Tap tap tap - is this thing on?

[renewingmind]

Hello everyone,

Quad was still a thing when I was a kid, but I honestly didn't know anyone who had a quad system. I just remember some records we had stating they were quadraphonic and wishing I could hear them that way. Over the last decade as streaming has become the way people consume music I've rekindled my love of just sitting and listening to music.

The end result is that I have a Denon DRA-425 I purchased new in 1991 or so in my bedroom coupled with a Technics SL-D3 and some Polk LSi-9's, a Denon DRA-1025R in my basement paired with a Denon DP-45F turntable and an amazing set of Bose 901 series VI's, and germane to this conversation my living room has a very nice 5.1 system that is a collection of items I've assembled over the years: an Anthem MRX720, Klipsch KG5.5's, a Polk LSi-9c, and Niles Pro 870FX speakers as my rear surrounds.

Recently it occurred to me that this system would probably playback quad really really well, and that led to me finding Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in quadraphonic on youtube. Hearing this album properly for the first time ever was a revelation (and that's with the low bitrate of youtube). It led me down a hole which ended here.

I've ordered a couple of Quadio discs but would really like to know how to land some of the other content that was originally produced in quad.

What do I listen to? Huge fan of Jazz. I'd love to own digital copies (blu-ray, flac or any other lossless) of things like the Herbie Hancock albums that were produced back in the day as well as anything else. Mingus is in my cart on rhino... I own every Genesis album on vinyl and CD, but it seems like there might be a quad mixed concert out there I'd love to get my hands on. Big fan of Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and classic rock, but I don't see a ton of titles on lists of quad content that appeals to me.

I find 5.1 mixes mostly annoying, as they just overuse the center channel and drop a little spice in the rear speakers. That's the reason I'm more interested in the quad mixes.

Joel

 

[Old Quad Guy]

Hello Joel,
Welcome. Herbie Hancock “Sextant” Quad title is available on SACD, along with a Ton of other great Quadraphonic titles:

Dutton Vocalion
https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/

 

[Fourplay]

Welcome Joel!

 

[Fourplay]

There is a section here on quad discographies that should interest you. The polls section will allow you to read user reviews of quads and other immersive formats before you buy. Welcome to the rabbit hole!

 

[renewingmind]

Hello Joel,
Welcome. Herbie Hancock “Sextant” Quad title is available on SACD, along with a Ton of other great Quadraphonic titles:

Dutton Vocalion
https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/

Alas, I have no way to read an SACD. My blu-ray player is a Panasonic DP-UB820.

Sigh.

Joel

 

[Old Quad Guy]

Alas, I have no way to read an SACD. My blu-ray player is a Panasonic DP-UB820.

Sigh.

Joel

No worries. There are many vintage SACD/Blu-ray players and SACD/DVD-Audio players that either have analog RCA or HDMI outputs for roughly $50 on eBay. Most of us have collected multiple disc players. Well under the price of a Box set or the price of a few SACDs. It depends on what you want and what your needs are.

Others can chime in here as to what make and models to recommend.

EDIT: There’s a lot of Quad titles from Rhino Records “Quadio” release program on Hi-Rez Blu-ray:

https://store.rhino.com/en/search/?q=Quadio&lang=en_US

 

[Fourplay]

In case you are having trouble, here is a link to all the quad discographies.

http://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadindx.htm

Credit primarily to Mark Anderson and secondarily to many people here who have contributed and discussed these lists!

 

[armyjazzer]

If you pick up a Sony BDP-S5100 used on ebay ( they are really cheap ) you can also rip the SACD discs if you are so inclined.

This hobby will drain your free cash quick!

 

[barfle]

It’s kind of a shame that so many modern re-releases have such limited pressings, but I understand that the folks who do that don’t want a lot of incentory sitting on their shelves after the original excitement has died down. That means there’s a limited window of opportunity to acccess many wonderful recordings, and it means that there’s a rich marketplace for resales.

I’ve found a handful of good copies available through discogs - sellers there seem to care about their reputation, but ebay is also generally a decent place to find out-of-print recordings.

Money is going to be spent. Enjoy the ride. I know I am enjoying mine.

 

[somethingcleveridunno]

What do I listen to? Huge fan of Jazz. I'd love to own digital copies (blu-ray, flac or any other lossless) of things like the Herbie Hancock albums that were produced back in the day as well as anything else. Mingus is in my cart on rhino... I own every Genesis album on vinyl and CD, but it seems like there might be a quad mixed concert out there I'd love to get my hands on. Big fan of Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and classic rock, but I don't see a ton of titles on lists of quad content that appeals to me.

Hello and welcome!

Formats and out-of-print content are going to make your head spin and your wallet likely hemorrhage, but just with those bands you mentioned: basically the entire Genesis studio catalog was released on DVD, DVD-Audio, and/or SACD in 5.1. Lamb recently got a new Dolby Atmos mix, and those are backwards-compatible with your 5.1, but it's locked in an expensive box set.

The Mingus Moves quad blu-ray will not disappoint! Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters, Sextant and Thrust all got quad SACD releases, and Gershwin's World was released in 5.1. There's a lot of jazz out there on SACD and streaming in Atmos. Floyd and Steely Dan are well-represented in surround but there's asterisks on just about everything (Meddle, for instance, was released in 5.1 but hidden on a disc in a box set that has to be ripped on a computer to hear the mix, there's no way to get to it on a DVD player!) and Steely Dan has stuff still trapped only on analog formats (and no sign of an official surround mix of Aja or The Royal Scam on the horizon, sadly!). So part of the learning curve is just gonna be learning what's out there, and then how the heck to actually listen to it, because while surround music is amazing, the availability and ease of use are... not.

 

[renewingmind]

Is there a place that lists quad releases and their modern re-releases as quad mixes? It feels like the 5.1 and Atmos releases often use the rears as spice only, and I love the substance of a quad mix. But it’s so hard to tell and I am not independently wealthy to just buy everything… That’s what I love about quadio, it’s crystal clear what they are and they sound great. I bought the duke ellington disk and ripped it to my plex server and play it frequently.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

It feels like the 5.1 and Atmos releases often use the rears as spice only, and I love the substance of a quad mix.

There are plenty of 5.1 and Atmos mixes that are as good or better than Quad with respect to discrete rear channel usage. The best places to find re-released Quads are Dutton Vocalion, Rhino, and CD Japan.

https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/

https://www.rhino.com/


https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/

 

[Fourplay]

Is there a place that lists quad releases and their modern re-releases as quad mixes? It feels like the 5.1 and Atmos releases often use the rears as spice only, and I love the substance of a quad mix. But it’s so hard to tell and I am not independently wealthy to just buy everything… That’s what I love about quadio, it’s crystal clear what they are and they sound great. I bought the duke ellington disk and ripped it to my plex server and play it frequently.

This sounds like a good idea for a thread. Something like "Legacy Quad Mixes Released In A Modern Digital Format" and with links to the poll reviews. A project for someone...

 

[somethingcleveridunno]

This sounds like a good idea for a thread. Something like "Legacy Quad Mixes Released In A Modern Digital Format" and with links to the poll reviews. A project for someone...

Well we've got the polls, and SurroundDiscography.com, all the info is there between them. Except for streaming. Streaming is still just "out there" not being that well documented or discussed.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Well we've got the polls, and SurroundDiscography.com, all the info is there between them. Except for streaming. Streaming is still just "out there" not being that well documented or discussed.

The new comers should embrace the QQ search function as their friend.

 

[renewingmind]

The new comers should embrace the QQ search function as their friend.

The polls are helpful but also literally one piece of music at a time spread out over a myriad of format forums. I don’t know what’s out there, where to find it etc.

Surround discography doesn’t seem to identify the mixes at all. It says there is a surround mix for a given format but doesn’t identify if this is a quad mix, a 5.1 mix etc. And it’s all separated by format making it very hard to find things.

The most helpful thing I’ve found after an enormous amount of searching is this:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/Columbia.htm

But that’s only one record company and I can’t find similar lists for others. Do they exist? How do I find them?

The search for content has been frustrating and after a lot of searching I posted my question.

 

[barfle]

The polls are helpful but also literally one piece of music at a time spread out over a myriad of format forums. I don’t know what’s out there, where to find it etc.

Surround discography doesn’t seem to identify the mixes at all. It says there is a surround mix for a given format but doesn’t identify if this is a quad mix, a 5.1 mix etc. And it’s all separated by format making it very hard to find things.

The most helpful thing I’ve found after an enormous amount of searching is this:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/Columbia.htm

But that’s only one record company and I can’t find similar lists for others. Do they exist? How do I find them?

The search for content has been frustrating and after a lot of searching I posted my question.

I’ve had the search function fail to find threads that I knew existed, and at other times return a hundred or so links that had nothing to do with my search. I believe the mods are trying to tidy that up, but mostly my interaction here is the daily email telling me what’s new.

That also isn’t complete. If a thread has been stagnant for a while, sometimes it takes a couple of bumps for it to make the emailed list.

I still waste at least a couple of hours daily here - time I could be using to figure out my new pre-pro and listen to the mountain of discs on the “yet to be played” stack.

 

[Fourplay]

The polls are helpful but also literally one piece of music at a time spread out over a myriad of format forums. I don’t know what’s out there, where to find it etc.

Surround discography doesn’t seem to identify the mixes at all. It says there is a surround mix for a given format but doesn’t identify if this is a quad mix, a 5.1 mix etc. And it’s all separated by format making it very hard to find things.

The most helpful thing I’ve found after an enormous amount of searching is this:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/Columbia.htm

But that’s only one record company and I can’t find similar lists for others. Do they exist? How do I find them?

The search for content has been frustrating and after a lot of searching I posted my question.

Hi again!

This is a messy hobby, and requires some effort for maximum enjoyment. In a way that is what makes it fun. Sometimes it is frustrating, but other times it provides an opportunity to prevail over difficult odds.

Hopefully this post will help you. You have expressed a specific interest in quad recordings. I have earlier linked to Mark Anderson's excellent Quadraphonic Discography. I suggest that this is your best starting point. One specific page in his site covers so-called popular recordings. This seems to include both jazz and rock. You might consider just scrolling through and making notes on quad mixes you would like to hear.

http://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadpall.htm

All you are doing at this point is identifying that such a mix exists and was released - this list deals with pre-digital quad only formats, but don't let that bother you. In the case of most quads, it had to be analog before it could be digital.

You mentioned Herbie Hancock. You can use the "CTL+F" function to fine him immediately by name and note his existing mixes.

OK, now armed with your list, you start the hunt for the specific media you need to hear it. This is where searching QQ comes in handy. Believe it or not, the search function in QQ is much improved from what it used to be. However, if the results are not coming up quickly, I will refer you to an old thread I started on doing a search of QQ using Google:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-find-old-threads-on-qq.19866/

I still use this method - not just on QQ - but on any website where results are not coming quickly from the on-board search feature. Here is an example of the result you get from this method for Herbie Hancock:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Herbie+Hancock+site:https://www.quadraphonicquad.com&sca_esv=15988f96c695c280&sxsrf=ADLYWIKNiANe6dYvTxohWJRjWcZ9OeqDKA:1737399816242&source=hp&ei=CJ6OZ963C4-y0PEPjYaqqQk&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZ46sGBJoPeuipE1SHLRLv_CU-qeNuc7b&ved=0ahUKEwje24HX_oSLAxUPGTQIHQ2DKpUQ4dUDCBo&uact=5&oq=Herbie+Hancock+site:https://www.quadraphonicquad.com&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IjRIZXJiaWUgSGFuY29jayBzaXRlOmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnF1YWRyYXBob25pY3F1YWQuY29tMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQLhiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAuGIAEMgUQLhiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABEiUOFAAWLkwcAB4AJABAJgBpwGgAacOqgEEMC4xNbgBA8gBAPgBAfgBApgCD6AC-Q_CAgQQIxgnwgIKECMYgAQYJxiKBcICERAAGIAEGJECGLEDGIMBGIoFwgILEAAYgAQYkQIYigXCAg4QLhiABBixAxjRAxjHAcICCxAuGIAEGLEDGIMBwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICCxAuGIAEGJECGIoFwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAggQLhiABBixA8ICEBAAGIAEGJECGIoFGEYY-QHCAhEQLhiABBiRAhjHARiKBRivAcICDhAuGIAEGMcBGI4FGK8BwgILEC4YgAQYxwEYrwHCAg0QABiABBixAxhGGPkBwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYgwEY1ALCAggQABiABBixA8ICCxAuGIAEGLEDGNQCmAMAkgcEMC4xNaAH_-UB&sclient=gws-wiz

Now you have good results including polls. Note that the poll not only refers to the mix, but to the format which is being reviewed. Now you can not only see how the mix has been released - analog and digital - but you can quickly access opinions about the mix itself and whether it is worthy of your hard earned (or ill begotten) dollars.

Note that not all mixes of every artist have a poll. If that is the case you are then taking a deeper dive into the world of obscure mixes in order to satisfy your curiosity about the mix of that recording. For instance, there are digital conversions of analog formats as done by fans, and there are "upmixes" of never officially quad recordings that circulate among fans. These are generally word of mouth, and and not allowed to be sold or advertised here on QQ. But you may see one mentioned in the threads, and often a nicely worded private message to the mentioner will reward your hunt.

Chew on all that for a while and see where it gets you!