly. Regardless of the source, this is what we were given so I won’t speculate as to what might have been. I doubt I’ll be returning to the quad much.

The video clip from The Old Grey Whistle Test is a nice addition although I was disappointed to see that the performance was mimed - which I think was unusual for that program, yes? Well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given the amount of keyboard overdubs and settings involved but I thought he might deliver a streamlined version.

I give the quad mix and fidelity a 5 but the inclusion of the hi-res stereo brings my overall rating up to a 7.

the 70’s were a weird time. Jean-Michele Jarre had a pop hit back then. I was very excited when this disc was announced. It was a favorite of mine in high school, along with Arthur. From this thread that appears unusual, but I‘ve always loved the Arthurian Legend. Give me a discrete surround mix of Camelot.

Sonically this release is ok, it doesnt sound much better than I remember the vinyl sounding. It’s kind of muddy, but that might just be the organs. The quad mix while interesting at time seems to be restricted to have the percussion in the rears. I still love the music and i am sure I will pull it out for a listen a couple time a year as I have since 2015. I give it a 7.
 
What a difference a few years make. Just dug this MLP QUAD DVD~A out of mothballs and spun in on my newly tweaked secondary audio system, analogue out into a Parasound P7 all analogue preamp into a Parasound Halo 5.1 amp. Sounds better than I EVER remember it sounding. Unlike a lot of multi~ch SACDs, it's also encoded at a much higher level but truth be told, it really sounds pretty sensational...with a nice balance between front/rear speakers.

I upped my vote from a 7 to a 9. At least Universal didn't release it as a LOSSY DTS/DD 4.0 and of course the hi res LOSSLESS Stereo remaster from the analogue masters is a true bonus. For the cost of this set ..... cheaper than most hi res stereo downloads.
 
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i removed it from my copy and i disregard what the purists think about that. but for others who lack the technical means to do this, i believe there should be two versions released, one without the ugly pitch wavering, and one with, in the same manner that the beach boys released stereo and mono versions of their early tunes. i for one, don't believe it is akin to "patina" on an old painting, it is just a plain distortion of what should have been a pure record of a marvelous musical instrument, that old pipe organ at cripplegate, whose resplendently sonorous chorus should should have been preserved intact as much as the state of the art allowed at the time. judging by the high noise levels it almost sounds like they used a wollensack to record it just as the stones did with one of their songs.
 
Then again we venture into "quad transfer as documenting historical recordings". Yet, this feels weird. I still think there are phase issues on some stereo instrument on some tracks.

Interestingly, the so called law of having an instrument and its effect in one channel doesn't apply too much.
It is certainly creative in the quad mixing (drums rear left, or stereo in the left pair of speaker - for those in 5.1 like I am).
I notice the will to have instrument in phantom 'middle stereo pair' (piano when the choir is front stereo) which makes for a more elaborate mixing.

But my thoughts are, on the whole, the mix is confuse and not really under control. And not very pleasant.

So it is a 6 for me.
 
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