Quad LP/Tape Poll Deep Purple: Machine Head [CD-4/Q8/QR]

[EMB]

Warner Bros. BS4 2607/Purple Q4TPSA 7504.


Side 1:

Highway Star
Maybe I'm a Leo
Pictures of Home
Never Before

Side 2:

Smoke on the Water
Lazy
Space Truckin'

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

10. Music is superb! Mix is an 8 or 9. I prefer the DVD-A mix, and I've heard them all. I have a UK SQ LP, UK SQ CD, DVD-A, UK DVD-V and CD-4 of this, not to mention 4 2ch mixes. BTW: Funky Claude (Nobs) passed on last week.

She's got everything!

 

[Q-Eight]

I'll admit, you have to hear this one come from the Q4 reel. The 8-track does not do this album justice. The Quad mix is great on the reel because you can hear all the subtle placements of the drum kit. Good static mix, but then again, this kind of music doesn't lend itself to gimmicks, so it works.

 

[LizardKing]

Dumb question - I presume this is the same mix as the UK EMI SACD?

 

[jimfisheye]

Great use of the format for this album. Loud powerful Deep Purple music spread out into 4 speakers instead of just 2. Simple as that. No fancy movement but good use of placement to capture the depth of the sound without the compression needed for stereo to work.

The QR copy is the one you want.

I haven't heard that SACD (still not convinced this Foobar DSD > PCM conversion works either). I have heard a 5.1 remix (I don't think it was a bootleg - could have been) that sounded like one of those circa 2000 DVDA bonus track 5.1 remixes. Just amateur hour awfulness (mostly stereo in front, awkward reverb in back and a couple surround pans). Oh, and the fronts were brick-walled to the extreme (like what you need to do for program intended to be reduced to 16 bit). On second thought, almost certainly a bootleg.

 

[winopener]

Dumb question - I presume this is the same mix as the UK EMI SACD?

No: it is a different mix and - sorry for Our Kwad Lady - but imho this is the best surround mix of the three (UK sq/q8/sacd OR USA dvd-a/Jap SACD).

 

[LizardKing]

No: it is a different mix and - sorry for Our Kwad Lady - but imho this is the best surround mix of the three (UK sq/q8/sacd OR USA dvd-a/Jap SACD).

Thanks! Another one to track down.....

 

[surteess]

just got the following 5 CD (DVD) box set -

http://darkerthanblue.wordpress.com/review-pages-•-cd-dvd/machine-head-40th-anniversary-edition/

http://darkerthanblue.wordpress.com/machine-head-at-40/

It is amazing how good the remixes are (even the SQ version).

 

[Q8]

This is one that I give 10 to, that I would give 11 if I could. The mix is just perfect for this material. I would say this one has worked up to one of my top fvorite quads. I have the CD-4.

 

[MIDIQ]

A definate 10. One of top 10 favorite quads.

 

[quicksrt]

I did a needle drop from a NM copy of the US CD-4 LP at 24/96kHz.

It's my favorite listening for a program of the album in stereo. More air, nicer high end, tight bass. More of an audiophile experience than the standard sludgy stereo mix. Being a hard rock metal type album the murky mess of the stereo mix seems intentional.

And I have a DVD-A of the Q4 conversion which is of course great.

 

[jimfisheye]

I had only heard the US quad mix and the 5.1 remix when I last posted.
The 5.1 remix is what I already said. An unambitious remix that sounded quickly knocked out (like most of the circa 2000's DVDA surround remixes). Mostly stereo with a couple pans and ambience in the back.

I've since heard the UK quad mix...

The US quad mix wins hands down! The UK mix is more primitive. It has that cookie cutter quad mix style with the guitar and keys pulled out into the rears. Same edit in Lazy (I think was the song) as the stereo mix. The extended extra guitar solo is unique to the US quad mix. The US quad mix is a much more realized mix. Drum spot mics to the front and room mics in the back. Instruments and voices all around throughout. Best fidelity of all 3 mixes by far as well. (Note, you need to find an unmolested analog copy! This one has never had an official digital release. There's a shared fan made DVDA of the Q4 US quad making the rounds that has channel balance and fidelity issues but still cleans up pretty well.)

 

[Marcsten]

No: it is a different mix and - sorry for Our Kwad Lady - but imho this is the best surround mix of the three (UK sq/q8/sacd OR USA dvd-a/Jap SACD).

Right you are. I had the Q8 for a long time and of course every song is a classic. It lived in my Datsun with its Craig four channel tape deck until it dissolved. A few years later, a friend who was not into quad came in my college dorm room with the German SQ and asked if I wan ted it. Hell yes!! About a year later I spend all my tuition on my Audionics S & IC and this one is one that has always decoded really well. BUT. Its a very different mix than that USA Q8 form high school. And I agree the German SQ is way better.

 

[edisonbaggins]

There's never been an official digital/optical release of this version, correct?

 

[JediJoker]

There's never been an official digital/optical release of this version, correct?

The U.S. quad? Correct. Only the U.K. quad has been officially released digitally (on SACD).

 

[ssully]

The original stereo mix is my gold standard , and the remastering of it on the 2002 DVD-A is excellent. It is not compressed.

EMI/UK quad mix (also on SACD) has good EQ but wonky mixing and omits a section of Blackmore's final solo on Lazy. That's a huge negative for me.

The US quad mix (never re-released in surround; I've only heard it as a transfer from quad reels) has sludgy EQ , and decent but not great mix choices.

The DVD-A 5.1 is swamped in added reverb and is quite tame mix wise.

So there are no surround mix knockouts of this out there.

 

[Quad Linda]

After reading ssully's comments, they mostly echo my views. No surround mix does this justice, yet they are all good in their own way (and in some ways lacking.) Music is a 12, or at least an 11.

Rebuying the CD-4/Q8/QR US surround on a digital format is a dream I hope will come true. Until then, it's CD-4.

I also bought that ultra deeeluxe set. Although the separation on DVD-V is better, I still prefer the UK SQ LP I bought in early '73. Through an Ortofon MC 20/Sony SQD-2020 it's stunning. Thought about buying that again on SACD, but couldn't justify the extra expense...

 

[jimfisheye]

I have one of those shared fan made Q4 transfers. It has a pronounced tape bass bump and high end attenuation. Head alignment could have been more fussed over IMHO. I can't remember if it also has an unwelcome 10k-ish treble boost. ("Hulk smash!" style. It's muddy... turn up the treble!!!) That would have made it high end attenuated but then with a 10k shrill on top.

Anyway, I re-balanced it. Possibly referencing the stereo mix? Can't remember. There was still a lot of sound in there and it cleaned up well I thought. This is my favorite version now.

I have to agree with Ssully's review all the same!
But it's worth tinkering with that Q4 transfer. The album is still in there!

Want to make Machine Head sound like an audiophile dream come true and not notice a single thing wrong with it? Listen to In Rock and Fireball first! Albums I like more than Machine Head BTW but the low budget distorted to high hell sound has to be heard to be believed. There ARE stereo remixes of these too but they have that sanitized vibe.

All these albums still make me happy and never get old.

 

[par4ken]

I have one of those shared fan made Q4 transfers. It has a pronounced tape bass bump and high end attenuation. Head alignment could have been more fussed over IMHO. I can't remember if it also has an unwelcome 10k-ish treble boost. ("Hulk smash!" style. It's muddy... turn up the treble!!!) That would have made it high end attenuated but then with a 10k shrill on top.

Anyway, I re-balanced it. Possibly referencing the stereo mix? Can't remember. There was still a lot of sound in there and it cleaned up well I thought. This is my favorite version now.

I have to agree with Ssully's review all the same!
But it's worth tinkering with that Q4 transfer. The album is still in there!

Want to make Machine Head sound like an audiophile dream come true and not notice a single thing wrong with it? Listen to In Rock and Fireball first! Albums I like more than Machine Head BTW but the low budget distorted to high hell sound has to be heard to be believed. There ARE stereo remixes of these too but they have that sanitized vibe.

All these albums still make me happy and never get old.

The Sterotape reels nearly all sound like that, a bit of a mid bass bump and rolled off treble. I blame much of it on the high speed dubbing. Tapes from Ampex and Vanguard sounded much better. I have quite a few Stereotape reels. At the time, despite their shortcomings they were much better sounding than the CD-4 or Q8. That particular reel uses Dolby noise reduction which undecoded might account for the 10K ish treble boost.

I made my own transfer that sounds good. I would have used Dolby on playback, but otherwise didn't mess with the equalisation at all. Add treble on playback if required, just like adding salt and pepper to food.

From memory you are probably right about "In Rock" and "Fireball", while I really like both albums I suppose that they could have sounded a bit better.

I've always loved the sound of "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" however. At first I didn't even realise that it was the Mark 2 version of the group. I'm actually more a fan of the original lineup. At least Rod Evans went on to do some great things with Captain Beyond.

I couldn't agree with you more, all these "Purple" albums still make me happy as well!

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