Rhino Handmade: Chicago Transit Authority-Quad Mix

I might agree with you on some grounds, but back in the day, people bitched and complained when Warner released DVD-Audio discs with no dedicated stereo track.

 

For the same money, Rhino could have offered more and made everyone happy.

 

This sounds interesting, and I may pick it up - despite the fact that I disassembled my surround system for stereo. No prejudice in that - I upgraded to floor standing speakers in the front that I cannot afford (or at least - will not pay) to match in rear and center channels. Maybe one day I will... and I'd like to hear this. In the meantime, I can do a "fold down".

 

Just a small nit to pick... 15ips isn't half the quality of 30ips.

Back to the show.

 

Is anybody else having trouble ordering online on the Rhino site? I was able to order CTA 2 days ago, then cancelled to use the MONKEES promo code. Now when I try to order I can't get My Cart to update.

What a f--k-d up site they have! :thumbsdn:

It may be me - but I order so much stuff online I doubt it.

 

The site was running slow when I placed my order yesterday. It went through, but some of the pages took a long time to load.

 

It appears Rhino is not in business to make everyone happy.

 

Name a business that is, and importantly, can. I'll be waiting right here.

 

Actually there are quite a few, but all are illegal here in the US.

 

Try dumping all yer cookies, and wipe your history, etc. Start fresh as new entry. Reboot computer always speeds me up when things are running slow.

 

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Does it all.. and free! Great program.

 

Same here.

 

If you mean extra music, there are no unreleased songs from the sessions for the first 3 Chicago albums. Yes, I would have prefered DVD-Audio.

 

By "more", I simply meant a dedicated stereo track, not bonus tracks. A stereo track could obviously have been included easily for the same price, but Rhino Handmade locked in on sentimentality, not practicality.

 

I agree. I do not have a home theater setup, but would have immediately ordered this if it had a DVD-standard PCM stereo track, which is higher resolution than CD. As it is, I am contemplating the 2-LP reissue, which is supposed to be great. I'm just not sure I like Chicago enough to spring for it.

 

Honestly Keith, unless you work for Rhino, you have no idea what the costs are for them to produce this nor the return on investment required by them to offer such a limited release. Do you know what the costs are for them to go from a DVD-5 to a DVD-9 or Blu-ray for such a small production run? If they were shooting for a conventional wide-release such as a remastered redbook disc or a hi-rez format release such as DVD-A you might have an argument, but that’s just not going to happen with this Quad-mix.

 

You could always make your own stereo mix. Rip the tracks and mix them to stereo on a workstation.

oh -- You don't mind if I fact-check that sentimentality over practicality claim with my Rhino guy and get back to ya? I really doubt that's the case...

 

Not sure about needing baking--it's the late 70s and later stuff where the tapes all need to be heated first. The older tapes used lube derived from whale oil and need no baking.

 

Really, Keith, you should hold off on that statement unless you are hiding some knowledge of licensing, production, and the internal goings-on of Rhino. IMO, it's 'easy' for Rhino to be 'practical' by releasing this thing and seeing how it sells. Instant feedback. Buy it if you like it, don't if you don't!

 

Why just assume that Rhino even had the option to release this any other way than how they are doing it? Isn't it far more likely that the artist stipulated that the license was for a quad release only?

 

If a Stereo track was to be added to a Quadraphonic release it should be the SQ Stereo version that was encoded for Quadraphonic decoding in the 1970s.

I'm beside myself with happiness and joy for a genuine - straight from the master tapes - Quadraphonic reissue. This is a historic miracle for music and us Quadraphonic folks to have a genuine re-release of a Quadraphonic title after all these years! It's all about about Quadraphonic here. Let's hope there will be many more Quadraphonic "Quad-Tastic" Rhino Handmade releases to come. There are so many "killer" Quadraphonic mixes yet to be heard.

Thank you Rhino Handmade! Keep them coming!

http://www.rhino.com/shop/product/chicago-chicago-transit-authority-dvd-quadraphonic

http://www.rhino.com/article/what-quad

 

How many stereo/multichannel releases have we seen for under $30? How much were the Rhino Chicago DVD-Audio discs at retail (i.e., when they were in print)? About $18 each. Now we are to pay $30 for a surround-only disc?

By the way, what if this had been a 24/96 DTS stereo-only release designed to mimic the original stereo LP release for $30? You mean to tell me we wouldn't have a pile of complaints from the surround crowd? Of course we would.

Look, I know some of you are excited by this release, but you don't have to bend over with the "We should be happy we get anything" apologist view. It's ridiculous when it's obvious that this release does not offer everything it should for $30. The price for nostalgia is high.

 

But it ain't, we didn't, and we won't.

This hypothetical analogy is just fantasy, I'm sorry but a point cannot be made out of it. They don't issue DTS 2-channel discs.

I think you are getting a bit over worked about this. This is a special treat for SS lovers, and it is not for you. I wish it was a party you were also invited to. But you wern't, so what can one do. Go home and listen to a different Rhino disc that you own, and be glad you did not fork out any money for this thinking it was a stereo disc as well.

 

Can you say Tull's Aqualung...., or Sab's Paranoid? Or Alice Cooper or Randy Newman?

The Warner Music Group is sitting on some of the most amazing Quad mixes. I don't know why they decided on this album as the test, but I am glad that they did.

If they end up putting them all out on Handmade with no stereo mix included, and $30 each, they will be making a lot of people happy. I don't see a downside.

 

Ok . . so by that logic, any release that includes fake stereo tracks isn't a flawed release and really can't be criticized by those of us who prefer true mono or stereo mixes over fake stereo, because these releases really aren't meant for us, but are instead intended to be a special treat for the lovers of fake stereo. Similarly, any release that is mastered too loud isn't a flawed release and really can't be criticized by those of us who prefer mastering that preserves the full dynamic range of the original master tape because these releases aren't meant for us, they're for people who enjoy listening to music that has been compressed to death.

I just don't understand this willingness to define away the problem.

I think the CTA reissue is clearly a worthwhile purpose for fans of quad. And yes, if the choice was between a quad-only release versus no release at all, I'd pick the former. But this reissue would have been much better, definitely a much better value (even if the price had to be raised to accomodate the additional licensing costs) and probably a much better seller as well, if Rhino had included a stereo mix in 96/24 PCM. Does anyone seriously disagree with this proposition? Perhaps Rhino wanted to include a dedicated stereo mix but couldn't get the necessary approvals. Ok then, you certainly can't blame RHino for that. But we simply don't know whether including a stereo mix was ever seriously considered.