ANNOUNCE: Royalties at the Hippodrome Quadraphonic

Did anyone turn this decode into anything playable? Seperate front and rear stereo FLACs aren't much use. There are only really two things I can think of which are playable: i) a 4.0 FLAC (my Oppo 95 BD player plays 5.1 flacs OK) or ii) a DVD-Audio 4.0 encode. Unless either of these is produced I can't see the point.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
If that's the case, then maybe someone could start with this version - http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1241543/1973-09-13-london-golders-green-hippodrome-pop-spectacular-flac.aspx
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Did anyone ever do this ie. SQ decode before Stark's remastering?

Nope. He used an inferior source as well, as it was many years ago before better copies came out.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Nope. He used an inferior source as well, as it was many years ago before better copies came out.[/QUOTE]

Who used an inferior source? Pittrek for the 3 source compilation? Everywhere I can find on QZ it is the Pittrek 3 source compilation using the Stark remaster that is referred to, and that is the one in the Pittrek Best of the Best collection. It is also the one the first post claimed to use for the SQ decode.

The reason I opened this can of worms again is I'm quite keen on surround music.

As a newcomer I'm finding it very difficult to know which is the preferred copy of things. All sorts of new versions pop up all the time and it is difficult to keep track when wading through years of history on QZ. And the various file sharing site download links are broken so often I rarely bother to try using them, persevering with the torrents seems to work better.

I meant that about Stark's remaster. It was done many years ago, and better versions have emerged since.

Indeed, sometimes it's hard to figure out which is the best version, as it can come down to taste in the end. It's best to give them all a spin and make your choice.

Plenty to pick from:

http://www.queenconcerts.com/73-09-13

I've found some free quad decoding software that doesn't need Adobe Audition (which costs real money):

http://www-user.rhrk.uni-kl.de/~junglas/SQdecode/SQdecode.html

and also (will do SQ and QS and others):

http://www.hotto.de/software/quadrophonicmatrixdecoder.html

I may have a go at another decode. Then there's the question of what to encode to. 4.0 FLAC is problematic as few people can play it. DTS-CD would be an option and I think I can find free encode software, but it's not lossles. DVD-A is probably best, but the only software encoder I've find costs money.

Most people on this forum use FLAC now.

You mean FLAC level 4? 8 is the standard. The files are smaller at level 8, but they just take a bit longer to encode.

So when you decode these files, are they 4-channel WAV files now? Those can't encode to FLAC, since that's only 2 channels.

Actually both FLAC and WAV can contain plenty more that 2 channels. Linn Records have some 5.1 channel surround test FLACs on this page:

http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-downloads-testfiles.aspx

I have downloaded both of the 5.1 test FLACs on the above page, and they play correctly on my Oppo BDP-95EU blu ray player ie. when the voice says "right rear" it comes out of the right rear speaker etc. But I think support for multi channel (ie. more that two) FLACs is rare so it's not a format I'm keen to use.

I've got SQDecode working and it can either produce a single WAV file with all 4 tracks in, or it can produce 4 seperate WAV files. Fiddling around with Audacity playing the front and then rear it's easier to use the 4 channel WAV. But all the encoding tools expect 4 seperate WAV files.

I've just now produced a DTS file of Son and Daughter and I'm off to play it on my surround system. Sadly DTS is lossy, but 1.2mbps DTS at 44.1KHz (ie. DTS CD format) doesn't lose much.

Ideally I'd like to make a DVD Audio with MLP tracks for those with a DVD-A player and then a video zone with DTS tracks for those with only normal DVD Video players, and a Linear PCM track (front plus rear added together) for people without DTS decoders.

But I'm taking one step at a time. I need to know if the resulting decoded surround sounds good enough to be worth the effort.

By the way, what made people believe this is SQ encoded in the first place? I've been unable to find a source for that even on Queenzone.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
If that's the case, then maybe someone could start with this version - http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1241543/1973-09-13-london-golders-green-hippodrome-pop-spectacular-flac.aspx
[/QUOTE]

Is this just a direct transfer of the Pop Spectacular CD? If it is I may try it to see if it SQ decodes any better, I'm getting very variable results with the multi source compilation.

I'm not even sure I have the "best" multi source, I have the "Pittrek Best of the Best" version. I've seen reference to a newer multi source but it's very unclear from the downloads pages which this is.

[QUOTE] [b]OwenSmith wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
If that's the case, then maybe someone could start with this version - http://www.queenzone.com/forums/1241543/1973-09-13-london-golders-green-hippodrome-pop-spectacular-flac.aspx
[/QUOTE]

Is this just a direct transfer of the Pop Spectacular CD? If it is I may try it to see if it SQ decodes any better, I'm getting very variable results with the multi source compilation.
[/QUOTE]

I have the Pop Spectacular download now. "Father to Son" (my randomly chosen test track) produces much more consistent results through SQ decode. I keep having to remind myself that the raw SQ matrix only provides 3db front to rear seperation, so it's never going to sound like modern multi channel music.

I'd still like to know if the Pop Spectacular above is a raw rip of the CD or whether anything has been done to it.

If you look towards the end of this thread on the Quadraphonic Quad forums:

http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?13234-SQDecode-Freeware-Software/page2

it seems it is unlikely this concert is SQ encoded. I found the original entry on the list of quad radio shows but there are lots of inaccurate lists. The transcription disc label is definitely stereo.

Also the guy that wrote the Adobe Audition scripts did a decode and says that the result doesn't sound intentional, just stuff naturally out of phase (it happens all the time, otherwise Pro Logic II Music wouldn't ever work).