Listening to Now (In Surround) - Volume 2

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Atmos Abbey Road The Beatles
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Katatonia- Sky Void of Stars BD Atmos 7.4.4. Have been listening to this on AM, liking it very much and found a set on Discogs. Expensive, but really worth it. Box open, but discs still in plastic. :)

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I also found one on Discogs in the same exact condition a few months ago. Very happy to have it.
 
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Imagination - Discrete 4-Channel Reel-to-Reel => FLAC

51 years ago (October, 1973), Gladys Knight & The Pips released Imagination on the Buddha Records label. It peaked #9 on U.S. Billboard Top LPs and #1 on U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs. Besides producing their only Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit single “Midnight Train To Georgia”, it also produced other successful singles, including “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination”, “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me”, and “Where Peaceful Waters Flow”. A Rolling Stone critic stated that the album lacked “Imagination”, on the other hand, Rolling Stone listed Gladys Knight as one of the Greatest Singers Of All Time when she was declared the “Empress Of Soul” in 2007. The only way to listen to the quad mix was by listening to the reel-to-reel or the 8-track cartridge. A couple QQ members have the reel-to-reel, but I’m unable to find any comments and there is no QQ poll. To my ears, it sounds pretty good. 2016 saw the reissue of Imagination on 180 gram vinyl in Europe and it is still available on Amazon. I’m unable to find out who did the QUAD mix on Imagination--maybe someone from this group knows. Buddha is currently handled by Sony Music Entertainment and I would love one of their surround mixing engineers produce a Blu-Ray reissue. Maybe Stephen W. Tayler?

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i adore Gladys Knight & The Pips but mostly loathe the Quad mix of this album with a passion that's almost as heartfelt as my love for Gladys herself! 😂

the mix is all over the place, with regard to instrument balance i mean, certain songs are ok (i guess 🤷🏻‍♀️ ) but check out "Midnight Train To Georgia" as an example of just how awful the Quad mix gets! 😣😱

the Quad version cludges along in a sonic sludge soup, drums are recessed to the point it's like pillows have been plumped over them so any train-like propulsion's been pulverised and the horns that also give the Stereo that night train-esque mystique are so muted in the mix they may as well not exist, plus the organ and strings are brought far too far up.. it's just a total mess, sadly 😔

there's an Atmos rendering of "Midnight Train To Georgia" that i find superior to the Quad but has too much reverb on the horns and drums and sounds too brittle, edge-y and treble-heavy overall, especially the drums which feel far too modern and positively strident compared to the Quad, so while the Quad is a million miles away, the Atmos still doesn't have the flavour of the original which is just sublime and somehow straddles the languidity of the arrangement with palpable life and movement that's totally magical.. woo-woo!! 😋
 
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Not a big TP fan. I did get the surround version of Hypnotized and owned the box set called Playback. I do like several of his hits and have listened to, and/or purchased many albums on digital but don’t remember listening to them more than once or twice. This album contains some good songs and a few fillers. The one thing that’s always aggravated me, TP sometimes sings like he’s taking a crap.
 
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