HiRez Poll Black Sabbath - PARANOID [Blu-Ray Audio]

[jefe1]

Put on your seatbelt when you listen to this in quad its quite a ride.

 

[atrocity]

Also I feel a phase issue that leaves a hole in the center/center. Got to check again.

I don't think there's an issue there. This title was another one that got me to physically get up off the couch and listen to the center speaker because from my listening position it sounded like that speaker was outputting sound (it wasn't).

 

[EricKalet]

I don't think there's an issue there. This title was another one that got me to physically get up off the couch and listen to the center speaker because from my listening position it sounded like that speaker was outputting sound (it wasn't).

If your system is imaging two channel well enough, the playback in quad will be flawless, there will not be an issue with feeling like there is a "center" hole

 

[n8nagel]

If your system is imaging two channel well enough, the playback in quad will be flawless, there will not be an issue with feeling like there is a "center" hole

Y'all may call me crazy but I do not run a center channel on any system. I started out with the conventional AVR and actual 5.1 speakers, but either above or below the screen I could tell that the center was misplaced. Then I went to four speakers across the front with the two closer wired in parallel and tweeters at mid-screen level as my "center" that was much better. Finally I just went phantom center as I no longer had the space for all those speakers and with or without a sub it sounds fine, certainly better than the original 5.1 with the center on a shelf above the screen. Probably best of all would be an acoustically transparent projection screen with the center centered behind it, but I have never had a PJ setup.

 

[izackary]

I don't think there's an issue there. This title was another one that got me to physically get up off the couch and listen to the center speaker because from my listening position it sounded like that speaker was outputting sound (it wasn't).

That’s how you know your system is doing its job!

 

[modwerks]

There are two different streams on the discs. There is a stereo and quad and because they are equal in time duration, you can easily switch between the two, which I found very interesting and fun to do. You can compare the stereo and the quad on the fly like you never could do before. It's not a fold down conversion for sure. If you rip these discs you will see there is a separate stereo track there

So you can confirm that the tracks from the quad version and the stereo version have the same exact running time? Do you know if that was intentional for some reason?

 

[modwerks]

So you can confirm that the tracks from the quad version and the stereo version have the same exact running time? Do you know if that was intentional for some reason?

Besides time limitations on each side of the record? I've noticed in some instances, a quad version of a track can be a completely different take...

 

[GeezerJem]

Received today in the UK. Happy daze ! Only able to listen to the Quadio mix in Stereo ( PC folddown ? ) atm on superlovely Final Audio Sonorous III's, but MAN is it crankable ! Had to check various PC volume controls cos I ran out of volume :-( Found one that wasn't turned up and then it became alive It's not often that my missus sitting 10ft away recognizes an album I'm playing on closed headphones.
Anyway ... I'm familiar with the quad mix from the Q8 and Q4 'sources', each with their own wierdies ( and lovely deviations from the Stereo mix) , but the mix comes thru as epic. This is mine ears plugged into the master tape. Stunning ! No dropouts, clipping, digital artifacts, harmonic nasties ... no downsides. There is a high pitched whistle at the same freq. on all tracks, and hiss that fades out and the end of each track, but I really don't think there's a prayer of me hearing either on me speakers, when I get them going. It was fricken loud in me headphones ! Can't wait to get my 5.1 going again, lots of catching up to do. 2 x Santana, 2 x Tears For Fears, PARANOID, and a few XTC.

 

[kwd kwd]

nobody mentions the end of War Pigs does not speed up. I used to amaze friends with that on the quad LP.

 

[beerking]

First impressions:

1. VERY crankable. Great 70s analog-style mastering, no harshness or brightness to my ears. Tight and punchy bass and drums.
2. I noticed some tambourine in War Pigs and Paranoid that I don't think are in the stereo mix at all, or are mixed very low.
3. Some other things that sounded different from the stereo mixes - the air raid siren in War Pigs and the guitar solo in Paranoid. Hard for me to tell if they are actually different or just tonally different.
4. Ozzy's vocals are mixed very low and distant, especially in War Pigs, like they are coming from a different room or something. It doesn't ruin it for me but I wish they boosted the vocals to make them more present and immediate. This is really my only nit-pick of the whole disc.
5. Love the panning in War Pigs. Drum breaks and guitars going from speaker to speaker.
6. Heavy use of the rear speakers throughout, especially the guitars. Hope your rear speakers are up to the task! This is definitely a mix that will favor those with 4 identical full-range speakers for the front and rears.

All-in-all, this is an awesome disc to have and this is will be my go-to version of this classic album from here on out.

Yep, I'm in dream world.
Bought it on its release
Pee'd off my parents, "turn that down, now"
But pleased my friends, " turn that up, now"
Finally have the ultimate version.
A cranked up 10

 

[colsky]

Yep, I'm in dream world.
Bought it on its release
Pee'd off my parents, "turn that down, now"
But pleased my friends, " turn that up, now"
Finally have the ultimate version.
A cranked up 10

At 6.49 in the morning, hope the neighbours like Sabbath!!

 

[beerking]

At 6.49 in the morning, hope the neighbours like Sabbath!!

How can they not...

Early to bed, Early to rise
Keeps me Healthy, Wealthy and Quadralific

Oops.. that don't rhyme...

 

[Clement]

How can they not...

Early to bed, Early to rise
Keeps me Healthy, Wealthy and Quadralific

Oops.. that don't rhyme...

Rather than being a poet, perhaps you are more scientific . . .
That would explain your regimen leading to Healthy, Wealthy, and Quadralific!
Your post has me playing mine again–
I feel this is going to be a TEN!

 

[splinter7]

Going with a vote of 9 on this one. Just not that much of a Sabbath fan.
Bump it up to a 10 if you are a fan of the album/band and make sure you secure a copy.

The fidelity and balance in the mix is astounding. I experienced no phase issue as mentioned in an earlier post.
Maybe I would have liked the effect laden vocals on Planet Caravan to be a little louder in the mix.

 

[edisonbaggins]

My first listen, on the Quad Station, was very positive.
I want to rock the stereo, as well.
Sometimes a quirky Quad mix.
Fun though! And sounds as good as I remember this album ever sounding.

 

[ieltxumetal]

I fully agree with most of you. WOW!
The fidelity of the album is amazing. Powerful and crystal clear.
I have listened to this album more than a million times and never heard so many details.
As you have said, Ozzy's vocals could be a little low but that doesn't disturb me at all.

Glad they finally realeased this.
I hope they go on now remixing the rest of the catalog.

 

[Bill B]

Glad they finally realeased this.
I hope they go on now remixing the rest of the catalog.

Agree 100%, but dream on about them remixing the entire catalog.
Remember, this Quad mix was sitting on the shelf ready to go and needed minimal additional work.
So if there is a remix coming, it won't be Quad.
With that said, I'd buy them all if they ever did remix them into Atmos and/or 5.1.

 

[sjcorne]

Agree 100%, but dream on about them remixing the entire catalog.

Can’t seem to find it now, but Steven Wilson was interviewed a few years ago about his involvement in the Vol. 4 and Technical Ecstasy box sets (I still find it baffling that these didn’t include surround mixes) - he mentioned that the multitracks for most of Sabbath’s core catalog are missing

 

[Bill Houston]

I remember buying a CD of this album in high school and being appalled at how thin it sounded. I thought this was the producer's fault. 15 yrs. later I picked up a Rhino vinyl reissue of Paranoid and thought the production was brilliant and quickly realized the fault lied with early analog to digital converters. Like the music's life had been freeze-dried out of it.

My how analog to digital converters have gotten better! I Love Rhino did it in 24/192. Paranoid sounds vibrant and alive or in Sabbath's case dark, depressed, murky, and stoned! There is so much to love here, but for me, my favorite element of Sabbath's 1st 4 albums was the rhythm section. Bill Ward and Geezer Butler (also the lyricist for the album) are phenomenal. Geezer, in particular, is one of my favorite bassists ever. He's the prototype of this time for how inventive bassists could be in a popular rock band. That they could both take the lead and hold the foundation down in creative ways.

As far as the album goes, nobody other than Hawkwind can provide the soundtrack of psychedelic escape for the working class of England. They're going nowhere...slowly. Drudgery under grey skies. Over in the US, we had PTSD-afflicted, opiate-addicted soldiers coming home from Vietnam to be despised by their countrymen with few job prospects in their future. There is no light here, only a lurching wobble toward monotonous druggy despair. We are granted one opium-induced pit stop to evaporate away in "Planet Caravan" (still my favorite song on the album...such a beautiful minimalist piano outro!). More importantly, this makes up for that hatchet job "quad mix" released on the deluxe edition of Paranoid done a decade or so back. I was so excited by the prospects of that release only to have my hopes go into a black hole. This release rectifies that mistake!

Yes, the mix is a bit dated, although it's also more creative than I was expecting too. Most importantly Paranoid is able to create a pocked of 3 dimensional sound. Love how Ozzy's vocals seem to come from behind on War Pigs. You can hear each instrument at all times with a couple of new ones which make their debut in the background. I also noticed a lot of subtly from Geezer's bass playing that I had never heard before. Rhino could not have done a better job with this than they did! This is outstanding! Excellent sonics! I love they stayed true to the original quad mix. In fact, Rhino consistently made all the right decisions regarding format, resolution, price, and dynamic compression.

This reissue transported me back to listening to Paranoid in high school and just like in high school I drank one beer too many while enjoying this mix. I always thought Paranoid should have been the soundtrack to the animated film Heavy Metal. It's hard to find anything in either medium that does murky, stoned, dark genre subject matter better than either of those two. Buy them both!

Music: 10
Mix: 8
Sonics: 9

Rhino, what about a quadio of Space Ritual to cleanse our souls of the fake surround DVD that was released 10 years ago?

 

[Nyad]

I remember buying a CD of this album in high school and being appalled at how thin it sounded. I thought this was the producer's fault. 15 yrs. later I picked up a Rhino vinyl reissue of Paranoid and thought the production was brilliant and quickly realized the fault lied with early digital to analog converters. Like the music's life had been freeze-dried out of it.

My how analog to digital converters have gotten better! I Love Rhino did it in 24/192. Paranoid sounds vibrant and alive or in Sabbath's case dark, depressed, murky, and stoned! There is so much to love here, but for me, my favorite element of Sabbath's 1st 4 albums was the rhythm section. Bill Ward and Geezer Butler (also the lyricist for the album) are phenomenal. Geezer, in particular, is one of my favorite bassists ever. He's the prototype of this time for how inventive bassists could be in a popular rock band. That they could both take the lead and hold the foundation down in creative ways.

As far as the album goes, nobody other than Hawkwind can provide the soundtrack of psychedelic escape for the working class of England going nowhere slowly under the grey skies and over in the US broken opiate-addicted soldiers coming home from Vietnam to be despised by their countrymen. There is no light here, only a lurching wobble toward monotonous druggy despair. We are granted one opium-induced pit stop to evaporate away in "Planet Caravan" (still my favorite song on the album...such a beautiful minimalist piano outro!). More importantly, this makes up for that hatchet job "quad mix" released on the deluxe edition of Paranoid done a decade or so back. I was so excited by the prospects of that release only to have my hopes go into a black hole. This release rectifies that mistake!

Yes, the mix is a bit dated, although it's also more creative than I was expecting too. Most importantly Paranoid is able to create a pocked of 3 dimensional sound. Love how Ozzy's vocals seem to come from behind on War Pigs. You can hear each instrument at all times with a couple of new ones which make their debut in the background. I also noticed a lot of subtly from Geezer's bass playing that I had never heard before. Rhino could not have done a better job with this than they did! This is outstanding! Excellent sonics! I love they stayed true to the original quad mix. In fact, Rhino consistently made all the right decisions regarding format, resolution, price, and dynamic compression.

This reissue transported me back to listening to Paranoid in high school and just like in high school I drank one beer too many while enjoying this mix which breathed new life and discoveries into the album. I always thought Paranoid should have been the soundtrack to the animated film Heavy Metal. It's hard to find anything in either medium that does murky, stoned, dark genre subject matter than either of those two. Buy them both!

Music: 10
Mix: 8
Sonics: 9

Rhino, what about a quadio of Space Ritual to cleanse our souls of the fake surround DVD that was released 10 years ago?

Planet Caravan is other worldly, totally transportative, have you heard the fantastic cover by Moon Duo?