Stuff that sounds amazing with the Surround Master

[chucky3042]

To hell with the 1500 posts, lets aim to achieve 100 page tabs!!!!!!

 

[Clement]

Surround Master: I'm liking the things you do (what you do!) when you make my music sexy! Although i prefer the guitar-driven funk of Funkadelic, the horn-driven Parliament was still a staple of my youth. What makes this album shine through the SM is the way the horns and synths and background vocals come blasting through the rear speakers. Bootsy's bass holds it all down up front. The horns (Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Michael Brecker, and Rick Gardner) are so damn tight, and they come through crisply in unison through the back speakers. Bernie Worrell's synths are percolating up front and in the rears, sometimes seemingly swirling (as they pan in stereo). A really fun ride through the Surround Master, one that reminds me of the way i used to listen to this LP back in HigH school!

https://www.discogs.com/release/3794873-Parliament-The-Clones-Of-Dr-Funkenstein

 

[Clement]

One of the great Funkadelic albums, and a personal favorite. probably because of the political bent, plainly evident on the cover. Bernie Worrell's synths pop and percolate, swirl and swell, through the disco-sadistic "Freak of the Week," making GREAT use of all four speakers. The crazy coke-fueled beat really comes alive through the SM, punctuated by percussion and whistles. But the party is just getting started! Next up is the fifteen minute (and twenty-three second) "(Not Just) Knee Deep"! Again, it's Worrell's synths that shine through the SM. The background vocals (something about the music/ it got into my pants) also come strong from behind, making this an especially immersive experience. It's hard to sit still during this album: a real Surround Music Dance Party! This epic track also includes some smoking guitar work up front (LOVE those Funkadelic guitar solos!). Next up is ten and a half minutes of "Uncle Jam." The parody of patriotic recruitment builds and bops through the SM. The drill sergeant is locked up front whilst Worrell's synths and keyboards again march through the four on the floor speakers in my quad room. Bootsy's bass really drives this funky jam up front, percussion popping in the rears. Although i miss those fiery guitar solos, the next track, "Field Maneuvers," makes up for it–incendiary and immersive: thanks to the SM, the multiple guitar workout surrounds me! The ballad "Holly Wants to Go to California" slows things down a bit, and the SM keeps working by moving the piano front and back, punctuated by the cheering and crowd noise that ironically undercuts the poignant lyrics. "Foot Soldiers (Star Spangled Funky)" brings it all to closure with more quirky Worrell work and militaristic marching through my quad setup. The cover proclaims this album will "Rescue Dance Music From The Blahs." No Blahs with the Surround Master!

 

[Electric Moo]

Well somebody's gotta listen to "Maggot Brain" through the Surroundmaster

 

[Clement]

Well somebody's gotta listen to "Maggot Brain" through the Surroundmaster

I "Hit It and Quit It" on 11 February in my march through Black History Month:
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ng-with-the-surround-master.20908/post-757876
I added some description of what the Surround Master does. Sincerely sorry i didn't do that more in the past. Stay Surrounded, Comrades!

 

[Electric Moo]

Oh, haha, I missed it.

One of my fave lyrics of all time. And they still hold true. Timeless.


"Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time, for y'all have knocked her up again. I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe. I was not offended, for I knew I had to rise above it all or drown in my own shit."

...and then the guitar solo!

 

[kfbkfb]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
^^^
...an estimated 10% of all stereophonic albums released during the late 1960s and early 1970s employed the system.


Anyone tried one (or more) of these CSG processed stereo recordings through a Surround Master (Involve/QS mode)?


Kirk Bayne

 

[~dave~~wave~]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
^^^
...an estimated 10% of all stereophonic albums released during the late 1960s and early 1970s employed the system.


Anyone tried one (or more) of these CSG processed stereo recordings through a Surround Master (Involve/QS mode)?


Kirk Bayne

Neil Young says it ruined his first album:

The first release of the album used the Haeco-CSG encoding system. This technology was intended to make stereo records compatible with mono record players, but had the unfortunate side effect of degrading the sound. Young was unhappy with the first release. "The first mix was awful", he was reported as saying in Cash Box of September 6, 1969. "I was trying to bury my voice, because I didn't like the way it sounded".[2]

Negative effects​

Generally speaking, Haeco-CSG has a degrading effect on the performance of both stereo and mono sounds processed through the system. The effect can vary substantially from one recording to another depending on the characteristics of the original unprocessed sound. The system "blurs" the focus of lead vocals or other sounds mixed to the center of a stereo recording. This is the main reason why Haeco-CSG was usually applied to recordings with bass positioned in one channel only. Bass frequencies are usually centered on modern recordings. The effect today would cause a significant loss of low frequency information, making the resulting sound somewhat "tinny". Negative effects of the system can be heard on any stereo speaker system, but makes headphone listening particularly un-natural sounding. This is because the lead vocalist or performer's audio waveform would be attempting to partially cancel itself inside the listener's head, confusing the brain's audio positioning sense.

Due to complicated interaction of phase and frequency it is difficult to predict exactly how the reduction from two channels to one will affect the sound of a particular instrument. Therefore mono sound from a true mono mix is preferable to the use of the Haeco-CSG stereo to mono process.

 

[kfbkfb]

I found a YT audio from vinyl [The Association - Never My Love] that claims it's CSG processed, DPL2 music (closest I have to QS) makes it sound kinda weird, extreme L to R separation for one thing.

edit:
The CSG logo appears on the back cover, now I'm interested in buying a CSG processed copy.
https://www.45worlds.com/vinyl/album/ws1767us

edit 2:
I just bought the album as MP3s from Amazon (no info about the MP3s retaining the CSG processing).

edit 3:
I just bought the album on (used) vinyl from Amazon, says it's the original 1968 pressing.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

This sounds amazing with the SMv3! And High Definition Tape Transfers has some of the very best sounding download albums!

https://www.highdeftapetransfers.ca/products/kenny-burrell-midnight-blue-pure-dsd

 

[MidiMagic]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haeco-CSG
^^^
...an estimated 10% of all stereophonic albums released during the late 1960s and early 1970s employed the system.


Anyone tried one (or more) of these CSG processed stereo recordings through a Surround Master (Involve/QS mode)?


Kirk Bayne

Actually, the records sound like they were recorded in SQ (or maybe BMX). The front center parts of the CSG record come out the LB and RB speakers in SQ. All of my Tijuana Brass records do this.

 

[Clement]

You'd think that an album meant to replicate the psychedelic experience would sound magnificent through the Surround Master . . . and you would be 100% correct! Mind BLOWN! So much wonderful separation going on here from needle drop on side one to dead wax thump-a-lump at the end of side two. There was a period of several months during my senior year in HigH school when i exclusively listened to albums released in 1967 . . . and i was always under the influence of some hallucinogen. This slab got a LOT of headphone time, and the SM gets damn close to replicating those heady daze! Kaukonen's scorching leads often emanate from the left rear and Casady's crunching bass often comes from the right rear, whilst Dryden's percussive prowess seems to be all around me. Feedback flies around the room. Background vocals come sweet from the rears. The trippier tracks ("A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly" and "Spare Change") are especially well-served through the SM. If you want to take an amazing trip, CRANK this beauty through the Surround Master–Do It, Do Do It, Do It . . . no man is an island–he's a peninsula! Stay Surrounded, Comrades!

https://www.discogs.com/release/3058462-Jefferson-Airplane-After-Bathing-At-Baxters

 

[Overture]

Heyo - listening to Jive Turkey by the Ohio Players on TIDAL, from the "Gold" collection.

Quite a delightful surround field, if you like that sort of thing.

 

[gene_stl]

You'd think that an album meant to replicate the psychedelic experience would sound magnificent through the Surround Master . . . and you would be 100% correct! Mind BLOWN! So much wonderful separation going on here from needle drop on side one to dead wax thump-a-lump at the end of side two. There was a period of several months during my senior year in HigH school when i exclusively listened to albums released in 1967 . . . and i was always under the influence of some hallucinogen. This slab got a LOT of headphone time, and the SM gets damn close to replicating those heady daze! Kaukonen's scorching leads often emanate from the left rear and Casady's crunching bass often comes from the right rear, whilst Dryden's percussive prowess seems to be all around me. Feedback flies around the room. Background vocals come sweet from the rears. The trippier tracks ("A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly" and "Spare Change") are especially well-served through the SM. If you want to take an amazing trip, CRANK this beauty through the Surround Master–Do It, Do Do It, Do It . . . no man is an island–he's a peninsula! Stay Surrounded, Comrades!
View attachment 103193 https://www.discogs.com/release/3058462-Jefferson-Airplane-After-Bathing-At-Baxters

yer givin' me a flashback, man!!

 

[Clement]

I LOVE these Record Store Day Jazz Dispensary drops. This one is from last 20 April. By definition, they are meant to feed one's head, and what better way to administer the jazz drug than through the Surround Master! Side one is stunning, with each track getting more discrete and trippy. Musically, each is great (Joe Henderson – "Afro-Centric," Gary Bartz Quintet – "Freedom One Day," Azar Lawrence – "Theme for a New Day"). What makes the Lawrence cut the best through the SM v.2 is the size of the ensemble: eleven cats just cooking and coming at me from all four corners!

Side two's best track is the leadoff polyrhythmic percussive cacophony of A. K. Salim's "Afrika." Bongos, Cowbell, Congas, Timbales, Tamber, and African Xylophone bombarding me from the four corners, trumpet solo on the left, alto sax on the right, tenor to the left – pure DYNAMITE! The best part is it's the album's longest track at 9:40. "Night Drums" from The Dungills and "Three Seeds (A Suite)" from Ran Blake are less discrete due to instrumentation, but still musically wonderful. HIGHly recommended!

https://www.discogs.com/release/30452387-Various-The-Freedom-Sound-The-People-Arise

 

[DennisMabry]

The Who - Magic Bus
Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today

 

[Willie Wilson]

Ohmygosh! I listened to the a LOT in high school! It straight up comes ALIVE through the SM v.2! Hearing "Let's Get the Show On the Road" through @chucky3042 magic machine is as good as through headphones in an altered state in the late 1970s! wOw!
View attachment 87985 Michael Stanley - Friends & Legends Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic
https://www.discogs.com/release/10745230-Michael-Stanley-Friends-And-Legends

Ohmygosh! I listened to the a LOT in high school! It straight up comes ALIVE through the SM v.2! Hearing "Let's Get the Show On the Road" through @chucky3042 magic machine is as good as through headphones in an altered state in the late 1970s! wOw!
View attachment 87985 Michael Stanley - Friends & Legends Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic
https://www.discogs.com/release/10745230-Michael-Stanley-Friends-And-Legends

Michael was a legend in Cleveland, his hometown. It’s pretty awesome to have Joe Walsh and Barnstorm as your backing band for an album. “Let’s Get the Show On the Road” was a fixture on WMMS for many years. RIP Michael.

 

[Clement]

This is EVERYTHING i'd hoped it would be through the SM v.2! This first Parliament album sounds more like a Funkadelic release (heavier on the guitars, not horn-driven). Eddie Hazel has some killer, stoned-immaculate runs, which the Surround Master swirls around all four corners – EPIC! Lead vocals are locked up front, and rhythm guitars and background vocals are in the rear; drums show up in both front and rear speakers. Bernie Worrell's keyboards also shine throughout, sometimes up front, sometimes in the rear – he's clearly having some funky fun! At times, things are straight-up goofy-licious with yodeling, jaw harp, steel guitar, bagpipes, and even full-throated gospel choir, all taken to the next level through the glory of the Surround Master! Get down, @chucky3042 !

https://www.discogs.com/release/30421646-Parliament-Osmium

 

[GOS]

This is EVERYTHING i'd hoped it would be through the SM v.2! This first Parliament album sounds more like a Funkadelic release (heavier on the guitars, not horn-driven). Eddie Hazel has some killer, stoned-immaculate runs, which the Surround Master swirls around all four corners – EPIC! Lead vocals are locked up front, and rhythm guitars and background vocals are in the rear; drums show up in both front and rear speakers. Bernie Worrell's keyboards also shine throughout, sometimes up front, sometimes in the rear – he's clearly having some funky fun! At times, things are straight-up goofy-licious with yodeling, jaw harp, steel guitar, and even full-throated gospel choir all taken to the next level through the glory of the Surround Master! Get down, @chucky3042 !
View attachment 105856 https://www.discogs.com/release/30421646-Parliament-Osmium

I've never heard this LP, but checked on YT and wow. Damn..... just ordered a copy from Amazon.

 

[Clement]

I've never heard this LP, but checked on YT and wow. Damn..... just ordered a copy from Amazon.

Did you score the double LP deluxe edition? The bonus cuts are also KILLER!