HiRez Poll Santana - ABRAXAS [SACD-JAPAN]

[Goona]

Guys this is a guitar it can only go in 1 speaker, unless you want it panning around the room. From what I remember there is plenty of other sounds coming from the other speakers, mid way another guitar comes from hard left. Sounds good to me

 

[par4ken]

You know I need to go back and listen to this one again, because I also remember not liking the hard panned guitar in the FR on Samba Pa Ti. From what I remember of the stereo version, shouldn’t it stand out in the tune more dominantly?

I seem to be at a disadvantage as I'm not familiar with the stereo version, I've always owned the quad version. The negative opinion of that track sounds like the way I feel about the remix of "Roxy Music", I ended up selling it as I hated the mix of the entire album (and I had wanted to love it)! Thankfully I've found that it's more common for the quad versions to more feature sounds and effects not present or buried in the stereo mixes. "Back In The Saddle" from Aerosmith stands out for me, I didn't even realise that the whip sound effect was in the stereo version at all!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Ha, been waiting to respond @par4ken and say, cool new avatar (where's it from?)

Anyway, it all comes down to perception and biases on how we like to hear certain mixes (I even started a thread about that!)

And yes a guitar can be in more than one channel (maybe closer to a Phantom Center mix) and balanced more out front to bring an instrument out and show case a feeling that the artist/producer wants to convey.

Personally I like to hear that sweet guitar lick prominently out front on this tune!

 

[par4ken]

Ha, been waiting to respond @par4ken and say, cool new avatar (where's it from?)

Anyway, it all comes down to perception and biases on how we like to hear certain mixes (I even started a thread about that!)

And yes a guitar can be in more than one channel (maybe closer to a Phantom Center mix) and balanced more out front to bring an instrument out and show case a feeling that the artist/producer wants to convey.

Personally I like to hear that sweet guitar lick prominently out front on this tune!

The avatar is from the cover of Audio Magazine July 1972. How could anyone not get into quad with magazine covers like that! I remember that other magazines had similar covers, I'm still looking for them! I still fondly remember an advertisement that featured Humble Pie sitting around a room with quad speakers in each corner.

As for instrument placement, I don't think that it's the actual placement that's important but how prominent it is in the mix. And I like drums in the rear and also full center vocals, although many don't.

 

[Albert Dagger]

I think you guys are right, it’s more about how prominent the guitar is in the mix. Hard panning doesn’t help but I’m amending my comment, it’s not as prominent as the stereo version I’m used to.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I think you guys are right, it’s more about how prominent the guitar is in the mix. Hard panning doesn’t help but I’m amending my comment, it’s not as prominent as the stereo version I’m used to.

Yes I listened to a stereo version today on my computer and it definitely has a strong Phantom Center presence for the guitar and I was amazed at how much the other instruments were wide panned to the sides to the point that I thought I'd gotten a hold of an old Quad mix because at first it seemed there was some rear speaker action.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

The avatar is from the cover of Audio Magazine July 1972. How could anyone not get into quad with magazine covers like that! I remember that other magazines had similar covers, I'm still looking for them! I still fondly remember an advertisement that featured Humble Pie sitting around a room with quad speakers in each corner.

As for instrument placement, I don't think that it's the actual placement that's important but how prominent it is in the mix. And I like drums in the rear and also full center vocals, although many don't.

Cool avatar I like it too.
Obviously she is listening to classic Dynaquad Diamond matrix!

 

[edisonbaggins]

Life in Surround co-review with Hi-res Edition!

Very solid 9. Just a couple of odd mixing moments, compared to the original stereo. Tiny bit hissy. But marvelous and beautiful!

 

[hi-res_edition]

I certainly think Abraxas is one of the best releases from the Sony Japan SACD series. I just reviewed it and wrote all my thoughts on Hi-Res Edition. An aspect worth considering, that I see as part of the thread above, is the actual mix of the songs. Have grown up with the stereo version, which sounds very different, I am going to be switching between the quad and stereo versions for my listening enjoyment.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I certainly think Abraxas is one of the best releases from the Sony Japan SACD series. I just reviewed it and wrote all my thoughts on Hi-Res Edition. An aspect worth considering, that I see as part of the thread above, is the actual mix of the songs. Have grown up with the stereo version, which sounds very different, I am going to be switching between the quad and stereo versions for my listening enjoyment.

And Music would NOT exist without time to listen to it!

And totally agree, ABRAXAS is a landmark QUAD release from SONY with many more to to come, hopefully!

 

[Clement]

I certainly think Abraxas is one of the best releases from the Sony Japan SACD series. I just reviewed it and wrote all my thoughts on Hi-Res Edition. An aspect worth considering, that I see as part of the thread above, is the actual mix of the songs. Have grown up with the stereo version, which sounds very different, I am going to be switching between the quad and stereo versions for my listening enjoyment.

LOVED your review with Mike! And i've been enjoying your Hi-Res Edition reviews since i found your site awhile back. In case i missed it, here's a link to your excellent and thorough and passionate ABRAXAS review! Thanks for ALL you do--Stay Surrounded, Comrade!
P.s. Don't forget to vote on the poll above!

 

[HomerJAU]

Dynamic Range:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Santana / Abraxas (Quad) Japan SACD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR11 -7.40 dB -21.10 dB 4:51 01-Singing Winds, Crying Beasts
DR10 -5.10 dB -19.14 dB 5:25 02-Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
DR11 -4.83 dB -20.05 dB 4:20 03-Oye Como Va
DR11 -5.32 dB -19.83 dB 5:06 04-Incident at Neshabur
DR10 -4.95 dB -18.69 dB 2:52 05-Se Acabó
DR10 -4.86 dB -18.78 dB 4:29 06-Mother's Daughter
DR12 -6.53 dB -21.02 dB 4:48 07-Samba Pa Ti
DR11 -6.17 dB -19.68 dB 4:10 08-Hope You're Feeling Better
DR11 -5.00 dB -20.07 dB 1:33 09-El Nicoya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 9
Official DR value: DR11

 

[HugoPhyrst]

Finally getting around to rating this. An all time favorite album, I am enjoying the sound fidelity. The mix is really good with the only exception being the overuse of panning a few times. Other than that, it's perfect. Feels fresh and it sounds even better cranked up a bit too. 10

 

[AshBuchanan]

9 for music and mix.
I'd never heard the album before, so i can't really compare the quad mix to anything. Love how it sounds though.
Never bought a Japanese quad sacd before either, the packaging is ridiculous, but pretty cool.

Question: some of the album artwork is pretty similar to the Bitches Brew cover, are the 2 albums linked at all?

 

[vinylguy4]

Same artist for both covers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mati_Klarwein

 

[originalsnuffy]

As much as I generally like Quad mixes; I find that this mix is so darned far away from the stereo mix that it is almost disorienting. The SACD is good and better than the DTS, but still reveals in greater depth just how far the quad mixes are from the original.

I have heard some fan created FLAC from Q8 of the greatest hits collection and that is somewhat disorienting also. I suspect that some channels are simply missing from those files.