Bootleg Betty
The Divine Miss M Quadio
By Mister D
Oct. 16, 2024
Quadraphonic sound, or 4.0 surround sound, utilizes four audio channels connected to four speakers positioned at the corners of a listening space.
The multi-tracked audio is mixed dimensional, immersing the listener in an expansive soundscape. Bette Midler’s platinum-certified debut studio album, THE DIVINE MISS M, was an instant hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 200.
Named after Midler’s stage persona, the album was co-produced by Barry Manilow and won Midler a GRAMMY® Award for Best New Artist and nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.
1. Do You Want to Dance? (Quadio)
2 Chapel of Love (Quadio)
3 Superstar (Quadio)
4 Daytime Hustler (Quadio)
5 Am I Blue (Quadio)
6 Friends (Quadio)
7 Hello in There (Quadio)
8 Leader of the Pack (Quadio)
9 Delta Dawn (Quadio)
10 Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (Quadio)
11 Friends (Quadio)
12 Do You Want to Dance?
13 Chapel of Love
14 Superstar
15 Daytime Hustler
16 Am I Blue
17 Friends
18 Hello in There
19 Leader of the Pack
20 Delta Dawn
21 Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
22 Friends
Thank you for letting us know about this. I had previously checked on the Rhino site, and with shipping, the cost was around $35, which I thought a tad too high. They have an offer where you can get four “quadio” recordings for $79.99, but it’s really only Bette that I wanted, so with tax and shipping I wasn’t really ready to shell out $100 for the deal, just I could add on artists I wasn’t really interested in.
Even though I already have “The Divine Miss M” on CD and LP, I am intrigued by this channel separation version taken from the original master recording tapes. I don’t have a discrete 4.0 system, but I have a 3.1 with rear surrounds, so I’m willing to take a gamble that this will work. The 3.1 is for left, center, right (3) and subwoofer (.1). A 4.0 leaves out the center, which makes sense, since stereo is essentially left channel/speaker, right channel/speaker, front and rear.
I was hoping Amazon would sell this, so I could avoid the shipping fee (I’m such a cheapskate–lol), so thank you again for the update. I’m going to pre-order today! Oddly, even though the release date is October 15, it’s not being shipped out until November 12. Since I’ve been listening to the album now for over 50 years (eeks! tell me it ain’t so and I still look like a teenager) I guess a few more weeks won’t hurt.
All the best!
–Ron
xoxo
Glad I could help. And thank you for explaining the techno stuff lol I needed the lesson and you always get across the meanings of things in simple terms that, and I hope the readers, understand easily. And yes, I bet you look like the handsome teenager you are!!!
Okay, the disc came in a few days ago, and although I’m tempted to write one of my mega super-detailed reviews on it (you know me, lol), I’ll try my best to keep it brief, which is always a challenge. In comparing the sound quality of the original CD, Divine Miss M Deluxe (two-disc) and this Quadio version, I would rank them in order as “good”, “better” and “best”. The blu-ray Quadio disc uses a DTS-HD master from the original recordings and can be selected in either stereo or (Quad)io. The Quadio version is for stereo front and rear, as opposed to simple two-channel front speaker stereo. Please note the menu selection is difficult based on the simple, almost primitive menu screen, but the default is Quadio, if not purposely selecting DTS-HD Stereo. Initial volume is noticeably higher on the Quadio tracks, with better sound separation.
The good news is that the Quadio version sounds rich and full, with a slight notice of additional instrumentation that didn’t jump out at me by listening to the other discs. Hearing it with my eyes closed, I honestly felt like I was inside a nightclub with Bette singing to the audience, and the band playing behind her. One slight criticism is I thought the “highs” were a little too sharp, and I had to tone down the treble a bit. That’s what can happen when more sound can come through the speakers without it being stifled, muffled or constricted. The sound engineer addressed the issue (somewhat) in the liner notes by saying that there isn’t channel separation for the subwoofer, and that if you’re playing it on a sound system that has Bass Management, you can try it both ways, by turning it on or off. My suggestion–definitely turn it on.
Since my blu-ray player is hooked up to my large screen television, I played it through my TV soundbar and rear speakers. In all honesty, I would have preferred my previous setup that had surround tower speakers and a hookup through my receiver. This recording showed the limitations of my sound system, due to what would be referred to as a reference-standard disc.
My other note is that the running time of the tracks are slightly different than the other “Divine Miss M” CD discs. Some songs are listed as a few seconds shorter or longer, which may be just due to the silence at the beginning or ending of the songs. The greatest difference is “Leader of the Pack” which has a running time of 11 seconds longer than on the other “Divine Miss M” CD’s. I didn’t perform a side-by-side comparison, but it is possible that this track might have some added seconds to it. It did sound just a little bit different when I heard it, kind of like “oh, I don’t recall that jumping out at me before”. Then again, I’m getting old, so what do I know? Whatya mean, “getting”!!
Ok, those are my initial thoughts. Just wanted to share. Total takeaway for anyone reading this–buy it if you have a top-notch home theater system (and a blu-ray player) that will do justice to the master recording–otherwise, skip it–the other CD discs will do just fine!
All the best!
xoxo
I can’t wait to get it now. Thanks for taking the time to let us know. Don