[1][2] The record is a double album, with four sides containing identical material presented in each of the four LP based quadraphonic sound formats: SQ, QS, CD-4 and UD-4.

These had evolved as the result of four competing companies (CBS, Sansui, JVC and Nippon Columbia respectively) pursuing their own quadraphonic systems independently.

[1] Able to persuade JVC and CBS via his own contacts, he soon found agreement from Sansui and Nippon Columbia and all four companies agreed to encode a side of the album each.

The eventual album includes a set of single and paired reference sounds, a surround-sound demonstration named "Electronic Footsy" (created in collaboration with engineer Tony Faulkner), a Stéphane Grappelli violin duet and two classical pieces by Mahler and Bartok, the latter being conducted by Pierre Boulez, as well as Pink Floyd's "Money" and 2 excerpts from Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.

[3] To ensure consistency in the mastering process, Thorne took possession of the actual master tapes of the Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon, which caused him considerable paranoia to the extent that he hid the tapes inside his piano, reasoning that it would be unlikely for a burglar to steal such a hefty object or search inside it.