What Is The Worst Sounding 2009 Remastered Beatles UK Albums? (NEW THREAD)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by AudiophilePhil, Jun 12, 2012.

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  1. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    Some have left. Some remain, thankfully. But, yeah, the disappointment with the remasters has been pretty much expressed in every which way it can be.

    Whatcha gonna do?

    Its not like they will be remastered for cd again. Maybe a slim chance theyd do some sort of hi rez thing. But I dont see them making that a more conservative mastering. If anything, I think theyd go more all out. It is what it is.

    I got my blueboxes (yes boxes, gotta find the righ stampers, right?--which I never did complete btw) , Die Beatles, HorZu MMT, Let It Be whitey, Hey Jude import, Collection of Oldies, WTB Beatlemania!, Sgt Peppers German, -2/-1 Abbey Road, MFSL Help! (Yeah Im weird, I know it kinda sucks eq wise but I like the clarity. It fools me. But I have other 2 boxes also. Big deal, thing still sounds shabby. Its the recording.) several 70s/80s copies of AHDN( thanks to those who convinced me that solid state isnt a bad thing on this one), Beatles For Sale (the good stampers..cant recall them right off hand) The Beatles (UK whitey and -1's mono original) Revolver Rubber Soul originals and 2 boxes. Ill be picking up Rubber Soul 2014 mono. A scattering of other pressings from countries that have been suggested by people here I trust. Oh and I want that 2014 mono MMT. Oh oh, and those singles with the green sleeves.

    So, lets see, do I really need another Beatles album? Proooobably not.

    But I tell you what. If there was a digital version that was done the way they should be done, Id sale them all. Gladly, in fact. And thats not an opinion.
     
  2. Vinylsoul 1965

    Vinylsoul 1965 Senior Member

    mpayan, have you ever tried a German pressing of HELP? I got one as a kid - a HorZu pressing that I still absolutely love. Looking for a better one to upgrade actually. I like it better than my UK pressing. This is the one I have: https://www.discogs.com/Beatles-Help/release/5636742
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2016
  3. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    I dont recall that I have. What do you like about it?


    and thanks for the heads up:)
     
  4. Vinylsoul 1965

    Vinylsoul 1965 Senior Member

    I will listen to it tomorrow and let you know - it's been so long but I remember liking the sound of the pressing :) I will be comparing it to a solid state UK cut.
     
    mpayan likes this.
  5. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    Look forward to your comments :thumbsup:
     
  6. Help! still sounds like poo. Original recording to blame as far as I can tell.
     
  7. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    Well this has been quite the thread. Just read through it. Like any thread on this forum about the Beatles, its full of bickering and off topic non sense.

    I have and very much like the 2009 Stereo Re Masters. I grew up with vinyl, have many of the 87 cds, and bought the Capital cd box sets .

    The top driver for my favor of the 2009 masters is the clarity of the drums and bass. You can really hear the bass drum and how locked together Paul and Ringo played. The Beatles were always trying to get more low end on their records. Paul and Ringo must have smiled when they heard the re masters would be my guess.

    My least favorite 2009 is Sgt Pepper, and i think its because the sonics of the very crowded mix are more exposed than in the 1987 version. Working only with 4 track machines, there were many tape to tape reduction mixes, and back again. It was a breakthrough record in writing, performance and creativity, but it was far from the best Beatles record in terms of sonic quality.

    Opinion. Mine.
     
    Tommyboy, bhazen, DK Pete and 2 others like this.
  8. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Why were UK studios and EMI using 4-track machines all the way up to 1969 or so when 8-track was available in the US as early as 1964 (perhaps earlier)?
     
  9. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    8-track was in use earlier in the US (Atlantic: 1957, Motown & Columbia: 1965), but it wasn't until 1967 that it really started to become widespread. Machines before that were custom orders or custom built.

    As far as EMI goes, the U.K. in general was often slightly behind the times, and there was a feeling that 4 tracks were good enough. Trident and Olympic started using 8-track only a few months before EMI (and notably a few months after 16-track first came into use in the US).
     
    DTK likes this.
  10. Efus

    Efus Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Good post, and agree with a lot of it.
    I'd say one of the downfalls of having that bass/drums/percussion so clear and up front, is that at certain times (and I can't remember the particular tunes)
    with the hard panning, I just wanted to stop some of Ringo's percussion that was just TOO up front for my tastes, distracting from the rest of the song.

    But I do like the 2009 stereos on the later material, post Pepper, than I do the earlier stuff.
     
  11. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    I would just add that the EMI Abbey Road technical boffins took their sweet time "testing" the new 8 tracks they bought. The story is that the Beatles said enough of this and pirated them from the tech department in '68 during White Album and put one in service.

    It such a shame in some ways that they did Sgt Pepper limited by 4 track machines. Some have and would say that there is mojo in Sgt Pepper being limited to 4 track? I think bullocks, but what do i know?

    I might agree with that argument for Revolver though.
     
  12. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Worth noting that it was George Martin's decision not to use the 3M 8-tracks until modifications had been made, not the "technical boffins". An unmodified machine was even kept available in case he changed his mind.
     
    DTK likes this.
  13. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    I get your point, no question.

    Have you heard the Beatles 1+ remixes? In 5.1 the drums are more spread out, but some say the drums/percussion are still way too up front.

    My first instrument was drums, so i cant get enough, especially hearing Ritchie lock in with Paul. The kick drum is awesome.
     
    Hutch likes this.
  14. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    Interesting. Where does this come from. Not heard it before? Im curious, not a challenge

    (give me evidence of provinence!) :)
     
  15. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    A letter included with Recording the Beatles.
     
  16. Ephi82

    Ephi82 Still have two ears working

    Location:
    S FL
    I have the book. Missed it. Thanks.
     
  17. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    I believe there's a photo in one spot, but it was also one of the included inserts.
     
  18. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Ya, I had those 3 original mono LPs too, but I downsized most of my Beatles stuff, including those and the special 1980s “rare” reissue Stereo Capitol LPs, but have since moved on to digital. Gotta say, if Beatles Vinyl is your thing, you gotta get those 3 Stereo LPs. Just awesome sounding, considering it was Capitol that did the re-issue!

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2016
    Vinylsoul 1965 likes this.
  19. For the Record

    For the Record Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario Canada
    Since the remasters are done so well, I don't think there is a worst. HOWEVER, based off opinion, it really depends on what YOU prefer in sound.
    I remember the first time I heard Come Together remastered. I thought it sounded a bit thin and the instruments felt very separated. I almost feel that track NEEDS
    a bit of a dirty muddy sound, rather than having a crispy finish.
     
  20. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    I agree, they are almost too clean, that it doesn’t sound like The Beatles we grew up with. Even the 1987 CDs were a breakthrough because it was the 1st time I heard them without ticks, pops, scratches & other LP imperfections. Also a 1st for “some" US Capitol fans not hearing the Dexterized versions.:magoo:
     
    Dan The Man1 likes this.
  21. Vinylsoul 1965

    Vinylsoul 1965 Senior Member

    Totally agree - and I do have all of them! :)
     
    Bingo Bongo likes this.
  22. ndoheny

    ndoheny Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento, Ca
    Help! is my favorite Beatles album and I try to grab as many recommended versions as I can. The German 072 version is worth grabbing and I would add picking up a Dutch early 80's copy. It's the 1A 062 version with matrices ending in -1y. For me it's the best solid state pressing out there. Strangely for a tube mastered version I love the Israeli one box copy I picked up on a lark. It just sounds like heaven in comparison to my one box and Y/B UKs.
     
  23. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Now your talking!!!!!! :edthumbs:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Tommyboy likes this.
  24. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Like you say, they are one of the best recorded bands ever..even their earlier albums (With The Beatles is a great example) have an aural sophistication that's lacking in most (if not all) other Pop albums of that same time period.

    For me it has to be a tie between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Although they sound superb for 1966/'67, I don't feel time has been very kind to them given the technology that's out there these days which can be utilized to improve them. I'd give each album a 50-50 in terms of great sounding tracks vs. ones that can use a bit of "help".

    In order to fully appreciate just how much these two can stand to be improved (I'm trying hard not to use the term-dreaded to some-"remix"), one needs to listen to the few remixes (I couldn't avoid it!!) from each album on Anthology and Yellow Submarine Songtrack.

    The biggest problem is clutter. This is mostly due to the fact that all they had to work with, basically, was a total of four tracks. The combining of tracks to make room for open ones to add and keep adding resulted in some songs not sounding all that, shall we say, "stellar". The two best examples from each respective album are She Said She Said and Getting Better.

    All that spewed, while overall these are good sounding albums, the limitations of the original mixes could only allow the remastering to go so far.
     
    AudiophilePhil likes this.
  25. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    Please avoid discussing access to bootlegs. Thanks.
     
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