Decca/UK recordings were released in 4-track format on the London label, duplicated by Ampex. Some of these have excellent sonics and are well worth listening to. Later releases (already duped on Mylar-base tape) were encoded in Dolby B, but that's another thread entirely.
High Society was MGM, but filmed using Paramount's 8-perf VistaVision format. I got to see the 'restored' Gone With the Wind, whose soundtrack was re-recorded using the Perspecta system which tracked the location of the actors' voices on the screen, and applied pseudo-stereo to the musical score. As I recall, it worked quite well.
MGM, and mono film print, but recorded multitrack and remixed decades later into very nice stereo (including orchestra in full-on stereo), but not for Capitol.
Yes, MGM's HIGH SOCIETY was finally mixed to true stereo when the DVD was done, and the stereo tracks have finally crept out on various Rhino compilations as well as the SINATRA IN HOLLYWOOD box. The amazing thing I read is that the same guy who would have done the mix for original stereo prints (if there had been any) was still around and did the mix for the DVD.
From another thread, June 6, 2014: The frustrating part about the assorted CD remixes is that they do not have the "proper" starts and stops that were on the Capitol release, but not in the films themselves, but have awkward cold starts, fade outs, etc.
I hope you will forgive my shameless plug here but I have a few of these sweet sounding reels for sale in the Classifieds at the moment.
i've had a couple of these "Living Stereo" cartridges which were rewound to reels. they sound OK, about what you'd expect from 4-track 3-3/4 ips tapes.
Neither of these tapes has really great sound. An earlier discussion (on this thread) talked about their origin - early movie soundtracks.
Some of the Z series go for bargain prices. For example, the Toch Symphony No. 3 - one of the best of the Z series - recently went for under $35. Another 'sleeper' is the Gliere Ilya Mourometz. Superlative sound, great Stokowski performance. Again, the quality depends on the particular copy you get. They're not all created equal.
If you can find one that works, the Ampex "A" series decks sound great. Single motor, belt drive (very finicky), tube electronics, playback head that can physically change position (potential azimuth problems). But a working "A" sounds fantastic, and you can find one for under $100.
Eh, those AG-300's have way, way too much wow & flutter for me. I much prefer the later AG-440C's, which have a really rock-solid transport. Those are relatively easy to fix, too, provided you can get the parts.
michael22 is discussing the Ampex A 121 tape machine here, a consumer line model related more to the 600.
It only took me three years or so, but I finally checked this out, and yes, the right channel, at least where the centered vocal is concerned, is "ahead" by a miniscule amount, about .0004 seconds (4/10000 of a second). (The Haas effect in practice, basically, probably contributing to the "right heavy" characteristic that you mentioned above.)
I wonder if that is causing the Norberg-esque phasey-echo effect when I play these samples on my mono system. Does sound beautiful in stereo though, the way this was meant to be heard.
It's been deduced that is due to issues which occurred during the duplication process. Warp in the reel or something - I can't remember, but it's described upthread. That sound is also present in stereo, though many people can sort of listen around it when played over speakers, as the rest is so good.
There have been several Capitol 2-tracks on ebay lately, going for very reasonable prices. Here's one (not mine) that's about as good as they get http://www.ebay.com/itm/351299389907
I've been slowly updating my Sinatra-centric website, and now have six "raw" clips from Capitol reel #ZD-17 (Sinatra's Where Are You) and one clip from reel #ZD-21, Stars in Stereo, posted midway down the page here: http://www.11fifty.com/Site_108/1957_-_Where_Are_You_3.html. Both reels were released around the first week of January, 1958. The recordings themselves date from April and May, 1957.
As I've noted elsewhere, there are variations between copies of 2-track prerecorded tapes. Some sound great, some not-so-great, and some terrible. I've heard multiples of Columbia, Mercury and Omega tapes that, in some cases, sound like entirely different recordings. So what has been said is true: the fanatic audiophile might have to buy several copies of a particular title to get a good one. That could be hard to do. My tape of "Love is the Thing," for example, has a distorted vocal track, but this title is seen so infrequently - and is so expensive - that I've kind of given up on getting a perfect copy.
For the record, I did finally wind up getting a copy of Stars in Stereo that is non-defective, but I'm guessing that over the course of a few years I shelled out at least $200 buying assorted copies. Now that I have one, I think I shall have it bronzed to honor the accomplishment!
