Wish we could get a Carpenters Quadio!!!

Richard has referred to the Carpenters quad mixes as “dubious to say the least”. What he really means is he doesn’t like them because he wasn’t involved in the making of them. Do the original quad tapes still even exist?
 
Richard has referred to the Carpenters quad mixes as “dubious to say the least”. What he really means is he doesn’t like them because he wasn’t involved in the making of them. Do the original quad tapes still even exist?

I'd be surprised if they did. They probably went up in the Universal fire.

Ed
 
Im sure richard has copies of them. What i want to know is if richard would go back and remix the tapes to get them to his liking.
 
Im sure richard has copies of them. What i want to know is if richard would go back and remix the tapes to get them to his liking.

He doesn't need the quad mixes as those would have EQ, compression, etc. already applied. He'd have to go back to the multitracks (which he did back up) and do fresh surround mixes from them. Of course, there's likely no financial incentive to do them (the buying audience would be very small) so I doubt we'll ever get anything beyond the surround Singles SACD from years ago.

Ed
 
See this new release of the Doobie Brothers!


Greg

I’ve been thinking the exact same thing, Greg! Quadio Carpenters would be awesome. I’m sure the tapes exist or at least digital copies do.

Richard may not be fond of them, but ‘Now And Then’ is spectacular in quad! It’s a whole different experience listening to that album in quad.
 
It’s by far the best of the 3 on vinyl, sans ASFY. Has anyone actually seen it? The oldies medley and a whole new life to Jambalaya, is amazing. I have the US and Japanese versions. They are mixed differently. The US SQ is more stereo amp and cartridge friendly. The CD-4 from Japan is more difficult for a regular stereo cartridge to separate the channels. A Shibata tipped cartridge helps, but the mix is still different from the SQ quad. The vocals come from different speakers when there are multiple tracks or vocals like Jambalaya. There’s even a yee-haw I never heard before towards the end of the song.
I know that will make Stephen happy.
 
I was actually the one who asked the Quad question on the official site. I was disappointed and fascinated by his response.
I remember about 10 years ago there was someone who made a DTS CD. and DVD of these releases and sold them on ebay. Of course they got snatched off the face of the internet. I sure wish I had them!
 
Of course, there's likely no financial incentive to do them (the buying audience would be very small) so I doubt we'll ever get anything beyond the surround Singles SACD from years ago.

Ed

I think Ed has a point about the financial incentive. Would the #'s work for Universal?

Does anyone know what the typical cost would be to re-mix a 1970's album in either quad or 5.1 surround? If there were some solid budget numbers to work with, it would be possible to figure out a financial model that would tell you the average cost for X number of fans that were willing to commit to an SACD or blu ray purchase.

Real estate developers do this all the time with "pre-sales", long before a building is constructed. Maybe the same thing could be arranged with respect to a multi-channel album project. This assumes, of course, that Richard and Universal would be interested.

If there were a guaranteed commitment of a certain # of sales, it seems to me that this would reduce a lot of the risk for Universal.
 
I wonder if the sales in Japan have waned dramatically. It used to be we would see a compilation rather often---has there been one since the re-release of Sweet Memory?
 
We have to remember that we are a minority here. I think most people has stopped purchasing music in a physical format. Streaming music services is where the money is. There is not much financial incentive to release another compilation I would guess. Myself, I have got quite a collection of cds, and now getting into vinyl.

There's a 17 years difference between my partner and me. He can't not understand why I collect or even buy cds! People get a subscription on Spotify and they can play any music they like. I grew up on the 80's listening to cassettes. I still remember vividly where I was and what I felt the first time I bought a CD (A Carpenters album of course). I didn't even had a player! I bought it and opened it as it was like discovering a treasure.
 
I wonder if the sales in Japan have waned dramatically. It used to be we would see a compilation rather often---has there been one since the re-release of Sweet Memory?

I am sure there is no other market such as Japan when it comes to Carpenters releases. They have given us fans so much in terms of unique material.
 
We have to remember that we are a minority here. I think most people has stopped purchasing music in a physical format. Streaming music services is where the money is. There is not much financial incentive to release another compilation I would guess. Myself, I have got quite a collection of cds, and now getting into vinyl.

There's a 17 years difference between my partner and me. He can't not understand why I collect or even buy cds! People get a subscription on Spotify and they can play any music they like. I grew up on the 80's listening to cassettes. I still remember vividly where I was and what I felt the first time I bought a CD (A Carpenters album of course). I didn't even had a player! I bought it and opened it as it was like discovering a treasure.

They are still releasing these special edition CDs in many markets around the world, even the US, in limited numbers. I just wish "they" would reach into the Carpenters back catalog and do the same!
 
We have to remember that we are a minority here. I think most people has stopped purchasing music in a physical format. Streaming music services is where the money is. There is not much financial incentive to release another compilation I would guess. Myself, I have got quite a collection of cds, and now getting into vinyl.

There's a 17 years difference between my partner and me. He can't not understand why I collect or even buy cds! People get a subscription on Spotify and they can play any music they like. I grew up on the 80's listening to cassettes. I still remember vividly where I was and what I felt the first time I bought a CD (A Carpenters album of course). I didn't even had a player! I bought it and opened it as it was like discovering a treasure.
I bought my 1st CD player the day The Singles 69-73 debuted on CD. It was $640.00.
 
I bought my 1st CD player the day The Singles 69-73 debuted on CD. It was $640.00.

Ah, memories....when CD players were almost unobtainium. A friend of my fathers had bought one from Japan back in 1983 (where they were much cheaper) and and he had a few CDs to go with it. It was totally magic (I was ten but even if I weren't, I likely still would have thought that). I got my Singles CD a few years later and played it in a Crown "portable" CD player that lived in my bedroom. It was the cheapest thing but I didn't care. It was Karen. It's a very well-mastered CD and still holds up sonically even now.

Ed
 
SINGLES 69-73 was a popular title for first CD owners. This is my Sony CDP-302 and my copy of SINGLES 1969-1973. I still have the Sony and the disc. The player has a bit of a hard time opening its drawer - you have to help it out - but the CD player has the fastest seek-time I've ever experienced.

SonyCDP302.jpg
 
I remember the first CD player we ever had in the store - it was a Pioneer unit and was shoplifted while I was at lunch one day!

I didn't get any Carpenters CDs right off (my first two were Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Genesis' Genesis), but it wasn't very long until I started picking them up. My first was the "special" Christmas Portrait, but for the regular albums my first was A Song For You. I didn't get the original Singles until things started going out of print and I decided I'd better grab it while I could.
 
The first time I saw a CD player being demonstrated in a store had to be in 1983. It was a Wee Three Store in the King Of Prussia Plaza and they were playing some classical disc. They had a display there that listed all of the CD titles that were out at that point. They were all from Columbia (CBS Records) with titles from Billy Joel and others. A number were classical. It was probably a record company display.

It wasn't until a year went by that I decided I wanted to dabble in the CD market. That CDP-302 was a Christmas present that year, and I bought a few CDs in anticipation of getting the player. The first two for sure were that SINGLES disc and a soundtrack to the movie SOMEWHERE IN TIME. I was tasked with not replacing every title I owned on LP with a CD, but that broke down really quickly.

Next up, I found a soundtrack for 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, a title that demanded being on CD. Unfortunately that MCA disc was horrible and I got my first lesson that CDs were not always perfect. It all depended on the mastering.

Toward the Christmas season, I spotted the TjB CHRISTMAS ALBUM and had to have that. And I think I picked up another classical disc before the big day of getting the CD player unwrapped.

The slope was quite slippery after that - and apparently the quest is not over yet as I've ordered two more CDs just today.
 
I bought my first CD player when FROM THE TOP was released. I also bought my first VCR when the YESTERDAY ONCE MORE VHS tape was released.
 
Did the SONY CD player skipped?? My first CD player was Technics in July of 1986 (WRONG choice) at the old Highland Appliance store!! That Technics player skipped & made noises!! Back in May of 1995, I got a DENON CD player for my birthday & it did NOT skipped!! Had that until 2013 because the trayer was opening & closing the same time!! So I got a Marantz CD player in late 2013 & still has NOT skipped either!!!
 
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