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

[Robert van Diggele]

I only wish I were patient and knowledgeable enough to understand how to RIP the DTS HD Master.... :violin
I know, I know...many have tried to help me...but it just seems to be beyond my understanding. @:

G-man, for me the ripping is easy, but converting DTS 96/24 and DTS MA to FLAC can be troublesome sometimes, or flat out not working. I do not have this set yet so cannot give you pointers at the moment, but will do so once Amazon it has shipped the treasure.

Maybe I will try ssully (?) his option of only ripping and putting the files into a flac wrapper and be done with it.

 

[dr. simple]

Just got home from vacation and my Quadio box was here waiting. So I poured a beer and vacation continues in the sweet spot!

FWIW, I started with Chicago's Greatest Hits. Probably not a good idea. I found the mixes to be very uneven from one song to the next, so my ASSUMPTION - and it's only an assumption - is that this disc collects the mixes from each album and that this album was not mixed as an album, which is what I should've expected in the first place.

I moved on to Chicago (II) because I wanted to check whether the stereo mix was in fact stereo and not mono. First off, I only listened to one track in stereo, "The Road", and it was definitely NOT mono. I had to get right back to the quad mixes, and man, this is amazing. A revelation. Just wonderful.

Also FWIW, (because I was seriously concerned!), it decodes fine on my 2010 Onkyo receiver at 192.

 

[dr. simple]

Oops! Double post. I might as well make the best of it... let's see... I think the Doobie Brothers quad box is a GREAT idea!

 

[JonUrban]

Just doing that results in scratches. It is almost impossible to take discs out of card without scratching them.

I found these discs in the Chicago Quadio box are very easy to get in and out of the sleeves, and the included rice paper (or whatever it is) inner sleeve does a fine job protecting the disc from getting scratched by the cardboard itself. It never touches the disc, and like I said, unlike other cardboard sleeves I've encountered with some releases, these discs go on and out without much effort.

So don't let that stop you.

 

[rtbluray]

Oops! Double post. I might as well make the best of it... let's see... I think the Doobie Brothers quad box is a GREAT idea!

Yes, indeed! Let's make sure the people at Warner Music/Rhino Records here that loud and clear!

 

[himey]

G-man, for me the ripping is easy, but converting DTS 96/24 and DTS MA to FLAC can be troublesome sometimes, or flat out not working. I do not have this set yet so cannot give you pointers at the moment, but will do so once Amazon it has shipped the treasure.

Maybe I will try ssully (?) his option of only ripping and putting the files into a flac wrapper and be done with it.

Have you ever used Audiomuxer? It makes stuff like that very simple. You may need the arcsoft dts ma files to get it going but other than that, it is a simple process. Flac wrapper is for dts. You want a flac file with the full 24/192.

 

[Cheezmo]

Great. I scratched Rob reed Sanctuary II just taking it out to listen.

Did it damage it in a way that affected the sound? It is really hard to scratch a modern DVD/Blu-ray so badly that error correction can't correct it if it is even bad enough to affect reading the data.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Email:

Dear Dr. Rhino,

I just want to send you a quick thank you for putting out the Chicago Quadio Box.

I have been a fan and collector of surround music for only a few years, but in those years I feel I've learned an awful lot about the hobby and I know a tremendous value when I see it.

I am a fairly young enthusiast, by the way, and don't even particularly like Chicago (though listening to the Quadio Box is changing my feelings on that - what a great band).

I'm very grateful that you released all the classic surround albums for the band in one affordable package. I'm also grateful that you released the material in the highest possible resolution and bit-rate. This is very meaningful to and appreciated by the surround-sound-loving community.

The attention to detail in replicating the packaging is pretty cool too.

All too often, these days, record labels are packaging ONE surround disc, often at a lower-than-optimal resolution (like on DVD-Video) in a super-mega-ultra-deluxe-box with vinyl records, several cds of outtakes and concerts, scarves, marbles, drink coasters and the like and charging as much as or more than for this set. I personally have refused to purchase such boxes, even if it is for an album I really like. There are those of us who just want the hi-res surround and stereo (or mono, if that is the original mix) music.

So again, thank you, thank you, thank you. If I could I'd buy multiple copies of this set. As it is, I can assure you I will happily buy similar future sets for other artists. I hope this set sells well and you are duly rewarded for such a tremendous release.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Mike

 

[seilerbird]

I have been a huge Chicago fan since CTA. II is one of my favorite Chicago albums due to the inclusion of Colour My World. When it came out I was studying piano and I just had to learn how to play it. I am a horrible piano player so it was not a question of reading it and playing it, it was a question of learning it the hard way, one stinkin' note at a time. I eventually got it and to this day I can play a perfect note for note version of the song. I can't play anything else on piano but I do have CMW. I ordered the Quadio set last Saturday as a birthday present to myself and it will be here in a few days. Meanwhile reading all the threads about it made me curious. A very nice person gifted me with the first ten Chicago albums in quad (except IV) and I got to wondering if my copy of side 2 of II was stereo or mono. I have no clue if this is the SQ or the DVD-A version. However every cut on the album is definitely four channels or more. The bass is at the correct level and there are no extra guitar parts on 25 or 6 to 4. I am anxious to compare it to the Quadio versions. The reason I bought the box set when I already have the discs is to support both surround sound and Chicago. I don't want to have copies when the real versions are available.

About 15 years ago I decided to record my own version of Colour My World in my bedroom on my computer. I played all the instruments and sang all the parts. Here it is if you want a good laugh:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_vZF6_ChElTdUFRUGowWnBsSGs/view?usp=sharing

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Email:

That was an excellent response If you ever do this again PLEASE list your age in the email....because these companies need to know that disc mediums are not the sole province of the older demographics...there are younger audiophiles that don't just stream and download music...

 

[GOS]

I'm on the 4th disc and the quadiness has improved considerably!! So so cool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[edisonbaggins]

Just curious: are you using bass management? FWIW the "too much bass comments" are in reference to systems where speakers are set to small and thus the bass is re-routed to the sub.

I have now tested my system with my fronts and center set to "small" and with my fronts and center set to "large."
In both cases the sub was somewhat active, but not goin crazy or anything and the bass level was great. Is there a particular album folks are complaining about?
I did my tests on Chicago V, Saturday in the Park.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I'm on the 4th disc and the quadiness has improved considerably!! So so cool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

quadiness?....really...:ugham:

 

[Cheezmo]

I have now tested my system with my fronts and center set to "small" and with my fronts and center set to "large."
In both cases the sub was somewhat active, but not goin crazy or anything and the bass level was great. Is there a particular album folks are complaining about?
I did my tests on Chicago V, Saturday in the Park.

If you are listening to 4.0 and have your fronts set to large, there should be NO activity on the sub. There is no .1 channel.

You may have some setting on your processor that you should check. Some have a setting that send FRONT+LFE to the sub which may be causing that.

 

[edisonbaggins]

You may have some setting on your processor that you should check.

I suppose, for diagnostic reasons, but I'm not complaining about the mastering of the albums. I don't want to fix what ain't broke!

 

[wavelength]

I have now tested my system with my fronts and center set to "small" and with my fronts and center set to "large."
In both cases the sub was somewhat active, but not goin crazy or anything and the bass level was great. Is there a particular album folks are complaining about?
I did my tests on Chicago V, Saturday in the Park.

I didn't see a particular album mentioned.

 

[edisonbaggins]

I suppose, for diagnostic reasons, but I'm not complaining about the mastering of the albums. I don't want to fix what ain't broke!

Hang on, in both scenarios I described, wouldn't bass information from the rears be sent to the sub, given bass management?

 

[GOS]

If you are listening to 4.0 and have your fronts set to large, there should be NO activity on the sub. There is no .1 channel.

You may have some setting on your processor that you should check. Some have a setting that send FRONT+LFE to the sub which may be causing that.

When I set my fronts to large, my sub has some minor action. With them set to small, it has major action. For what it's worth.

 

[edisonbaggins]

When I set my fronts to large, my sub has some minor action. With them set to small, it has major action. For what it's worth.

Let's not forget the rears. In Quad I bet there is bass info back there.

 

[ar surround]

So now that the thread is cleaned up, is there any mention of what the issue is with the stereo track for album II?...Re:Chicago II, side two album material...

I listened to some of the stereo tracks on Chicago II this afternoon. Side two definitely has some issues and sounds even worse than the redbook CD. I wouldn't say that side 2 on the Blu-ray is all out mono, but the stereo separation is definitely minimal. 25 or 6 to 4 sounds muffled on both the Blu-ray and the CD. You know, every stereo version of Chicago II has sounded muddy to me going back to the LP era, so it wouldn't surprise me that this one falls on its face too. (I vaguely recall that the stereo tracks on the DVD-A sound much better, but I'll have to check it out and report back.)

Update: The stereo tracks on the DVD-A do indeed sound better than on any other release of Chicago II that I have heard. Make Me Smile still sounds a bit thin, but 25 or 6 to 4 has the same meaty sound as the 5.1 version. In fact, I prefer listening to the stereo version of it in PLIIx to the 5.1.