Beatles Needle Drops

I want the entire mono/stereo Beatles catalog in needle-drop form.

The question is, where do I turn?

- Millenium Series
- Dr. Ebbetts
- BEAT

Can anybody describe these for me? I've heard that some of them are "futzed with". Are any of them reccommended?

[solicitation removed- Claviusb]

Also, are there any needle drops of:
- Magical Mystery LP (German stereo)
- Magical Mystery LP (UK mono EP + singles, or US mono?)
- singles/EP tracks?

Anyhow, discuss (yours or others) Beatles needle drops.

If anybody in the forum has a Beatles needle drop collection, and is willing to help me out, I would really appreciate it.

I'm currently doing my own Dylan Sundazed needle-drop series, although I don't have super high-end equipment....just average.

Thanks.

 

Ebbetts...hands down! 'Nuff said.

 

We don't discuss trading CD-Rs here on the forum, and soliciting such material is verboten and spelled out in the forum rules.

 

When I was passing through Washington state on the August (Canadian) long weekend, I dropped into a local ma and pa new and used LP/CD store. The owner had the grey market Millenium series Beatles mono/stereo discs but they were CD-Rs. Not for me. It has to be silver CDs if I'm buying them over the counter. And I found them rather pricey for CD-Rs. Around $35. Canadian. Most of us with a decent printer and the nice labels from the Record Labels threads could create as good as or better labels then what were on the discs I looked at.
___________

Lately with my new 24-bit M Audio sound card, I've taken to mastering my own Beatles vinyl to CD-R with some decent results, although I have nothing to compare them to. The most recent creation I completed is the stereo W German Die Beatles with the original mono U.K. "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You" single and the original "dry" U.K. mono "Please Please Me" / "Ask Me Why" single as bonus tracks.

I've also created a twofer mono soundtrack CD-R of the U.S. A Hard Day's Night and the U.S. Help! with mixed results. The two mono vinyl copies of the U.S. Help! that I own, are both in rough shape.

Up here in Western Canada we really have no access to grey market discs like our friends in the larger U.S. centres such as New York or L.A., so I've taken to making my own discs for now.

IIRC, a couple of other forum members have mentioned good results with needle drops of the W German MMT and the red wax mono White Album.

 

Ebbetts are CDRs too but he only charges $12 a disc. And a big plus is the packaging...each comes with superb original artwork reproductions and a plastic resealable slipcase. The "white album" comes with four miniature photos of the beats, just like the LP, and Sgt Pepper comes with the cutouts in miniature.

I just got a full set of the MFSL LP needles and they are wonderful.

 

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I have 29 different mono Dr. Ebbetts titles and I brought a few of them into work today. I'm currently listening to The Beatles Live At the Hollywood Bowl, (TAO 2222).

Great listening!

 

To bad Apple wouldn't hire him, he would do a great reissue program. It will unfortunately, never happen.

 

That was my listening yesterday too. Found a beautiful LP.

 

Why Apple/EMI (or whoever) won't release it officially on CD still baffles me!

 

What is the Doc's source for the Mono LP's?

 

He has both US mono and UK mono available. Today, other than the Hollywood Bowl, I'm listening to the UK mono. I do not specifically know which pressings he used as a source, I'm sorry to say. I didn't get my copies directly from him.

 

Do they sound EQ'd? I'm thinking of ordering a whole bunch.

 

Ebbetts says that he uses no noise reduction and that there's no magic formula...just a good ear and patience. BTW he uses a Thorens TD 145 for vinyl sources.

 

I would highly recommend the Dr. Ebbetts titles. They sound very good at a very low price. I own a lot of the mono ones because I could not afford to do battle for them on EBAY. It would be great if the record company would see fit to release these, but in the meantime, long live the bootleggers!

 

He told me that most of his UK monos are taken from the Japanese red vinyl issues. They are very nice, as are all of his issues.

 

BEATLES - BEST VERSIONS

Hi Everyone,

I love the Beatles. First time I heard them was March of 1963 (AM radio) - Please Please Me. Then they were gone. Of course in 1964, they went ape-stick. I bought all of the “stereo” Capitol albums. Thought they were wonderful. Then I was in Japan from 65 - 67 and discovered the UK STEREO ALBUM versions. A revelation!! I then realized that we got royally screwed here in the USA with the Cap versions. Especially with the electronic stereo. Ugh.

Anyway, in 1996, I found and bought the first 4 Beatles CD's from a collector on the East Coast. They were stereo and they sounded great. Silver cd's on the "Onion" label. Since then, I have been on a quest for the best sounding stereo Beatles.

I have the Beat, OMR, MFSL, FSL and a number of other stereo cd's. But the best sounding ones, imo, are from Mirror Spock and Dr. Ebbetts. Both have done an excellent job on their needle drops. On the first 4 stereo Beatles, I prefer Mirror Spock. The Dr. Ebbetts are mixed a little bright for my ears. On the Red and Blue, I prefer Cap cd’s over the MS “Direct Metal Masters” needle drops. I do prefer MS PPM over the “Die Beatles.” I did not like the MS Sgt Pepper’s 5.1.

Anyway #2, I have spent the last year or two researching, comparing, and a/b-ing Beatles cd's. I've used both headphones and quality speakers (not computer speakers). And, I've learned a lot from this forum. (Hopefully, this will give back a little to repay for the tons of stuff I’ve learned from the Forum. BTW, I've been collecting SH CD's since 1986). This is meant to be a general guide and may not conform to absolute purists. Please, no flames – Beatles are meant to be fun.

In general, a single cd may not be the best source for an entire album. I found that a combination of sources yielded the best results. Below are my findings for the “best” sounding cd's and songs. Naturally, these are my opinions (but they seem to
be shared by others). If you follow this design, you’ll have a great sounding set of stereo Beatles. (I’m not a big mono fan, so you are on your own there). This is a general guide and not fixed in stone. You may have a version here and there that you like better. Enjoy.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. If you’ve found better versions, just let me know.


ABBEY ROAD. The Cap version is really pretty good. However, there are two other versions that are slightly better. My favorite: Abbey Road CD, Toshiba, Japan, 1983. These can be found on ebay from $45 on up. Just type in “Beatles Abbey cd” or "Abbey Toshiba" etc.
Note: 1983, not the new one. Second, is the Japan Toshiba LP "Pro Use Series" EALF 9701 needle drop by Mirror Spock. It also sounds great. I prefer the 1983 cd.

WHITE ALBUM. Capitol cd version is pretty good.

LET IT BE. Capitol cd is pretty good.

RED and BLUE. Capitol cd's are very good, and I did use these
throughout.

YSM. I like the remixes but some are a little loud.


A HARD DAY’S NIGHT - one of my favorites.
I used a combination of Mirror Spock and the Red CD.
All stereo. This really sounds great!

Beatles - AHDN - 01 - A Hard Days Night - Red cd
Beatles - AHDN - 02 - I Should Have Known Better - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 03 - If I Fell - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 04 - I'm Happy Just To Dance With You - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 05 - And I Love Her - Red cd
Beatles - AHDN - 06 - Tell Me Why - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 07 - Can't Buy Me Love - Red cd
Beatles - AHDN - 08 - Any Time At All - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 09 - I'll Cry Instead - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 10 - Things We Said Today - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 11 - When I Get Home - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 12 - You Can't Do That - MS
Beatles - AHDN - 13 - I'll Be Back - MS


BEATLES FOR SALE. I prefer the Mirror Spock
over the Dr. Ebbetts version. The DE version is
mixed a little bright. I also like the Red CD version of
Eight Days A Week. All stereo. Sounds great.

Beatles - BFS - 01 - No Reply - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 02 - I'm A Loser - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 03 - Baby's In Black - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 04 - Rock And Roll Music - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 05 - I'll Follow The Sun - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 06 - Mr. Moonlight - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 07 - Kansas City - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 08 - Eight Days A Week - stereo - Red
Beatles - BFS - 09 - Words Of Love - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 10 - Honey Don't - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 11 - Every Little Thing - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 12 - I Don't Want To Spoil The Party - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 13 - What You're Doing - stereo - MS
Beatles - BFS - 14 - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby - stereo - MS


HELP! is also one of my favorites. This one is also better by
MS than DE. I like the Red CD version of Ticket To Ride and
Yesterday. All stereo. Sounds great!

Beatles - HELP - 01 - Help! - MS
Beatles - HELP - 02 - The Night Before - MS
Beatles - HELP - 03 - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - MS
Beatles - HELP - 04 - I Need You - MS
Beatles - HELP - 05 - Another Girl - MS
Beatles - HELP - 06 - You're Gonna Lose That Girl - MS
Beatles - HELP - 07 - Ticket To Ride - Red
Beatles - HELP - 08 - Act Naturally - MS
Beatles - HELP - 09 - It's Only Love - MS
Beatles - HELP - 10 - You Like Me Too Much - MS
Beatles - HELP - 11 - Tell Me What You See - MS
Beatles - HELP - 12 - I've Just Seen A Face - MS
Beatles - HELP - 13 - Yesterday - Red
Beatles - HELP - 14 - Dizzy Miss Lizzy - MS


Magical Mystery Tour. I like a combination of the
Blue CD, YSM remaster, One, and the Anthol DVD
which gives me Walrus in full stereo. Also, I use
Cool Edit Pro to lower the volume on some of the cuts.
Yes, I know some people hate “One.”

Beatles - MMT - 01 - Magical Mystery Tour - Blue
Beatles - MMT - 02 -The Fool On The Hill - Blue
Beatles - MMT - 03 - Flying - Cap
Beatles - MMT - 04 - Blue Jay Way - Cap
Beatles - MMT - 05 - Your Mother Should Know - edit - Cap
Beatles - MMT - 06 - I Am The Walrus - stereo - Anthol DVD -3db
Beatles - MMT - 07 - Hello Goodbye - Blue
Beatles - MMT - 08 - Strawberry Fields Forever - Blue
Beatles - MMT - 09 - Penny Lane - One -3db
Beatles - MMT - 10 - Baby You're A Rich Man - YSM rmstr
Beatles - MMT - 11 - All You Need Is Love - YSM rmstr -3db


Capitol CD’s PAST MASTERS 1 & 2 fill in gaps. I like some of the
Red and Blue CD versions a little better. Also, I used the MS "Mixing"
CD (which centers the vocals). Plus, I have a couple versions that
friends mixed.

Beatles - Past1 - 01 - Love Me Do - mono - Red CD
Beatles - Past1 - 02 - From Me to You - Mixing - MS
Beatles - Past1 - 03 - Thank You Girl – stereo - Tex
Beatles - Past1 - 04 - She Loves You - mono - Red CD
Beatles - Past1 - 05 - I'll Get You - mono - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 06 - I Want to Hold Your Hand - One
Beatles - Past1 - 07 - This Boy - MR 2003
Beatles - Past1 - 08 - Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand - mono - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 09 - Sie Leibt Dich - mono - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 10 - Long Tall Sally - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 11 - I Call Your Name - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 12 - Slow Down - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 13 - Matchbox - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 14 - I Feel Fine - stereo - Red
Beatles - Past1 - 15 - She's a Woman - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 16 - Bad Boy - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 17 - Yes It Is - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past1 - 18 - I'm Down - stereo - Cap

Beatles - Past2 - 01 - Day Tripper - Mixing - MS - 6-03
Beatles - Past2 - 02 - We Can Work It Out - Mixing - MS
Beatles - Past2 - 03 - Paperback Writer - Red
Beatles - Past2 - 04 - Rain - stereo - Cap
Beatles - Past2 - 05 - Lady Madonna - Blue
Beatles - Past2 - 07 - Hey Jude - One
Beatles - Past2 - 08 - Revolution - Blue
Beatles - Past2 - 09 - Get Back - One
Beatles - Past2 - 10 - Don´t Let Me Down - Cap
Beatles - Past2 - 11 - The Ballad of John & Yoko - Blue
Beatles - Past2 - 12 - Old Brown Shoe - Blue
Beatles - Past2 - 13 - Across the Universe - Blue
Beatles - Past2 - 14 - Let It Be - guitar right - Blue


PLEASE PLEASE ME. I used a combination of MS,
DE, and a few mixes from a friend. Just use
the MS or DE version for yourself. MS and MR
are almost the same.
Note: These are ALL centered vocals. DE has
2 versions of PPM - One with the vocals right, and
one with the vocals centered. Use your preference.
I do like the centered vocals.

Beatles - PPM - 01 - I Saw Her Standing There – stereo - MS
Beatles - PPM - 02 - Misery – stereo - MR
Beatles - PPM - 03 - Anna (Go To Him) - stereo - DE
Beatles - PPM - 04 - Chains - stereo - DE
Beatles - PPM - 05 - Boys - stereo - DE
Beatles - PPM - 06 - Ask Me Why – stereo - MS
Beatles - PPM - 07 - Please Please Me – stereo - MS
Beatles - PPM - 08 - Love Me Do - mono - Red
Beatles - PPM - 09 - P.S. I Love You - stereo - Tex
Beatles - PPM - 10 - Baby It's You - stereo - DE
Beatles - PPM - 11 - Do You Want To Know A Secret – stereo - DE
Beatles - PPM - 12 - A Taste Of Honey – stereo - MR
Beatles - PPM - 13 - There's A Place – stereo - MR
Beatles - PPM - 14 - Twist And Shout – stereo - MR


REVOLVER. I used a combination of the Cap CD and
the Yellow Submarine remaster. Use Cool Edit Pro
to adjust volumes.

Beatles - Rev - 01 - Taxman - Cap
Beatles - Rev - 02 - Eleanor Rigby - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Rev - 03 - I'm Only Sleeping - Cap
Beatles - Rev - 04 - Love You To - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Rev - 05 - Here, There And Everywhere - Cap
Beatles - Rev - 06 - Yellow Submarine - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Rev - 07 - She Said She Said - Capitol
Beatles - Rev - 08 - Good Day Sunshine - Capitol
Beatles - Rev - 09 - And Your Bird Can Sing - Capitol
Beatles - Rev - 10 - For No One - Capitol
Beatles - Rev - 11 - Doctor Robert - Capitol
Beatles - Rev - 12 - I Want To Tell You - Capitol
Beatles - Rev - 13 - Got To Get You Into My Life - Cap
Beatles - Rev - 14 - Tomorrow Never Knows - Cap


RUBBER SOUL. I used a combination of the YSM remaster,
a friend's centered mixes, and MS “Mixing.” MS "Mixing" centers
the vocals. The Cap CD is not bad but many of
the vocals are on the right. MS and DE have
needle drops of Rubber Soul, vocals right. Use them
or the Cap versions.

Beatles - Rub - 01 - Drive My Car - MR
Beatles - Rub - 02 - Norwegian Wood - Mixing - MS
Beatles - Rub - 03 - You Won't See Me - MR
Beatles - Rub - 04 - Nowhere Man - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Rub - 05 - Think For Yourself - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Rub - 06 - The Word - MR
Beatles - Rub - 07 - Michelle - MR
Beatles - Rub - 08 - What Goes On - MR
Beatles - Rub - 09 - Girl - MR
Beatles - Rub - 10 - I'm Looking Through You - MR
Beatles - Rub - 11 - In My Life - Mixing - MS
Beatles - Rub - 12 - Wait - MR
Beatles - Rub - 13 - If I Needed Someone - MR
Beatles - Rub - 14 - Run For Your Life - MR


SGT PEPPERS. I used a combination of the Blue CD, YSM remaster,
and the Cap CD. I used Cool Edit Pro to combine a few together.
MR gave me a vocal-centered Mr. Kite.

Beatles - Sgt - 01 - 02 - Sgt. Pepper's & With Help - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Sgt - 03 - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Sgt - 04 - Getting Better - Cap
Beatles - Sgt - 05 - Fixing A Hole - Cap
Beatles - Sgt - 06 - She's Leaving Home - Cap
Beatles - Sgt - 07 - For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! - MR
Beatles - Sgt - 08 - Within You Without You - Cap
Beatles - Sgt - 09 - When I'm Sixty Four - YSM rmstr
Beatles - Sgt - 10 - Lovely Rita - Cap
Beatles - Sgt - 11 - 12 - Good Morning - Sgt Pepper combo - Cap
Beatles - Sgt - 13 - A Day In The Life - Blue


WITH THE BEATLES. Both MS and DE have needle drops of
WTB with vocals right. I prefer the MS version. DE is
mixed a little bright. However, DE also has a centered
vocal version of WTB and it sounds really nice. I prefer it - personal taste.

Beatles - With - 01 - It Won't Be Long - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 02 - All I've Got To Do - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 03 - All My Loving - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 04 - Don't Bother Me - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 05 - Little Child - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 06 - Till There Was You - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 07 - Please Mister Postman - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 08 - Roll Over Beethoven - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 09 - Hold Me Tight - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 10 - You Really Got A Hold On Me - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 11 - I Wanna Be Your Man - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 12 - Devil In Her Heart - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 13 - Not A Second Time - stereo - DE
Beatles - With - 14 - Money (That's What I Want) - stereo - DE

Enjoy!

Tom

 

"DE is mixed (eq'd) a little bright..."

I just don't get it. Why is there this big need to re-eq (especially with software I presume) a lot of these needle drops?? Yes, I understand that the MFSL have problems in that dept. but some of these other pressing sources mentioned I feel do not. I just feel like it's a bit of too many cooking trying to turn a chicken into a steak....

Todd

 

"DE is mixed (eq'd) a little bright. .."

I guess I should have said "sounds" a little bright. That's my personal taste. (This is on the first 4 stereo CD's from DE).

Personally, I did not eq any of the above. The other sources were not "re-eq'd" (as far as I know) and I think they sound just fine.

Tom

 

Mirror Spock sounds great to me, esp Pepper. DE is pretty good throughout, esp if you want to pick up the U.S. recordings. I think the Millenium Remasters are great and they have the mono and stereo on one disc. If you want the art and everything you can buy the DE from the doctor but you can save your money and look around on the internet for people who trade.

 

Is there a glossary on this site? I guess maybe I should know this by now but could someone please tell me what a "needle drop" is? Thanks.

 

A "needle drop" is a CD-R sourced from a record. The needle is "dropped" on the record and a digital recording is made.

HTH

Edit - Actually it doesn't have to be a CD-R, but most are. Once in a while a commercial CD is pressed where one of the sources is a needle drop. IN fact, The Beatles Rarities LP (Capitol SHAL-12060) comtains a version of Love me Do that is a needle drop because the master tape couldn't be found.

 

Thanks, PMC. I thought so. I got into doing some of those a few weeks ago. Even saved a couple of audio .wav files of the "dropping" to add to future cd-r compilations for effect.

 

My guess (and this is only speculation) is that folks try to make the mono's have the same sparkle that the stereos do. This is a mistake, because as Steve has mentioned, different limiters where used for the mono mixing. This gives the mono's a different sound, not as bright for the most part, Beatles For Sale in mono is an excellent example.

I have Dr. E's mono white album, and it's eq'd to the point that you can not play it on loudspeakers at a realistic volume, it goes right thru your skull. Not too bad with headphones, but definitely a fatiguing listen. Sounds very different than the vinyl lp it was taken from. Yeech.

 

This has been my experience also. Maybe it's just my headphones (Sennheiser e2270s, I think), but I can't listen the whole way through Dr. Ebbet's mono Sgt. Pepper because of the fatigue. However, the harmonica on a couple of the new Dylan SACDs has the same effect, so maybe it has more to do with my ears than the EQing.

 

I have a dubbed CD-R of a mono Sgt. Pepper's. I think it's a Yellow Dog? Not sure. Is there a way to tell.

This CD-R is also very bright. I enjoy the needle drop of my mono U.K. -1 Sgt. Pepper's that Graham cleaned up for me. It sounds much closer to the original vinyl. Warmer, not as fatiquing.