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Beatles experts, your advice please

W

Wally Swift

Super Member
Banned
This in regards to reading about the upcoming stereo vinyl box set;

The only Beatles LPs that I have ever owned are the White album and Sgt. Pepper. I am familiar with the early hits though not the entire albums. I have heard Let it Be, Rubber Soul and Abbey Road. I have never listened to the others.

I have considered buying one of the full catalog boxsets a few times to fully examine the Beatles anew. The mono CD boxset is the one I've considered the most. I would prefer vinyl though.

Any suggestions? Might this upcoming stereo vinyl box be best for my purpose of reconsidering a previously unknown appreciation that so many have? I have read that the stereo mixes of the early LPs are unlistenable.

I've got a few spare $$$ with WFMU being cancelled.
 
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Besides the white album and Sgt Pepper, any Beatles collection should include Revolver, Rubber Soul and Abbey Road. I'd probably go at it one at a time if I didn't already have all the core catalog.
 
The early stereo mixes of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" are jarring. There is basically no middle. The new LP box set uses the 80s remixes. Purists may balk, but this is a good thing, IMO.

Other Beatles in stereo such as "Please, Please Me" and "Beatles for Sale" are quite good. In fact, "Beatles for Sale" in stereo is way better than in monaural.

I don't think you will be dissappointed.
 
The newly remastered stereo vinyl should fit the bill nicely. Supposedly a lot of effort went into their production. Hopefully they will sound excellent, even though they were cut at 24/96khz, but without peak limiting.

You can save quite a bit of money if you buy them individually, instead of the box with the deluxe book. Maybe try a few and decide if they meet your expectations. They're priced reasonably enough.
 
Its The Beatles for gosh sakes...and this box set seems perfect for someone like you (with only a few Beatles lps in your collection). BUY THAT BOX! Then buy the new Velvet Underground box from Sundazed, and you will have the musical foundation for 98% of modern music. That is a bit of a leap, of course...
 
KeninDC said:
The early stereo mixes of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" are jarring. There is basically no middle. The new LP box set uses the 80s remixes. Purists may balk, but this is a good thing, IMO.

Other Beatles in stereo such as "Please, Please Me" and "Beatles for Sale" are quite good. In fact, "Beatles for Sale" in stereo is way better than in monaural.

I don't think you will be dissappointed.
Click to expand...

First let me say that KeninDC is one of the more knowledgable members here at AK - but I have to disagree on this.

My advice is to get your ears on some stereo mixes BEFORE pulling the trigger on an entire box. The last round of releases was akin to a video game.

The catalogue is so strong, and the songs so familiar that I personally find mono to be the most pleasing way to listen to the Beatles. The stereo mixing can be a real distraction from the music, and frankly takes away from the experience. I think it's complicating something that should be kept simple and straightforward - besides, the mono cuts are killer in any case.

I am curious if anyone can comment to this new box, as to how the mixing will be done. Will it be the same as the last batch on CD? I found those abbhorent... vocals all in one channel, bass in another with no reverb between. Completely unnatural as far as I'm concerned.
 
Why not just find a source to listen to for free, and decide if it is worth the cash for one of the big sets?
 
Urchinn said:
Its The Beatles for gosh sakes...and this box set seems perfect for someone like you (with only a few Beatles lps in your collection). BUY THAT BOX! Then buy the new Velvet Underground box from Sundazed, and you will have the musical foundation for 98% of modern music. That is a bit of a leap, of course...
Click to expand...

I'd say this is excellent advice. If you're loading up on box sets full of unimpeachably great music, might as well pick up The Rolling Stones London Years set and Dylan's "Original Mono Recordings." Those should keep you pretty much fortified for the rest of your life.
 
Poppa is correct that monaural Beatles is excellent. I have early, tube-cut mono UK Parlophone LPs of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver." Great stuff, but each LP is worth well over $100.

So, another option is waiting on the inevitable mono LPs. Abbey Road, of course, was recorded only in stereo (Brazilian mono LPs are fold downs).

I've become less strident about mono lately (even though early Stones is essential in mono). I know I will be picking up some of these stereo Beatles LPs out of pure sonic curiosity.
 
KeninDC said:
Poppa is correct that monaural Beatles is excellent. I have early, tube-cut mono UK Parlophone LPs of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver." Great stuff, but each LP is worth well over $100.

So, another option is waiting on the inevitable mono LPs. Abbey Road, of course, was recorded only in stereo (Brazilian mono LPs are fold downs).

I've become less strident about mono lately (even though early Stones is essential in mono). I know I will be picking up some of these stereo Beatles LPs out of pure sonic curiosity.
Click to expand...

I am curious also, and look forward to some feedback. It's funny because I was just looking at a mono set on CD a couple weeks back. I think if the mono vinyl drops, I will bite.
 
Beatles experts, your advice please

I wish I had something to add, but I do not. I bought the CD Mono Box of remasters and was knocked out by them. I also bought an Abbey Road remaster and it was good enough I suppose.

My stereo LPs are mostly from the latter period of lesser quality, so this one is a temptation.

But...is it worth a big chunk of change? :sigh:I will probably wait for feedback and act accordingly. No urgency though.
 
We're not sure what the actual source is for this upcoming vinyl boxed set -- it's digital for sure and NOT limited (unlike the 2009 CD's). However, we don't know is the source is 24/44 or 24/96 - I've heard arguments for both.

If you prefer vinyl, then what I would suggest, if you have the funds, is get this stereo boxed set, and then hold off until next year when the mono vinyl boxed set allegedly gets released. Possibly in the spring. There are enough differences between the stereo and mono mixes that, if you really get into the stereo boxed set, you'll want the mono mixes as well. If you don't have the funds, perhaps get a mono CD boxed set as well as the price has dropped a bit since 2009.

What's nice about these new vinyl sets is that they should (I stress SHOULD) have very good SQ and should be nicely packaged - so it's actually a fairly cheap way to get a complete Beatles vinyl collection without having to search for NM BC-13, a German MMT, Red/Blue UK early pressings etc. If you can even wait a week, hopefully we'll start getting reports on the SQ and how they compare with UK first pressings or a BC-13 (Blue Box).
 
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. If this upcoming set is not limited [I thought it was] then I'll wait to hear some reviews from y'all.
 
Leaving aside the Stereo v Mono and New Mix v Old Mix debates, I think this is exactly the right situation to buy a box set. You have 2 albums, you've heard others and you like everything you've heard and have no real reason to suspect you won't like everything in the box... buy it, you'll be happy.

Sadly, most aficionados and collectors (myself included) already have the music, so buying the whole box set to get one or two (or none) records you don't already have older pressings of seems wasteful. The box set, it seems, was made for you... grab it and smile.
 
thurentity said:
What's nice about these new vinyl sets is that they should (I stress SHOULD) have very good SQ and should be nicely packaged - so it's actually a fairly cheap way to get a complete Beatles vinyl collection without having to search for NM BC-13, a German MMT, Red/Blue UK early pressings etc. If you can even wait a week, hopefully we'll start getting reports on the SQ and how they compare with UK first pressings or a BC-13 (Blue Box).
Click to expand...

Dude, ALL of the Beatles' albums have great SQ. Right from day one, they were using great studio techniques and made excellent recordings with top fidelity. I just don't think they can squeeze anymore fidelity out of these things. CD and vinyl will not reveal the true output of 24/192, for this we will need hi-res files.

Packaging is one thing, if you feel spendin that kind of money is worth it for yet another set of liner notes.
 
KeninDC said:
Other Beatles in stereo such as "Please, Please Me" and "Beatles for Sale" are quite good. In fact, "Beatles for Sale" in stereo is way better than in monaural.
Click to expand...

Aha, that's good to hear. :thmbsp: I have the stereo Parlophone Beatles For Sale, and wondered a couple times, if the mono was the better version. :scratch2: I dunno what came over me that day, I dropped close to $100 on 3 Parlophone Beatles albums, & only one was a black & yellow label. ;) That one would be Sgt. Pepper's, with the continuous sides thing, meaning no spaces between songs. :scratch2: I've only played that once or twice, so I'd better play it now, I guess. :music:
 
I don't have much to add, because most of mine are the mono releases (except Abbey Road and the Red Album). But what I do want to say is that I have not been extremely pleased with new vinyl I've purchased. I bought a re-release of the Jimi Hendrix experience last year, as well the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller and both seem very harsh to my ears. Like there's no mids, or the highs are exaggerated. I can't quite put my finger on it. But I could just be crazy.
 
Maybe in 2014, in honor of The Beatles 50th US anniversary. We'll see a Ltd. Edition Double 45 RPM set of The Beatles LPs, cut from the original analogue tapes or 24/192khz files. MSRP......$799.99!!

Not likely.....but if there's money to be made, anything's possible! More probable would be a hi-res download, USB or blu-ray audio at 24/192khz of their catalog. Apple/EMI still have a few tricks up their sleeves to continue to milk The Beatles catalog.
 
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