The Who's Quadrophenia on Blu Ray Audio

[cwall99]

I can still remember the first time I ever listened to Quadrophenia. It was the summer of '79 (apologies to Brian Adams), and I had just bought the album (at this time, other than a few of their big songs, I knew very little about them). I was tempted into buying the album because, well, it was just a visually beautiful album cover.

Imagine my surprise though when my friend and I queued up side 1 and I am the sea started playing. "What the hell is this? It sounds like sh!t! Is there something wrong with this?" We could hear the vocal clips from the other tracks so we knew the stereo was working.

All of a sudden, Daltrey's bursts out in near-perfect, powerful clarity, "Can ya see the real me? Can ya!? CAN YA!!!??"

I was hooked. To my Holden Caulfield-inflected identity, suddenly had a voice, knew what it was like to be me. For the next five years or so for me, The Who were, without question, the best f*cking band in the f*cking universe."

I've picked up a number of copies of Quadrophenia over the years, but for all their artistic intensity, I never was really all that happy with how they sounded. Murky mixing buried details...

Fast forward to last Thursday when Amazon delivered my new Blu Ray Audio recording, and, man, it's incredible. The difference between this recording and any of my others is as stark as that sudden shift from I am the sea to Can you see the real me!

The album had originally been intended to be released in quadrophonic, but that never happened.

And while those original quad tapes have long gone missing, Townshend worked to produce a 5.1 re-mix (available in either DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby True HD. Of course there's a stereo mix and a 1973 stereo mix.

So far, I've only listened to it in DTS HD Master Audio because it just sounds so frickin' amazing.

Moving secondary instruments to the surrounds leaves your front three speakers lots of room to bring out details that used to get lost in the murk.

The piano on Helpless Dancer and Drowned hits you over the head with its impact. Entwistle's bass gets to really open up like I've never heard on any other version of this album. Townshend's guitar cut through everything like a knife, and Daltrey's voice... Back in its prime!

But the best part has to be Moonie's drumming. Calling the sound of his drumming on this recording powerful is like calling a tornado a little windstorm.

The dynamics on this recording are unbelievable, rendering the music on my modest mid-fi system with unbelievable impact and realism!

Over the past 10 or 15 years, The Who have almost dropped entirely from my normal rotation (I've felt this was their last good album for quite a while now), but this Blu Ray has 'em right back and up front!

 

[meggy]

Nice review. I remember pretty much the same experience (but in '73). I just bought an MFSL CD of Quad otherwise I'd be trying the Blu Ray.

 

[cwall99]

I bet that MFSL sounds pretty amazing. That's one version I don't have.

I think I paid about $30, including shipping, for mine.

 

[butch4695]

is this on youtube ?

 

[hjames]

Thanks. Have it on the original vinyl release from 1973, played it to death through some original advents I bought in Atlanta - amazing!
Years later I got it on CD, just wasn't as nice.
I just ordered the Bluray and am looking forward to reliving the magic again!

Thanks!

I can still remember the first time I ever listened to Quadrophenia. It was the summer of '79 (apologies to Brian Adams), and I had just bought the album (at this time, other than a few of their big songs, I knew very little about them). I was tempted into buying the album because, well, it was just a visually beautiful album cover.


Fast forward to last Thursday when Amazon delivered my new Blu Ray Audio recording, and, man, it's incredible. The difference between this recording and any of my others is as stark as that sudden shift from I am the sea to Can you see the real me!

The album had originally been intended to be released in quadrophonic, but that never happened.

And while those original quad tapes have long gone missing, Townshend worked to produce a 5.1 re-mix (available in either DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby True HD. Of course there's a stereo mix and a 1973 stereo mix.

So far, I've only listened to it in DTS HD Master Audio because it just sounds so frickin' amazing.

Moving secondary instruments to the surrounds leaves your front three speakers lots of room to bring out details that used to get lost in the murk.

The piano on Helpless Dancer and Drowned hits you over the head with its impact. Entwistle's bass gets to really open up like I've never heard on any other version of this album. Townshend's guitar cut through everything like a knife, and Daltrey's voice... Back in its prime!

But the best part has to be Moonie's drumming. Calling the sound of his drumming on this recording powerful is like calling a tornado a little windstorm.

The dynamics on this recording are unbelievable, rendering the music on my modest mid-fi system with unbelievable impact and realism!

Over the past 10 or 15 years, The Who have almost dropped entirely from my normal rotation (I've felt this was their last good album for quite a while now), but this Blu Ray has 'em right back and up front!

 

[BlindBoyGrnt]

The new 5.1 mix is a lot different from the original, which is also on the disc. I find the bass to be a little light, in comparison to the original mix, but otherwise, a great job, well worth having. There is also a stereo version of the modern mix. All versions in high resolution sound, so you won't be able to play it on a CD player.

 

[hjames]

I saw these review and specs on a BluRay website today:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Who-Quadrophenia-Blu-ray/101327/

"The biggest calling card for some audiophiles will be the new surround mix produced by Pete Townshend and engineered by Bob Pridden and Richard Whittaker, available on the Blu-ray in either DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (streaming in the high 8 Mbps, with occasional forays into 9 territory) or Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (averaging around 7.0 Mbps). The original 1973 stereo mix of the album is also included via LPCM 2.0 (a steady 4.6 Mbps, as has been the case with the other HFPA Blu-rays I've personally reviewed).

The surround mixes are astounding, offering a hugely splayed soundfield and crystalline clarity. To my ears, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is just slightly brighter, with a minimally more pronounced high end, but both of these tracks sound absolutely fantastic. While the original stereo mix is certainly great, once you've heard either of the surround mixes, my hunch is you'll want to spend more time with them than with the original version. Fidelity is beyond reproach and dynamic range is beautifully wide."



Good discussion on the Steve Hoffman site here - http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-who-quadrophenia-blu-ray-audio.355404/

 

[cwall99]

I saw these review and specs on a BluRay website today:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Who-Quadrophenia-Blu-ray/101327/

"Fidelity is beyond reproach and dynamic range is beautifully wide."

Good discussion on the Steve Hoffman site here - http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-who-quadrophenia-blu-ray-audio.355404/

Can't argue with that remark about the fidelity.

And, yeah, that discussion on the Steve Hoffman site sealed the deal for me.

As far as BlindBoyGrnt's comment about the bass being a little light, I can see, or hear, that. Turns out I have a pretty substantial subwoofer (had I bought it new, it pretty much would have cost as much as the audio portion of the rest my system), so I can adjust for that.

 

[hjames]

My first listen to Quadrophenia was the original vinyl in '73 on a then-new 1st gen pair of Advents - ba Boom!

Got my BluRay copy yesterday & took it downstairs to play on the multimedia system
Oppo - -> Emotiva XDAC-2 -> Integra 9.8DTC ->B&K amps ->Vandersteens
That system has the old HK Citation 22 in Mono feeding 600watts to a JBL 4641 18" sub.

First comments - the sound is great, great detail, the guitar and synths sound sweet,
Roger is amazing ... I can hear details in Moon's playing, but I did expect more punch
from Ox and Moon - they are turned down in the newer mixes compared to the original album mix.

I can see bass flickering on the HK sub amp "display" - but there's almost nothing there
on the LHF channel, at least until the final 2 cuts ... Bass is ok in the mains and surrounds.
I had it CRANKED to -3 (usual levels in that room are -10 or -15).
Tried flipping between the Dolby and dBx surround versions ... no significant change in Ox's bass.

Of course, I CAN reset the levels for the subwoofer - but its set properly for all my other music
and plays well for movies now. I'd hate to have to screw up my HT settings just for one album.

That said, it certainly beats my old worn vinyl from '73 - and a steal at around $20

 

[VinylHanger]

I'll definitely be picking this up. It is both my A #1 album and movie. Thanks for the review. :thmbsp:

 

[Audiobro]

I purchased my first Quadrophenia on cassette back in 1983, I was blown away. In the 90's I of coarse acquired a CD player and saw that it was available on something called UltraCD, from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. This of course blew away the cassette. About a year ago I got back to analog and one of my first albums was a Track/MCA,'73 copy of Quardophenia. I no longer listen to the CD, it sounds dull and lifeless. I have found this to be true with most CD's, once I have heard them on vinyl, the digital sounds like a synthetic facsimile.

 

[SoundOfSound]

This is a bit confusing because there are so many different versions of this album/film floating around.

So this one that says PURE AUDIO on it is the one you are talking about?

This version has both the film and the HD audio on it?

I was getting the impression that the Blu-Ray was HD audio only. :scratch2:

 

[EchoWars]

In the 90's I of coarse acquired a CD player and saw that it was available on something called UltraCD, from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. This of course blew away the cassette. About a year ago I got back to analog and one of my first albums was a Track/MCA,'73 copy of Quardophenia. I no longer listen to the CD, it sounds dull and lifeless. I have found this to be true with most CD's, once I have heard them on vinyl, the digital sounds like a synthetic facsimile.

The MFSL compact disc mix released in the 90's is by far the best 2-channel version of the album ever mastered. Dull and lifeless are certainly NOT adjectives I'd use to describe it. I've owned, at one time or another, just about every vinyl and digital version that exists, and the only thing that comes close is a Japanese vinyl pressing from about '89 or so.

I'd love to check out the new multichannel version, but the 5.1 setup here is optimized for movies, not audio, so I dunno how that's gonna go down.

 

[Audiobro]

Sorry, when I said that it sounds dull and lifeless, I was trying to speak in a more general sense. Of all the CD's I own, the MoFi Quadronphenia sounds the best. I had been a "Digital only" listener for 20+ years, and became reacquainted with vinyl less than a year ago. I have been amazed by the vibrance and depth of vinyl since. I have done many "Pepsi challenges" since in an attempt to understand why vinyl sounds so much better. I even go so far as to invite friends to the challenges, and so far vinyl is undefeated. I apologize if I went a bit off topic, but IMHO the original '73 vinyl is the best. BTW, Quadrophenia is my hands down favorite album.

 

[damacman]

This is my favorite album of my favorite band. I can rarely play it because when I do, I do absolutely nothing but listen to it until it's over. Honey, I'll call 911 in a bit ...

I bought the Pure Audio Bluray the moment it showed up on Amazon. It took two months or so to get.

Unfortunately, the multi-channel mix just doesn't do it for me. The stereo mix is the best digital copy I have though. Alas, both pale in comparison to the reissue on 200g vinyl (Classic).

I tend to prefer 5.1 mixes that utilize the surround channels to add ambience and spaciousness to recordings and found this mix overbearing.