HiRez Poll Jeff Beck Group - ROUGH & READY [SACD JAPAN]

[rtbluray]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2017 Multichannel SACD release from Sony Japan of the classic album "Rough & Ready" by the Jeff Beck Group. The SACD contains the original 1970s Quadraphonic mix, which has not been available commercially for the last 40 years! :yikes
The Quadraphonic mix is also available to stream in Dolby Audio on Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/rough-and-ready/169309932Pre-release discussion can be found here: Jeff Beck Group's "Rough And Ready" On SACD In January 2017

 

[marpow]

I voted 10. The packaging with posters, snippets, pictures, etc is all perfect. Japan rules. USA release company's really need to take note in mix and packaging.
OK, I did critical listen with pen and paper, I know this recording like the back of my hand, have owned original LP, cassette, CD, BSCD2, have listened many times since it's release.
Hopefully you have seen my McIntosh rig, as I have listened, starting at 70db and gradually went up to 82db. All 450watt fronts and 300watt rears and center where very active.
Unlike some of the other Beck discs his guitar is primarily front, but moves around a lot. Vocals always front. I heard 7 nuances on what would be side 1 that I never heard before and 3 on side 2. On Max's Tune tubular bells ring forever, piano has a great echo effect, guitar on many track breaks/fades diagonally, say rear right to left front, small note cowbell rear left can be a bit irritating, the highlight is the workout between Cozy Powell (deceased) and Jeff Beck on New Ways/Train Train a must at 80db plus. This tune is a sonic gem between guitar and drums, Powell at all 5 speakers and Beck at front with ambient rears, MINDBLOWING.
This will be my #1 disc in my stable and I am sure of 2017, I can't imagine a powerhouse of music better than this, but I am a hardrock fan , no folk music for this guy.
I could go on forever, but I can just hope that you heard this as a youngster like me and you will be blown away or if you are a newcomer and you enjoy super duper guitar and drums you will flip out. Whatever your SITUATION may be I hope you dig it !

 

[Urban Spaceman]

Just got this in today and couldn't get it out of the package and into the player fast enough! Now, I voted 10 because this album is easily in the top 10 of my all time favorite records by anybody - period. Even though I've had the SQ LP for a long time (and the great Involve Audio SQ Edition decoder now to do its brilliant work) - I just had to see if it could get better. As far as I'm concerned, this new sacd is the definitive multi-channel listening experience of this album / quad mix. Now, I never owned the Q8, but there's no way anyone could argue it beats this new edition. Even the packaging is impressive - all the extra printed stuff - very nice!

Yet, I will admit for those folks who really enjoy modern surround music, the vintage quad mix might not impress. The mix reflects the aesthetic of the era - somewhat experimental and tentative at times. And dare I say, not always serving the power of the music as the definitive stereo mix does. It is likely that the creator of the original quad mix was working under a time constraint and under the typical pressures of the music industry bearing down. Considering this version of the Jeff Beck Group only released two albums and broke up after the second self-titled album, I'm sure nobody was thinking at the time how important the music really was. Now if Steven Wilson got his hands on the multis and did a careful remix in his typically wonderful style it would certainly be jaw-dropping to those who have become accustomed to such artistry. But that isn't what we have here.

Am I happy? You bet. Love this album - delighted with the release. Anyone who loves the music should be equally delighted. Is the quad mix as polished as "Blow By Blow"? Can't say it is, unfortunately. But this release is the best this mix will ever sound - no question!

 

[leevitalone1]

Oh!!!! Oh man!! ain't this the shit!! Holy mamma This mother is mine. I can't belive it. I gotta go now and piss my plow money away.
BTW go to FB brand hammer and watch us go around plowing during the nor-easter
We got pounded. Fools all over trying to drive - and the snow is like measured in feet.
PS my helper is a bit off but funny!!

 

[Daniel John]

Oh!!!! Oh man!! ain't this the shit!! Holy mamma This mother is mine. I can't belive it. I gotta go now and piss my plow money away.

Still waiting for my copy from CDJapan. So does this mean you like it?

 

[sbrom]

Oh!!!! Oh man!! ain't this the shit!! Holy mamma This mother is mine. I can't belive it. I gotta go now and piss my plow money away.
BTW go to FB brand hammer and watch us go around plowing during the nor-easter
We got pounded. Fools all over trying to drive - and the snow is like measured in feet.
PS my helper is a bit off but funny!!

OK, I have all the Sony Jeff Beck's, except Beck Bogert and Appice, sitting in my "next up" pile. Need to find some time for a good listen. You all have me excited! :sun

And how could I forget the AP version of Blow by Blow, waiting in the same pile...

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

Not a lot to add, it's Jeff Beck, it's QUAD, it's a 10.

 

[The56Kid]

Took a chance after reading this thread and ordered both the Blow by Blow and The Jeff Beck Group (Orange Album) quad SACDs from CDJapan last Wednesday. Can any one with prior experience ordering from CDJapan give me an idea when I can expect deliver?

 

[par4ken]

Love the packaging of these. Interesting that they reproduce the US cover and label rather than the Japanese, of course the gold bordered cover and gold label looks much more special than the plainer Japanese label.
As far as my personal favourites go I rate this behind "Wired" and "Beck, Bogert & Appice" but ahead of "Jeff Beck Group (Orange)" and "Blow by Blow".
Sound Quality is excellent, lots of base, all four channels are equally busy all the time! No gimmicky panned effects on this one. I'ii give it a 9.

 

[The56Kid]

As evidenced in the Mahavishnu Orchestra BOF thread, I'm not a fan of drums entirely in the surrounds. I did get the Japanese Jeff Beck Group Orange SACD and was bummed to find approximately 50 percent of the songs with Cozy's kit in the surrounds. Does Rough and Ready's quad mix also do this?

 

[Daniel John]

As evidenced in the Mahavishnu Orchestra BOF thread, I'm not a fan of drums entirely in the surrounds. I did get the Japanese Jeff Beck Group Orange SACD and was bummed to find approximately 50 percent of the songs with Cozy's kit in the surrounds. Does Rough and Ready's quad mix also do this?

On R&R all 4 speakers get heavy use including drums. If you don't like BOF, Orange because of this, you won't like R&R.

 

[knifeman]

Took a chance after reading this thread and ordered both the Blow by Blow and The Jeff Beck Group (Orange Album) quad SACDs from CDJapan last Wednesday. Can any one with prior experience ordering from CDJapan give me an idea when I can expect deliver?

Probably too late to comment on this but FWIW, I'm on the other side of PA from you and it takes about 10-14 days for delivery. I've ordered three times from CDJapan (all Jeff Beck titles) and the delivery time was pretty consistent.

 

[The56Kid]

On R&R all 4 speakers get heavy use including drums. If you don't like BOF, Orange because of this, you won't like R&R.

Bummer, but thanks for the prompt response. Again, I understand these older Quad mixes were designed with the expectation that all 4 speakers (two mains, two surrounds) are equal sized speakers and therefore having the drums in the surrounds shouldn't result in any sound or volume delta from the mains. Unfortunately, that's not the case for many modern day surround sound setups that feature smaller surrounds. It is what it is and as much as I love these classic recordings, I'll probably steer clear of purchasing them if the surrounds are used in this fashion.

 

[The56Kid]

Probably too late to comment on this but FWIW, I'm on the other side of PA from you and it takes about 10-14 days for delivery. I've ordered three times from CDJapan (all Jeff Beck titles) and the delivery time was pretty consistent.

Knifeman - I received my order in 10 days also - not bad coming all the way from the land of the rising sun!

 

[quicksrt]

Bummer, but thanks for the prompt response. Again, I understand these older Quad mixes were designed with the expectation that all 4 speakers (two mains, two surrounds) are equal sized speakers and therefore having the drums in the surrounds shouldn't result in any sound or volume delta from the mains. Unfortunately, that's not the case for many modern day surround sound setups that feature smaller surrounds. It is what it is and as much as I love these classic recordings, I'll probably steer clear of purchasing them if the surrounds are used in this fashion.

You would rather not support the efforts of these labels bringing out very rare quad mixes to the public, rather than see what kind of bargains there are out there on nicer larger full range speakers.

 

[fredblue]

Bummer, but thanks for the prompt response. Again, I understand these older Quad mixes were designed with the expectation that all 4 speakers (two mains, two surrounds) are equal sized speakers and therefore having the drums in the surrounds shouldn't result in any sound or volume delta from the mains. Unfortunately, that's not the case for many modern day surround sound setups that feature smaller surrounds. It is what it is and as much as I love these classic recordings, I'll probably steer clear of purchasing them if the surrounds are used in this fashion.

Hi there The56Kid, this is not the ideal place in a QQ Poll but have read the last few comments and am just curious of a few details about your speakers and configuration and would like to maybe help you more enjoy old Quads with drums and such in the rears on your surround sound system.,
there's quite a few great old Quads with such mixes and it'd be a shame to miss out on hearing them possibly thru trying something and that could resolve the issue with a bit of tweaking and so on.

How much smaller are your rears are than your fronts?
Are the fronts floorstanding type and the rears bookshelf size?

Also, what low frequency are the various speakers rated to roll off or comfortably handle?
The manufacturers specs may not be 100% accurate but they would give a guide I guess.

Are you running a subwoofer?
If so, what do you have the crossover for low frequencies set to? 80hz? 100hz? 120hz? 60hz?

Setting up the gear in a different way may bring benefits for these and possibly all surround mixes you listen to on your system.

Oh and these Sony Japan Quad SACDs already have a syntyesised Centre and LFE channel which may help 'fill in the gaps' with systems that have, say, imbalanced Front Left & Front Right setup and/or speakers in the rear that cannot handle low bass.

What model is your AVR, speakers and sub please?

All the best, Adam

 

[par4ken]

Bummer, but thanks for the prompt response. Again, I understand these older Quad mixes were designed with the expectation that all 4 speakers (two mains, two surrounds) are equal sized speakers and therefore having the drums in the surrounds shouldn't result in any sound or volume delta from the mains. Unfortunately, that's not the case for many modern day surround sound setups that feature smaller surrounds. It is what it is and as much as I love these classic recordings, I'll probably steer clear of purchasing them if the surrounds are used in this fashion.

I come from a time where for everything from cars to speakers "bigger is better". Dickie little surrounds may be OK for a starter system, but they can always be upgraded to larger full-range for the best sound possible. Many of us old-timers started out with smallish back speakers and a passive "Dyna Quad style" Quad adapter, but quickly graduated to real Quad after hearing the advantages of the more simple system. I don't get much out of modern surround with little in the rears, even for movies I'd often-time rather play the 2.0 track through the QSD-1 rather than listen to the 5.1 mix to get more output in the rear.

 

[Which_One_Is_Pink]

Dickie little surrounds may be OK for a starter system, but...

My Dickie little surrounds are massively offended by your comment and asked me to tell you that you are a just a BIG SPEAKERed poopy head! :howl @:

 

[Quadzilla]

My Dickie little surrounds are massively offended by your comment and asked me to tell you that you are a just a BIG SPEAKERed poopy head! :howl @:

Unlike big pickup trucks, big guns and big dogs; big speakers are NOT intended to compensate for less-than-average 'manhood'.

 

[olgitnorm]

I have floorstanding front and rear speakers and for quad listening set them up as large but when listening to 5.1 music change the setting to small with the sub taking over low frequencies. This has been my understanding of the correct setup but please put me right if I am wrong.