Sly & the Family Stone Greatest Hits - 4.0 Audio Fidelity Multichannel SACD (October 2015)

[mrcond]

And now back to the actual thread topic...Sly & TFS GH really shines in my car system (Sony MEX 2200 SACD player)! Especially on this gorgeous, unseasonably warm, fall day here in the northeastern hills of Connecticut. Windows rolled down, crankin' the tunes and pissing off the patrician folk of Litchfield County[emoji41]

I think Litchfield would be Northwestern!

 

[milt]

I understand that this is the Quadraphonic Quad forum but has anyone listened to the mono SACD layer?
Over at SHF, there is considerable consternation that the mono mix is seriously off balance.
BTW, I ordered from Importcds & as expected just got my shipping notice.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I understand that this is the Quadraphonic Quad forum but has anyone listened to the mono SACD layer?
Over at SHF, there is considerable consternation that the mono mix is seriously off balance.
BTW, I ordered from Importcds & as expected just got my shipping notice.

Quad Linda has listened to the mono version HERE

 

[elmer]

Right you are - enjoyed it so much that I drove across the state before I realiised.

 

[quicksrt]

I understand that this is the Quadraphonic Quad forum but has anyone listened to the mono SACD layer?
Over at SHF, there is considerable consternation that the mono mix is seriously off balance.
BTW, I ordered from Importcds & as expected just got my shipping notice.

I wanna get it from Importcds as well, but I want to order 4 SACDs at he same time and I count only three I want right now, another few I desire are out of stock. I learned it's best to not have stuff on back order that you paid for,
Especially with Importcds and their family of sites.

So I'll hold on for a few days or a week and think it over. Place a bigger order and get excited then.

 

[bmoura]

I understand that this is the Quadraphonic Quad forum but has anyone listened to the mono SACD layer?
Over at SHF, there is considerable consternation that the mono mix is seriously off balance.
BTW, I ordered from Importcds & as expected just got my shipping notice.

The Mono tracks are off center, leaning to the Left Channel.

Audio Fidelity is aware of the problem and will be correcting it in a future pressing.
They will make refunds available for listeners who want to wait for the updated pressing.

 

[bmoura]

I understand that this is the Quadraphonic Quad forum but has anyone listened to the mono SACD layer?
Over at SHF, there is considerable consternation that the mono mix is seriously off balance.
BTW, I ordered from Importcds & as expected just got my shipping notice.

The Mono tracks are off center, leaning to the Left Channel.

Audio Fidelity is aware of the problem and will be correcting it in a future pressing.
They will make refunds available for listeners who want to wait for the updated pressing.

 

[GOS]

Oh well...thankfully all I could care about is the amazing Quad layer....

 

[bmoura]

Oh well...thankfully all I could care about is the amazing Quad layer....

Same here. With the great 4 Channel Surround Sound mix I haven't really paid much attention to the Mono tracks.

 

[skherbeck]

Same here. With the great 4 Channel Surround Sound mix I haven't really paid much attention to the Mono tracks.

The surround mix and fidelity on this are a homerun for me; no replacement needed here! This is my favorite AF surround disc for sure.

 

[cupboy]

The Mono tracks are off center, leaning to the Left Channel.

Audio Fidelity is aware of the problem and will be correcting it in a future pressing.
They will make refunds available for listeners who want to wait for the updated pressing.

Didn't they have a similar problem with BS&T II?

Maybe SH has more hearing loss in one ear than the other.

 

[GOS]

So, what I'm curious (certainly not meant as disrespectful)....so when folks want to hear the mono (when there is a Quad layer)...is that because they think it sounds good...or is it more nostalgia? Just curious cause the few SACD I've heard that also contain mono tracks....I can't get past 1 song and I'm switching over to the Quad....

Same story with stereo SACD that contain mono tracks.....

 

[skherbeck]

So, what I'm curious (certainly not meant as disrespectful)....so when folks want to hear the mono (when there is a Quad layer)...is that because they think it sounds good...or is it more nostalgia? Just curious cause the few SACD I've heard that also contain mono tracks....I can't get past 1 song and I'm switching over to the Quad....

Same story with stereo SACD that contain mono tracks.....

Great question... I've always wondered that... I grew up listening to the stereo versions of the Beatles, and I find I prefer them to the mono mixes, while my Dad grew up with the mono mixes and prefers those. I hope some others chime in on this...

 

[The Rang]

The Mono tracks are off center, leaning to the Left Channel.

Audio Fidelity is aware of the problem and will be correcting it in a future pressing.
They will make refunds available for listeners who want to wait for the updated pressing.

Hope they look after us subscribers, I would hope/expect they'll send us a replacement copy with a future shipment

 

[quicksrt]

Hope they look after us subscribers, I would hope/expect they'll send us a replacement copy with a future shipment

It can be fairly cheap to send out replacement discs (no cases or art) to all subscribers who got the Sly SACD. No return requested.

Then have retail buyers send in their "disc only" for a replacement. It's not too hard to do and not having a jewel case or artwork to deal with saves a lot of time and labor as well as postage/shipping costs.

 

[bmoura]

Didn't they have a similar problem with BS&T II?

Maybe SH has more hearing loss in one ear than the other.

Don't know about that. Blood, Sweat & Tears sounds fine to me in Stereo and Surround SACD.

 

[bmoura]

Didn't they have a similar problem with BS&T II?

Maybe SH has more hearing loss in one ear than the other.

Don't know about that. Blood, Sweat & Tears sounds fine to me in Stereo and Surround SACD.

 

[atrocity]

So, what I'm curious (certainly not meant as disrespectful)....so when folks want to hear the mono (when there is a Quad layer)...is that because they think it sounds good...or is it more nostalgia?

The mixes--and the edits!--are very different. Not just in the obvious sense of different channel counts, but in the sense that they "feel" completely different.

I didn't notice the channel imbalance, but I was playing the redbook for the mono. Since that's on a server, I guess I can just fix the problem myself. But I'm once again scratching my head at how this stuff gets out there...when I digitize mono material via stereo recording, one of my finalizing steps is to choose either the left or right channel and duplicate it to the other. I don't want the record noise or tape dropout or whatever to be in stereo when the music isn't. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

(I'd just do one-channel mono WAV/FLAC but that can be a pain if I ever want to make a CD...which I never do, but still...)

 

[steelydave]

The mixes--and the edits!--are very different. Not just in the obvious sense of different channel counts, but in the sense that they "feel" completely different.

I didn't notice the channel imbalance, but I was playing the redbook for the mono. Since that's on a server, I guess I can just fix the problem myself. But I'm once again scratching my head at how this stuff gets out there...when I digitize mono material via stereo recording, one of my finalizing steps is to choose either the left or right channel and duplicate it to the other. I don't want the record noise or tape dropout or whatever to be in stereo when the music isn't. I can't imagine I'm the only one.

(I'd just do one-channel mono WAV/FLAC but that can be a pain if I ever want to make a CD...which I never do, but still...)

It's been my experience that FLACs that are 2.0 Mono are basically the same size as a 1.0 FLAC file - I assume the compression algorithm can detect the fact the the content between the two channels is identical and compresses accordingly.

I haven't heard the Sly GH SACD yet but if the channel imbalance is the same as the one on the BS&T 2nd album SACD, it's an authoring defect rather than a mastering one. One channel isn't louder/quieter than the other, the probem is/was that somehow one channel became offset from the other by 50 or so samples (I can't remember exactly now, the info is on SH.tv somewhere) and the effect created by the delay between the two channels makes your brain perceive things as being skewed to one side. I'm surprised at people who say they can't hear it on the BS&T SACD because when I listen to it the center point to me now sounds like it's offset nearly 45 degrees from the dead center you'd expect on a properly balanced disc. The other issue with the sample offset problem is using a 'mono button' (if you have one) on the Sly GH disc is that it doesn't solve the problem of the channel imbalance because what you'd be summing to mono would be the whole mix in one channel, and a slightly delayed version of the whole mix again from the other channel which I imagine would make everything sound blurred at best, or like slapback echo at worst.

I have to say I'm not impressed that AF is shipping these discs out knowing for a fact that there's a pretty major (by audiophile standards) defect in the audio. They sell a premium product for a premium price, but their actions are those of a budget label. It seems that they've acknowledged the defect with the mono layer of the Sly GH disc via email, and maybe with the BS&T disc as well, but I haven't seen any public acknowledgement anywhere that the average consumer not connected to QQ or SH.tv would notice. Maybe they're running such a tight profit margin that a recall/repress would push them in to the red financially, but what's happening here (and with the BS&T disc) has put me off preordering any more of their SACDs because I don't think we should have to be the QC guinea pigs for something that costs between $25 and $30 per title. I say that regretfully too, because I think the AF reissue campaign of the last year or so has been one of the most exciting developments for us surround-heads in the last 15 years or so.

 

[blue.monk]

The Mono tracks are off center, leaning to the Left Channel.

Wow. This is a drag to read as I await my copy. Particularly since it is now the third title in the campaign to suffer balance issues. Blood, Sweat & Tears stereo SACD layer - center info leans to the left and on the Loggins and Messina disc it leans right! CD layers are fine on both.