Larry Fast Synergy Surround Remix Possibilities

[Larry Fast]

A little background: The first Synergy album was released in QS encoded quad in 1975. You can still decode the QS embedded on the latest remasters done in 2013. There was a discrete 4 track master tape made at the same mix sessions in 1975 for manufacturing the Quad8 cartridges. But, those 4 track master tapes went missing for decades. They were recently rediscovered thanks to an archiving engineer named Ed Abbott who came across the long lost reels and made 24/96 digital transfers. I’ve listened to them in my studio’s surround mix setup and they sound even better than I remembered; certainly a big improvement over the QS encoded stereo tracks.

Now it’s a question about what to do with these new discoveries. What would the QQ community want to see regarding availability?

 

[Q4-Bert]

I first had to listen (Tidal) for me this was unknown, but sound like a wonderful album to have in quad.
I think most of our members like to have:
1. A lossless release.
2. The original quad mix.
Preferably for me is to have it released as FLAC one of our members had setup a nice service for that.
https://surroundmusic.one/
Thanks a lot for this nice gesture.

 

[Snood]

A little background: The first Synergy album was released in QS encoded quad in 1975. You can still decode the QS embedded on the latest remasters done in 2013. There was a discrete 4 track master tape made at the same mix sessions in 1975 for manufacturing the Quad8 cartridges. But, those 4 track master tapes went missing for decades. They were recently rediscovered thanks to an archiving engineer named Ed Abbott who came across the long lost reels and made 24/96 digital transfers. I’ve listened to them in my studio’s surround mix setup and they sound even better than I remembered; certainly a big improvement over the QS encoded stereo tracks.

Now it’s a question about what to do with these new discoveries. What would the QQ community want to see regarding availability?

Ooooh definitely make them "at least" available as Flac Quad hi res downloads somehow - that would be awesome and thank you

 

[Jim the Oldbie]

It's always great to hear of lost tapes found again!

Larry, I would jump at the chance to purchase a hi-res FLAC download of this original Quad mix of Electronic Realizations. Thanks for asking! And if you're ever tempted to try a multichannel mix of any of your other albums, I'm sure there would be plenty of interest in those around here as well.

 

[Ninecats]

I would sure love an SACD or bluray with stereo/quad combo. But I supoose it is smoother to enable hi res files, eg FLAC for purchase. I would definitely buy it!

 

[JonUrban]

24-96 4.0 .flac files would be great, but if you want a disc release, then Bluray or SACD is probably the best idea, although the manufacturing cost would obviouslyly be higher as opposed to just a download purchase.

Maybe release it through Dutton-Vocalion?

 

[John Svensson]

Second if Jon's suggestion....a disc, and perhaps DV as the outlet?

 

[sjcorne]

I’m cool with either a download or a disc. I have the QS LP, would love to hear how the discrete master sounds. The Q8 is rather hard to come by these days.

 

[user 1679]

Yes indeed, Jon's suggestion of DV may be a great way to go and seems to be a great fit for their operation. Flac downloads are an easy way to go - can done through band camp very easily. If you'd like to keep it all "in house" and do physical media, then there's always the crowdfunding option with pledge music. Whichever route, I'm in for sure!

 

[kap'n krunch]

HI Maestro!!! Thanks for joining our community.. we may be small but I think we are quite powerful...
Jon Urban has basically stated our collective answer... I am more of a "physical media" person... obviously a MCH FLAC download is the most economic way of releasing it.
On the Physical side we had the great DVD-Audio with the MLP encoded tracks for 5.1 , although , IIRC, it was possible to stream 4.0 WITHOUT the MLP encoding and make it as straight PCM, but , alas, the medium is mostly dead by now.
BD is great but there is this pesky fee paid to Sony for every release.. so , no, not BD either.
And we have SACD at last which would be your best bet. As mentioned by other members, Michael Dutton (DV) has mastered and released a lot of the 70s Columbia titles and they are spectacular.
Our main pet peeve is lossy codecs, as in Dolby and DTS(much better than Dolby but still lossy) , both on DVD, cause on BD they are lossless..

As it is, I know that almost everybody in this Forum would purchase at least ONE copy of your release and we all would be tickled pink with this.

 

[jefe1]

Count me as another person who would buy a copy physical disc preferred.

 

[Mesozoic Mike]

I too would hope for a physical release. Just happier with an actual disc than a download.

 

[privateuniverse]

Hello Larry!

It's great to have you here!

I too would love to have the quad Synergy mix made available in a modern format. As most everyone above has said, my preference would be for a lossless hi-res physical format like Blu-ray or SACD, but if those options are cost prohibitive, I would certainly be happy to purchase a .flac download. As Jon mentioned, the European SACD label Duton-Vocalion has been reissuing a lot of 70's quad titles and would probably jump at the chance to release this.

BTW, I've been to approximately 800 concerts in my lifetime. Peter Gabriel in Saratoga Springs in 1983 was easily one of the best shows I ever saw. You guys were such an amazing band.

 

[Scott M4]

Well, I have that first Synergy album on vinyl and CD and would be happy to buy a lossless version of the quad mix. Flac download is good for me. The DV SACD suggestion is also worth investigating.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Well if cost might be a factor.....then perhaps consult with the chaps at DGM , and Opus Productions.

Me ...I'd prefer DVDA (has a dvd playback option as well)
And for certain a physical stand alone disc.
So my order of preference would be DVDA , SACD , BLU-RAY and also DTS CD (dts cd may just be your cheapest option).

Getting ahead of myself but ,Hopefully you can follow up with more discs in surround from your catalogue.

I'm a big fan of "Sequencer " btw , oh and " Phobos and Deimos ".

 

[DuncanS]

It would be great to hear the albums in Hi-Res surround.

So I'd like both a disc (BD-A/DVD-A/SACD) as I like the physical connection with the music and to be able to read the booklet, but I'd also like (or just be happy with only) a Hi-Res 24-bit surround FLAC as it is getting the music that counts.
I'd also be happy to join a Pledge campaign to get the Quads/5.1 released if that made things easier.

 

[Q-Eight]

I also like the idea of contacting Dutton-Vocalion. They've recently been having quite a nice run of Stereo/Quad remastered SACD titles and, (I would imagine) would jump at the opportunity to have an exclusive title come their way. It's similar to how Audio-Fidelity started their Quad Releases off with a bang when they released the Al Kooper 5.1 remixes of Blood Sweat & Tears II and Child is Father to the Man. It couldn't hurt? Myself, I prefer having a physical copy.

But, having said that, a hi-res 4.0 download I'd also be on board for. However I think the Dutton-Vocalion approach might connect with a broader audience.

 

[MIDIQ]

Sacd or Bluray would be great, DV would do a great job. Unfortunately i have not got into the Flac downloading yet. Guys do you need any special equipment to do that, I just have Dvd burner on my PC? Heres hoping to hear Synergy quad in hi rez. Woo hoo.

 

[Larry Fast]

Thanks for the responses. I appreciate the comments suggesting labels, but you should know that I already own my own label with both physical and digital distribution agreements in place for the Synergy catalog worldwide. The digital side contractually is a little less flexible for distributing outside of the major channels. That is, the agreements that place my music on iTunes, Amazon Play and many others don’t permit me the freedom to separately make and sell my own FLAC files. On the other hand, I do have a lot of flexibility to pick various disc formats for releases that the wholesale distributors supply everywhere from the local hifi/stereo emporium to Amazon.com.

Organizations like Dutton-Vocalion would be free to buy export copies or license for UK manufacturing if they were interested in selling through their own channels.

I might consider a Pledge Music pre-order program for disc manufacturing simply to gauge the interest so that an appropriate press run is ordered. My studio is set up for surround production as I’ve been doing 5.1 for radio, TV and film for a number of years. Surround mix production and mastering is not a problem. I often do mixing and mastering for other artists and post-production AV work.

As to disc formats, because I work in PCM, not DSD, it’s a choice between Blu-Ray and DVD-A. Both can accept DTS-HD Master Audio which is a lossless multichannel codec capable of 24/96 PCM audio. It’s essentially the same as MLP. DTS-HD MA also embeds a lossy lower bitrate codec for back-compatibility with older players, and a fold down for stereo. Blu-Ray as a container has more space for including other stereo and archival mix content, but it has a more expensive production cycle.

Any thoughts?

 

[4-earredwonder]

I would also look forward to a physical disc approach and since a majority of QQers have Universal Players and you work exclusively in PCM, MLP DVD~A might be the most economical approach. Look forward to hearing your albums in Surround , Larry and thanks immensely for your input.