Hello to Visitors

WordPress allows its blog users to view where blog visitors are visiting from.

This is done by the country of origin but no more than that.

Here are yesterdays visitors:

Country    Views

United States    72
Italy                     8
Netherlands      8
Switzerland       7
Britain                4
Germany            4
Canada               3
Ukraine              3
Sweden               3
Norway               2
Finland               1

Hooray!!!!! Bravo to all those coming in to visit!!!

Feel free to leave a comment, share some information or leave an opinion!!!

I am a resident of the USA with two military tours to several Asian countries bordering the Pacific Ocean with some bordering the South China Sea and some a little bit west of the Pacific Ocean and closer to the Indian Ocean.

I will leave MOST politics out of this entry But I have a commitment to myself to offer my OPINION that the USA federal government does NOT truly represent the USA citizen population.

Q Surround

“QSound is a global supplier of audio software technology for mobile devices, headphones, Bluetooth devices, televisions, stereo PC multimedia equipment and other consumer electronics. QSound’s proprietary audio algorithms truly deliver a fuller, more natural and immersive audio experience – users hear the difference!!“

Q-Sound home page—-> Here

“QSound 3D Positional Audio Demos “–> Here

 

There are other new and not-so-new devices, softwares, units with those circuits or programs and this and that an et cetera or two or more.

I encourage those in the know to leave a comment about those newer and really new ways and means to improve an audio field or sound or presence or whatever.

This blog is aimed at audio.

It doesn’t matter if the audio is meant to be video-related.

I would prefer if the audio devices mentioned allowed music from any source to be played; from FM radio to a receiver’s output with sources varying from 8-track or reel-to-reel or cassette decks.

Or from CD or DVD players or, if you are using vinyl– from turntables.

As with muscle car 1/4-mile racing; run whatcha’ brung.

Okay… share your opinion and/or knowledge.

Thanks!!!!

Update

This site exists to assist with hopefully enlightening the curious to the short-lived era of Quad, quadraphonic surround sound from a time before the immense expansion of home theater.

Quad was geared towards home audio, for music listening.

It was a different era as those of us around and aware way back then are well-aware of.

Generally, folks viewed music and audio equipment differently in those days.

Quad’s Early Days

Quad hit the marketplace in a big way in 1971. Vanguard Records was one of the early players with their 4-channel reel-to-reel tape. Articles in various magazines from the period of around 1969 to 1970 mention quad sound from reel-to-reel tape. Quad from vinyl records and FM broadcasts is mentioned as being possible in the future.

Quad on tape is usually a discrete-type quad. True discrete quad uses 4 individual audio sources from input to output.

SQ

STEREO QUADRAPHONIC

SQ was created by the CBS Technology Center and was made available to the public in April 1971. Rear channel information was placed on a vinyl record by adding “…double helical groove modulations… alongside . . .vectored modulations…” that produced the sound for the front channels. The SQ decoder sensed the different signals and did its best to send the appropriate sound to the correct speaker.

QS aka RM

QUADRAPHONIC STEREO

Sansui introduced the QS quad encode/decode system in February 1972. Similar to SQ and EV-4, QS can decode any matrix-type quad encoded record along with synthesizing quad from a stereo source. Often, QS is shown on quad equipment with the designation “RM.” This stands for Regular Matrix. Supposedly, RM is the QS type without logic in the decoder.

I think Sansui’s grooviest invention was the famous Vario-Matrix circuitry. Various audio magazines described this circuitry in a most confusing manner. Some described Vario-Matrix as a “logic circuit” that improves channel separation. Another writer said it was specifically designed to synthesize a stereo source into a quadraphonic output. Whatever it was intended to do, it sure does sound good. Almost everything I play; FM, Compact Discs, records, whether it’s a quad or stereo version, is passed through my Vario-Matrix circuitry. Stereo sounds dull, lifeless, and boring compared to the sound of my quad receiver pumping out the tunes through its Vario-Matrix decoder.

CD-4

CD-4

This is the “odd man out” in the quad world. Extremely ‘fine’ grooves were etched onto the vinyl record to provide frequencies between 35,000 and 50,000 hertz. The CD-4 demodulator sensed these high frequencies then converted them to a range of around 100 to 15,000 hertz. These frequencies were then sent to the amplifier and on to the rear channels.

A matrix decoder can not sense the high frequencies on a CD-4 record, it can only synthesize the stereo output of a CD-4 QuadraDisc LP.

More CD-4

More CD-4

My own experience with CD-4 led me to stick with matrix-type quads. To hear a quad sound from CD-4 encoded vinyl I just send it through my Vario-Matrix decoder and let it synthesize a quad sound. However, there ARE those who use and enjoy CD-4. Cai Campbell is a quad expert with an opposing view. Here is his opinion:

Assorted Stuff

QADRAPHONIC TERMS, LINGO and ASSORTED BITS of STUFF

Decoders using ambiance recovery, such as early Dynacos, worked best on live recordings where the large area of the concert hall allowed natural reverberations and reflected sound waves to be recorded.

Radio-Electronics magazine in its March 1971 edition says the DynaQuad ambiance recovery unit first appeared in the spring of 1970. This product may have led the 70′s ‘quad craze.’

Software

Quad Software

There’s three, yes, count ‘em, three ways to provide a quad source to your super-duper quad hardware; reel-to-reel tape, 8-track tape, and vinyl record. Okay, you can use cassettes, etc that have quad recorded on them, but, I’m talking about original sources here.

Of the three formats, reel-to-reel tape is the rarest and it’s the most expensive to buy today. 8-tracks can be the cheapest if you find them locally at garage sales, thrift stores and used record/tape stores. I’ve bought quite a few quad 8-tracks for 10 to 50 cents each. Whadda’ deal!!! If you buy quad 8-tracks at Internet auction sites, be ready to pay top dollar. Records are the most commonly found quad software. Prices can vary greatly. Stuff that’s still-sealed gets the highest prices. For example, my still-sealed CD-4 Muscle of Love by Alice Cooper sold for 30 American dollars. Some quad records are readily available. The Doors Greatest Hits is a common one. There are oodles and gobs of ‘em out there. Others are harder to find. I hunted all over before finding my groovy Nashville Skyline by Bob Dylan.