I thought I was following along on the discussion that the new stereo masters of the SACDs would also be available as a HD download. I usually go only for physical product but thought I could save some major dough by downloading the new masters. Can this be done? Link? Thanks!
Ooooooo. I didn't know MoFi did a version of Heartbeat City. Dammit. Beach Boys take precedence, but still. Add to wish-list and dammit all the round.
The one you like most? I'm a Beach Boy kinda guy.... so I'm screwed either way. But I've been buying what matters most first. Today, Summer Days, Pet Sounds... but it's like prioritizing your children. Pointless.
Do you have a link to information about "Desper's device"? The only thing I seem to find on his processor is two channel processed surround. Is his "device" based on the EV-4? Thanks.
The CDs are $29.99 and the vinyl is $34.99. I don't know about the vinyl, but the CDs are all within a penny of each other on Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, and Music Direct.
It's mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread, and I think it's also mentioned in a specific thread about Sunflower. As far as I know, his processor is designed to mimic the EV-4 in digital.
This all I know: "Sunflower was mixed for Quadraphonic reproduction (also compatible with stereo). It was to be played back using the now long-extinct Dynaco or EVStereo-4decoders, or later, using the "360Surround" matrix decoder built by Stephen Desper and previously included with purchases of his limited-edition book Recording the Beach Boys. However, the recording (LP or CD) can be played back in Quad by most of today's audio-video receivers. The surround sound information can be extracted using the Dolby Pro Logic setting, albeit imperfectly, due to the different matrix coefficients." It is my understanding that the 360 surround matrix decoder is very hard, if not impossible, to find.
I've just listened to the multichannel Surf's Up, followed by the stereo Today! Surf's Up is much more subtle in the quad version than Sunflower. Still pretty nice to have and listen to. I think the Kevin Gray remastered Today! is fantastic, a huge improvement. I loved all the compilation stereo remixes from the past 15 years in my car, but the 2012 reissue was best listened to quietly. Now, I had it cranked and it sounds really full and pretty, and sounds of a piece with the original 1964 stereo mixes.
Alrighty, now lookit ... I pulled out my CDs of CARL & THE PASSIONS—SO TOUGH, both the Caribou Records CD and the Capitol Records CD (from the two-fer paired with HOLLAND) and played 'em both on my Cambridge Audio universal player in the analog six-channel speaker mode I use for multichannel disc playback and I can assure anyone reading this that nothing came out of my rear speakers whatsoever. Matrix or no, these are both stereo-only discs, as I'd expected they would be. Posters who've heard something quadrophonic or 5.1 multichannel-like when playing their respective CDs of this same album must've had their receiver or amp's settings set for faux-multichannel listening.
Pretty sure that device that came with the book was only two channels and not four, that is why I asked the question. Thanks.
Pretty sure they meant they were processing the two channel sound for multichannel playback. I don't think anyone indicated there was a multichannel layer on the disc like Sunflower and Surf's Up. Are you familiar with matrix encoding that can end up on CD's from the origional master tapes?
Do you have CD versions of Sunflower and Surf's Up that you try the same experiment to see if they contain any rear channel info?
Unless the CD is dts multichannel, it is only going to be 2 channel pcm, and actually dts CD's are built within the pcm spec. Obviously the poster who heard info from his rear speakers off a CD, it was being decoded by a processor of some sort.
I'm a noob when it comes to SACDs...but am planning to get my first player soon. Question: on these reissues where it says it's a Stereo/Mono hybrid--does that mean the tracks are organized identically to the Capitol reissues where they had the Stereo version on tracks 1-10 and then the mono version on tracks 10-20 or are there only 10 tracks on the CD and you'd be able to switch between stereo and mono using a features on the SACD player?
Of course, it is assumed that a decoder would be involved. As stated in my previous post, Dolby Pro Logic does extract rear channel information, albeit not as effectively as an EV-4.
Here is a screenshot of the new Sunflower SACD on my system*. It just arrived this afternoon. This is the oddest authoring on a SACD I've ever seen. It is being fed direct with six analogue inputs into my Yamaha receiver, no digital or HDMI inputs in use, no Dolby or other decoding is in use. I'm getting discrete multichannel, no ambience, matrix, Dolby Pro Logic or DTS decoding. The 2fer Sunflower/Surf's Up CD does not do anything like it. WTF. By the way, it sounds really good. Can't wait to hear Surf's Up. *Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi, Yamaha DV-S5860, Polk Audio Monitor 40 Bookshelf Speakers, CSR center channel, Monitor 30 surrounds & PSW10 10" Powered Subwoofer. The Pioneer player defaults to the multichannel layer on SACDs.
Here is Steve Desper's explanation of what is going on with the Sunflower & Surf's Up SACD's. So is my Pioneer player doing what he says the Oppo chipset does? Here's how the Summer days SACD defaults:
Of course! Matrix-encoded quadraphonic IS not very different to faux-multichannel listening, and you always need a decoder. Although the PLII or NEO:6 alogorithms are different to the old matrix decoders from zthe 70s, the idea behind them is the same. So pressing these buttons can give a hint, if quad playback is intended or not. There is no way to detect it automatically. If you have a lot of out-of-phase parts in the signal, you'll get a lot from the rears (decoded). But if it's recorded like this for a wide and deep stereo stage, or if it's the result of a matrix encoder, you have to know! These are the factors that I've found on quadraphonicquad for EV-4 decoding - and with Surf's Up they sound really nice: FRONTS New Left Channel: L = 100% R = 20% New Right Channel: L = 20% R = 100% REARS New Left Channel: L = 76% R = -60.8% (phase inverted) New Right Channel: L = -60.8 (phase inverted) R = 76
