Does Beatles US Albums box contain the highest fidelity of the tracks shared with the 2009 sets?

Talking about the mixes that are in common with the 2009 stereo and box sets (so not including the few handfuls of unique US mixes), a recent read has made me consider that, for those tracks, the US Albums box set may be of higher fidelity that the 2009 sets.

Over on the long thread The Beatles - Capitol years Vol 1 & 2 v The US albums box sets. I read a post which linked to articles about how Sterling mastering engineer Greg Calbi received copies of the 2009 masters which were unlimited to prepare the US Albums box set. He then goes on to explain what he did to them, which did not include any compression.

The Beatles: Which CD Version? (Part 1) - The Audiophile Man
The Beatles: Which CD Version? (Part 2) - The Audiophile Man

It makes me wonder, if for those large number of tracks where the UK mixes were used for the 2014 US Albums box set, if the US Albums set is not currently the best physical SQ source for those tracks.

So we're considering recordings up to and including Revolver.

Has anyone made that comparison, and if so, what are your thoughts?

 

Having done nothing other than visually compare waveforms my understanding is that, while Calbi received unlimited masters he added more compression than was used on the 2009's. They're certainly louder, and I don't think it's just down to level shifting.

 

I much prefer the sound of the stereo tracks on the 2014 US cds vs the 2009 stereo cds, but I’ve always thought that was related to eq choices rather than less limiting - they don’t sound less compressed like the 2009 mono cds do to me, but I am no expert and haven’t looked at the waveforms.

I can’t enjoy any of the 2009 stereo cds, so I’ve wished the 2014 releases included the US albums with the same tracks as the UK albums, but with mastering choices as made for the other 2014 cds. Since that didn’t happen, I keep my 1980s cds for The Beatles, Abbey Road, and Let It Be.

In my opinion the 2009 mono cds sound better than the mono versions on the 2014 US cds.

 

Apart from maybe a very slight EQ difference as a by-product of the D>A>D conversion Calbi used, I haven't come across any tracks on the 2014 box that have a deliberate or recognisable EQ difference vs the 2009's.

For example, the mono Help! is just as muddy, and the stereo Long Tall Sally is just as bright.

They are generally a bit louder though, but not all.

 

The article quoted Calbi as saying he didn't (add more compression than was used on the 2009's). Your observation is interesting.

I get the impression we talking about 'incrementally just noticeable' potentially better - it's an audiophile article and I suspect they're using great equipment.

 

have any waveform for the Beatles US Albums boxset been published on this forum ?