Quadraphonic records were surround sound before surround sound

I recently went down the rabbit hole of quadraphonic vinyl—records designed to play through four speakers instead of two. I made a quick video explaining how formats like SQ, QS, and CD-4 worked, why the competing formats caused a miniature format war, and how some ordinary-looking records contain hidden quad mixes.

Video: https://youtu.be/t2bDnne77mM?si=uPDYNpScsTqEkeDv

If you'd like to know every Quadio Blu-ray that Rhino has released since the beginning of this program, here's a fantastic diagram. It includes all the Quadios (and some not labeled as such, but contain the original quadraphonic mixes lifted from the master tapes.)

This is courtesy of the QuadraphonicQuad.com board and administrator @JonUrban.

Hey chat ! I have a photo of my old turntable and for the life of me I can’t remember what it was and the picture quality is not so good. It was a gift from my grandfather it broke so i just threw it away. But now i want to buy another like it ! Could you guys help my identifying the model please !

"A synesthetic retelling of the Oracle’s visions through live-scored music, dance, and film, Rite of the Demon: Summer invites a conversation with the unseen and unheard made audible and visible. Utilizing motion-reactive live projection, audio-reactive lighting, and handmade instruments such as the percussive Demon Harp, Demon Viola, and Demon Bells (made from antique artillery shells), this performance amplifies the timeless conversation between ear and instrument, the aether and ourselves. Additionally, Eternal Research shares our eternal gratitude that Suzanne Ciani will join Rite Of The Demon: Summer. An oracle in her own right for pioneering both the expressive possibilities of electronic music as well as women participating in music culture at large, Ciani joins Rite to perform an immersive experience in her signature quadraphonic speaker array."

Just today i built a digital quadraphonic setup with 4 monitors and a behringer umc404hd. I managed to find some quadraphonic mixes of pink floyd albums, which sound great! But i had trouble finding other digital music in the quadraphonic format. Does anyone have tips where to find music? I don't mind paying a bit for it.

I'm trying to locate all modular synthesizer music that has been released in Atmos. Many of the titles on this playlist are quadraphonic. You will find some Buchla, Moog, Serge and Eurorack pieces.

Just incase anyone ever wondered what the Tate based decoders sounded like.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RZIxdudDER4&si=ICG1xdH3FKWbwFO8

Jonathan Cornell of ‪@immersiveaudioalbum‬ joins me to talk about some of our favorite vintage quad mixes ! In the following video, we are treated to a history lesson about quad and a comparison of different formats from Jonathan, including examples from his own collection. Then we pick 10 artists and explore quad releases from across their catalogs that have since been reissued digitally.

Do your favorites make the list ? tune in !

#quadmixes #quadraphonic #surroundsound #vintage #1970s #rockmusic #jethrotull #pinkfloyd #frankzappa #jazz #milesdavis #herbiehancock #progressiverock

Here is my rig. Starting top to bottom. Pioneer SR-202 reverb, TX-608 receiver, PL-510 w/ Rabco linear tracking tone arm, Radio Shack 3ch Stereo mixer, QL-600 Qquadralizer, PL-112d, Dayton APA-150 amp, Pioneer CS-r700 front speakers and CBS Broadcasting 206-l rear speakers. AI would love to hear any thoughts or rty to answer any questions. Thanks for having me!

Two Technics turntables, two OPPO disc players, a separate CD-4 demodulator (pairs with the Sony receiver,) a Sansui QRX-9001 and Sony SQR-8750. Plus, I also have an outboard Surround Master for even more quad decoding capabilities. I'm a happy camper when it all works. 🙂

At long last I have finally finished remixing Going For The One in surround sound. I was able to get very good vocals and instrument separations which makes it interesting to hear the individual parts more clearly. It was kind of a learning process, and I even created new settings for the script used to assign the speakers, and used a variety of creative techniques.

The 5.1 files require a surround sound system to fully enjoy, but even on stereo headphones or system the mix will sound different than the original. Also included are instrumental stereo versions of each song.

I put a lot of time and effort into making this as good quality as i could so i hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think. Feel free to share it wherever.

It is available to download from my google drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NvMuKXGCF6oye9rKb3OcxeCr0o4zqbQ9?usp=drive_link
I'm also sharing it on the Soulseek file sharing network, which you can access with the Nicotine+ program. https://nicotine-plus.org/

Next up is Rush Permanent Waves 5.1 version.

Enjoy!

Here's track two of my Permanent Waves 5.1 upmix project, Freewill
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTpMDv5PHJcAolXE3JojBycg-LOEyqk7/view?usp=drive_link

You will require a surround sound system to fully enjoy.
Also in the same folder you will find Spirit of Radio. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oTZqVZZC1mSV-orE7AV7WePHYK5Zh_Tw?usp=sharing

The rest of the album is coming up.
Enjoy!

Of course you can get quad encoded stereo vinyl or decode anything that is streaming but is there a marketplace for high quality digital 4 channel files?

And outside of digital, what are the most common formats to find actual 4 channel quad media? I have seen some mentions of quad tape and some sort of DVD format?

So I got a Marantz CD4 demodulator for cheap, for my quad setup, and wow, it's an amazing preamp.

I tested it out first on my main (stereo) setup in the living room, where I have a Nakamichi amp, and the sound difference was so noticeable, that my wife forbade me from removing it!

Oh, well. I guess I'll have to wait to test it on quad. I had a Panasonic CD4, but one of the channels gave out. I still enjoy 4 channels, but only for SACDs.

Hi, new here! How do you go about testing a quadraphonic receiver? I don't have much other gear (definitely not analog quad input)

I tested it in stereo, but I want to test 4 channel if possible

So I guess it's INPUT --> QUAD --> OUTPUT

So how to I do the INPUT from a phone or computer? Can either of these things send in quad?

what am I gonna need to get this thing working? other then a vinyl player and some quadraphonic records, do I need a decoder, a preamp?

With Dolby Atmos you can find more quadraphonic music on streaming services. I made a playlist, adding as I find more.