Select Your "Must Have" Audio Fidelity Surround SACDs

[Lute]

To the left of each title there is a small box that you click to select your choice (or choices). When you've chosen all the ones you want, go down to the bottom right of the title list and send your vote to the poll in. I hope this makes sense.

 

[John Svensson]

Makes perfect sense, but I may have to sit this one out, no boxes to the left of the titles on my screen. I'm perplexed...but Hey, what do you think of those new DV releases? I also have noted that I no longer have access to emogees when posting any replies since switching to the new QQ platform, so there is something not right..... Maybe I need to enable something?

 

[quicksrt]

Your browser might not like QQ. Try another.

 

[MrSmithers]

Have voted on my favourites, have nearly 10 now... Cheers for the heads up guys on the BS&T first album. That has changed to a will have hopefully soon...

I included the Various Artists - because I think it's a great way to hear some stonking hits in quad on one disc. Even though it duplicates songs available on other releases, it's one way to get to have Lay Lady Lay, Voodoo, Wake up, Without You on a modern format... And is a great introduction to quad.

I think ultimately BOC Secret Treaties, Full Sail, and BS&T1 will be my top 3...

 

[John Svensson]

Righto....thanks quicksrt, I have been reenfranchised.

 

[Lute]

Makes perfect sense, but I may have to sit this one out, no boxes to the left of the titles on my screen. I'm perplexed...but Hey, what do you think of those new DV releases? I also have noted that I no longer have access to emogees when posting any replies since switching to the new QQ platform, so there is something not right..... Maybe I need to enable something?

DV's releases are gifts from the gods!

 

[4-earredwonder]

DV's releases are gifts from the gods!

I wonder if Jon will do a similar poll for ALL the Dutton Vocalion QUAD titles?

And yes, fair Brett, they are INDEED Manna from Heaven!

 

[Lute]

I wonder if Jon will do a similar poll for ALL the Dutton Vocalion QUAD titles?

And yes, fair Brett, they are INDEED Manna from Heaven!

Audio Fidelity sure made an valiant effort with their MC SACDs. Hats off to them!! I was almost ready to vote for every title on the list, but decided to be a bit (a wee bit) more selective. Part of me still finds it hard to believe they had trouble selling these. But knowing the fickle nature of the music business & how entrenched many people's listening habits are, one has to sober up to reality, I guess. Yes, Ralphie... Dutton Vocalion's MC SACDs certainly sound as sweet as honey..

 

[4-earredwonder]

Audio Fidelity sure made an valiant effort with their MC SACDs. Hats off to them!! I was almost ready to vote for every title on the list, but decided to be a bit (a wee bit) more selective. Part of me still finds it hard to believe they had trouble selling these. But knowing the fickle nature of the music business & how entrenched many people's listening habits are, one has to sober up to reality, I guess. Yes, Ralphie... Dutton Vocalion's MC SACDs certainly sound as sweet as honey..

And the sad thing, Brett. Their website shows NO new titles coming on SACD! As Jon Urban intimated, hope their surround venture didn't jeopardize their business! https://audiofidelity.net

 

[Lute]

Ralph, nobody around me buys music on ANY kind of physical disc!
So, while their surround venture might not have been the success that they (and we) were hoping for, I think it is just one part of a bigger issue... Everyone is listening to music via the net. This is the elephant in the room.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Ralph, nobody around me buys music on ANY kind of physical disc!
So, while their surround venture might not have been the success that they (and we) were hoping for, I think it is just one part of a bigger issue... Everyone is listening to music via the net. This is the elephant in the room.

But the best, they're even watching movies on their Iphones and tablets as they listen to the audio via earbuds! IMO, what a waste!

Ironically, one can now BUY a TRUE UHD 4K movie with remastered Dolby Atmos soundtracks for LESS than the price of a Stereo SACD 'reissue.' What's wrong with that PICTURE [no pun intended]?

Example: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Grease-4K-Blu-ray/199056/

And in a few weeks that price will come down to $14.99! And even at THOSE prices, the public isn't supporting the new format.

 

[quicksrt]

And the sad thing, Brett. Their website shows NO new titles coming on SACD! As Jon Urban intimated, hope their surround venture didn't jeopardize their business! https://audiofidelity.net

AF has never fessed up to choosing several bum titles early on in their surround or 4.0 era. Nobody wants to think a mediocre Christmas album or a dated new age Fresh Air title had any bad impact. How odd. Then a twice repressed bad mastering of Sly Hits was disastrous for their bottom line on that title.

If you do an EW&F title that does not sell so well, do you do another title by the same group hoping second times the charm? No, and that is because it did sell ok. If you do America and it does not meet expectations do you do two more America titles? No you don't. Loggins and Messina twice or three times? No you don't.

See what I am saying, is that these title were not poor sellers. It was the extra costs of quad layers that did not help them sure.

But the real bummer titles were Labelle, a hitless Billy Joel album, Christmas, Fresh Air, and bad pressing runs if Sly. Pretty simple but costly mistakes on top of quad layer expense.

Too many titles sold out their first and second pressing runs for it to be anything else. Even BS&T got a second run (which was not advertised at all).

I suggested higher retail price for surround layer discs. I wish I could had paid $4 or $5 more per disc and made it more workable.

 

[Franklin]

The Joel album was one of the five I bought, and easily in the top three of them.

 

[4-earredwonder]

AF has never fessed up to choosing several bum titles early on in their surround or 4.0 era. Nobody wants to think a mediocre Christmas album or a dated new age Fresh Air title had any bad impact. How odd. Then a twice repressed bad mastering of Sly Hits was disastrous for their bottom line on that title.

If you do an EW&F title that does not sell so well, do you do another title by the same group hoping second times the charm? No, and that is because it did sell ok. If you do America and it does not meet expectations do you do two more America titles? No you don't. Loggins and Messina twice or three times? No you don't.

See what I am saying, is that these title were not poor sellers. It was the extra costs of quad layers that did not help them sure.

But the real bummer titles were Labelle, a hitless Billy Joel album, Christmas, Fresh Air, and bad pressing runs if Sly. Pretty simple but costly mistakes on top of quad layer expense.

Too many titles sold out their first and second pressing runs for it to be anything else. Even BS&T got a second run (which was not advertised at all).

I suggested higher retail price for surround layer discs. I wish I could had paid $4 or $5 more per disc and made it more workable.

The funny thing, quicksrt, is that NONE of the Quadraphonic/5.1 launches even by the majors, even at the dawn of the QUAD LP and Quad Open Reel era, were BARNBUSTERS. Some of the biggest selling A list Acts were bypassed for lesser artists and the real kick....most [surpassing all POP/ROCK/JAZZ titles combined] of the earliest QUAD LPs were Classical of which 99.9% sported ONLY ambience in the rears.

So let's not single out Audio Fidelity because, IMO, they're ALL guilty. Even the 00 launch and the recent UMG BD~A launch were JOKES.

Either the artists themselves were resistant to remix into surround or the majors didn't want to spend the money needed to DO IT RIGHT....or BOTH!

The real jolt: I blame the artists who could've conceived of their albums with surround in mind but couldn't be bothered and therefore no current music was ever released in surround to satisfy current trends in music....and the real funny thing [actually NOT funny] almost 99.9% of all well done surround mixes I've heard not only compliment the album but allow inner details and instruments obscured in the stereo mix to finally be heard thus adding additional layers to the [re]mix!

Oh yeah. In 2017 Apple Records threw us a bone and finally released Pepper in 5.1.........to VERY mixed reviews.

Why wasn't it released in 1970 with a 'tastefully' aggressive George Martin QUAD remix......on QUAD OPEN REEL?????????

 

[Lute]

But the best, they're even watching movies on their Iphones and tablets as they listen to the audio via earbuds! IMO, what a waste!

Ironically, one can now BUY a TRUE UHD 4K movie with remastered Dolby Atmos soundtracks for LESS than the price of a Stereo SACD 'reissue.' What's wrong with that PICTURE [no pun intended]?

Example: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Grease-4K-Blu-ray/199056/

And in a few weeks that price will come down to $14.99! And even at THOSE prices, the public isn't supporting the new format.

Lifestyles have definitely changed. It's not just with music. I know very few people who have a newspaper or magazine delivered anymore. Living rooms with large built in bookshelves are old-fashioned. Why have a bookshelf when you don't buy books!!? It's become unnecessary (even burdensome) to store information of any kind on physical media these days. Only people who like to collect physical objects & hold them in their hands still seem to be interested in continuing with such things.

One would think and hope that with this freeing up of information, there would be greater access to old Quad recordings as well as a plethora of music available in surround. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be much more out there on the web.

 

[bmoura]

Some of the biggest selling A list Acts were bypassed for lesser artists

In many cases, the "biggest selling" artists did not give approval for albums to be released in Surround Sound.
If you don't have artist approval, a reissue will be stopped at that stage. Regardless of how much the reissue label - and the original record label - would like to do otherwise!

 

[markshan]

In many cases, the "biggest selling" artists did not give approval for albums to be released in Surround Sound.
If you don't have artist approval, a reissue will be stopped at that stage. Regardless of how much the reissue label - and the original record label - would like to do otherwise!

It's my understanding that Van Morrison didn't want the box to be released.

 

[MrSmithers]

It's my understanding that Van Morrison didn't want the box to be released.

I wonder if VM has actually heard the MCH remix of Moondance?! I mean I can't understand why he would object because it makes his music sound better?

From what I've heard - he might be a bit of a 'see you next Tuesday'! Well that's only from my mum who said she gave him a lift once and he didn't say a word on the entire journey or a thank you. But that's completely unofficial!

 

[4-earredwonder]

I wonder if VM has actually heard the MCH remix of Moondance?! I mean I can't understand why he would object because it makes his music sound better?

From what I've heard - he might be a bit of a 'see you next Tuesday'! Well that's only from my mum who said she gave him a lift once and he didn't say a word on the entire journey or a thank you. But that's completely unofficial!

Maybe it was because Mrs. Smithers was blasting Roger Waters The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking on the radio when she picked him up and Van's not a big RW fanboy...and that IS the official story

 

[JonUrban]

Here's the tally on May 19, the year of the lockdown (2020)

Sadly, you can see the titles at the bottom are the titles we were concerned about from the beginning.
I really had a bad feeling about the Dylan, mostly because it was a live recording - never a good thing for a surround release.

35	AFZ5-198: BS&T - BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS (Second Album)
35	AFZ5-215: SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - GREATEST HITS
33	AFZ5-195: BS&T - CHILD IS THE FATHER TO MAN
32	AFZ5-243: LOGGINS & MESSINA - FULL SAIL
31	AFZ5-206: THE DOORS - BEST OF THE DOORS
30	AFZ5-199: GUESS WHO - BEST OF THE GUESS WHO
30	AFZ5-234: BILLY COBHAM - SPECTRUM
28	AFZ5-186: BLOOMFIELD, KOOPER, STILLS - SUPERSESSION
28	AFZ5-207: BILLY JOEL - STREETLIFE SERENADE
27	AFZ5-204: AMERICA - HOMECOMING
27	AFZ5-216: LOGGINS & MESSINA - LOGGINS & MESSINA
26	AFZ5-197: BREAD - BEST OF
23	AFZ5-231: AMERICA - HEARTS
22	AFZ5-212: THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA - BIRDS OF FIRE
22	AFZ5-248: BLUE OYSTER CULT - SECRET TREATIES
19	AFZ5-219: JEFF BECK GROUP - JEFF BECK GROUP
15	AFZ5-202: EARTH WIND & FIRE - OPEN OUR EYES
15	AFZ5-223: HERBIE HANCOCK - THRUST
14	AFZ5-229: ALICE COOPER - MUSCLE OF LOVE
14	AFZ5-236: EARTH WIND AND FIRE - HEAD TO THE SKY
14	AFZ5-237: LAURA NYRO - ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION
13	AFZ5-196: LABELLE - NIGHTBIRDS
12	AFZ5-203: GROVER WASHINGTON - WINELIGHT
11	AFZ5-240: VARIOUS ARTISTS - THE COLLECTION
10	AFZ5-220: JUDY COLLINS - COLORS OF THE DAY
8	AFZ5-185: GEORGE BENSON - BREEZIN'
5	AFZ5-520: NEW YORK VOICES - LET IT SNOW
4	AFZ5-238: MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER - FRESH AIRE 8
3	AFZ5-230: BOB DYLAN - BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 6