Chicago Quadio - 9 Quad Albums on Blu-ray Audio.

[JonUrban]

Well Chicago VII is my favorite of the quads, so that's where I started for my first DVD-A for the car after doing a quick listen on the PC. It was a bit of a pain as the DTS is 24/196 which makes a great .flac but not so good for Discwelder/Surcode as I found out. So after getting the 4 channel .flac file on the PC I had to downsample the files to 24/96. I used Isotope's Resample plug in with Sound Forge 10 and resampled each channel file, which took about 5 minutes per channel. I was then able to make a DVD-A for the car.

Now this is a title that I had on Q8 back in the '70s and recorded to reel in the '70s, so I had a reel to reel dub created from a fairly new Q8 at the time and recorded to a high quality Maxell reel also at the time. The preserved reel was created in the '70s on equipment that was still pretty new at the time so my reel copy is actually pretty damn good. In the past I have created my own DVD-A from it, and I believe I sent the wav's to romanotrax for him to do the same. Needless to say I know this quad mix very well, and I know the material and fidelity very well. People who have heard the Q8 conversions usually give me the shocked look when I would tell them that this came from an 8-track.

Well, firing this new DVD-A in the car was nothing less than smile inducing joy. WOW! So clear and clean. Crisp and tight. The detail in tracks like the start of "Happy Man" and "Wishing You Were Here" is truly stunning. "Take that Silverline!" The Acura does a great job of handling the bass in the 4 channels when the source has no center or sub and this Quadio source is killer. Terrific. Amazing.

As for the box, well, someone at Rhino must have some love for these things, as the album jacket reproductions are done with great detail - even Chicago VII has the embossed feel like the original LP Jacket. The disc labels mimic the original Columbia LP labels with obvious changes, and the box is easy to access and the discs are easy to take out and put back. Very cool.

Now I will be on to the other discs, but if you are on a ledge about this one I can't see (or hear) why. This is an amazing release, astonishing as it came out of nowhere and it is EXACTLY what we all asked for back when the first Quadio CTA DVD came out. Not only is it all of the Chicago quads in a single box, it's HiRez and it's 24/192 at that.

Bravo Rhino!

 

[4-earredwonder]

Well Chicago VII is my favorite of the quads, so that's where I started for my first DVD-A for the car after doing a quick listen on the PC. It was a bit of a pain as the DTS is 24/196 which makes a great .flac but not so good for Discwelder/Surcode as I found out. So after getting the 4 channel .flac file on the PC I had to downsample the files to 24/96. I used Isotope's Resample plug in with Sound Forge 10 and resampled each channel file, which took about 5 minutes per channel. I was then able to make a DVD-A for the car.

Now this is a title that I had on Q8 back in the '70s and recorded to reel in the '70s, so I had a reel to reel dub created from a fairly new Q8 at the time and recorded to a high quality Maxell reel also at the time. The preserved reel was created in the '70s on equipment that was still pretty new at the time so my reel copy is actually pretty damn good. In the past I have created my own DVD-A from it, and I believe I sent the wav's to romanotrax for him to do the same. Needless to say I know this quad mix very well, and I know the material and fidelity very well. People who have heard the Q8 conversions usually give me the shocked look when I would tell them that this came from an 8-track.

Well, firing this new DVD-A in the car was nothing less than smile inducing joy. WOW! So clear and clean. Crisp and tight. The detail in tracks like the start of "Happy Man" and "Wishing You Were Here" is truly stunning. "Take that Silverline!" The Acura does a great job of handling the bass in the 4 channels when the source has no center or sub and this Quadio source is killer. Terrific. Amazing.

As for the box, well, someone at Rhino must have some love for these things, as the album jacket reproductions are done with great detail - even Chicago VII has the embossed feel like the original LP Jacket. The disc labels mimic the original Columbia LP labels with obvious changes, and the box is easy to access and the discs are easy to take out and put back. Very cool.

Now I will be on to the other discs, but if you are on a ledge about this one I can't see (or hear) why. This is an amazing release, astonishing as it came out of nowhere and it is EXACTLY what we all asked for back when the first Quadio CTA DVD came out. Not only is it all of the Chicago quads in a single box, it's HiRez and it's 24/192 at that.

Bravo Rhino!

And might I also add, a BIG hats off to the Columbia Recording engineers of the time who so brilliantly not only captured the HUGE sound that is Chicago on analogue tape but so masterfully and seamlessly remixed the master tapes into what I consider to be by far, among THE BEST SURROUND SOUND these ears have ever been privy to.

And like Ryan (rtbluray) and a few others on this forum, I consider BD~A a format to to be reckoned with. It may not be backward compatible with the millions of RBCD players out there but as I've been saying ALL along........it is one of the finest (and criminally underutilized) formats to ever be commercially available to the general public.

It may only be June, but I could easily find myself voting this boxset THE multichannel release of the year....or for that matter....ANY year and IMO has raised the Benchmark of what a great surround release should aspire to.

If only all the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famers could be treated this royally.

 

[Larry Geller]

Listened to IX yesterday and VII today. This release is unbelievable. I didn't even know they could do surround in 192. I've had these mixes for 40 years and I never thought they could sound this good.

 

[GOS]

Yesterday, the shipping notice said I'd get the Quadio this Wednesday. I just checked tracking this morning and IT'S OUT FOR DELIVERY!! Yes! Will have it in my hands in a couple hours.

 

[Quad Linda]

Immediately after the disc loads, try hitting arrow down, then click. The "Quadio" is the default, 2ch Selection is below it. You'll need to do that quickly, since the arrow moves to Track#1 automatically after highlighting the "Quadio 4ch mix".

I'll have to play "Side 2" from the MFSL SACD and see how the stereo sounds. Good thing I kept it. I'll update this post once I figure out how to play Quadio in stereo w/o a monitor. Something about colored buttons on the remote.

 

[GOS]

Yesterday, the shipping notice said I'd get the Quadio this Wednesday. I just checked tracking this morning and IT'S OUT FOR DELIVERY!! Yes! Will have it in my hands in a couple hours.

OK - so I couldn't stand the idea of this Quadio sitting on my porch in 95 degree heat....so I've come home to wait on it. :banana:

 

[stormchaser]

I have a ton of listening to do still, but wow. This is what we've been asking for from lots of artists.

 

[0tto]

Immediately after the disc loads, try hitting arrow down, then click. The "Quadio" is the default, 2ch Selection is below it. You'll need to do that quickly, since the arrow moves to Track#1 automatically after highlighting the "Quadio 4ch mix".

there also alternative way to switch between surround and stereo streams on DVD-A and BD-A with "audio" button on remote control during playback.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Yesterday, the shipping notice said I'd get the Quadio this Wednesday. I just checked tracking this morning and IT'S OUT FOR DELIVERY!! Yes! Will have it in my hands in a couple hours.

Talk about speedy delivery... I ordered from Import CD Friday morning. Its Monday afternoon and they just showed up!

 

[Clint Eastwood]

NOTICE Thread grooming forthcoming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Uh oh:couch

 

[timbre4]

Uh oh:couch

This thread is about the CHICAGO - QUADIO release. Thank you very much.

 

[bktouchstone]

I hope to hear more reviews of how great this is so I can torture myself. I pre-ordered because I was afraid it would sell out before we got our new house in Portland. So I had it delivered to the in-laws in Colorado, instead of to our apartment where one can't predict who will end up with it, and it has now arrived safely to the in-laws. Once we get into our house, they will ship it there. Unfortunately, I won't have a sound system until I get one some time late in July, at least a month from now. I can't decide if I want to hear "This is the worst recording ever" so I can stop thinking about what I am missing, or otherwise "this is a recording of the highest fidelity and you will never have to eat vegetables again because it is so life giving." On the SH forums, where the consensus is consistently that there never is one, there is of course no consensus, and opinions are all over the place. Thanks to everyone who has offered an opinion so far!

 

[seilerbird]

Talk about speedy delivery... I ordered from Import CD Friday morning. They just showed up!

This is good news for me. I ordered my copy on Saturday from Import CD so it should be here soon. This will be interesting since I already have all the albums in the set but not all of them are the official releases.

 

[Philip Spinner]

The best box since the brick.

 

[JonUrban]

The best box since the brick.

I agree Philip. This box is astonishing. I just perused over at "another forum" and they are going on and on nit-picking the mastering and pointing out an imperfection here and there, and GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!! Those people cannot just enjoy music, it makes me CRAZY. I don't know what else to say. This box is AWESOME in my book

:nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I agree Philip. This box is astonishing. I just perused over at "another forum" and they are going on and on nit-picking the mastering and pointing out an imperfection here and there, and GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!! Those people cannot just enjoy music, it makes me CRAZY. I don't know what else to say. This box is AWESOME in my book

:nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke

I hope this negative crap doesn't spread to this forum...it drives me crazy...some people aren't happy unless they can find something to bitch about...

 

[GOS]

I agree Philip. This box is astonishing. I just perused over at "another forum" and they are going on and on nit-picking the mastering and pointing out an imperfection here and there, and GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!! Those people cannot just enjoy music, it makes me CRAZY. I don't know what else to say. This box is AWESOME in my book

:nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke

I agree. It most certainly is a special, high quality release that we all should be head over heels over. I am. Just the sheer volume of music from a very popular band from back in the day...that I happen to really like. All in a very nice, cool looking box. I can dig it. Mine arrived around 3PM today and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I'll try to spin a few this evening. I don't blame Cup-B for buying 2 sets.....almost wish I had another one, to keep unopened.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I agree. It most certainly is a special, high quality release that we all should be head over heels over. I am. Just the sheer volume of music from a very popular band from back in the day...that I happen to really like. All in a very nice, cool looking box. I can dig it. Mine arrived around 3PM today and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I'll try to spin a few this evening. I don't blame Cup-B for buying 2 sets.....almost wish I had another one, to keep unopened.

Gos, if you wait a couple of weeks, I'm sure the Quadio boxset will dip below $100........and then you can gobble up a second boxset and keep it on ice.

Enjoy....you ARE in for a RARE treat.

As for those stereo centric, nit~pickin' SNOBS over at the SHF...........:nuke:nuke:nuke:nuke:nuke A~holes!

 

[wavelength]

I agree Philip. This box is astonishing. I just perused over at "another forum" and they are going on and on nit-picking the mastering and pointing out an imperfection here and there, and GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!! Those people cannot just enjoy music, it makes me CRAZY. I don't know what else to say. This box is AWESOME in my book.

:nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke :nuke

Flame-on Jon!!

 

[skindzier]

Jon, while I agree that the other forum can certainly be mind-boggling in its negativity, the potential stereo glitch on CTA would certainly qualify as a real issue. I bought the set for both the quads & the high-res stereo. Would definitely want to get a corrected CTA if it is messed up. I haven't spun the stereo yet, so will need to see for myself. The other "issues" I've seen over there fall in the NON category for me based on what I've heard so far...