4 More Quadio titles coming in October!

[OregonSurround Fan]

Received my Quadio set a few days ago, and I have to say that I'm a little underwhelmed - especially when compared to previous releases like the Chicago and Doobie Bros releases. Anyone else feel the same? Don't get me wrong - I'm a HUGE fan of the Quadio series. This one just seems a little off. Haven't listened to all of it yet - but the fidelity seems a little flat. Obviously, the new releases can only be as good as the source material, but the mixes are less than great. Anyone else noticing that? For example, on the Spinners disc, the rears are much, much hotter than the fronts. It almost seems like a mistake was made.

 

[barfle]

It’s a very minor contributor at best(worst?). Vinyl and cassettes, of course, are enjoying a revival. Vinyl is, no doubt, helped by the fact that people love album jackets in all their tactile and readable glory. Retro is also cool again, as demonstrated by low fi cassettes, digital cameras and “Polaroids.”In fact, I recently attended a wedding where they had a Polaroid-style camera next to the guestbook. Guests were encouraged to take photos of themselves and post them in the book, along with writing a short comment of well wishes.

Well, digital cameras have progressed to the point where they outperform 35mm film in resolution, latitude and color stability, but there may well be people who simply like film grain and faded color for the “authenticity” they bring, sort of how some people like the sound of tubes oe MP3s. Many big-budget movies are shot with digital cameras (look up the brand “Red” for an example of modern digital performance) because, believe it or not, the moving picture can be cropped, the resolution is so high.

The remark about easily busted cases contributing to the apparent demise of physical media was facetious and,of course doesn’t apply to DVDs or Blu-rays, as their soft plastic is pretty rugged.

I’ve seen ads for digital cameras with built-in printers, sort of taking the old Polaroid idea into the present century. I have no interest in them, so I have no idea of how they’re faring in the market.

 

[Dynamic Editor]

Received my Quadio set a few days ago, and I have to say that I'm a little underwhelmed - especially when compared to previous releases like the Chicago and Doobie Bros releases. Anyone else feel the same? Don't get me wrong - I'm a HUGE fan of the Quadio series. This one just seems a little off. Haven't listened to all of it yet - but the fidelity seems a little flat. Obviously, the new releases can only be as good as the source material, but the mixes are less than great. Anyone else noticing that? For example, on the Spinners disc, the rears are much, much hotter than the fronts. It almost seems like a mistake was made.

We've been discussing that in the Spinners poll thread, with many of us believing that the front left channel is too quiet to varying degrees across the tracklist. Conversation about it starts here: HiRez Poll - Spinners, The - SPINNERS [Blu-Ray Audio]

 

[OregonSurround Fan]

We've been discussing that in the Spinners poll thread, with many of us believing that the front left channel is too quiet to varying degrees across the tracklist. Conversation about it starts here: HiRez Poll - Spinners, The - SPINNERS [Blu-Ray Audio]

Thank you!

 

[esimms86]

Well, digital cameras have progressed to the point where they outperform 35mm film in resolution, latitude and color stability, but there may well be people who simply like film grain and faded color for the “authenticity” they bring, sort of how some people like the sound of tubes oe MP3s. Many big-budget movies are shot with digital cameras (look up the brand “Red” for an example of modern digital performance) because, believe it or not, the moving picture can be cropped, the resolution is so high.

The remark about easily busted cases contributing to the apparent demise of physical media was facetious and,of course doesn’t apply to DVDs or Blu-rays, as their soft plastic is pretty rugged.

I’ve seen ads for digital cameras with built-in printers, sort of taking the old Polaroid idea into the present century. I have no interest in them, so I have no idea of how they’re faring in the market.

I hear you barfle. One clarification of my post, however. Even if it doesn’t explicitly read that way, I was trying to refer to low fi digital e.g., mp3 and low pixel counts, as opposed to ALL digital. You look at stuff like Moore’s Law(not to be confused with GOS’s Law, LOL) and the jump from 480p to 720p to 1080p to 4K to 8K and you realize just how far computer technology and, with it, the quality of AV reproduction has advanced over the past 2-3 decades.

It’s also a shame that they chose 16/44.1 as the red book standard way back when, instead of opting for, say, 24/96.

As an aside, I recall the story of Christopher Nolan renting iMAX cameras for the filming of “The Dark Knight.” One of them got accidentally destroyed on set, leaving the world, at the time at least, with only 3 existing iMAX cameras.

Edit: Now I believe there are 26.

 

[esimms86]

Received my Quadio set a few days ago, and I have to say that I'm a little underwhelmed - especially when compared to previous releases like the Chicago and Doobie Bros releases. Anyone else feel the same? Don't get me wrong - I'm a HUGE fan of the Quadio series. This one just seems a little off. Haven't listened to all of it yet - but the fidelity seems a little flat. Obviously, the new releases can only be as good as the source material, but the mixes are less than great. Anyone else noticing that? For example, on the Spinners disc, the rears are much, much hotter than the fronts. It almost seems like a mistake was made.

Point well made and received but, just a caveat to try not to judge all four releases based on the poor quality of the Spinners.

 

[key_wiz]

I’ve seen ads for digital cameras with built-in printers, sort of taking the old Polaroid idea into the present century. I have no interest in them, so I have no idea of how they’re faring in the market.

Not sure about these, but my 15 year old has a Polaroid style camera.

There's something fun about her and friends taking pictures without knowing what they are going to get, or being able to edit/quickly retake it, and then having the relatively lo-fi picture something she can pin up on her wall.

 

[jaybird100]

Yeah, whoever designed the CD and SACD jewel cases should get a razzie award. It’s surprising to me that they, in spite of their obvious flimsy design, are still in use after 30 years. Maybe that’s why physical media is dying.

Mine arrived in perfect condition!

 

[Quadlover]

Mine arrived in perfect condition!

Two of the discs I received have circular scratches - Mingus & America. The America Blu-ray skips. I hope Rhino will replace them.

 

[Bruce00]

Wasn't really speaking to you personally but the topic in general. Shame on me for not making that clear. I thought that by not including your comment that it would imply a general reply to the topic and not to you personally.

I've never tried to get Amazon to replace a broken jewel case, do you know if they will? I've never tried because I write off a broken jewel case as the cost of doing business over the internet. If jewel cases were expensive then I wouldn't be so dismissive, but they aren't.

Here you go... for $1.25 you can make it all go away and get on with your life and listening to the music.
https://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=detail&Title_ID=12486

Thank you for the link, as I just ordered 10. As I will continue to purchase any and all Quadio bundles.

I apologize to the group if I came off as a little whining bastard, but if you have bought vinyl from Rhino you would see their superb packaging. Then to order their Quadio bundles and have 4 of 8 arrived broken.....but it is what it is.

To Rhinos credit they answered my email and seem concerned about the packaging. They asked for photos of the damage and state they are looking into it. So I hope they will upgrade the packaging

Now, I sat down relaxed after Physical therapy and a light workout at the gym to enjoy some tunes....DAMN I forgot what a voice Gordon Lightfoot had. So much so, I played it twice back to back. Kudos to all involved in the transfer to disc!
I enjoyed the Spinners and America as they took me back in time with so many memories.
Charley Mingus has been added to my Apple music Playlist to enjoy in the car.
While not truly quad they call it quantum logic 3d surround, with 28 (LOL) speakers. It sounds pretty good, as I've been listening to Tom Petty all week celebrating his birthday.

Well done Rhino, already looking forward to the next batch, unbroken cases ofcourse

 

[Bruce00]

Two of the discs I received have circular scratches - Mingus & America. The America Blu-ray skips. I hope Rhino will replace them.

Contact Rhino, they are pretty quick to respond on their "contact us" link on their webpage

 

[GOS]

Yay, mine arrived today! All 4 in perfect shape, cases and all.

 

[James_in_VA]

Yay, mine arrived today! All 4 in perfect shape, cases and all.

Awaiting your first impressions! Will it knock Sabbath and Cooper off their perches?

 

[Bill B]

Awaiting your first impressions! Will it knock Sabbath and Cooper off their perches?

No way!

 

[kmacleod]

My Four Quadios are still in transit from Ohio to MI as of Friday October 20th. I’m going to give it another two weeks before I reach out to Rhino.

 

[Myro]

Two of the discs I received have circular scratches - Mingus & America. The America Blu-ray skips. I hope Rhino will replace them.

Oddly, two of my discs had similar scratches. One of the circular scratches was quite noticeable, but I was able to rip the disc without issue. I assume this scratch was caused by shipping damage as the jewel case was badly cracked from something that had punctured the shipping box. It broke the outer case as well as the inner portion that houses the disc.

The other scratch appears to be unrelated to shipping. I don't recall ever getting brand new, sealed discs with scratches like this. Others may want to closely examine their Quadio discs.

Rhino was great about it though. I sent them some pics and they are going to send out replacements.

One disc was America, the other was the Spinners. Given the issues identified with the left channel of the Spinners Quadio, I may have 2 Spinners replacements in my future.

 

[Bill B]

Ordered mine Saturday night (21st), got notice that they shipped today. That's pretty quick IMO. Possible that they could be in my mailbox in a week..

 

[barfle]

It’s also a shame that they chose 16/44.1 as the red book standard way back when, instead of opting for, say, 24/96.

There were several criteria for the RBCD, and one of them is that it would be able to contain a stereo recording of Beethoven’s 9th symphony, which usually runs about 72 minutes, if memory serves. If there had been higher bit rates and more bit depth, the tradeoff would have been either a larger disc or a shorter playing time or monaural sound or some digital compression. Engineering in the real world always involves tradeoffs, and I think they came up with a pretty good compromise, but that’s me, today.

I usually can’t tell the difference between RBCD and 24/96, although I believe some can.

 

[esimms86]

There were several criteria for the RBCD, and one of them is that it would be able to contain a stereo recording of Beethoven’s 9th symphony, which usually runs about 72 minutes, if memory serves. If there had been higher bit rates and more bit depth, the tradeoff would have been either a larger disc or a shorter playing time or monaural sound or some digital compression. Engineering in the real world always involves tradeoffs, and I think they came up with a pretty good compromise, but that’s me, today.

I usually can’t tell the difference between RBCD and 24/96, although I believe some can.

I think that consumers would have been okay with a slightly larger disc, especially since there would have been nothing smaller preceding the CD. And then I think of the laser disc preceding the DVD.

I used to be able to reliably tell the difference between redbook and hi res, but that was 15-20 years ago when I had better hearing. Also, a well recorded and mastered CD is virtually always better than a hi res copy of a dog.

 

[barfle]

I think that consumers would have been okay with a slightly larger disc, especially since there would have been nothing smaller preceding the CD. And then I think of the laser disc preceding the DVD.

I used to be able to reliably tell the difference between redbook and hi res, but that was 15-20 years ago when I had better hearing. Also, a well recorded and mastered CD is virtually always better than a hi res copy of a dog.

A 24/96 recording would have over three times the number if bits that a 16/44.1 recording of the same length would have, so the disc would have been almost twice the diameter of the current CD. I’ve left off hubs and rims and whatever other overhead is involved in making a CD, but those are not bad first estimates of changing the bit rate with the laser technology of the time.

I certainly agree that good sound can come out of a bit rate that’s not exactly hi res. There are decent MP3s out there. I recall a print ad where Arthur Fiedler, long-time conductor of the Boston Pops, said something like “I can’t tell the difference” between a live performance and a 78 rpm record!

An aside, we went to a classical performance a couple of weeks ago, and in the lobby were a string trio, and even before I saw them, I could tell it was live and not recorded, even though the performers were teenagers.