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From: ccicpg!keith@uunet.UU.NET (Keith McIntyre)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: 3 Observations On Q-Sound - What's going on???
Message-ID: <9250@uwm.edu>
Date: 31 Jan 91 13:58:22 GMT
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There has been some discussion on the newsgroups lately about Q 
sound and how it actually sounds. One person (who wishes to remain 
anonymous) bought the Immaculate Collection by Madonna. Three 
people listened to the CD on their systems. Their reviews follow. 
The question is, how can the observed sound be so radically 
different? Is Q sound what it is cracked up to be? 

Person number 1 heard the CD second and has a system consisting of 
Wharfdale E30 speakers, Denon 325 receiver, and a Sony 550 CD 
player. His observations are as follows: 

	 Occasional sound effects pop out from the soundstage about a foot 
	 or so to the front. In the "Live to Tell" song, which has 
	 electronic swoosh sounds moving back and forth from left to right 
	 a couple of times, the sound was easily going about 8-10 feet to 
	 the right of the right speaker, and maybe four feet to the left of 
	 the left speaker (there's a couch on that side). There seemed to 
	 be more depth to the soundstage (though, not to the lyrics...). On 
	 "Lucky Star" the soundstage was reminiscent of being in the front 
	 rows at a club like the Roxy, where the stage is about six feet in 
	 front of you, and about forty feet wide (not that I had a forty 
	 foot wide soundstage at home). I became a Q-sound convert.
	 
	 In summary, Q-sound is a gas, and there are also maybe three 
	 Madonna songs that I actually like (but don't tell anyone).
	 
	 
Person number 2 heard the CD first and has a system consisting of 
Apogee Caliper Signature speakers, Aragon 4004 Mk II power amp, 
and a Rotel RCD 855 CD player. His comments are as follows: 

	 Anyway, my experience is that the soundstage was really wide, 
	 probably 6 feet beyond the outside edges of the speakers, but not 
	 too deep. The image is fairly "focused" but the voice is terrible 
	 (Madonna's is shrill and the recording adds much EQ). On certain 
	 tracks, it extends around me both sides. On one particular track, 
	 it's like surround sound, with the ocean sounding like it was 
	 behind me.										  
	 
Person number 3 heard the CD last and has a system consisting of 
Martin Logan Sequel II speakers, Threshold s/300 amplifier, and a 
Sony CDP-111 CD player. His comments are as follows:
	 
	 I sat there and waited for incredible sound effects. I played 
	 through parts of every song on the CD and nothing happened. There 
	 was some imaging to the left and right of the speakers, but nothing 
	 extreme and maybe only slightly more than what a normal rock or 
	 pop CD has.
	 
I never did hear any surround sound effects. The song with the 
heartbeats and the ocean(?) just sounded like a bunch of 
electronic hiss. This CD set the record for flat two dimensional 
soundstages. I didn't think it was possible for bipolar speakers 
to give only a half foot of depth on the soundstage. This CD did 
that. In fact at times the sound was actually lying right on the 
speaker membranes.

Also the CD made my system sound like a disco system - an amazing 
transformation (degradation?). About the only neat thing in the 
whole CD was some synthesizer bass in the 30-35Hz range. It shook 
the wall a little bit. I also didn't realize Madonna had such a 
lousy voice. Must be the clothes she wears.