There's lots of great surround music out there either in SACD, DVD Audio or Blu Ray Audio. You should check them out.

Vocalion in the U.K. is another label that's been releasing vintage quadrophonic mixes, but on SACD (not Blu-ray). Not the greatest selection, but some good stuff, like Mott the Hoople, Ted Nugent, Art Garfunkel, Helen Reddy, the Guess Who, and Paul Revere and the Raiders, among others. However, I have read that Vocalion's mastering is a bit on the bright/trebly side.

I've always said that Quad is like visiting an old friend, but having new stories to tell. The music is familiar.... but the mixes can be fantastic! Many of them really open up to feature instruments that got buried or overpowered in the stereo mixes. Quad is like being able to sit in the middle of a band while they were recording. People often as "Why would you want to do that?" to which I often respond.... "Would you not???" Also check out Dutton-Vocalion in the UK with their SACD's. But yes, between Dutton, Audio Fidelity and Rhino, we've gotten over 100 classic, heavy-hitting Quad albums transferred to a modern format in the last 10 years. It's a very groovy time. If you had told me back in 2010 that this would happen, I'd have called shenanigans. Incidentally, I have roughly over 600 Quad 8-tracks in my collection and well over 100 CD-4 LP's.

I bought the same 2 Quadio discs and couldn't agree more with your review. The deep cuts on Billion Dollar Babies are full blown Cinemascope adventures! I enjoyed both as never before, and I had a CD-4 Quad setup back in the day.

The main reason that quad failed was that there were too many separate formats. Warner Bros. used the CD-4 format, which did use the special stylus (the Shibata) and was a discrete format, but then there was CBS' SQ format, which was matrixed. It was more like the difference between Dolby 5.1 (CD-4) and Dolby Surround (SQ). Ironically, the principle behind SQ ended up being the basis for Dolby Surround.

Quad hit just as I was hitting my teen years in the 70’s and both my older brothers were digging it big time. So I got to listen to A LOT of the process back then and was never less than stoked by it. Truly, it brought music not just to a space I never thought it could, but also to places I didn’t even know existed. They each had quad receivers, but my bro Bill had that classic Harmon Kardon unit with the joystick, the coolest receiver ever made. So I loved this video and your reaction to the sounds, particularly your enthusiasm for it. Sometimes the sweet of the past is deja vu all over again, my friend. Seize it!

Cool beans Frank ! Thanks for the heads-up. 😎👍

As always nice to see you Ftank!

I love music in 5.1 surround. I have a lot of concert DVDs and Blu Rays, and some of them sound amazing. Lately I have noticed that a lot of them are mixed with the main vocal coming out of the front 2 speakers, and not the center (which I prefer much better.) I wonder why? Great video Frank, thanks for sharing. I wasn't aware of these reissues. Now if they can only price it a little lower...

I love the videos that also turn into mini history lessons. I'd never heard of quad sound before and will keep myself open to trying it out with my home theater system someday.

Great video Frank. I’m intrigued now on these releases. Agree about BDB from Alice it’s such a great record.

Four-channel records come in three flavours: QS (Sansui matrix), SQ (Sony matrix), and CD-4 (JVC discrete). QS and SQ can be played with the same stylus as any other record. Channel separation is compromised in both of these. CD-4 discs need a special stylus (such as Shibata, line contact, van den Hul, et al) that can track up to at least 40,000 Hz --- and preferably up to 50,000 --- to convey the pilot tone that separates the front and rear signals. CD-4 doesn't always work well even with the right stylus because of defects in the records and other problems, but when it does work it has essentially perfect channel separation.

1 of the problems at the time was not everyone had a true 4-cornered room for listening. So you had 1 or 2 speaker(s) next to an opening. The 2nd problem was most ppl didn't want to put 4 BIG Speakers in the room losing area because of that. Another problem was Dolby wouldn't license the technology to the recording studios for quad. Also the fact there was too many different formats SQ, QS, RM, CD-4, Fake Quad. Now I will wait for Paul McCartney's Venus & Mars & Band on the Run albums (have the quad 8-Track), most notability(?) is the Magneto & Titanium Man & Listen to what the Man Said tracks. Also will wait for NRPS Panama Red. just got to mention The Doors best of.😺

Picked up both as soon as they were released! I had owned about 40 QUAD 8 Tracks in the 70's, including Dark Side, Wish you were here, Moodys, Rhymin' Simon, Still Crazy, Nilsson , Wings and all were the greatest thing that ever happened to music! They started going bad in the 90's, my player broke down and no eBay at the time. Hope Rhino keeps puttin' 'em out!

I heard in 1970s that quadraphonic audio had too many incompatible technologies. SQ, QS, CD-4, UD-4, Stereo-4, Dynaquad, and Quadra ABC, and Haffler were some of the quadraphonic technologies used depending on the country. Different manufacturers backed certain quadraphonic technologies, and some were distributed in different countries. Not all were compatible with each other and if you played a record with the wrong encoding, you would get one or two channel sound in most cases. Some quadraphonic systems use matrix encoding where others have four dedicated channels of audio on the record or tape and some used special needles or grooves. I heard that the number of incompatible systems along with the fact that you would have to run two more speakers, and need a bigger amplifier were part of the reasons the quadraphonic craze came to a halt pretty quickly back in the day.

Thanks, Frank! Now I have to get these two!

This was cool Frank.

I've almost bought these twice now and have pulled back . I have heard some of the Spatial Audio albums streaming on Apple Music through a Dolby Atmos surround sound system as well as in headphones, and it was kind of fun but the quality of those can be hit and miss. Some tracks sound amazing while others seem forced into a format they really aren't right for. Maybe I'll go ahead and pick these up.

HAD A QUAD STEREO IN 1974 AND SEVERAL QUAD LPS. EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN.

Thanks for the quad lp info. I wasn't aware that you need a special stylus. Makes the Quadio titles even better.

I love the surround sound mix.I actually have Paranoid twice in quad.Once in a deluxe edition and another in a box set.I'm a sucker for surround sound have a boxset of Chicago their first 10 albums I believe all in quad.Sounds great

I think a 3.0 or 3.1 mix would be ideal, like surround, you could have the vocals mainly through the centre channel and the music mainly in the stereo mix with the option for sub or no sub. I think a stand alone 3 channel or 3.1 receiver would be wicked and you could dial in the vocal mix to your liking.

I'm still a big fan of multi-channel audio. I remember the first time I heard Hotel California in 5.1. It was like hearing it again for the first time. Personally, I do like the feeling that the band is all around you, and for that reason like the 5.1 mixes where the lead vocal is isolated in the center channel the most. I do love that there are companies who still see the value in releasing these!

I will have to get one of these to listen to in my car that is 7:1 and has DVD audio. In accessory mode parked in my driveway of course.

Have you heard the Pink Floyd - Animals surround version that came out recently?! AMAZING

Awesome video bro

I have a stereo system that suits me, but I've never been one for 5.1 etc. However I do pick up quadraphonic LPs if I run across a title I like. I enjoy the different mixes they sometimes provide.

When Rhino was still using their "Handmade" moniker, they put out some quadraphonic DVD's maybe around 2010, 2014? The 2 that I have are "Chicago Transit Authority" and "The Best Of Aretha Franklin". Both had originally released on LP using different quad systems. I guess that the Blu-ray discs have more capacity than DVD's, so both the quad version and the stereo version can be on one disc. Audio Fidelity had been putting out quad digital discs for awhile. Great discs. There were also DVD-A's with multi-channel mixes years ago.Some I have are "Days Of Future Past" by The Moody Blues, "Machine Head" by Deep Purple, The Police, etc. Quad has been around for a very long time and modern technology has brought us reliable formats which can be played through almost any home theater system.

I grew up listening to quad. My father had a full quad set up in his dedicated listening room. I always thought it was a lot of fun. I still have many of his quad records. Including a great Jerry Reed album.

Nice video, Frank. I was 18 years old back in 1972 and was really into vinyl in the late 60s and 70s. But in trying to remember why quadraphonic sound was a complete failure - at least with my circle of friends, I think it had to do with the time of our lives. While I joined the workforce in 1973, my buddies, who had gone on to college were still in school until 1976. My good friend, who was really into vinyl, then got married in 1977. So, while most of us were interested in good sound, 1) we already had decent sound systems, and 2) we were busy paying rent, buying washers, dryers, etc. As a practical example, a friend of mine and I both had Kawasaki motorcycles, but when he had to get married, shall we say, sooner than expected, he traded his 750 triple in for a refrigerator! So, for us, Quad sound was a non-event.

I saw this and bought Paranoid just for the quadio curiosity and it arrived last week. I haven't listened to it yet, as I am still setting up my home theater. I am pleased to hear that you thought it was amazing. I can't wait to listen to it and experience something new. Cool video Frank and timely for me.

Great video! Interesting stuff. Reminds me of Qsound I think it was called back in the early 90's. Sting's Soul Cages was released with it. It wasn't quadio but you could tell a difference.

Great vlog.....thanks

I have been collecting quad and 5.1 sacd's, blu ray and dvd's for a while now. There's a few surround sound and quadraphonic groups on facebook. Most of the quadraphonic records had different mixes on them than the stereo records,with extra instruments and vocals.

Schiit Syn turns any recording into surround 4-channel system. Interesting review, Thanks. Reggae, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊

Pink Floyd, Clapton, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Doors, Chicago, Doobie Bros. have had their 70s era quad mixes released on modern digital discs. As listeners we are all the better for it.

I got AEROSMITH Rocks on Quadrophonic and man was I impressed with the sound, just compared to the original recording, it blows it right out of the water but as you said here they are expensive and hard to come by.

Frank, I have been remastering some my stuff on Atmos 9.1.4. which means it works on 5.1 and 7.1 and of course 9.1.4. I find it absolutely amazing! (you can check it out on you tube.) Spatial is only for headphones, and is integrated into the remaster. The quad thing seems backwards these days, but I get it if you want to experience it like in the 70's. I like your theatre room!

I'd like to try it ! I have a blu-ray 3D player I had since 2013 that I use as my CD player, I'd like to try it out myself since blu-ray has far more resolution than CDs, it should be incredible! Still love my records though, but I like trying new things!

I only got one quad album. The 1975 release of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular bells.

Frank give Pink Floyd Animals blu-ray a listen it’s amazing!

Hey Frank, hope all is good. This video reminded me to ask you something, have you had te echance to listen to something in Dolby Atmos yet? Me and my band just finished our recording studio and we've opted for the DA technology so we'd be able to mix & master all of our future releases in it. And man, what a great decision it was, I was blown away as soon as I started listening to songs, the clarity and presence of the sound is insane! Let us know after you get the chance to check it out, I'm very curious what you'll think about it. Cheers, Richard

I'm pretty sure that a Shibata stylus from Audio-Technica, Ortofon, etc…will work. You'll still need a decoder, however. Definitely easier in the digital domain. Keep on spinnin', Frank!

Yes, they are SACD disk cases

I have a Sonos soundbar with two surrounds. Do you think I can get the full experience with these type of blu rays? (I'd be playing from a PS5)

Oh Boy, was I excited to see the 4 Channel mixes of Paranoid and Billion Dollar Babies on BluRay. I ordered Alice Cooper immediately, and a few days back, I ordered the Black Sabbath. I plan to sell my copy of the 3 disc Deluxe Expanded Edition of Paranoid when the Rhino Quadio disc arrives. I really hope to see tons more Rhino Quadio releases in the (near) future. Some of the other titles I have on 4 channel CDs (Yes 4 channel audio from a standard CD) include Santana Lotus, lsaac Hayes Live at the Sahara Tahoe, and Mike Oldfield Boxed. Back in the day Quad LPs were a decent enough idea, but competing formats between the labels and an overall lack of standardization killed the format on vinyl.

I hope they'll stay so far I have a few cd/DVD albums in5.1 Surround AC/DC Back in black But now their discontinued I'm so disappointed I enjoyed those

On my receiver and Blu Ray, do I have to use the hdmi? Or can I get away with one of the digital inputs?

I want the synergy (the first album ) quad mix the tubular bells quad mix, ,the switch-on Bach by Wendy Carlos, and of course Pink Floyd wish you were here, all albums I had in my teens in the quad mix, I had the equipment but I never heard any difference, probably because my equipment was kind of poor. 😞 (Toshiba quad receiver, Pioneer PL-100 turntable, Grado cart, and four DIY very crappy speakers.

The quad mix of Raped and Freezing has a different verse than the stereo version. Maryann also is different sounding than the stereo counterpart.

Quadraphonic music sounds brill and getting the full surround experience of the band rather than from just two speakers would be amazing. Sadly wont be experiencing that in my house. Had to make a life pledge just to turn the spare room into my office and music room ha ha !!i Keep on spinnin !!

It would be cool to hear Billion Dollar Babies in quad. However, I don't think I have a setup that would make it worth the money. I have a low-end 5.1 system, but it's just a soundbar with a sub and two small surround speakers.

I luv them! One important point-- many of these BluRays are special editions that sell out quickly. I see that the Doobie Bros quadio is selling for cheap on Amaz. Gentle Giant's *Free Hand* (a wild and fun recording!) BluRay is still available at a good price too.

KZfaq unsubscribed me from your channel. I was wondering why I wasn't seeing the usual notifications. As you say, keep spinning!

hi Frank! Do you use a subwoofer in your stereo system?

I hope this will ne coming of 5.1 albums also. mr. Finglish (Bäd English Recs)

I have heard about quadraphonic vinyl before chap by th ename matt from youtube channel techmoan did a video a few years ago It's intresting to hear how there on blu ray now

I have wish you were here and dark side in quad. (Bluray w stereo and 5.1 mixes.. sacd 5.1 for dark side as well. thats the best sounding ) about to check out billion dollar babies tonight. 3/3/24

Band called President's United States mastered in 5.1 channel surround sound , back in the Day .

I purchased a Quadraphonic player at a yardsale in the early 90's. I already had about a dozen Quad albums. Fun gimmick.

every two channel receiver with A/B channels is a Quadraphonic Receiver. get really good 3way speakers all 4 must be the same put one in each corner when you hook up the speakers on B channel all you do is put the right in the left and the left in the right. that was how Quadraphonic sound was done all they did was do it for you inside the receivers when people found out about it they stopped buying Quadraphonic receivers and that was the end of Quadraphonic receivers & advertisement

I really want to get Aerosmith's quad mixes rereleased. I know there are parts of the music that are only heard in the quad mix, but I have no way to hear them. As a huge Aerosmith fan, I feel like I'm missing out! 😭

I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW OR THINK "BLUKRAY" WAS A BIG DEAL SOO LIKE OVER 13 YEARS AGO I BOUGHT A BLU·RAY / DVD PLAYER WITH THE MIND IF I BUY OR HAVE SOMEONE LET ME BORROW A BLU·RAY I BOUGHT "SCARFACE" & "THE INCRIABLE HULK" ~ THE 2OO8 MOVIE I USUALLY WATCH MOVIES AT VOLUME 3O GIVES MY SURROUNDED SOUND SYSTEM & 65 PLASMA A MINI MOVIE THEATER FEEL SHOOT WHEN I PUT ON 💚HULK💚 THE SOUND WAS MORE CLEAR CRISPY AND THE VISUAL WAS WAY MORE CLEAR I HAD TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME TO 25 INSTEAD IT WAS LOUD I COULD FEEL HULKS FOOT STEPS I'M GONNA HAVE A LOOK INTO THESE QUADIO THANKS FRANK ✌🏼OUT

I’ve got the DSOTM Quad on vinyl, it’s pretty fantastic, certainly far better than the 2016 remaster and you can still find it at a reasonable cost.

The oddity of a 4-channel vinyl record are still mind-bending. But comparing it today with multichannel BluRays or even SACDs - are you willing to sacrifice extra channels just to be hip?

I've always been a sucker for 'novel' formats... SACD, DVD-A, Dual Disc, HD-DVD etc) And I've been around for a while, so I have copies or Paranoid on CD-4 LP, Q-4 Open Reel, and quite possibly Q-8 8 Track. So of course I had to give more of my money for the BluRay versions. They ARE the best sounding commercial releases yet (imo) I would like to respectfully disagree with your statement that there were few quad titles. There were actually a LOT of titles mixed for quad back in the day, But the format's lifespan was only a few years, and since there were 3 competing LP formats, Open Reel was never a mass market, and while Q-8 was THE quad format all labels could agree on, it was still at its heart ....8-Track... so every release was going to at best move a tiny fraction of the inventory of a regular LP or Cassette release. And while there was talk about 4 channel FM, it remained talk (and industry demos). Quad was really dead on arrival. I'd LOVE to see some of these old Quad masters (if they still exist) released on a format that will do them justice (and only 50 years too late). Titles I own in the unripe formats of the day, I would gladly re-buy on BluRay. I own hundreds of quad titles from Autobahn on Q-8 to War Child on Q-4 and shelves of vinyl in the whole diaspora of formats. Not to mention SACD, DVD-A and Dual Disc. Almost none of them are playable now because the hardware is extinct. If the title holders released these on BluRay, I'd dig deep and buy yet another copy - if just for quality & convenience sake.

I just wish Rhino would reissue their Quadio box they did for Chicago. That sucker is going for hundreds of dollars I wouldn’t want to pay more than 80 or 90. I wish they would just put it out again.

You say it niche, but apple/Amazon/Netflix are really pushing atoms encoded music and movies. And it’s really taking hold. As most/a lot of people have atoms enabled sound bars. And Sonos there new era 300 music speakers. So I think you’ll see a lot more these “remastered” /reimagined albums.

wow.. the Black Sabbath is already at $32.99.... that went up fast....

Not true about limited lp releases... There were 1000's of releases over the time - especially classical lps etc. You didn't need a special stylus. A basic stylus was fine as the decoder did all the work.

I remember quad back in the seventies. Had a friend whose parents had the set up. I was never a fan. It's a cool trick but nothing more for me. I have an original pressing of Jeff Beck rough and ready in quad on vinyl. Back in the day if you had the SQ versions you could play on both sorry stereo and quad systems. I'll be passing on these.

It's interesting stuff but I never really felt like multi channel audio felt right for music listening. When you listen to live music, the band or artist is in front of you and music is coming toward you. So to me it is just kind of weird if the music surrounds you as a listener. Now for movies with sound effects I can see the benefit or attraction to it. I guess I will stay old school and just listen in two channel stereo.

Japan have been releasing quad 4.0 sacd for ages.

Will you be buying more quadio discs?

Are 4-channel turntables gong to make a comeback??!!

Frank, Matrix or discrete?

Bet it don’t sound as good as my Sabbath 8 track on an Akai stereo 8 track player with a glass head

Quadio… like Quatto!! Quaid!! Start the reactor!!!

Why downgrade to just 4.0 when so many other formats have gone the 5.1 route? SACD, DVD-Audio, DTS CDs (Steely Dans Gaucho) and Dolby 5.1 CDs have been introduced for over 20 years and it's really just a niche audiophile thing. Paul McGowan at Octave Studios is still doing SACDs, so it's not like there aren't people out there. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the formats, I just picked up Jeff Becks Blow by Blow on SACD and it's incredible! The 5.1 mix puts him in the rears while the stereo is just fantastic! There is a market for this, just not a large one, especially when the majority of people listen on their phones, buds, TV speakers and soundbars (puke!) and at best, headphones... it makes it really hard to be profitable enough and get the wheel rolling so to speak. The more we educate people who like music on how easy and not really that expensive to get into the hobby for the amount of pleasure you get out of it, maybe people who love music will make the transition... ? I hope.

It's called a _"cash grab"_ as far as I'm concerned, but I am not an "audiophile" by even the wildest stretch! As Long as I can turn it up _MORE_ than I need it to be and it's still "clean"...I'm a happy Metalhead! lol! But, I'm sure it doesn't (at least I hope) all of the drawbacks during the first coming (they did have their very own format wars) the extra 'quipment, positioning, price (A very wise 60's era rocker told me a regularly recorded vinyl cost a $ buck ninety-nine while the same Lp recorded "in the quad" was $6.99!! That's quite the hop in price! This wise 60's era rocker also said "Bah!, Quad sucked! too much hassle! That ol' rocker was The Guess Who Lead Singer...Ol' Burton himself! (he used ta hang out at Tubby's all the time and we played the slots a few times and got to chattin'! lol...was fun!) What needs ta make a comeback is....8-TRACK!!! \m/

The first ELO album was released on 4.0 on CD about 10/11 years ago. I remember the Quad System we had at our School in the late Seventies. The speakers were placed in each corner of the classroom. I wasn't impressed at all. Saying that, we have come a long way since then. It's of no interest to myself as I think it's just a gimmick similar to 3D movies. I do have the three disc Paranoid set and that will do fine.

I hate the term "Quadio".