SPOTLIGHT Joni Mitchell The Asylum Albums (1972-1975) (Quadio Boxed Set)

[leefarber]

FYI - The coupon code was accepted, but once I logged in as a returning customer, it said it could not be used (probably because I've used it twice in the past few weeks). So I tried checking out as guest. The coupon code remained, but after entering my info and proceeding to final review, the coupon was gone without warning. I'm guessing it recognized me from my email address and removed it (though not telling me is pretty sneaky).

So I went to a new browser and redid everything, but this time checked out as a guest using an alternate email address. Boom! Coupon processed.

 

[JediJoker]

The thing is I havent gotten any email confirming the order from Rhino.
I guess everything is fine if it appears in my order history

Par for the course. Email notifications from Rhino may or may not come. If the order shows up on the website, it went through.

Thanks for the info. Now, I need to decide whether to just buy the Joni now when I know the discount code definitely works or to take a chance and wait a few weeks. Hmmm....

There's almost always a 10-15% off coupon active for Rhino.com. It may take some digging here or at SteveHoffman.tv to find a current code, but with a little patience, you should be able to find one that works come May 3rd.

 

[PurpleMoustache]

Ordered!

 

[Guy Robinson]

Well - more web site weirdness. I ordered the box, plus added the Rumours and Doors Atmos discs, paid with PayPal, went through the whole deal, then pressed 'Complete Order' and nothing happened. It just sat there. The button was faded out, and nothing.

So I checked PayPal and no payment had been processed, so I switched from FireFox to Edge, did the whole thing over again, and this time it went through. Very strange. Something is amiss somewhere, not sure if it's on Rhino's end or with Firefox, but the order went in smooth as silk using Edge.

Just an FYI for those who have issues like me!

The first time I tried it Edge and Chrome didn't work. I had to order it on my Android phone.

 

[5.1 4 Life]

I'm In! Joni in Surround should be Great!

 

[skherbeck]

The phases of a surround release:
-Anticipation of Rumored Release - This is by far my favorite phase… most everyone is excited, wondering what will be included and who did the mix; only a few grumblers wishing something else was being released
-Official Announcement of Release - The facts come in and excitement may go up because Steven Wilson did the mix and a stand alone Bluray is available, or it may go down because an unknown engineer mixed it and it’s buried in an expensive boxed set
-Ordering and Delivery Discussion - This is a painful time that is best ignored while reading other threads about anticipated rumored releases
-Listening and Discussion of the Mix - This could be a glorious time or a very sad time, but in either case don’t worry, because the discussion quickly shifts to the next dream surround mix

 

[Guy Robinson]

The phases of a surround release:
-Anticipation of Rumored Release - This is by far my favorite phase… most everyone is excited, wondering what will be included and who did the mix; only a few grumblers wishing something else was being released
-Official Announcement of Release - The facts come in and excitement may go up because Steven Wilson did the mix and a stand alone Bluray is available, or it may go down because an unknown engineer mixed it and it’s buried in an expensive boxed set
-Ordering and Delivery Discussion - This is a painful time that is best ignored while reading other threads about anticipated rumored releases
-Listening and Discussion of the Mix - This could be a glorious time or a very sad time, but in either case don’t worry, because the discussion quickly shifts to the next dream surround mix

Unless things are messed up, we at least know at a bare minimum what the ATMOS will sound like because it has been available streaming for over a year. Hopefully it will sound even better benefitted by a higher bit rate.

 

[quicksrt]

The phases of a surround release:
-Anticipation of Rumored Release - This is by far my favorite phase… most everyone is excited, wondering what will be included and who did the mix; only a few grumblers wishing something else was being released
-Official Announcement of Release - The facts come in and excitement may go up because Steven Wilson did the mix and a stand alone Bluray is available, or it may go down because an unknown engineer mixed it and it’s buried in an expensive boxed set
-Ordering and Delivery Discussion - This is a painful time that is best ignored while reading other threads about anticipated rumored releases
-Listening and Discussion of the Mix - This could be a glorious time or a very sad time, but in either case don’t worry, because the discussion quickly shifts to the next dream surround mix

Ordering and Delivery Discussion - This phase is painful because the conversation turns almost exclusively to ordering options and errors, shipping delays, VAT fees, customs delays, slow or poor tracking notifications, and broken cases.

 

[GOS]

I was so disappointed that this box didn't come with additional vinyl, that I just had to order vinyl so as to get above the $100 threshold. lol

 

[MIDIQ]

Ordered, one has a new quad mix, that's really cool!!!!

 

[RustyM]

This is exciting news. Ordered! Thank you Rhino!

 

[GOS]

My mind wasn't totally blown by this, until I see that this box has both Atmos & Quad to offer. Freakshow.....

 

[quicksrt]

Ordered, one has a new quad mix, that's really cool!!!!

It's very cool and done by a legendary mixer. They had to get "For The Roses" mixed to quad to even out the set making for a "Five Star" knock-out.

You see Bruce Botnick goes way way back in the field of immersive surround and quad mixing. He was responsible for some of the Earth Wind and Fire quad material on Columbia which was revealed on Audio Fidelity SACD to be far superior to what most of the competition was doing in 1973/74. We are lucky he is still on the scene and available to do more work.

Not to derail this thread, but.......
I mean really, just check out this one if you'd like your mind blown yet again, it's incredible in Botnick's 4-channel mix.

https://www.discogs.com/release/7028142-Earth-Wind-Fire-Open-Our-Eyes

 

[H.A.L.]

I'm only saddened by the fact LADIES OF THE CANYON is not included.

 

[sjcorne]

Botnick also did the awesome quad mix of Weather Report’s Tale Spinnin’ that Dutton-Vocalion issued on SACD a few years ago.

 

[quicksrt]

My mind wasn't totally blown by this, until I see that this box has both Atmos & Quad to offer. Freakshow.....

I wasn't going to bother with Atmos since I am quite happy with 5.1 in my listening room. But there are some new considerations:

I have a 7.1 AVR with two unused channels
I have two Klipsch speakers not currently in use, but that sound pretty damn good
There are plenty of Atmos mixes streaming online exclusively
Joni Mitchell's Atmos mixes are said to be first rate
I'm reading that 7.1 AVRs work quite well for Atmos playback (after reading a year or two back that it (7.1) does not work well for Atmos)

I guess I'll head over to Home Depo and see what kind of wall mounted brackets I can use for these additional side speakers, and assess the damage I am to do to my walls with this project.

 

[bnyhof]

I was so disappointed that this box didn't come with additional vinyl, that I just had to order vinyl so as to get above the $100 threshold. lol

View attachment 104560

And if you have the same problem May 3rd (next quadio release) you could add this and make your Joni Mitchell set really complete.

 

[ForagingRhino]

Wow! Just one question: will it be available in other retailers? Buying from Rhino US from Europe is a pain.
@ForagingRhino thanks for making this happen, what a nice release!

I believe it will go to general retail 60-90 days after...

 

[BillSamm1]

Mind Blown. Wallet in tatters. Order button SMASHED!!

 

[steelydave]

It's very cool and done by a legendary mixer. They had to get "For The Roses" mixed to quad to even out the set making for a "Five Star" knock-out.

You see Bruce Botnick goes way way back in the field of immersive surround and quad mixing. He was responsible for some of the Earth Wind and Fire quad material on Columbia which was revealed on Audio Fidelity SACD to be far superior to what most of the competition was doing in 1973/74. We are lucky he is still on the scene and available to do more work.

Not to derail this thread, but.......
I mean really, just check out this one if you'd like your mind blown yet again, it's incredible in Botnick's 4-channel mix.

https://www.discogs.com/release/7028142-Earth-Wind-Fire-Open-Our-Eyes

I'm as excited about this as the next guy, but it's simply not true to say his early quad mixes of '73/'74 were far superior most when the Landee/Herschberg Doobies mixes, the early Sigma quads (Billy Paul War of the Gods), all of Don Young's (Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Isaac Hayes, Poco, etc.) and Larry Keyes (Loggins & Messina and a hundred others) for CBS and so many others were getting to the point that they were besting the equivalent stereo mixes of the albums they did by that point. I don't think those two EW&F albums that Mr. Botnick mixed for quad are helped by the muffled-sounding non-masterings that AF provided on SACD, but they certainly wouldn't be the ones that I pulled out if I wanted to show someone the glory of quadraphonic sound.

Botnick quickly matured as a quad mixer though; as @sjcorne noted his Tale Spinnin' quad mix (available from your local friendly D-V retailer) is superb, as are the other mixes he did in 1975 including Dave Mason's Split Coconut and Mac Davis' Burnin' Thing. We are indeed lucky that he's available to do a new quad mix in 2024, but there's no need to laud him at the expense of denigrating others.

I'd be equally excited if it was revealed that he's also done the mastering for the other vintage quad mixes on this set, because his mastering of the Best of the Doors from the Rhino Blu-Ray from a few years back knocks the overpriced Steve Hoffman SACD mastering into a cocked hat even though the BluRay is from a higher generation tape.