Q-Sound: 180 degrees - Roger Waters / Jeff Beck

[kjohnsonhp]

Roger Waters: "Amused to Death" CD recorded in Q-Sound made me feel like I had a new stereo--or at least it made me believe I had surround speakers turned on. I am amazed at the 180 degree sound stage from 2 speakers.

Turn off all the lights, turn up the volume and sit in the sweet spot and this CD will startle you. Sounds sweep a half circle around you with quiet sound and thunderous booms.

Jeff Beck plays a mean guitar on this CD. Guest vocalist make it even better.

Of course it's Roger Waters concept album.

Amused to Death is a solid album both conceptually and musically, showcasing Waters as an artist who, like his work with Pink Floyd, conveys his thoughts and ideals with pinpoint accuracy so that they are engraved within his audience's mind. With this album, Waters touches heavily on the dangers of capitalism, the insensitivity of the human race, the ridiculousness of war, and the onslaught of mindless entertainment that encroaches on mankind on a day-to-day basis. Fitting all these aspects into 14 songs is a task in itself, but accomplishing this task alongside music that is forceful and appealing is extremely difficult, and still Waters succeeds in doing this throughout the duration of the album. "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" is a moving spoken intro from Alf Razzell, a former member of Britain's Royal Fusiliers. A stab at the false sense of security that lies within religion is dealt with on the powerful "What God Wants, Pt. 1," and the cowardice of the world's leaders is addressed in "The Bravery of Being Out of Range," one of the albums most blatant tracks. Guest guitarist Jeff Beck rises to the occasion on a number of songs here, and both Rita Coolidge and Don Henley fill in behind and beside Waters on a couple of the longer tunes. Ending with the title track, a song that sums up the whole of the album with it's subtle yet hard-hitting demeanor, Waters proves that he can still reveal his conceptual ideas with pristine clarity, only on Amused to Death, the music is as equally entertaining and effective. Mike DeGagne

[No Disc]

Q-sound has been around while now. It was used in Sting's "The Soul Cages" in the early 90s.

- tb

[kjohnsonhp]

The Roger Waters album is from 1992...Sting's album 1991 so yes it's be around awhile.

I'm impressed with how this old technology makes such an impact...on this album it makes my system sound pretty impressive...more so than many multi-channel SACDs from a WOW factor perspective. It's a combination of the technology and the music/sounds.

For those that comment about imaging Q-sound will make the sytem image amazingly well...a good demo for the system and Amused to death is a good listen in general.

[Randy Bey]

Actually I didn't like Amused; Roger sounded like a drunk caterwalling in a pub for most of the album.

But this is only my opinion, and that and about $5 will buy you a cup of coffee.

[cwm]

"With this album, Waters touches heavily on the dangers of capitalism, the insensitivity of the human race, the ridiculousness of war"

Isnt it strange how these "artists" never seem to wax poetic about the death and misery that the "collectivists" have caused in different areas around the world??!!

In any case I wonder how Q sound compares to the use of "Spatializer" for a sense of surround sound and 180 degree sound stage??

[michael hurd]

Another q-sound recorded cd is madonna's " the immaculate collection ". I think that luther vandross had one out as well.

[Craig6519]

Ok this is going to be embarrassing, but what is Q-Sound?

Craig

[kjohnsonhp]

Q Sound is 3D audio enhancement.

http://www.qsound.com/2002/technology/main1.asp

In 1990 Madonna's "The Immaculate Collection" was the first album to use QSound. Today QSound is focused on the internet and PC market.

Check out the web site for more info.

The Roger Waters album is very impressive to me...make sure you are in the sweet spot with the lights off and the volume up.

[sfogg]

"In any case I wonder how Q sound compares to the use of "Spatializer" for a sense of surround sound and 180 degree sound stage??"

'Spatializer' is similiar when it is used during the mixing of the album. A few of the Telarc discs use it for some special effects and its end result is similiar to Q Sound. There are also post processor boxes that apply 'Spatializer' to CDs. They do somewhat increase the apparent 'size' of a recording but they won't have as focused of an effect on specific parts of a recording as when applied specifially during mixing. I think the 'Spaializer' box works better on low end systems then on better setups.

You can get a 'Spatializer' box on closeout right now for very little money at:

http://soundcity.com/product.php?id1=&product_id=592

You can adjust its processing level which is good as its highest level is too much IMO.

There are other post-processors that are out there too which can be used. Carver's Sonic Holography (a type of interaural cross cancelation) with the proper speaker setup (very very close together with the listener something like 3x the distance from the speakers as they are from each other) can be very effective.. though sometimes very overblown. Its biggest problem IMO is in its requiring a very specific speaker setup which doesn't work well for traditional stereo listening when you don't want to use the effect. That tends to make people use Sonic Holography with improper speaker setups and it just doesn't sound right (very phasey) then. Carver C-9 processors are on e-bay all the time.

Lexicon's have a more advanced interaural cross cancelation mode called Panorama. Whats nice with them is they adjust their processing to your speaker setup, you don't have to adjust your speakers to their processing. That way when you don't feel like using the processing your speakers are still in their normal positions. The Lex. will also take advantage of a center and surround speakers if you are so equipped.

Due to the way interaural cross cancelation works both the Carver and Lexicon's processing results in a *very* small sweet spot. But when you are in it the effect can be quite good on the right material.

Shawn