Can I listen to a Quad mix on a standard 5.1 or Atmos equipment?

[Zooboo]

Hi there,

I'm new here on the QQ forums and I'm just discovering the joy of spatial audio. I'm scrolling the Surround Polls looking for new music to add to my spatial collection. I'm seeing a fair number of titles marked as "Quad".

Now I wonder if a Quad mix works on a standard 5.1 or Atmos equipment? Can I achieve a sound close to "Pure Quad" if I disable the Center channel on a 5.1 audio system?

Thank you for your help!

Eric

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Hi there,

I'm new here on the QQ forums and I'm just discovering the joy of spatial audio. I'm scrolling the Surround Polls looking for new music to add to my spatial collection. I'm seeing a fair number of titles marked as "Quad".

Now I wonder if a Quad mix works on a standard 5.1 or Atmos equipment? Can I achieve a sound close to "Pure Quad" if I disable the Center channel on a 5.1 audio system?

Thank you for your help!

Eric

You dont need to disable the center channel to play quad on a 5.1 system. But to play 5.1 as quad you do need to disable the center and LFE channels.

There is an issue where some newer equipment doesn't recognize true quad (4.0) and defaults to stereo playback, thereby losing 2 channels of information. It's all equipment dependant, so you'll need to check yours. Start here:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ecode-4-0-pcm-mlp-recordings-over-hdmi.26998/

 

[jimfisheye]

The 4 corner channels are still the quad channels. Quad plays on a 7.1.4 Atmos system 1:1 and the extra speakers are simply silent.

Caveats:
Some hardware players and software media players will not handle anything in between 2.0 and 5.1 correctly. Lazy programming...
Workaround: Put 4.0 to a 5.1 'container' with silent extra channels.

There's a big old screw up with 5.1 originally having two different formats. That leads to the rear channels in 5.1 getting played out the side channels in a 7.1.x system. This can be a PITA and some people even swap speaker cables between formats to deal with it. Easier with computer based hi-fi to setup for to switch between.

Ultimately you can have a 7.1.4 system that plays every format strictly 1:1 as it was mixed to be heard. Just a couple software hiccups to deal with depending on your choice of setup.

 

[SomethingAnything]

I really enjoy playing my stereo, Quad and 5.1 albums through my 5.1.4 Atmos system. I have a new Yamaha AVR and I use the Auro 3D selection. I find that the heart of the original mix/remix remains, and, through Auro 3D, the other speakers tastefully enhance the listening experience.

 

[barfle]

My 5.1 system plays quad recordings quite nicely.

I’m setting up 5.1.4 with a Marantz 7706, and if you don’t have a 7.1 bed, it drops the back channels and folds them into the sides. Huh?

My analog quad decoders are switched into the four corner speakers, just as JVC, Sony, and God intended. Digital quad sources played through my Oppo 105 play in all four corners as well.

 

[rmorit01]

On my system I do exactly that I switch the configuration from 5.1 to 4.0.

My equipment is a newer Denon AVR-2800H. I use an oppo 203 for Blu-ray quaddio mixes.

Oppo is HDMI to the Denon. The Denon allows for two sets of speakers configurations with different audessy corrections applied.

My front/rear speakers are Epicure M202 configured as 4 full range for quad.. I use an M&K center channel as it matches the 4 ohm rating of the EPIs and I use a home brewed subwoofer for the 5.1 configuration

Prior to setting a 4.0 configuration Blu-ray 4 channel would have the Denon using 5.1 so the center channel and subwoofer was used. I came from vintage Sansui Quad receivers so this setup works for me.

Though for pure stereo and turntable use i use a dedicated two channel receiver and another set of epicure model 5s and a separate subwoofer to manage the crossover.

Bob

 

[mandrix]

Because a variety of AVR's / Receivers don't playback pure 4.0 correctly due to the media chips installed, these days commercial releases (few but exist) of Quad usually employ a silent C and/or Lfe channel for compatibility.
Many of us have old rips of pure Quad channel, and along the way some devices, as said above, would only playback as stereo.

Otherwise it's easy enough to take a 4 channel song and add a silent C and and/or Lfe with Music Media Helper (free here on the forum) for compatibility or do it manually with a DAW or other apps.

Some years back I found my self authored DVD-A Quad discs refused to play more than stereo when I changed AVR's. Adding at minimum a silent C channel solved it.