Wang Chung on Innerspace Soundtrack

[ndiamone]

Just won some CD's and one each of a 12-inch promo single and
12-inch commercial single off eBay:

US edition commercial CD Innerspace Soundtrack
US edition acetate CD Innerspace Soundtrack
UK/(Made in Germany) edition Innerspace Soundtrack
Special Promo Package Extended Innerspace Soundtrack and
Special Promo Package Extended IQ Soundtrack
(NOT the one where it's 6 cues from Innerspace along with the IQ complete score)
Hypnotize Me (Wang Chung) 12 inch promo and 12-inch commercial single

Now. I'm using the Wang Chung `Hypnotize Me' as the `standard' here.

The CD-Acetate version says it's recorded in Q-Sound.

I play it through my DPL and starting from the intro to 0:22 the sound is full surround, goes back to a nice widened-from-stereo mix up til the chorus, then the backup vocals come from the rear, and then goes back to the widened-from-stereo mix during the verses.
The instrumental break in the middle goes back to full surround before settling back down in place for the verses again.

Only on the CD-Acetate.

The commercial CD is the same as the commercial LP which I also have, and the commercial 7-inch single which has the radio edit on one side (which is close to but slower tempo than the Innerspace mix) and the LP edit on the other side, neither of which has any surround information at all, other than what you'd get in ambience.

The 12-inch commercial club single Innerspace Mix has a slightly different very closed-in Q-Sound-ish mix to it
but the promo club single is the same as the CD-Acetate.

And then the Made in Germany is a different mix yet of the same track, albeit without the surrounds, but yet on the ``coupled with the IQ soundtrack'' two disc set, the CD-Acetate mix is back with all the surrounds.

Weird.

Anybody got any explanations?

 

[EMB]

Not that many albums were done in Q-Sound, though I know there was one Roger Waters album, and Madonna's THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION. However, it was variable: the CD edition of the latter definitely had it, but I wouldn't swear that the import vinyl did. As for what Q-Sound was supposed to do, well....it did 'widen' the soundfield when played through normal stereo, but was more effective if you did a DPL II on it, which made for some interesting separation. Didn't catch on, though, and I'm not sure what other titles used the short-lived format. I also can't explain why the separation was variable, except that, like 3D photography for the cinema, some scenes were intentionally made in 3D, while much of a film usually wasn't. So during the mixing process for Q-Sound, the same thing might have been done in widening
certain portions of a song, while leaving other portions pretty much the usual stereo.

As for why some editions of an album were Q-Sound, but others seemingly not, can't provide an answer to that one. Good question, though.


ED

 

[ndiamone]

Dunno either.

But play the Innerspace Mix through DPL (whatever format you can find) and you see if you think the same as me.
The Innerspace Mix spins you around like a top and then plops you back down in your chair, only to take off once again just as if you were Dennis Quaid spinning around in his pod in the film.
Then play that against the 7-inch radio edit and the LP version and tell me what you think.
Download em if you don't have em.

 

[atrocity]

Didn't catch on, though, and I'm not sure what other titles used the short-lived format.

I just noticed that Richard Wright's "Broken China" has a Q-Sound logo.