Matrix Quad CD's

[MidiMagic]

I can't vouch for that CD version , but it's my opinion the 1975 vinyl is QS encoded.
I know this is contrary to others who say it's stereo .

There were two versions of the LP.

The first was made from the film and was QS encoded.

Then Polydor signed to use CD-4 and remixed it to remove the QS.

No CDs were made with QS.

I have a DVD with the choice of stereo, 5.1, or Quintaphonic.

 

[atrocity]

The first was made from the film and was QS encoded.

The film was QS encoded on two tracks, the left and right. Simply putting those two on a record would have left out anything in the center channel, which would likely have been plenty of lead vocals.

I'm not saying that no QS vinyl was ever issued (I have no idea), only that any hypothetical QS release could not have been taken directly from the film.

 

[steelydave]

The film was QS encoded on two tracks, the left and right. Simply putting those two on a record would have left out anything in the center channel, which would likely have been plenty of lead vocals.

I'm not saying that no QS vinyl was ever issued (I have no idea), only that any hypothetical QS release could not have been taken directly from the film.

The Tommy soundtrack LP isn't - and never was - QS encoded despite what the previous poster asserts. Maybe in his alternate facts universe Polydor released it in QS, and then pulled it after committing to CD-4, but he conveniently ignores the real chronology, where Polydor USA never committed to a quad format (and said as much in the press at the time) and Polydor Japan released CD-4s as early as 1971 (and again starting in 1973 intermittently into 1975) most of which occurred well before the Tommy soundtrack was released in 1975.

Most (or all) of this quad old wives' tale comes from the fact that the Japanese release of the soundtrack has an obi-strip that mentions the QS Quintophonic sound of the theatrical release, conflating this album with Gloria Gaynor's Experience (which was mixed to QS without MGM's knowledge and then pulled and reissued after sound quality complaints), and probably a liberal dose of wishful thinking.

 

[par4ken]

I still believe that Tommy is QS encoded. When decoded in QS the music stays mostly across the front. The sound effects come from the rear. Side three of the LP produces the best surround effect with musical elements emanating from the rear as well as the front.

A purely stereo LP would not decode that way. The sound would be much the same front to rear with the exception of the vocals. In the unlikely event that it is not actually encoded then it is a very "narrow" stereo mix!

Whether or not Polydor was in the CD-4 camp or not committed to quad means very little. An encoded album is first and foremost a stereo album. Many QS releases exist without being labeled as such.

 

[MidiMagic]

The film was QS encoded on two tracks, the left and right. Simply putting those two on a record would have left out anything in the center channel, which would likely have been plenty of lead vocals.

I'm not saying that no QS vinyl was ever issued (I have no idea), only that any hypothetical QS release could not have been taken directly from the film.

All they had to do to make an LP was mix the center channel at .7 level into the left channel and the right channel.

If they mixed it in a unity gain, it would sound like the record was not encoded.