Cassette: QUAD - The BODY & SOUL of TOM JONES Quadraphonic Reel Tape

The first machines used for 4-channel sound recording were analog reel-to-reel tape recorders. These were developed for use by audio engineers in professional studios during the 1950s in Germany by Telefunken and also by Ampex in the United States. Such machines appeared in some European studios by 1954, an early example was the tape part of Karlheinz Stockhausen's piece, Kontakte (1958–60). However, while four channel technology was used for this recording in the studio, it was released to the public only in stereo.

Early attempts to reproduce four channel sound for home playback began with audio laboratory engineers in the late 1960s. Producer Thomas Mowrey, initially working at the Eastman School of Music, was one of the pioneers of classical quadraphonic recording. He later made quadraphonic productions for Deutsche Grammophon and other labels in the early 1970s, however many of these were released only as stereo recordings.

A small number of quadraphonic recordings were introduced to the American consumer market by Vanguard Records in June 1969 on reel-to-reel tape. The most popular medium used to market recordings to the public during the 1970s was the vinyl LP phonograph record. Quadraphonic recordings on 8-track tape were also popular in the 1970s, particularly among car-audio enthusiasts.

In the 1970s specialized hardware systems were marketed by major electronic manufacturers to the public for decoding 4-channel recordings. These decoders were often sold as separate electronic components. Decoders were also available as built in features of some audio receivers or amplifiers sold during the 1970s.

Many quadraphonic recordings in the 1970s used "matrix" technologies to encode and decode 4-channels of audio information in a 2-channel medium, usually an LP. The poor decode performance of early matrix formats was the main reason for their disappearance once improved matrix systems arrived. The later matrix systems were based on work by Peter Schreiber. His basic formula utilized 90° phase-shift circuitry to enable enhanced 4-2-4 matrix systems to be developed, of which the two main leaders were Columbia's SQ and Sansui's QS Systems.

With Scheiber and Martin Willcocks, Jim Fosgate developed the Tate II 101 SQ decoder, which produced a very accurate sound field by using gain riding and the Haas effect to mask decoding artifacts. It used custom, hand-assembled and ‑calibrated circuitry with components sorted to 1%, for exact performance. Sansui's QSD-series decoders and QRX-series receivers were very good, even synthesizing left-right stereo into a ⋂ horseshoe topology. However, all these came too late in the game and were too expensive or difficult to procure for public purchase, to rescue matrix quad.

By the early 2000s more sophisticated "discrete" multichannel systems had mostly replaced matrix technologies, while providing a higher level of performance and full channel independence.

Today, software can be used to take the place of hardware decoding. Modern software algorithms are capable of more accurate decoding performance than the earlier hardware technologies.

All of the multichannel audio systems in common use today are digital systems. Digital multichannel audio has been available for the home starting with the introduction of surround sound movies using Dolby Digital and DTS in the 1990s. The most common digital media capable of reproducing surround sound music today are Super Audio CD, DVD, and Blu-ray. All of these are capable of playing high-resolution audio with multiple channels.