Beatles Mono VINYL Box Set - 8th September 2014 Release Date (Part 6)

Yes, that's what's written inside the gatefold. And Love Me Do is a digital transfer...

 

Very fun

 

It's way more real, exciting and informative than updates from someone's shipping status, that's for sure.

 

No doubt honouring the legacy of the 2009 stereo remasters - the Magical Mystery Tour cd featured a 'Let It Be Mini-Documentary'.

 

I went with JB also but the courier they use can be a little slow getting to Christchurch. I think I probably won't see them until Monday the 8th...

 

Because there isn't a master. You can't have everything, eh.

 

Thanks, I thought that was going to be the case.

 

Ha! You aren't the only one to have made that observation... My 'better half' is freaking out. I don't have any room here either:



Or here:



Or behind here:



Or even here:



(Excuse the mess - I'm having a sort out; things to sell to raise the money for the damn mono box!)

How dare you sir!

Not a chance.

That photo is deceptive. Because the Expedit is white you can't really see the white surround of the Beatles box. It is about a cigarette paper shorter than the shelf gap. And it does have the hinged top etc.

Yes, a red felt mat from Rega.

 

So they don't have ANY useable tape copy of the single version of Love Me Do? I can't believe there isn't a safety copy or 2nd generation master somewhere in existence! I assume they exhausted all possibilities before deciding on using a digital copy.

 

The real question is what is the origin of the digital source and at what depth and resolution was it captured?
This track was taken from a vinyl source at least since the 1988 CD remasters, probably at 16/44.1. Are they still relying on this source or have they upgraded to a better needledrop since then?

 

Makes me glad that I have the UK 12" single with album and single versions on opposite sides.

 

Thats still the needle drop done in 1988

 

Yes, some clarification on the actual source this time round from Apple would be good. I accept that once a tape copy is gone it's gone but to allow it to get to this is just mistifying. I know no-one in 1962 could ever have imagined the master tape would still be required some 50 years later but it was EMI not the BBC (referring to the wholesale wiping of audio and video tapes by the Beeb).

 

Oh dear, what a disaster. Worse things happen at sea.

 

They could have made a new analogue needledrop, but my guess is that they felt it wouldn't be clean enough without some digital processing. As they had a usable digital master already, it was easier to use that.

IF a new needledrop was made for the 2009 remasters, then that would probably have been a hi-res transfer, like all the other initial transfers from the tapes. But then again, we know that the Help! and Rubber Soul stereo remixes were mastered from 16 bit digital masters.

PS. The 1988 and 2009 versions run at different speeds, though that doesn't prove anything.

 

Given the amount of care and diligence they seem to have shown on this project I would've thought a new analogue needledrop wouldn't be too much of a stretch for them. I'm nitpicking, I know but it mocks their "all analogue" boast a little. However, a digital copy of one track out of 185 or so can be forgiven I guess.

 

I'd suggest chucking out the Led Zeppelin Mothership, The Ozzy box, and take the Nick Drake albums out of the boxes.

 

Yes, on the bright side, at least the other version of LMD is all-analogue. Just think of the single version as a bonus.

 

And nothing can be completely perfect, not even Beatles recordings!

 

There definitely was an analogue transfer tape made from a vinyl record in the eighties. Though I'm not sure if it still exists.

 

Even if the covers are slightly different ie Barcodes etc, the records I am sure will be the same !!

 

IIRC, the source was provided by a collector. I was happy with 2009 remaster. It also sounds fine to me on vinyl .

 

Yes, it is nitpicking and no, it does not mock their all analog boast in the least considering the master no longer exists.

 

Yes that's true but they made no mention of that in their announcement on June 12. They stated the albums would be "newly mastered from the analogue master tapes", "newly mastered for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes", "Magee and Berkowitz cut the records without using any digital technology......they employed the same procedures used in the 1960s, guided by the original albums and by detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers", "the pair first dedicated weeks to concentrated listening, fastidiously comparing the master tapes with first pressings of the mono records made in the 1960s". No reference has been made to the use of a digital source for Love Me Do. They could've raised it in the announcement as the only exception. Instead, the only way the public finds out about it is AFTER they've purchased the box or the Mono Masters LP.

It's not a deal breaker for me and it probably isn't for most people but given the importance they have placed on the analogue chain for this release they should've explained it from the get go.

 

I received a shipping notice from amazon.ca.
They are stating I should received the shipment on the 12th.
You would think they would have these boxes a couple of days before the 9th
And ship them out on release day.
Hoping I get it on the 10th or 11th.