Santana - Abraxas Japanese Quad SACD Officially Announced (October 28, 2020)

[steelydave]

When I discovered the last Santana SACD I set up a Google notification for the next number numerically in the Sony Japan quad SACD catalog, SICP-10135, and I just got a notification for it.

It appears that HMV Japan, Billboard Japan, and Ratuken all posted, and then retracted listings for it today - I guess they jumped the gun a bit. Here's a screenshot of a cached google page:

There's an eBay seller (the same one that sells a lot of Japanese SACDs) that has it listed too, so I'm presuming preorders will pop up in the usual places in the next few days. Interestingly the release date is the same day (9/23) as the 1st album is supposed to come out - wonder if strong preorders for it spurred Sony Japan to bring this release forward?

 

[watsontr]

Of course I'd love all of these but I hope they don't rush them out.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

 

[J. PUPSTER]

 

[DuncanS]

Of course I'd love all of these but I hope they don't rush them out.

I'm the opposite I'd like it to be released with the first Santana, then I can reduce the 'effect' of the £12 tax gathering charge on UK imports by adding it to my CDJapan order.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Here they cooooome!!!!!!! Brace yourselves!!!!

 

[winopener]

When I discovered the last Santana SACD I set up a Google notification for the next number numerically in the Sony Japan quad SACD catalog, SICP-10135, and I just got a notification for it.

Please set up the notification also for the next 4 numbers (III, Caravanserai, Welcome, Borboletta)... who knows...

 

[humprof]

When I discovered the last Santana SACD I set up a Google notification for the next number numerically in the Sony Japan quad SACD catalog, SICP-10135, and I just got a notification for it.

It appears that HMV Japan, Billboard Japan, and Ratuken all posted, and then retracted listings for it today - I guess they jumped the gun a bit. Here's a screenshot of a cached google page:

View attachment 55801

There's an eBay seller (the same one that sells a lot of Japanese SACDs) that has it listed too, so I'm presuming preorders will pop up in the usual places in the next few days. Interestingly the release date is the same day (9/23) as the 1st album is supposed to come out - wonder if strong preorders for it spurred Sony Japan to bring this release forward?

O, mein Gott in Himmel! (Okay, wrong language. I'm channeling my late mother-in-law.)

 

[steelydave]

Please set up the notification also for the next 4 numbers (III, Caravanserai, Welcome, Borboletta)... who knows...

I have for the next couple, as well as the number that follows Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, as it wouldn't surprise me if Thrust is on the way too.

 

[steelydave]

O, mein Gott in Himmel! (Okay, wrong language. I'm channeling my late mother-in-law.)

God bless Dorothy Humprof and her German expressions!

 

[4-earredwonder]

The question arises, what should we expect from the QUAD Abraxas master tapes? I don't have the SQ Matrix vinyl nor the Q8 of Abraxas, only the DTS CD which has had, shall we say, a 'troubled past.' I do imagine the bass will be fully restored which was absent from the 'wildly discrete' DTS Entertainment transfer.

Can those QQ posters with either the SQ Vinyl and the Surround Master or the Q8 illuminate us as to what we can reasonably expect.

My guess is a radically new transfer which will finally do full justice to Santana's sophomore effort.

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

 

[J. PUPSTER]

The question arises, what should we expect from the QUAD Abraxas master tapes? I don't have the SQ Matrix vinyl nor the Q8 of Abraxas, only the DTS CD which has had, shall we say, a 'troubled past.' I do imagine the bass will be fully restored which was absent from the 'wildly discrete' DTS Entertainment transfer.

Can those QQ posters with either the SQ Vinyl and the Surround Master or the Q8 illuminate us as to what we can reasonably expect.

My guess is a radically new transfer which will finally do full justice to Santana's sophomore effort.

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

My opinion of that dts version should not be expressed here... for all the delicate young ears

 

[shakti]

Bring them on, every single one of them! I wouldn’t mind a real binge. I must admit that Caravanserai, Welcome and Borboletta are the ones I crave the most, but these will all be essential.

 

[4-earredwonder]

My opinion of that dts version should not be expressed here... for all the delicate young ears

In all fairness, JP, I did get that DTS Abraxas CD to sound PRETTY DARN GOOD through 4~earred 'alchemy'* and played at a VERY Intense Volume and the bass is restored during what would've been side II of the disc and the sibilance greatly reduced. As far as discreteness ........ BEYOND THUNDER DOME!

*NOT suitable for the faint of heart .... or chickenshits!

 

[sjcorne]

Can those QQ posters with either the SQ Vinyl and the Surround Master or the Q8 illuminate us as to what we can reasonably expect.

The SQ LP lacks bass as well, but I think the fidelity is still better than the DTS-CD. The uber-active quad mix comes across surprisingly well in decoded SQ form. My copy of the Q8 doesn't have Dolby encoding, so it's a bit hissy. The Mike Robin reel transfer has an even higher noise floor than the Q8 (maybe whoever did that conversion boosted the high end a lot?), but it has plenty of bass.

"Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" on AF's The Collection SACD should be a good indicator of how the quad master tape actually sounds. The most important point to be made here is that the quad mix should not be judged by how it sounds on the DTS-CD.

 

[4-earredwonder]

The SQ LP lacks bass as well, but I think the fidelity is still better than the DTS-CD. The uber-active quad mix comes across surprisingly well in decoded SQ form. My copy of the Q8 doesn't have Dolby encoding, so it's a bit hissy. The Mike Robin reel transfer has an even higher noise floor than the Q8 (maybe whoever did that conversion boosted the high end a lot?), but it has plenty of bass.

"Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" on AF's The Collection SACD should be a good indicator of how the quad master tape actually sounds. The most important point to be made here is that the quad mix should not be judged by how it sounds on the DTS-CD.

Jonathan, actually I was a bit disappointed with 'Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen' from the AF Collection as I know other QQ posters were, as well.. But thanks for your assessment of the SQ Vinyl, Q8 and the Mike Robin's Reel.

 

[steelydave]

The SQ LP lacks bass as well, but I think the fidelity is still better than the DTS-CD. The uber-active quad mix comes across surprisingly well in decoded SQ form. My copy of the Q8 doesn't have Dolby encoding, so it's a bit hissy. The Mike Robin reel transfer has an even higher noise floor than the Q8 (maybe whoever did that conversion boosted the high end a lot?), but it has plenty of bass.

"Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" on AF's The Collection SACD should be a good indicator of how the quad master tape actually sounds. The most important point to be made here is that the quad mix should not be judged by how it sounds on the DTS-CD.

Agree with all of this, except I didn't really have any problem with the hiss level on the Robin reel. Given the minor miracle Sony Japan performed on the Beck, Bogert & Appice quad mix - turning a DTS CD I'd probably rate as a '6' into a SACD that's an 8.5 or a 9 (and one of my favourite of their quad reissues) I have every confidence that the Abraxas SACD will be the best this album has ever sounded.

Having said that, I don't think the quad mixes of the first three Santana albums are quite as good as what followed, from a fidelity standpoint. Things take a big tick upward in 1972 with Caravanserai and even moreso 1973 with Welcome - let's hope the positive sales of these first two entries mean we'll get those as well.

 

[jefe1]

This is great news but not for my wallet. I cannot afford to ever retire with this release schedule.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Agree with all of this, except I didn't really have any problem with the hiss level on the Robin reel. Given the minor miracle Sony Japan performed on the Beck, Bogert & Appice quad mix - turning a DTS CD I'd probably rate as a '6' into a SACD that's an 8.5 or a 9 (and one of my favourite of their quad reissues) I have every confidence that the Abraxas SACD will be the best this album has ever sounded.

Having said that, I don't think the quad mixes of the first three Santana albums are quite as good as what followed, from a fidelity standpoint. Things take a big tick upward in 1972 with Caravanserai and even moreso 1973 with Welcome - let's hope the positive sales of these first two entries mean we'll get those as well.

Dave, there has been much speculation that a lot of those DTS Entertainment CDs were replicated from inferior DAT files [16/44.1] and I believe Beck, Bogert and Appice is among them. Indeed, the SONY Japan QUAD reissue was a revelation and I have no doubt SONY Japan will elicit every last drop of fidelity from those Santana QUAD 15 ips analogue masters.

And before damning DTS Entertainment's contributions to early surround music one only has to listen to their astounding Lyle Lovett's Joshua Judges Ruth DTS CD for verification that it wasn't the limitation of the discs themselves but the inferior sub par masters licensed to them by the majors [and minors].

 

[4-earredwonder]

This is great news but not for my wallet. I cannot afford to ever retire with this release schedule.

Jeff, the French Foreign Legion is looking for a few good men like you ....the pay's good ... and the grub ... decent!