Suggestions for Dutton Vocalion Multichannel SACD Releases

[Larry Geller]

Dear DV: Please, please, MORE NOW!

Are you for real?

 

[Quadwreck]

Are you for real?

Yes. Really.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Jack The Toad
https://www.discogs.com/Savoy-Brown-Jack-The-Toad/release/8033171

 

[chas9496]

The stereo mix of this song is an odd one.

Why ?!

 

[Quadwreck]

Why ?!

(Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now) It's just some of the overdubs off to the sides. Try playing it through a QS decoder.

 

[Q-Eight]

(Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now) It's just some of the overdubs off to the sides. Try playing it through a QS decoder.

He's not kidding. Lead Vocals are in a three-part harmony, mixed Left-Center-Right. If you filter out the center channel, you can clearly hear each part in hard pan. Drum, Bass, Piano are all in the phantom center. The conga does wander around a bit. Mostly it's in the left channel, but does wander into the center by the second verse. Not sure what goes on with the synth parts but I would bet those are what take up a fair share of the multitrack. But it really does seem that other than the vocal parts and the synth parts, pretty much everything else is up the middle.

It's a funny stereo mix for sure. Not sure it's a fold-down of a Quad mix though. If it was, it was a very unadventurous Quad mix.

 

[Q-Eight]

I'm probably repeating myself, probably just jonesing for some new D-V titles....

How about:
The Youngbloods - Best Of / Get Together
Jose Feliciano: Feliciano!, 10 to 23, Fireworks, Alive-Alive-O! and Compartments. (enough for 3 two-fers!)
The Archies - Sugar, Sugar (just for fun and it's a SUPER-rare title)
Papa Nez : Loose Salute / Magnetic South
Friends of Distinction: Grazin', Highly Distinct, Real Friends, Whatever, Greatest Hits & Love can Make it Easier (another three 3 two-fers)

Over at the CBS camp, allow me to suggest:
Kris Kristofferson : The Silver-tongued Devil and I, Jesus was a Capricorn, Spooky Lady's Sideshow, Border Lord and maybe the Best Of
Mac Davis....
Redbone....
New Riders of the Purple Sage?

 

[Eggplant]

I'm probably repeating myself, probably just jonesing for some new D-V titles....

How about:
The Youngbloods - Best Of / Get Together
Jose Feliciano: Feliciano!, 10 to 23, Fireworks, Alive-Alive-O! and Compartments. (enough for 3 two-fers!)
The Archies - Sugar, Sugar (just for fun and it's a SUPER-rare title)
Papa Nez : Loose Salute / Magnetic South
Friends of Distinction: Grazin', Highly Distinct, Real Friends, Whatever, Greatest Hits & Love can Make it Easier (another three 3 two-fers)

Over at the CBS camp, allow me to suggest:
Kris Kristofferson : The Silver-tongued Devil and I, Jesus was a Capricorn, Spooky Lady's Sideshow, Border Lord and maybe the Best Of
Mac Davis....
Redbone....
New Riders of the Purple Sage?

I’d buy them all.
And I wouldn’t be alone.

But first ...

Janis Ian — Between the Lines
Janis Ian — Aftertones

 

[Q-Eight]

i’d buy them all.
And I wouldn’t be alone.

But first ...

Janis Ian — Between the Lines
Janis Ian — Aftertones

Supposedly she owns her masters. Not an impossible task, but may be difficult. I'd go for 'em too as they were SQ-only, weren't they?
How about the pair of Minnie Rippertons' ?

 

[Eggplant]

Supposedly she owns her masters. Not an impossible task, but may be difficult. I'd go for 'em too as they were SQ-only, weren't they?

She told me that in person after a concert in the 90’s and also makes that claim on her website. However, I don’t believe for a second she has the quad masters or even knows they exist. Can somebody maybe ask Michael Dutton if he’s seen them?

Yes, both were — regrettably — SQ only. Arguably, none of us have ever really heard them. Too bad, because they’re both quite good. Aftertones is my favorite album of hers and I have most of them. It was seminal for me in 1979 as I graduated high school, one of two records that defined the classy, jazzy, female singer-songwriter (the other being Rickie Lee Jones). What I doubt people remember today is just how successful she was. Both albums sold BIG: BTL hit #3 — not surprising with the iconic “At Seventeen”, but Aftertones proved no Swans Against the Sun — i.e., the Follow-Up to the Smash Hit Nobody Bought. Its four singles all charted — three on the US Adult Contemporary and one, Love is Blind, hitting #1 in Japan (but too dark for our tender American ears). #12 on the Billboard album chart is quite a feat for a record without a single Hot 100 entry. The Billboard Album Chart arguably is the only one that really matters because it proves folk went out and BOUGHT it. Aftertones also was and is the highest-selling album ever In Japan by a female artist. I think it holds up beautifully today In both recording quality and performance.

So yeah, Mr. Dutton.
Let’s have at ‘em!

 

[esimms86]

She told me that in person after a concert in the 90’s and also makes that claim on her website. However, I don’t believe for a second she has the quad masters or even knows they exist. Can somebody maybe ask Michael Dutton if he’s seen them?

Yes, both were — regrettably — SQ only. Arguably, none of us have ever really heard them. Too bad, because they’re both quite good. Aftertones is my favorite album of hers and I have most of them. It was seminal for me in 1979 as I graduated high school, one of two records that defined the classy, jazzy, female singer-songwriter (the other being Rickie Lee Jones). What I doubt people remember today is how successful she was. Both albums sold BIG: BTL hit #3 — not surprising with the iconic “At Seventeen”, but Aftertones proved no Swans Against the Sun (sorry Michael) — i.e., the Follow-Up to the Smash Hit Nobody Bought. Its four singles all charted somewhere — three on the US Adult Contemporary and one, Love is Blind, hitting #1 in Japan (but too dark for our tender American ears). #12 on the Billboard album chart is quite a feat for a record without a single Hot 100 entry. The Hot 200 Album Chart arguably is the only that really matters because it proves folk went out and BOUGHT it. Aftertones also was and is highest-selling album ever In Japan by a female artist. I think it holds up beautifully today In both recording quality and performance.

So yeah, Mr. Dutton.
Let’s have at ‘em!

Yeah, certainly many(most?) of us are old enough to remember the commercial heyday of Janis Ian. Another seemingly impossible wish but I would LOVE to have “Breaking Silence” mixed in surround. Even a Penteo upmix would be cool to have. The music is phenomenal and it’s also an audiophile favorite for the recording quality and overall sound.

 

[Eggplant]

Even a Penteo upmix would be cool to have.

I haven’t even heard that term in over a decade.
Good thing, as I think Penteo is a joke.
You can get virtually the same result anytime using Dolby PL II Music, found on almost every AVR for the last 20 years.

 

[sjcorne]

I haven’t even heard that term in over a decade.
Good thing, as I think Penteo is a joke.
You can get virtually the same result anytime using Dolby PL II Music, found on almost every AVR for the last 20 years.

Didn't know it existed 10 years ago, but I guess it's been improved since then as Penteo is now considered the gold standard for stereo-to-surround synthesis. It gives better channel separation than any upmixer I've heard to date, hardware or software. Several of the Steven Wilson remixes have used it in place of songs with missing multis ("Broken" on Songs From The Big Chair, "The Advent Of Panurge" on Octopus, etc)

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I haven’t even heard that term in over a decade.
Good thing, as I think Penteo is a joke.
You can get virtually the same result anytime using Dolby PL II Music, found on almost every AVR for the last 20 years.

I routinely use Dolby PLII for stereo sources on my system. I have also heard a good number of well done Pentieo upmixes. I can state without hesitation that a good Pentio upmix is far superior than anything my system can produce using DPLII. There must be something to it. Some of those upmixes sound so discreet you might conclude it was a true 5.1 mix if you didn't already know the true source.

 

[ubertrout]

Didn't know it existed 10 years ago, but I guess it's been improved since then as Penteo is now considered the gold standard for stereo-to-surround synthesis. It gives better channel separation than any upmixer I've heard to date, hardware or software. Several of the Steven Wilson remixes have used it in place of songs with missing multis ("Broken" on Songs From The Big Chair, "The Advent Of Panurge" on Octopus, etc)

Some people thought the Penteo upmixes on Octopus were surprisingly good. I hated them - the contrast between the discrete tracks was immediately obvious to me. YMMW of course.

 

[sjcorne]

Some people thought the Penteo upmixes on Octopus were surprisingly good. I hated them - the contrast between the discrete tracks was immediately obvious to me. YMMW of course.

I agree on the contrast, but better to have them in upmixed form than left off the surround layer entirely like they did with Emerson, Lake & Palmer self-titled album.

 

[fredblue]

I agree on the contrast, but better to have them in upmixed form than left off the surround layer entirely like they did with Emerson, Lake & Palmer self-titled album.

oh absolutely!
it was a wee while ago now but i remember being impressed with what turned out to be Penteo'd material on Steven Wilson's Hawkwind remix

 

[J. PUPSTER]

The Red Back Book
Seems like this would be right up DVs alley!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

The Red Back Book
Seems like this would be right up DVs alley!

Palm Leaf Rag
Could be a twofer with this one (Q8)

 

[humprof]

Palm Leaf Rag
Could be a twofer with this one (Q8)

There's some discussion somewhere or other (on a QQ thread, I mean) about the EMI/Angel catalogue--whether the quad masters still exist, how many of the titles are anything to write home about surround-wise, etc. @ubertrout might know?