Surrounded On Sundays - 5.1/quad reviews and summaries

ohhh I wish I could fire up the pipe as well lol

 

Ya know thinking more about "recalibratating" i believe my center channel is set as small...maybe i should set it to large...perhaps im missing something there??? I dont know will have to give it a try

 

Right, but I'm gonna want the Crimson 5.1 mix way more than the Purple that I'm probably going to just listen to in the car anyway. But, I got the Purple anyway just to make sure.

 

I have the little speakers, I have them all set on large, because it is a frequency range thing really.
The main thing I find is just setting the volumes correctly. My room is an awful shape for surround, but tinkering with the volumes I have it pretty much right now

 

I have all large...4 towers...n i imagine my center would be considered large compared to most...but ive had just the center set as small ...just reset it to large & played Elton s madman across the water...one of the best mixed 5.1 and his vocals were a lil more forward

I think my budget setup is pretty damn good to my ears...the lil company ive had listen says sounds great to them...but hey im starting to go deaf dumb n blind so what doi know...system sounds damn good to me...and thats all that matters

Im using polk audio rti a7 fronts
Polk audio moniter 60s for sides
Center n psw 505 subwoofer

Imho kicks ass

 

Excellent. and yes Madman is a greta 5.1 mix.
I am old and have ears that reflect years of pub gigs, and meniere's disease. My set-up is great for me lol

 

Sketches of Spain

Studio album by
Miles Davis
Released July 18, 1960[1]
Recorded November 15 & 20 1959 and March 10, 1960
Studio Columbia 30th Street Studio
New York City
Genre Third stream[2] orchestral jazz[3]
Length 41:39
Label Columbia
Producer Teo Macero, Irving Townsend

Sketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City. An extended version of the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1939) is included, as well as a piece called "Will o' the Wisp", from Manuel de Falla's ballet El amor brujo (1914–1915). Sketches of Spain is regarded as an exemplary recording of Third Stream, a musical fusion of jazz, European classical, and styles from world music.

• Danny Bank – bass clarinet
• Bill Barber – tuba
• John Barrows – French horn
• Albert Block – flute
• James Buffington – French horn
• Eddie Caine – flute
• Paul Chambers – bass
• Earl Chapin – French horn
• Jimmy Cobb – drums
• Johnny Coles – trumpet
• Miles Davis – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Gil Evans – arranger, conductor
• Harold Feldman – clarinet, flute, oboe
• Bernie Glow – trumpet
• Dick Hixon – trombone
• Elvin Jones – percussion
• Taft Jordan – trumpet
• Jack Knitzer – bassoon
• Jose Mangual – percussion
• Jimmy McAllister – tuba
• Tony Miranda – French horn
• Louis Mucci – trumpet
• Romeo Penque – oboe
• Janet Putnam – harp
• Frank Rehak – trombone
• Ernie Royal – trumpet
• Joe Singer – French horn

1. "Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio)" Joaquín Rodrigo 16:19
2. "Will o' the Wisp" Manuel de Falla 3:47
3. "The Pan Piper (Alborada de Vigo)" Traditional 3:52
4. "Saeta" Gil Evans 5:06
5. "Solea" Gil Evans 12:15

From Mix
With permission and support from Sony Music and Davis’ family, Lee and Rideau were granted access to the master reels of Sketches of Spain. Lee, Rideau and Vince Wilburn, Jr.—Miles Davis’s nephew and drummer during the 1980s, and a representative of Davis’ estate—agreed that the goal in making a surround version of this classic recording was to try to re-create the experience of being in the studio with Davis. To translate the three original tracks into a 5.1 format, Lee and Rideau devised a method of filling the surround landscape with derivatives of the original three tracks. The process took the same amount of time to accomplish as the original sessions.
...
“We used photographs of the recording dates in 1959 in Columbia Records’ 30th Street studio to figure out the physical location of the various instruments and of Miles himself,” Lee says. “We wanted to take the listener in a virtual time machine and the end result is the most realistic.”
...
Lee adds that ultimately the HDS remix of Sketches remains true to the authenticity of the original recording. “We took three analog tracks and translated them to 19 in order to create as complete an audio picture as is possible, but without processing and absolutely no digital tricks. The idea was simply to allow the music to breathe anew.”

-----------------------------------------------
Around 1957 Davis was exhausted from touring with his quintet and wished to pursue new projects. During a two-week residency in Chicago in March, the 30-year-old Davis told journalists of his intention to retire at its conclusion and revealed offers he had received to become a teacher at Harvard University and a musical director at a record label.
George Avakian of Columbia records made several suggestions, that didn't interest Miles. Avakian then suggested that he work with a bigger ensemble, similar to Music for Brass (1957), an album of orchestral and brass-arranged music led by Gunther Schuller featuring Davis as a guest soloist.
Davis accepted and worked with Gil Evans in what became a five-album collaboration from 1957 to 1962.

Gil Evans says of this album
[We] hadn't intended to make a Spanish album. We were just going to do the Concierto de Aranjuez. A friend of Miles gave him the only album in existence with that piece. He brought it back to New York and I copied the music off the record because there was no score. By the time we did that, we began to listen to other folk music, music played in clubs in Spain... So we learned a lot from that and it ended up being a Spanish album. The Rodrigo, the melody is so beautiful. It's such a strong song. I was so thrilled with that.

Apparently, the classical musicians had trouble improvising, while the jazz musicians couldn't handle the difficult arrangements, but the album was a critical success, selling over 120,000 copies in the US.

The thing about Miles Davis is, he was constantly searching and never satisfied with maintaining the status quo. Once he felt he had taken something as far as he could he would head somewhere else. Sure not every single album he recorded is probably a masterpiece, but the guy probably has more groundbreaking albums in his catalog than anybody else.

You can order this album for about $10 from Monster music https://monsterstore.com/products/monster-music®-miles-davis-sketches-of-spain-1
Surprisingly it has zoomed up to $74 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Sketches-Spain-SuperDisc-Miles-Davis/dp/B009XIIO4Y

Strangely it appears to be less available than one would imagine, but at least the original Monster Music site still has it for a very affordable price.

5.1 mix Noel Lee with Engineer Dave Rideau

This disc is a dvd encoded with DTS 96/24 (1.5 mbps). For the stereoheads out there it also contains a high definition stereo track, which is reported to be an exact duplicate of the master files.

To be honest, I don't really understand what they did to create this. I have listened to it before, and I liked the sound of it, but there is a skeptic inside me that wonders what I am actually listening to. If any of you guys are more tech savvy than I, please see if you can explain what they did to create this mix in layman's terms

Concierto De Aranjuez
We start with I assume Gil Evan's speaking, giving instruction and a count in.
Percussive instruments start us, just left of the left front.
Then this beautiful melody starts with wind instruments across the front.
Percussion left side. Then on the right side we get a counter melody from a lower horn.
Sorry I am not good at discerning which horn is which.
A counter melody comes through the rears.
I am assuming it is Miles up front.
Again, I am not sure how they achieved this, but there is a definite separation, that sets the ensemble up around us.
Miles horn sounds beautiful, with a slightly front of centre front mix. When solo, there is a natural sounding ambience in the rears.
After the virtually solo section, we are again surrounded by these beautiful horn arrangements.
Then there is an up tempo burst of dance, that is again fully enveloping.
It is short lived and we move into a reflective section with castanets, a low horn plays on the right side, miles comes in up front, and then there is a chordal horn arrangement that really does surround us.
To my ears, they have done an amazing job of this, the clarity is quite stunning, and if this is a surround trick it works beautifully. It is even more defined than the well mic's classical pieces I have been listening to.
Another stab of horns all around, and hats and shakers in the rears.
When the whole ensemble is playing the sound is quite amazing.
It is a very reflective piece of music, with a lot of gentle sections with minimal instrumentation, but it has many many really nice full sounding sections, at the moment we have a horn up front with accompaniment, and muted horns in the rears replying.
It is hard to believe they did that from 3 tracks, but I am not an engineer.

Will O' The Wisp
Percussion left rear.
Again we have lead instruments up front, with an ensemble spread around us.
The punctuation points, have obviously separate horns playing their parts coming from the rears and sides.

The Pan Piper
Horn solo up front, higher pitched chordal arrangement spread around us.
Harmonised instruments come from all around, and are balanced and very nice.
Flutes sides.

Saeta
Snare just left of left front.
Somewhat of a military march starts.
One section of horns right side, another up front.
It falls away to a slower snare pattern and Miles up front, with a light drone underneath.
The drone gets a couple more frequencies in it, and a tension is building.
Percussion left rear.
The percussion fires up again and the horn arrangement comes back out at us from all aroun . Again sounding like a military call to arms.
This dies back down to the mellow section and fades

Solea
Solo trumpet, then a chordal arrangement comes in.
Percussion short lived left rear.
The clarinet and harp play a short section, then the snare comes in from the front left, percussion left rear, cymbal right side. Percussion right front also.
This is very moody music on this album.
We get a nice fully engaged ensemble, and then Miles takes another lead, with percussion balanced all around us.
Then we get more ensemble punctuation.

As I say, I am not sure how they managed to get such a realistic sounding surround field from three tracks, I could speculate, but at the end of the day this is a great sounding album.
A lot of the music is very atmospheric and moody, which means there are sections where Miles' horn is the focus of attention, and the ensemble is awaiting there parts to come sin for punctuation. Having the Spanish motif floating through the album there is quite a bit of percussion and that seems to have two or three people playing it, and it seems to have constantly placed pieces.
The mix is very stable and consistent. It really does sound like you are sitting amongst the ensemble, and when you have your eyes closed certain sections are almost alarmingly realistic, making you want to open your eyes and make sure someone didn't just come into the room.
Personally I reckon I can highly recommend this album. Firstly it is a great album. Secondly it is really fantastic audio. Thirdly the ensemble punctuations really do sound excellent in the surround field.
In 2011/12 there was this thread on this forum, and there were a lot of cynical replies (it is only one page) and typically all the "experts" poo poo'd the idea of this disc, and obviously none of them had even listened to it. It seemed like the replies were merely elitist rhetoric, based on no actual experience of the disc. I have no idea what the headphones/earbuds talk was about. My copy had no connection to headphones or earbuds. the only conclusion I can come to, is that it seems to be being described as being a headphones type experience in surround.
Anyway, I am not bagging the naysayers, it is just annoying when folks that don't like the idea of something just bag it, with obviously no experience of it.
I am extremely happy with this, and actually hope that at some point they explore possibilities of doing this kind of thing with Porgy And Bess, and possibly some other stuff of the era, because frankly, if it sounds this good, I don't really care how they get there.

 

Secret Treaties


Studio album by
Blue Öyster Cult
Released April 1974
Recorded 1974
Studio Columbia 30th Street Studio
(New York City)
Genre Heavy metal[1]
Length 38:14
Label Columbia
Producer Murray Krugman Sandy Pearlman

Secret Treaties is the third studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in April 1974 by Columbia.[1]

The album spent 14 weeks in the US album charts, peaking at No. 53.[7] It was certified gold by the RIAA in 1992.[8]

In 1975, a poll of critics of the British magazine Melody Maker voted Secret Treaties the "Top Rock Album of All Time".[1] In 2010, Rhapsody called it one of the all-time best "proto-metal" albums.[9]

All of the songs from the album found their way into BÖC playlists over the following years, except for "Cagey Cretins".[citation needed] It's the only BÖC album that does not feature a track with lead vocals sung by guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser. The band also did not write any of the lyrics to the album, handing that duty to producer Sandy Pearlman, rock critic Richard Meltzer and Patti Smith.[10]

Band members

• Eric Bloom – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser – lead guitar
• Allen Lanier – keyboards, rhythm guitar, synthesizers, second lead guitar on track 11
• Joe Bouchard – bass, vocals
• Albert Bouchard – drums, vocals

Production

• Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman – producers
• Tim Geelan, Jerry Smith – engineers
• Lehman Yates, Lou Schlossberg – recording
• John Berg – cover design
• Bruce Dickinson – production (2001 remaster)
• Thom Cadley – mixing on tracks 10 and 11 (2001 remaster)
• Vic Anesini – remastering (2001 remaster)

1. "Career of Evil" Patti Smith Albert Bouchard Bloom, A Bouchard 3:59
2. "Subhuman" Sandy Pearlman Eric Bloom Bloom 4:39
3. "Dominance and Submission" Pearlman Bloom, A. Bouchard A. Bouchard 5:23
4. "ME 262" Pearlman Bloom, Donald Roeser Bloom 4:48
5. "Cagey Cretins" Richard Meltzer A. Bouchard Bloom, A. Bouchard, Joe Bouchard 3:16
6. "Harvester of Eyes" Meltzer Bloom, Roeser Bloom 4:42
7. "Flaming Telepaths" Pearlman Bloom, A. Bouchard, Roeser Bloom 5:20
8. "Astronomy" Pearlman A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard Bloom 6:28
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I stated in the Agents Of Fortune post, I know nothing about these guys, except Don't Fear The Reaper ... well, except now I have heard Agents Of Fortune.
All reports tell me that this is a great sounding disc, and it appears many folks say that this is the best album the band ever did. Obviously that all comes down to subjective opinion, but I am looking forward to listening to this one this morning, because I enjoyed Agents, but it was as some folks stated, good, but not as well done as it could have been. This one seems to be held in higher regard, so that always spikes the interest.
For those interested @vinyl diehard 's Blue Oyster Cult album thread

Reading several appraisals of the album, and the wiki page
Blue Oyster Cult Release Third LP, ‘Secret Treaties'
Secret Treaties - Wikipedia
It seems this album received quite a bit of critical acclaim.
In 1975 a poll of critics from UK's Melody Maker magazine voted this album as the best album of all time.
In 2010 Rhapsody called it one of the all time best proto-metal albums.
Ultimate Classic Rock votes it the bands best album, saying it combines everything great about the first two albums and distills them into a spotless batch of songs.

This is a quadrophonic sacd.

currently available from Amazon from about $63 https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Treaties-Blue-Oyster-Cult/dp/B01HW8EZSU
Acoustic Sounds for $49.99 Blue Oyster Cult-Secret Treaties-Hybrid Multichannel SACD|Acoustic Sounds
Discogs from $47.19 https://www.discogs.com/Blue-Öyster-Cult-Secret-Treaties/release/8989721
Ebay about the $40 and up mark blue oyster cult secret treaties sacd | eBay

For those with an interest in these things Mr Hoffman and Stephen Marsh did the stereo mastering on here.

The only info I can find about the mix says
Quadrophonic Remix engineer Tim Geelan
Quad Mastering Stephen Marsh

Career Of Evil
The organ stretches across the middle.
Gtr left rear.
This tracks sounds like a very cool sixties groovy kind of throwback.
The drums and bass sound very nice and balanced up front.
Really nice balanced mix.

Subhuman
Gtr right side. Again the bass and drums very nicely balanced up front.
Gtr comes in left side.
This is a very nice sounding album, and mastering is certainly not brickwalled.
The lead guitar comes in gently floating from left side to the front a couple of times, and then staying up front.
There is no mush sound here, all the instruments are very clear.
The keys are on the left side.
Ride cymbal left side.
Another really nice nice mix.

Dominance and Submission
Drums start us with guitar, left rear
Then we get a guitar right rear.
Again bass and drums very clear and nice up front.
Organ up front.
A backing vocal comes in on the left.
Lead gtr kind of in the middle of the room. Then harmonies between the three guitars.
In the breakdown, vocals up front, and one backing vocal in the right rear.
Nice lead break set forward of front centre speaker takes us out of the song, ending with a sound effect swirling from front left, all around us.

ME 262
Guitars either side in the rears. Bass and drums still holding their own up front.
An intermittent lead guitar comes across the middle.
We get a bunch of sfx - marching, sirens etc. We get swirling and a pretty trippy mix that works really well.
Another excellent mix.
A rave up ending with a bunch of stuff going on.

Cagey Cretins
Drums lead us in. Gtrs either side rears.
Bvox come in first in the rears.
Again the bass and drums really good up front organ right side.
There's no sub required here, the mix works well enough with out.
Another gtr comes in up front.
The all around vocals effect works extremely well.

Harvester Of Eyes
Rhythm gtr left rear. Another counter rhythm gtr right rear.
Bass and drums solid.
Another gtr comes in and just in front of front centre.
Bvox in the sides.
As we move into a dirty groove the right rear guitar plays a short lead and moves into a nice riff.
Then we end with a music box.
Excellent mix

Flaming Telepaths
Drums punch in.
Gtrs in each rear. Bvox "ooh's" left side.
Harmony vocals right rear.
Synth lead up front. Keyboard across the middle of the field. Lead gtr up front.
Another excellent mix.

Astronomy
Hats left side. Piano right rear. Organ left rear. Synth floating between the middle of the room and right side.
Gtrs come in, one right rear, one middle of the room, one left rear.
We move into a kind of breakdown and then punch back in full steam ahead.

Well this is a really good album, and the mix is excellent. The four tracks on what would have been each side of the album all run into each other, and the arrangements are very interesting and very good.
If like me, you aren't familiar with the album, don't be put of by the proto-metal thing that was mentioned ... I'm not really sure I hear that musically, perhaps from an arrangement perspective, and I guess the guitars lead most of the songs ... this is kind of hard rock, with a slight leaning to progressive.
I would think that a Blue Oyster Cult fan that likes surround would have to have this. If you wanted a surround disc of B.O.C. then this is the one to get. I think it is a better album than Agents Of Fortune, and the sound quality and mix are better also.
I feel I can highly recommend this album and mix.

 

Journey to the Centre of the Eye



Studio album by Nektar
Released November 1971
Recorded June - August 1971
Genre Progressive rock, space rock
Length 42:02
Label Bacillus
Producer Nektar, Peter Hauke, Dieter Dierks

Journey to the Centre of the Eye is the debut album from English progressive rock band Nektar that came out in November 1971. Though formally divided into 13 tracks, the entire album consists of a single continuous piece of music, with some musical themes which are repeated throughout the work. Because of its narrative nature, it has been called a rock opera and/or dense concept album. The story follows an astronaut who, while on a voyage to Saturn, encounters aliens who take him to their galaxy, where he is suffused with knowledge and wisdom. It is usually interpreted as a commentary on the nuclear arms race.

Personnel

· Roye Albrighton - guitars, vocals
· Mick Brockett - liquid lights
· Allan "Taff" Freeman - Mellotron, pianos, organ, vocals
· Ron Howden - drums, percussion
· Derek "Mo" Moore - Mellotron, bass, vocals
· Keith Walters - static slides

Additional personnel
· Dieter Dierks - additional piano

Production
· Produced by Nektar, Dieter Dierks & Peter Hauke
· Engineered by Dieter Dierks

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Nektar.

No. Title Length
1. "Prelude" 1:37
2. "Astronaut's Nightmare" 6:32
3. "Countenance" 3:36
4. "The Nine Lifeless Daughters of the Sun" 2:57
5. "Warp Oversight" 4:14
6. "The Dream Nebula" 4:45 (parts 1 and 2 are merged on this release)
7. "It's All in the Mind" 3:26
8. "Burn Out My Eyes" 6:45
9. "Void of Vision" 1:58
10. "Pupil of the Eye" 2:10
11. "Look Inside Yourself" 0:46
12. "Death of the Mind" 4:02

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The 5.1 mix of this album was originally released in 2004, and then rereleased in 2016. But, it’s pretty much out of print again and copies are scarce. There is one listed on Amazon and another on Discogs, both for far more than the $15 I paid three years ago.

There are also some used copies of the 2004 release to be had.

Surround Mix by ? (2016 Liner notes just say 2004 mix)
The use of the center channel seems to be negligible.

1. "Prelude"
Synth in back, swirling guitar

2. "Astronaut's Nightmare"
Drums, guitar in front, guitar, organ and backing vocals in back

3. "Countenance"
Drums, guitars in front, synth and some guitar in back

4. "The Nine Lifeless Daughters of the Sun"
Organ in back, everything else in front

5. "Warp Oversight”
Organ in back, with some reverberating percussion and guitar as well

6. "The Dream Nebula"

Reverberating lead vocals and guitar in back. Backing vocals in rear near the end.

7. "It's All in the Mind"
Synthesizer and organ in the rear.

8. "Burn Out My Eyes"
Organ and reverberating vocals in the rear. The interplay between the guitar in front and organ in the back make this the best surround track.

9. "Void of Vision"
Synthesizer, organ, backing vocals, and reverberating lead vocals in back

10. "Pupil of the Eye"
Backing vocals and organ in back

11. "Look Inside Yourself"
Backing vocals in back

12. "Death of the Mind"
Organ and synthesizer in back

_____
At one point in time, forty-something years ago, Nektar were my favorite band. I didn’t realize they still existed after 1977 (Magic is a Child), but after perusing Discogs it seems that the original group had one more album in 1980 and then reformed this century without Roye Albrighton to produce several more. However, at this point I can’t say that any of their albums achieved classic status. Still like ‘em plenty though, and the debut album is one of the two that are most deserving of a surround treatment – Recycled is the other. Both are psychedelic and ethereal.

Although all the members were British, they were based in Germany. The fact that they sometimes get labeled as a Krautrock band wouldn’t be at all unfair if all you heard was Journey to the Centre of the Eye. But, they also sound like early Pink Floyd. Think Tangerine Floyd.

As for this release, I really like it. The sonics and the mix are both really good considering the age of the recording. At $15, it was a bargain for me. I would have paid twice as much and not been sorry (2/3).

 

Foreigner


Studio album by
Foreigner
Released March 8, 1977
Recorded November 1976 at The Hit Factory and Atlantic Recording Studios, New York, New York.
Genre Rock, hard rock
Length 38:46
Label Atlantic
Producer John Sinclair, Gary Lyons, Mick Jones, Ian McDonald

Foreigner is the self-titled debut studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released in 1977. It spun off four hit singles, including "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice" and "Long, Long Way from Home". It also features album tracks such as "Headknocker" and "Starrider", the latter of which features a rare lead vocal from lead guitarist and co-founder Mick Jones. The first attempt at mixing the album was done at Sarm Studios, London, but as they were dissatisfied with the result, the album was re-mixed at Atlantic Recording Studios by Mick Jones, Ian McDonald and Jimmy Douglass.

• Lou Gramm – lead vocals, percussion
• Mick Jones – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (3, 7), keyboards
• Ian McDonald – guitar, backing vocals, saxophone, keyboards
• Al Greenwood – keyboards, synthesizer
• Ed Gagliardi – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Dennis Elliott – drums, backing vocals

• Ian Lloyd – backing vocals

• Producers – Gary Lyons and John Sinclair, in collaboration with Mick Jones and Ian McDonald.
• Engineer – Gary Lyons
• Assistant Engineers – Jimmy Douglass, Michael Getlin, Kevin Herron and Randy Mason.
• Mixing – Jimmy Douglass, Mick Jones and Ian McDonald.
• Basic Tracks recorded at The Hit Factory and Atlantic Recording Studios.
• Overdubs recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios.
• Mixed at Atlantic Recording Studios.
• Mastered by George Piros at Atlantic Recording Studios.
• Art Direction – Bob Defrin
• Cover Illustrations – Alex Gnidziejko

1. "Feels Like the First Time" (Mick Jones) – 3:49
2. "Cold as Ice" (Jones, Lou Gramm) – 3:19
3. "Starrider" (Al Greenwood, Jones) – 4:01
4. "Headknocker" (Gramm, Jones) – 2:58
5. "The Damage Is Done" (Jones, Gramm) – 4:15
6. "Long, Long Way from Home" (Jones, Gramm, Ian McDonald) – 2:53
7. "Woman Oh Woman" (Jones) – 3:49
8. "At War with the World" (Jones) – 4:18
9. "Fool for You Anyway" (Jones) – 4:15
10. "I Need You" (Gramm, Jones) – 5:09

-----------------------------------------------------
I'm not really sure why, but Foreigner are one of those bands that tends to cop a bit of flack from certain areas of the musical world. As I am entirely unhip, uncool, and uninterested in being so, that effects me little, but it does make me scratch my head occasionally.
I first heard Foreigner via the excellent Foreigner Records album, that was essentially a best of, and I loved that old vinyl album. I probably got that around 82/83, and surprisingly I didn't get around to getting any Foreigner actual albums until probably the late eighties when the cd's came out. I ended up getting Foreigner 4 and Agent Provocateur, and I reckon they were both good albums to be honest.
When dvd audios came out I got this album and 4, and again when I left Aus, I made the mistake of selling all my dvd audios, because basically I couldn't afford to bring everything over here. It has been a slow and expensive task replacing them, but I managed to get this album and 4 for reasonable prices this year, and I am looking forward to revisiting this album, as it has been about ten years since I have heard it.

Foreigner is one of those hard to pinpoint their nationality bands. They formed in New York via ex-Spooky Tooth member Mick Jones, and ex-Crimson Member Ian Mcdonald (both British) joining with American Vocalist Lou Gramm.
The band were virtually instantly successful, and I guess that may be part of the reason for the negative attitude towards them from some quarters, but they had all paid their dues in other bands.
They have sold about eighty million albums, and roughly half of those in the US.

Mick Jones is essentially the bands leader, but the secret weapon of the band is really Lou Gramm, surely one of rock's great vocalists.

Amazon has copies of this dvd audio from about $34 https://www.amazon.com/Foreigner-DVD-Audio-Surround-Sound/dp/B000059MPB
discogs US issue 2001, from about $32 Foreigner - Foreigner
discogs European issue 2002, from about $42 Foreigner - Foreigner
Ebay has it from about $50 Foreigner dvd audio | eBay - You'll se some copies of 4 here too, and they are slightly more expensive, but we'll get to that when we run through it.

Dvd audio Produced by David Mclees
Surround sound remix Produced by John Kellogg
Surround Sound Remix Engineered and mixed Paul Klingburg
I believe the surround mastering was done by Charlie Watts ... no I doubt he plays drums for the Stones, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Feels Like The First Time
Guitar and sub assisted bass up front.
Opening keys in the left rear.
Organ across the middle.
Clicky rhythm guitar right side.
The mix really opens up as it moves along.
Bridge - synth left rear.
A guitar right rear.
Good mix, but the guitars missing just a little punch.

Cold As Ice
Piano from front to right side.
Little synth sound slides from right rear around to the front and back.
Rhythm gtr right side. Organ left.
Arpeggiated synth across the middle.
In the bridge the guitar is in the middle and the drums roll around the room.
Vocals all around.
Really nice layered mix unfolds as you listen to this track

Starrider
Acoustic guitar left side. Cymbals swell on either side. Flute up front.
Acoustics either side.
Drums across the middle leading into the chorus. Some really nice mixing of the drums on here.
Chorus backing vocals mixed really nicely in the rears and front, and very effect.
Lead gtr just in front of the centre channel with nice effects sends to rears.
Also dome cool swirly stuff at the end, and a nice bvox fade in the rears.

Headknocker
Rhythm gtrs either side lead front.
Bass and drums solid up front.
Piano slide across the rears.
Bvox all round.
Piano playing across the rear.

The Damage Is Done
Keys across the front, synthish bass across the middle.
Nice shimmer across the rears. Ride left rear.
Drum fill from right rear around to the front.
Acoustic guitars in rears.
There is a surprising amount going on in these mixes.
Guitar right side. Nice surround mix of the drums.
Gramm's vocals sound excellent.
Nice bvox in rears with a dry final lead vocal up front.

Long Long Way From Home
Acoustic gtr right side. Electric front left.
Synth thing sliding across the rears.
Solid bass and drums up front.
Horns nicely enter in the rears.
That swirling synth is excellent.
McDonald's sax is excellent up front.
Finish with horns all round

Woman O Woman
Synth up front guitars either side.
Cymbals rears.
The drum mixes on here are excellent. Another drum fill rolls around from right rear to front.
Synth left. Elec piano arpeggio right rear.
Lead guitar up front.
Piano up front.

At War With The World
Organ in the rears.
Guitar right side and front.
Keys right side.
Bvox across the middle.
Synth lead up front.

Fool For You Anyway
Acoustic gtrs either side rears.
Bvox rears.
Elec chunk gtr right side. Electric rhythm gtr left side.
Based holding everything down nicely up front.
Acoustic slide front left with fx send right rear.

I Need You
Nice fade up.
Synth noises swirling in the rears.
Gtr right rear, left front, organ right side.
More swirling synth sounds, very cool.
Bvox rears.
Nice melodic lead front.
Synth pad left side.

On the whole an excellent mix. We have good use of the sides and rears, the drums are particularly nicely mixed and we get some pretty cool swirling synth effects in several songs. It doesn't sound gimmicky at all, it just sounds cool, as they are there as sfx in reality anyway.
This is a much more layered album than I ever really think of it as. The only really slightly ... and I mean very slightly disappointing thing was the guitars in Feels like The First Time seem to have ever so slightly less punch than I remember, but with that minor quibble aside, I feel pretty safe saying that a Foreigner fan would love this. It gives the album so much more dimension.

 

Next week's choices

Gentle Giant Octopus

 

Crowded House debut

 

Elton John Goodbye yellow brick road

 

Pink floyd Atom Heart mother

 

Mahavishnu orchestra birds of fire

 

Primus sailing the seas of cheese

 

Simple minds new gold dream

 

The Fixx 1011 woodland

 

King crimson the power to believe

 

Chicago 2 dvd audio and quad

 

Schoolyard Ghosts

Studio album by No-Man
Released 12 May 2008
Recorded August–September 2007, January–March 2008
Genre Post-rock, art rock
Length 53:00
Label Kscope
Producer Tim Bowness, Steven Wilson

Schoolyard Ghosts is the name of the sixth studio album by British art rock band No-Man.

Recorded in the UK, France, Sweden and the USA and released on 12 May 2008, the album features contributions from Bruce Kaphan (American Music Club, Red House Painters), drummers Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), saxophonist/flautist Theo Travis, and the London Session Orchestra arranged by Dave Stewart (Hatfield and the North, Egg, Stewart and Gaskin etc.). In his online diary Tim Bowness mentions that, despite following a difficult year and being typically melancholy in places, the tone of the album is more optimistic than anything the band have done before. He also says "All Sweet Things" and "Truenorth" are perhaps the pinnacle of the band's achievements.

Reviews for the album have generally been very favourable, with positive reviews and interviews featured in Classic Rock (UK), Rock Sound (UK), Goldmine (USA), Record Collector (UK), Eclipsed (Germany), Metal Hammer (Germany), Metal Hammer (Poland), Free! (Finland), Rolling Stone (Mexico), Jam (Italy), and Allmusic. In June 2008, the album was No. 1 in Prog Archives' Member's Albums of the Year chart and No. 474 in Rate Your Music's reader's albums of 2008. In October 2008, the album was No. 5 in the Eclipsed magazine's reader's charts. In January 2009, the album was rated No. 23 in the Eclipsed critic's end of year lists.

Personnel
· Tim Bowness – vocals, musical box, mellotron, piano, chime guitars, vocal loops.
· Steven Wilson – piano, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, keyboards, glockenspiel, harmony vocals, musical box, electric piano, organ, harp, harmonium, percussion, drum programming.
· Theo Travis – flute, soprano sax (tracks 4, 5 and 8).
· Peter Chilvers – samples from 'surfacing' (track 1).
· Colin Edwin – fretless acoustic bass (track 2)
· Rick Edwards – percussion (track 2)
· Marianne De Chastelaine – cello (track 2)
· Pat Mastelotto – drums, percussion (tracks 3 and 6)
· Fabrice Lefebvre – yang t'chin (track 4)
· Andrew Booker (credited as 'Andy Booker') – electronic percussion (track 4), drum loop (track 7)
· Bruce Kaphan – pedal steel guitar (tracks 5 and 7)
· Pete Morgan – bass (track 7)
· Gavin Harrison – drums (track 8)
· Strings arranged by Dave Stewart and performed by the London Session Orchestra.

Track listing
All lyrics are written by Bowness.

No. Title Music Length
1. "All Sweet Things" No-Man 6:47
2. "Beautiful Songs You Should Know" Bowness, Giancarlo Erra 4:26
3. "Pigeon Drummer" No-Man 6:18
4. "Truenorth" No-Man 12:48
5. "Wherever There is Light" No-Man 4:21
6. "Song of the Surf" No-Man, Alistair Murphy 6:12
7. "Streaming" No-Man 3:32
8. "Mixtaped" No-Man 8:36

------------------------------------------------------
The album is available in a CD/DVD-A audiophile edition and comes in a digipack format with booklet and also features a 5.1 mix of the album, a photo gallery and videos for 3 songs.

Out of print, but used copies aren’t expensive. Discogs

Surround Mix by Steven Wilson
Bowness lead vocals in center channel on all tracks. Bass and percussion in front on all tracks

1. "All Sweet Things"
I’m thinking that’s synthesizer and glockenspiel in the back. Piano and some guitar at the end.
2. "Beautiful Songs You Should Know"
Rhythm guitar, various keyboards, backing vocals in back , strings in front.
3. "Pigeon Drummer"
This track sounds like could be off of Porcupine Tree Anaesthetize. Guitar and some percussion in the back. Guitar solo in center channel. Keyboards are often in front on this one.
4. "Truenorth"
Piano in front, synthesizer in back, strings in concert hall surround, flute in front, guitar in both front and back at different points. A gorgeous 12 minute track with many transitions and passages, and fantastic in surround. Best track on the album.
5. "Wherever There is Light"
Guitar and strings in surround, flute in front, pedal steel guitar heavy in back.
6. "Song of the Surf"
Guitar in surround, some synthesizer in back. Glockenspiel in front.
7. "Streaming"
If it weren’t for the vocals, this could almost be a Bass Communion song. Synthesizer in back.
8. "Mixtaped"
Hardly uses the back at all until some occasional Bowness vocals and reverberating guitar near the end.
______

Back in the nineties, Steven Wilson had two studio projects – Bass Communion and I.E.M. It is tempting to view N0-Man as an outgrowth of the former and Porcupine Tree as an evolution of the latter. Like Bass Communion, No-Man has a background of ambient layering. But, it also has vocals and some guitar.

Both No-Man and Porcupine Tree disappeared about ten years ago when Wilson decided to be a solo artist. (Yes, there is a new No-Man album, but it seems to be 10 different renditions of the same 5 minute song). His early solo work is really much more like No-Man than Porcupine Tree, so if you like that stuff then the No-Man back catalog is the place for further exploration.

Flowermouth is my favorite No-Man title, but Schoolyard Ghosts is the next in line. That makes it the better of the two available in surround; Together We’re Stranger is the other. Used copies of Schoolyard Ghosts aren’t expensive, so I’d say TrueNorth with some other songs thrown in to boot is an essential pickup for Wilson fans. (2/3)

 

Also don't forget to run through any of the albums we have done, if you feel drawn to

Reference to the albums

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic
Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East
Allman Brother Band - Eat a Peach
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here thanks @riskylogic
Ayreon - The Source thanks @riskylogic

Band - Music From Big Pink ... I did this twice ... must occasionally sleep lol
Bass Communion - Loss thanks @riskylogic
The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish
Beck, Jeff - Blow By Blow
Beethoven - 3rd Symphony Eroica
Bjork - Vespertine
Blood Sweat and Tears - Blood Sweat And Tears
Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
Blue Oyster Cult - Agents Of Fortune
Bowie, David - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Browne, Jackson - Running On Empty

Charles, Ray - Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum
Cobham, Billy - Spectrum (Quad) thanks @-dave--wave-

Davis, Miles - Sketches Of Spain
Davis, Miles - In A Silent Way
Davis, Miles - Bitches Brew
Deep Purple - Machine Head
Deep Purple - Stormbringer
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
Derek and the Dominos - Layla and other assorted love songs
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Doobie Brothers - The Captain And Me
Doors - LA Woman
Drake, Nick - A Treasury
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Dukes Of Stratosphear - Psurroundabout Ride
Dylan, Bob - Blonde On Blonde

Eagles - Hotel California
ELO - debut album
Emerson Lake And Palmer - Tarkus
Emerson Lake And Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery

Fagen, Donald - The Nightfly
Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Foreigner - Foreigner

Gabriel, Peter - Up
Gallagher, Rory - Big Guns (Best Of)
Gaye, Marvin - Lets Get It On
Genesis - Overview of all thanks @MikeF63
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
Gentle Giant - The Power and The Glory
Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

Hackett, Steve - Voyage Of The Acolyte thanks @riskylogic
Hendrix, Jimi - Electric Ladyland

Inxs - Kick
Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

Jeff Beck Group - Rough And Ready
Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick
Jethro Tull - Minstrel In The Gallery
Jethro Tull - Stormwatch
Jethro Tull - TAAB 2 thanks @riskylogic
Joel, Billy - The Stranger
John, Elton - Madman Across The Water

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - The Traveller
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th and 50th
King Crimson - Red
Knopfler, Mark - Sailing To Philadelphia
Kooper, Al (with Bloomfield and Stills) Super Sessions

Living Colour - Collideoscope
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Southern Surroundings

Marillion - Afraid Of Sunlight
Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed
Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance
Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn
Morrison, Van - Moondance
Mussorgsky, Modeste - Carlo Ponti - Pictures At An Exhibition+
Mozart - 40th Symphony

Nektar - Journey To The Centre of The Eye Thanks @riskylogic
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
No Man - Schoolyard Ghosts Thanks @riskylogic

Oldfield, Mike - Ommadawn
Oldfield, Mike - Five Miles Out
Oldfield, Mike - Crises thanks @Sordel 's overview
Oldfield, Mike - Return To Ommadawn thanks @riskylogic
Opeth - Pale Communion
Opeth - In Cauda Venenum

Pat Metheny Group - Imaginary Day
Pineapple Thief - Dissolution
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Pixies - Doolittle thanks @Galactus2

Queen - A Night At The Opera

REM - Green
Rich, Charlie Behind Closed Doors
Roxy Music - Avalon
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Moving Pictures

Santana - Abraxas
Santana - Lotus
Sly And The Family Stone - Greatest Hits
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker - Neeme Jarvi
Talking Heads - Fear Of Music
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Damn The Torpedoes
Townsend, Pete/Lane, Ronnie - Rough Mix
T Rex - Electric Warrior

Uk - Night After Night
Uriah Heep - Gold From The Byron Era

Wakeman, Rick - Six Wives Of Henry The Eighth
Waters, Roger - Amused to Death
Wayne, Jeff - War Of The Worlds
Who - Quadrophenia
Wilson, Steven - The Raven That Refused To Sing
Wilson, Steven - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Wings - Band On The Run

XTC - The Black Sea
XTC - Oranges and Lemons

Yes - Close To The Edge
Young, Neil - Harvest

Zappa - Quaudiophiliac

If the mood takes you, please feel free to give us your summary of any of these albums that we have done. For our purposes here, please try and give us information about the mix, in as much or as little detail as takes your fancy.
If you feel so inclined, review the album, and the mastering or anything else about the album that you feel drawn to.
Cheers,
Mark

 

Paranoid


Studio album by
Black Sabbath
Released 18 September 1970
Recorded 16–21 June 1970
Studio Regent Sound Studios and Island Studios, London, England
Genre Heavy metal
Length 41:51
Label Vertigo, Warner Bros.
Producer Rodger Bain

Paranoid is the second studio album by the English rock band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, it was the band's only LP to top the UK Albums Chart until the release of 13 in 2013. Paranoid contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 in the UK charts. It is often cited as an influential album in the development of heavy metal music.

Black Sabbath

• Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
• Tony Iommi – guitar, flute on "Planet Caravan"
• Geezer Butler – bass guitar
• Bill Ward – drums, congas on "Planet Caravan"

Additional personnel

• Tom Allom – engineering, piano on "Planet Caravan"
• Rodger Bain – production
• Brian Humphries – engineering
• Marcus Keef – graphic design, photography

1. "War Pigs" 7:57
2. "Paranoid" 2:48
3. "Planet Caravan" 4:32
4. "Iron Man" 5:56
5. "Electric Funeral" 4:53
6. "Hand of Doom" 7:08
7. "Rat Salad" (instrumental) 2:30
8. "Fairies Wear Boots" 6:15
-------------------------------------
Black Sabbath don't need much introduction. They are pretty famous across the board. One of those bands that seem to be adored and despised.
The guys got together in the classic line up in 1968. They, like most bands went through a series of name changes, and eventually became Earth.
Iommi left the band briefly and joined Jethro Tull, and apparently was on the Stones Rock and Roll Circus tv show with them, but being dissatisfied with their direction went back to Earth.

The band's first show as Black Sabbath took place on 30 August 1969, in Workington, England. They were signed by Phillips in November of 1969, and moved to the new Vertigo label.
Their debut album was released in February of 1970. It reached number 8 on the British charts and number 23 on the Billboard 200. The band was widely slammed by critics, but the new heavy sound took a long time to be accepted by a lot of the music community. In fact the mainstream music community still generally lean towards ignoring the heavier bands ... yet the fans love it, and continue to listen to and buy the music.

Paranoid is probably the bands most successful album, and to some degree a certain amount of overexposure leads most to select different albums as favourites. I myself tend to lean towards Master Of Reality, but there is no denying how good this particular album is.
Believe it or not, this album was rushed somewhat, to take advantage of the chart success of the debut. Sometimes the rush mentality works, and sometimes it really doesn't ... Fortunately for Sabbath it all came together beautifully. To the point where Sabbath's most famous song, the title track, was written recorded and in the can in about 2 hours, because they were short of songs.
Unlike most bands, most of the bands lyrics were written by Geezer Butler the bass player, not Ozzy, the singer. Ozzy is generally credited with the vocal melodies.
The way the Sabbath machine worked generally was that Iommi would put together his riffs and chords, Geezer would knock out the lyrics, Ward would set the groove/meter, and Ozzy would put the phrasing and melody into Geezer's words. Hence the band generally all got a writing credit. The Sabbath formula worked exquisitely for six albums, but as these things go, it started to crumble a little by the time the band got to Technical Ecstasy.

Paranoid the album went to number one on the UK and Dutch charts, number 2 on the German charts, number five in Norway, and managed to get to number 12 on the billboard 200.
Paranoid the album was certified 4x platinum in the US in 1995. As for the thrown together song. It became the name of the album, with a little record company persuasion. The single also charted very well.
Australian Go-Set National Top 60 - 18
Austrian Singles Chart 3
Canadian Singles Chart 54
Danish Singles Chart 1
German Singles Chart 1
Irish Singles Chart 12
Italian Singles Chart 9
Netherlands Singles Chart 2
Norwegian Singles Chart 6
South African Springbok Radio Top 20 - 3
Swiss Singles Chart 2
UK Singles Chart 4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 61

I believe this is one of those Quadrophonic turned 5.1 albums, and I have been itching to give it another listen.

Still available new from Amazon at @23.99 https://www.amazon.com/Paranoid-Black-Sabbath/dp/B001D2AYCI
Discogs from about $12 Black Sabbath - Paranoid
about $11 Black Sabbath - Paranoid
and the Japanese quad from about $135 Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Not really sure who did the Quad, or 5.1 transfer, so any help appreciated.
The Remaster was Andy Pierce, but I am unsure if that is for the stereo and the Quad/5.1

This is a dts 96/24 encoding

War Pigs
This starts interestingly. The first guitar chord is on the right side, and then the guitar is up front for the rest of the intro. It doesn't sound bad, but it sounds like someone did something wrong, or strange.
After the intro it goes back to normal.
Most of the intro is up front and the air raid siren gets a centered position.
We get some nice cymbal action in the sides.
The famous little guitar licks in between the tacets are 1st on the right, then on the left.
As we move into the groove, we get a rhythm guitar accent hit on either side.
Ozzy's vocal seems a little far away, perhaps a result of trying to turn this into a 5.1. It comes into the left hand side.
The lead guitar must be doubled as we get it on both sides, and then occasionally alternating.
There is some nice drum mixing, as the fills move nicely into the sides and to the centred snare.
For the most part there is a guitar either side. Geezer's bass is solid up front, and Bill Ward's drum have a really nice mix.
Aside from a couple of odd decisions or mistakes, this sounds good.

Paranoid
The opening riff starts on the left, and then the second run through on the right.
We have a guitar either side again. At one point in the first verse Ozzy's vocal drifts to the lef . But not for long.
Not amazing, but pretty good

Planet Caravan
We start with the guitar up front and the congas either side. It is a nice effect.
The little flute or synth or whatever it is that follows the vocal phrases. Sort of wanders across the front of the field.
Iommi's lead starts just right of the right front. And the second half is just left of the left front

Iron Man
Kick dead centre with a subtle sub assist.
Ozzy's famous effected vocal is in the middle.
We have a guitar either side.
Again there is nice width on the drums. Crash on the left side.
The change comes in and the lead break is just left of front left, and sort of sliding further left and back.
Then the guitar either side for the riff and chord section.
Ward's drums really sound excellent with the left side to right side mic.
This lead break has a just left of front left position with an effect send to the right side.

Electric Funeral
The set up used prior stays steady here.
In the change we get more drum width and guitars either side, with slightly different accents.
The layered "electric funeral" refrain has several layers of vocals that are somewhat in the middle.
The guitar either side set up does work well, but you kind of feel it is a little lazy or something.....

Hand Of Doom
We start with a quiet bass up front.
Nice sub assist on the kick.
Very dynamic intro. Ultra quiet and then it kicks in hard.
Again we have the guitar either side mix.
The little lead gtr punctuations are just in front of the centre speaker.
We get the change kick in and the mix stays pretty solid and consistent.
In the staccato section Ozzy's vocal changes sides.
Just after his vocal it sounds like a guitar drops out... not for long, but just enough to be noticeable.
We move back into the bluesy mellow groove, and again dynamic works very well.

Rat Salad
The guitar swells on the left.
The first guitar is on the left, and then the first lead break is on the right.
Then we get a guitar on each side.
Ward takes a solo, and we get another nice drum mix.
We come back with the guitars either side and Ward's two fills are on either side.

Fairies Wear Boots
One of my favourite Sabbath tracks.
The opening guitar has a nice delay effect before moving into the riff, and it has a nice side to side feel/mix.
Again the drum mix is really nice.
We move into the groove, with guitars either side.
When we move into the lead, it again is either side, and I think it is actually doubled rather than, just an effect.
The closing riff is pretty good, and I think separated via effect rather than doubled, but I can't be sure.

....
I am not quite sure what to make of this one. It certainly isn't terrible, but I get the impression that it was either rushed or a bit of an afterthought. Some parts of it sound very good, some parts sound a little lazy, and there are some parts that really aren't so good.
I think if you are a Sabbath fan, it is probably worth getting, being only around the ten or eleven dollar mark, but it isn't a state of the art situation here. The highlight for me, is the mix of most of Bill Ward's drums.

 

I bought a lot of quad/surround material in the second half of this year and this one was my biggest disappointment. Like you say, certainly not terrible. But for me, it didn't stack up to other stuff I bought. Perhaps if I hadn't bought so much other stuff, I could have appreciated it more in isolation.

And I'm not really sure what the point is of taking something in quad and converting to 5.1. I would have thought that people who are into either format would prefer it as-is. But I'm relatively new to all this so maybe I'm missing something obvious.

By the way... totally off topic, but being an Aussie, would you also be an AFL fan? (Sydney Swans member here.)

 

I love my AFL. I played Aussie Rules for twelve years. I never graduated to play in the big leagues, I got a back problem when I was seventeen, which stopped me in my tracks. I played a couple of years of amatuer Football in my thirties, but the old body has taken a pounding over the years, and not just on the football field lol
I grew up supporting East Perth in Western Australia. When the comp went National I supported The West Coast Eagles.

Edit: we had some really good clashes in those grand finals!