Beatles Mono VINYL box set (Part #16)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by hodgo, Nov 27, 2014.

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  1. JP Christian

    JP Christian Forum Resident

    I'm very lucky to have fairly pristine originals - so I can vouch as many others have that the new mono box is an excellent release worthy of the praise it has received - whereas the original monos are more forthright and immediate (they are cut hotter and with boosted mid-range) the neutrality of the 2014 cuts has brought a new dimension to these vintage mixes - neither is better than the other but considering how little these new re-issues cost, anyone who's a Beatle fan and has a turntable is going to get a LOT of enjoyment from this set.
     
  2. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    Thanks for that. I don't recall that exactly, but I do remember Marianne Faithful recounting in "The Compleat Beatles" that she thought The Beatles might be finished until McCartney played her the Hey Jude acetate. Loved that film back in the day and nearly wore out my VHS copy.
     
  3. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    These are the mono mixes, as originally released. If you are asking about Mono Masters in particular, it is a collection of all the mono tracks that do not appear on any of the original 13 albums. This includes many of the mono singles that made the band hugely successful. Most of all the tracks in the box are from the same recordings as the stereo versions, but there are a few exceptions.
    There are many things that could be considered when reviewing a set such as the mono box, including:
    1. Song
    2. Performance
    3. Recording
    4. Mixing
    5. Mastering
    6. Pressing
    7. Manufacture (label, sleeve quality, etc.)
    I think that someone already very familiar with these albums would take 1-4 as a given and start with 5-7 for review. It seems you have also considered points 1-4. It's a different perspective, although personally, I would rate most of the tracks very highly on points 1-4.
    If you are disappointed with Mono Masters, you are likely to be disappointed with the other albums. Who knows? I think that comparing "Hey Jude", or any other mono track to the stereo version is probably not a good gauge.
     
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  4. John Grimes

    John Grimes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbia, TN
    I know the BC13 box od stereo but still, PPM, as to me it sounds fresher. The new mono has no real top end. It used to. What happened? I believe the tape splicing adhesive they used melted down and leaked all over the tape forever altering the sound. They painstakingly tried to remove it and in the end it does not sound as good as the other tapes that were used. This is all my humble opinion.
     
  5. Mrs. Beeton

    Mrs. Beeton Active Member

    Location:
    Canada

    There was also a set of mono LPs marketed at the time of the BC13 blue box, packaged in a black box IIRC. Haven't listened to the black box PPM to compare it to the recent re-issued mono one, though.
     
  6. Six String

    Six String Senior Member

    I agree with your last sentence here. I can't comment on the rest for obvious reasons already stated. I'm loving the mono box. Help is the only one that doesn't move me to superlatives and it is good enough. Outside of the title track it has never been a favorite.
     
  7. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    None did because that would call into question the reviewer's credentials/hearing/playback system! :laugh::D

    Seriously, IMO and to my ears these are the best sounding Beatles albums you can get. Disclaimer - I haven't listened to any good quality UK originals. I completely respect your report of your listening experiences.

    (I currently have two turntables set up: Acoustic Signature Final Tool/Grado The Reference and Denon DP-47f/Denon DL-160. There is a massive difference listening to these Beatles records between these two, with the best sound by far coming from the Final Tool/Grado. Synergy is everything.)
     
  8. Kim Olesen

    Kim Olesen Gently weeping guitarist.

    Location:
    Odense Denmark.
    I am trying to think of any mono mix that is actually mixed from a different performance thsn the stereo, other than small bitsof Please Please Me and the different vocals on Help.
     
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  9. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    It's a false statement or hyperbole that the new mono has no top end. There is plenty of top end. It just that the upper midrange hasn't been pushed as much. I guarantee that the new mono is not any more truncated in terms of extension than an original or the BC13 box. Yes, the stereos seem brighter. They are. They're more dynamic than the monos. No question. That is the way they mixed the masters. What the engineers have done with the new ones is pull the upper midrange back on the monos and extended the bass. They're also using solid state rather than tube mastering machines. That's going to change a few things subtly as well.
     
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  10. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Here's where you and others on this and other lists can get into problems. You state that such and such a pressing is THE best one you can get. Then follow that with I don't have a reference with originals. If you really think like that, I have a copy of DaVinci's Mona Lisa to sell you. It was painted last year by an expert painter who teaches at a nearby college and is THE best version of that painting you can buy. I have never seen the original Mona Lisa painted by DaVinci, by the way, but technology is better than it was back in the early 16th century. :doh:
     
  11. Dinstun

    Dinstun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle Tennessee
    "Please Please Me" is the one I was thinking of. I think the mono and stereo are two different takes.

    Other than PPM and "Help", I can only think of maybe the odd overdub here and there, such as "From Me To You", "Thank You Girl", "Money", "Don't Pass Me By", etc., although the basic tracks of these would be the same performance.
     
  12. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    The end of 'It Won't Be Long', a very small section, is from two different takes, mono/stereo. The mono version on Meet The Beatles is a fold down of the stereo though).
     
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  13. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    I have. It's OK but he did better.
     
  14. Sick Sick Phil

    Sick Sick Phil Forum Resident

    bad analogy. I better one would be someone taking a picture of the Mona Lisa in the 60's and making copies of it; and taking a picture of it now and making copies of it. Which copy of which picture of the Mona Lisa would be better. Odds are the copy of a picture made with in the last year.
     
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  15. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    That's right - I'm sharing my experience and being honest about it so that others can form their own opinion about what I'm saying. Absolutely nothing problematic about that. :)

    Where people get into problems is taking a simple statement like mine and convoluting it by some illogical logic into your Mona Lisa example. What you're saying doesn't follow from what I'm saying. To me. I know it does to you. But not to me.
     
  16. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    Exactly!
     
  17. Easy-E

    Easy-E Forum Resident

    I agree - John the Baptist and Madonna on the Rocks are much better - and bigger.
     
  18. Magnus A.

    Magnus A. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uppsala, Sweden
    In another discussion a few months ago, some members thought that parts of the Mother Superior section in “Happiness is a Warm Gun” might be edited in from different takes on the mono and stereo mixes respectively:
    http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...vs-2009-mono-cds.381125/page-10#post-11130519
     
  19. Paul Saldana

    Paul Saldana jazz vinyl addict

    Location:
    SE USA (TN-GA-FL)
    The 1978 and 1982 British monovinyl may sound a brighter than the current ones. The current ones have more neutral EQ, no compression and no mid range boost and are attempts to replicate the sound of the original tube cuts minus peak limiting.
     
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  20. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    There are some different guitar parts on Savoy Truffle
     
  21. Kim Olesen

    Kim Olesen Gently weeping guitarist.

    Location:
    Odense Denmark.
    They were probably all on the multitrack and is just a mix difference. Not something from a different take altogether.
     
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  22. Paul Saldana

    Paul Saldana jazz vinyl addict

    Location:
    SE USA (TN-GA-FL)
    Had a similar observation myself with the Help album, which is admittedly a little duller sounding on side one than it is on side two. I have three stereos hooked up in the house, and Help sounds dramatically better on one setup than the two others. It's the synergy between the record and the speakers!
     
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  23. Kim Olesen

    Kim Olesen Gently weeping guitarist.

    Location:
    Odense Denmark.
    To me it just sounds like the choir track gets a nudge up on the fader with each line on the mono mix. And perhaps an extra choir overdub that was not mixed as loud in the stereo. stereo.
     
  24. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Yes
     
  25. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    The analogy is good, my friend, though maybe not perfect. My point is that by saying something so hyperbolic as "this particular pressing IS the best ever", but not having heard others, particularly an original pressing demeans and undermines your opinion. You can have your opinion, but others may not take you seriously. It's fine to have an opinion, but to say something is the absolute best without having a strong reference point undermines that opinion. You can't really argue with that.
     
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