HiRez Poll Average White Band - AWB [Blu-Ray Audio]

[gbaby183]

If possible, also compare the stereo mix on the Blu-ray to the LP in those same places. It would be interesting.

I have compared the LP or vinyl to the Blu-ray and my opinion is that the Blu-ray in stereo sounds better than the LP. I felt the two channel DTS sound with its sampling rate of 192/24 PCM had a warmer sound. The LP was much louder with slightly less bass.

 

[gvl_guy]

I totally forgot that these guys actually SING in most of their songs. Pick Up the Pieces barely has vocals and, of course, this was their hot song that we all likely heard on the radio at some point in our lives. That being said, I really enjoyed the rest of the album, too, but PUtP is absolutely stunning! The surround is spectacular and could absolutely be used to show friends what surround can do. I highly recommend playing PUtP as a demo tune. A total 10 for me.

 

[par4ken]

I must be one of the few here who doesn't really care for the music on this disc.

That being said I do actually have the CD-4, which I copied to the hard drive. I've given the music a fair chance listening to it occasionally over the years and still consider it just "Average", so a five for content. That funk sound is just too close to Disco for my taste. The mix and sound quality fair much better a nine for each. So averaging and rounding up for packaging I'm voting eight.

 

[gvl_guy]

I must be one of the few here who doesn't really care for the music on this disc.

That being said I do actually have the CD-4, which I copied to the hard drive. I've given the music a fair chance listening to it occasionally over the years and still consider it just "Average", so a five for content. That funk sound is just too close to Disco for my taste. The mix and sound quality fair much better a nine for each. So averaging and rounding up for packaging I'm voting eight.

What's wrong with disco?

 

[himey]

What's wrong with disco?

Give me some full albums in Atmos of Donna Summer!

 

[gvl_guy]

Give me some full albums in Atmos of Donna Summer!

Amen!;I'd love a physical copy of that Chic that's streaming right now.

 

[par4ken]

What's wrong with disco?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

What's wrong with disco?

Hated the music. Loved the girls.

 

[gbaby183]

Hated the music. Loved the girls.

You mean to tell us that you didn't like "Get Down Tonight," by KC and the Sunshine Band or "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool and the Gang?

 

[LuvMyQuad]

You mean to tell us that you didn't like "Get Down Tonight," by KC and the Sunshine Band or "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool and the Gang?

I'm not even sure I know the songs., maybe the 1st one.

 

[steelydave]

I compared the mix on the Quadio disc to two different demodulations of the CD-4 LP and one transfer of the Q8, and compared to those (and verified by using both a couple of tools in my DAW including Voxengo SPAN and my own two ears) the quad mix on the Quadio disc needs the front right channel increased by 2.4dB to balance the front pair. You can also achieve the same effect by lowering the front left by 2.4dB but to me it felt like the rears were too loud as a result.

I spoke to Darrell Johnson (who did the CD-4 cutting of this album at the JVC Cutting Center in Hollywood) a few years back and while I don't recall what he said about this album specifically, he told me that either the engineer or producer of the album he was cutting would attend the session to approve the mastering make sure it sounded right, so I have to believe that the 2.4dB boost is what either Gene Paul (who did the quad mix) or Arif Mardin (who produced the album) wanted.

The CD-4, while obviously being sonically inferior to a master tape transfer from a fidelity standpoint has a more pleasing tonality to me, thanks to a cut in the lower midrange and a boost in the upper midrange compared to the Quadio disc. A wide cut centering around 1.5kHz (so it's starting around 600Hz and ending around 3kHz) of about 3dB will tame some of the midrange, and then a slightly narrower boost of about 3dB centering around 6kHz (so it starts around 4kHz and ends around 11kHz) will add some sparkle and presence to the vocals, lead instruments and hi-hats and cymbals.

It also seems like the quad mix has the bass rolled off (this is in all versions, CD-4, Q8 and the Quadio) compared to the stereo mix, maybe with a view toward making it compatible with CD-4 cutting, compared to every stereo version (which was about 6 different CDs, the 192/24 HDTracks and Quadio flat transfers, and one LP) that I auditioned. Listen to the intro of 'Got the Love' to spot the difference - the bass drum 'thumps' in the stereo mix, and 'pops' in the quad mix. The amount of roll-off varies from track to track but you can safely add a low shelf (below 200Hz) of at least 3dB (and up to 7dB on some tracks) to give the quad mix more of the visceral low end impact of the original stereo mix, which I think it needs.

 

[kfbkfb]

aside:
Darrell Johnson commented on the AWB CD-4 in Discogs:
https://www.discogs.com/release/1954115-Average-White-Band-AWB

(has anyone listened to the stereo AWB mix through a Surround Master [or Hafler] decoder)?


Kirk Bayne

 

[gbaby183]

I compared the mix on the Quadio disc to two different demodulations of the CD-4 LP and one transfer of the Q8, and compared to those (and verified by using both a couple of tools in my DAW including Voxengo SPAN and my own two ears) the quad mix on the Quadio disc needs the front right channel increased by 2.4dB to balance the front pair. You can also achieve the same effect by lowering the front left by 2.4dB but to me it felt like the rears were too loud as a result.

I spoke to Darrell Johnson (who did the CD-4 cutting of this album at the JVC Cutting Center in Hollywood) a few years back and while I don't recall what he said about this album specifically, he told me that either the engineer or producer of the album he was cutting would attend the session to approve the mastering make sure it sounded right, so I have to believe that the 2.4dB boost is what either Gene Paul (who did the quad mix) or Arif Mardin (who produced the album) wanted.

The CD-4, while obviously being sonically inferior to a master tape transfer from a fidelity standpoint has a more pleasing tonality to me, thanks to a cut in the lower midrange and a boost in the upper midrange compared to the Quadio disc. A wide cut centering around 1.5kHz (so it's starting around 600Hz and ending around 3kHz) of about 3dB will tame some of the midrange, and then a slightly narrower boost of about 3dB centering around 6kHz (so it starts around 4kHz and ends around 11kHz) will add some sparkle and presence to the vocals, lead instruments and hi-hats and cymbals.

It also seems like the quad mix has the bass rolled off (this is in all versions, CD-4, Q8 and the Quadio) compared to the stereo mix, maybe with a view toward making it compatible with CD-4 cutting, compared to every stereo version (which was about 6 different CDs, the 192/24 HDTracks and Quadio flat transfers, and one LP) that I auditioned. Listen to the intro of 'Got the Love' to spot the difference - the bass drum 'thumps' in the stereo mix, and 'pops' in the quad mix. The amount of roll-off varies from track to track but you can safely add a low shelf (below 200Hz) of at least 3dB (and up to 7dB on some tracks) to give the quad mix more of the visceral low end impact of the original stereo mix, which I think it needs.

This is a great post. I mentioned in an earlier post about the mix being uneven, and while I did not know the reason, you may have provided the fix. Thanks

 

[ClarkNovak]

One of my favorite AWB records, so how could I not rate it well? Sounds fantastic and full-bodied; a really great A/D transfer and superb material. Quite a number of musical surprises, too, as the Quad mix is much more open than the stereo master, allowing some of the 'hidden' instrumental parts to breathe in the light of day. My only quibble: Atlantic could have mixed it to show off the back speakers a bit more - I like hearing plenty of sound from all 4 corners, and the rears are a bit lower than I'd like, but a +2dB boost to the rears puts it to my liking. Great stuff!

 

[BillSamm1]

A strong contender for my favorite and best sounding Quadio disc thus far.

 

[Willie Wilson]

30% SURROUND MIX - 30%
30% AUDIO FIDELITY - 30%
30% CONTENT - 30%
10% OVERALL PACKAGE - 10%

Total Vote: 10. Flashback to the 1974. "Pick Up The Pieces" got you on the dance floor to shake your booty. If you looked around the room, the disco ball shot rays of light on the joyful diversified celebrants. I picked up the vinyl CD4 Quadra Disc and wore it out. 50 years later we are lucky to hear this 192/24 BluRay in all it's 4.0 glory. IMHO it never sounded this good and is highly recommend.

The sax solo on “Pick Up the Pieces” comes blasting out and demands your attention. Love how “Person to Person” brings the funk and foreshadows the fabulous “Schoolboy Crush,” which would come later on the Cut the Cake album. “Work To Do” is a workout that fills the room with horns, bass and vocals. This album is classic with great fidelity considering its age. Definite 10.

 

[quicksrt]

The music and mix feel like they demand your attention. The quad mix pulls me or my ears into it especially the rear channels. Not as punchy and thumpy as I expected, but the music and mix are still so captivating in quad. This can be used to show people what quad is or was all about. I never owned the album so it retains a newness for me when played. I'm going to listen to this one again as my next quad listen. But I can vote a 10 now after just the three plays.
There is not another quad mixed album like this.

 

[aardvark2300]

Gonna be generous and give this one a “9” for the great mix and sound quality.
I do agree with the opinion of some others that the album starts out really strong but the material kind of gets weaker as it goes along, so no “10” here.
Still a great release and I am very happy to have it!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Another terrific review from blu~ray.com

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Average-White-Band-AWB-Blu-ray/361213/#Review

 

[quicksrt]

Another terrific review from blu~ray.com

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Average-White-Band-AWB-Blu-ray/361213/#Review

I've not read a single review of a Quadio title that was not very positive, if not absolutely glowing. Consistently rave reviews coming in for the series. And it's nice to see that the home blu-ray video & audio surround crowd is getting wind of these releases.