German Beatles White Album question

I know this is an old thread,I've been reading the current one too, but I'm confused as to my black vinyl WA copy 1C 172-04 173/174 in gray lettering with Stereo in gray below 173/174 on back cover. Front cover has embossed The BEATLES and impressed No.90235. Is this a DMM despite no gold sticker on front cover? Inside left cover is Electrola Gesellschaft M.B.H. There are two posters inside one glossy,one not,and 4 glossy pics. Only things I can make out in the dead wax are made in Germany....4....020 . There are other things written so close to the label I can't make them out.

 

That's most likely early 70's and not DMM. I have one of those, it's pretty nice.

 

Can somebody in the know answer this guys question??
The beave

 

As far as Beatles releases, It's my understanding that DMMs were marked, either on the label (for Europe/German or Russian LPs), or with a blurb stating such somewhere on the cover (UK DMM). I don't think DMMs were made before 1982, at least for Beatles albums (if there are any that were issued earlier, I have never seen one). I am in the process of collecting Beatles DMM releases, so I have researched some of it quite a bit, especially the White Album. The 172 number was used for both DMM and standard White Album German issues. I've had problems on Discogs with sellers sending me regular non-DMM copies of not only the White, but also the Red/Blue albums, only using the catalog number when putting their copy up for sale.

So, basically, no, that does not sound like a DMM release. Germany almost always had it marked somewhere if it was Direct Metal Mastered.

 

See this is what is so annoying to me with these DMM's John, and thank you for carrying the conversation further. The internet 'dis information' is everywhere, even I have un wittingly contributed to it by taking Discogs info as Gospel when it wasn't-saying the White DMM came out in 78 and not 85. I have to thank Ben on another DMM thread for being patient with me on that last one. I thought Discogs was accurate and that the collectors community would self police to make sure information was accurate. I was wrong. But now that I have finally, the German White Vinyl DMM it would be nice to try and get some accurate information out there to especially the future collector community who might, like me, be late to the game on these German 3. I know that in this year of 2015 there is a GLUT of Beatles product, especially Vinyl. But I paid $100 for mine two weeks ago, and the vinyl looks like it's Unplayed, and I'll find out when I get a chance to pop it on the Pioneer PL-518 how clean it is. My point being that even though there is a glut, the 'real' price of this DMM piece has not plummeted in any real way. Two years ago I could still find a VG+ on eBay pretty regularly for $45 to $80. That seems to be a thing of the past, but when I got this one, there were 4 on eBay and 5 on Discogs and the ones on eBay were starting at $199 and going all the way to $450! So do I feel lucky/fortunate to find 2 ( I just got another one 4 days ago) Near Mint maybe Unplayed condition for under $100? Hell yeah, cause I can see a few G's and VG- going for this price as collectors start hording them. And especially since we're talking about the White Album, even with the new Mono/Stereo Vinyl releases, the DMM's will continue to hold their collectible interest as it seems there was only one pressing of this, and who knows how many were pressed.....1000? 500? 2000? 5000? Some Hoffman member who lives in Germany has got to come forward sometime with some information. But this is good to keep it alive for now.

Good Coffee, can you tell.
the one and only Beave

 

I have a question about the 192... pressing. I own it, my matrix numbers are A-1 / B-1 / A-1 / B-2. I am not sure, but I think side D (B-2 matrix) sounds a little lower in overall volume and has less bass...is it true or was it intentional because of the longer playing time ? Any information would be fine. I am thinking about a possible upgrade to a -1 / - 1/ - 1 / -1 version. Thank you very much.

 

BUMP

Nobody out there who knows about a possible sound difference of the Side D matrix variation (B-1 vs. B-2) ? I need your help please.

 

I have 1C 172-04 173/74 (stamped no. is 544743). According to Discogs, this is a 1977 pressing, side-loader. My copy is a top-loader, however. Anyone else have this album jacket variant?

 

Possible switcheroo between discs & sleeve?

 

Ooops, my mistake! What I have is a 1C 192-04 173/74 (not 172), which is a 1973 pressing. Thanks, mystery solved.

 

Late arrival here. My summations proved correct. Vinyl enthusiast ARE alive and well. I served active duty in the A.F. in the mid 80's, and while stationed at RAF Bentwaters (East Anglia, Suffolk, UK)
bought the German DMM (white vinyl) Beatles white album. It has yet to be played. I was convinced (ah, that 20/20 hindsight thing...) by a now ex-wife to discard all my audiophile gear as archaic. My daughter knows I longer posses the means to play the LP, and asked for it as her Christmas gift. She received the Beatles Past Masters double LP, while I ponder her request. I find myself in a quandary. Should I just give it to her?
She even bought a double LP display case for it. Signed, Stumped in Ogden

 

Hi Steven, welcome to the forums! Giving it to your daughter would be very generous, is it an option to get yourself a new turntable? That would be a nice piece to re-start your vinyl collection. If you ever got a new TT would she let you borrow it?

 

Hello Steven.
Ok, have got to be honest now.
She's your Daughter, But, and it's a big but, that DMM pressing is considered by many, myself included, to be the and I mean THE BEST sounding version, analog or digital, of the White Album. If you have a new one, it's going for upwards to $400 right now.....IF you could find one.
I was lucky enough two years ago to find two sellers who had 'near mint' copies and I scooped them up for $100 each. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Our Host doesn't like DMM pressings and that is well known here, but, as my personal opinion goes, these are gold editions. And I think that they are very limited in quantity, like maybe 5000 pressed, some for export to the USA, some sold domo in Germany.
And some say that the British 'white vinyl' edition sounds as good if not better, I don't know, I've never heard the British White Vinyl version, but I had an original first pressing UK white album and the German DMM wipes the floor with it.

So if she won't play it on a 'Crosley' poc and she'll frame it, then give it to her.
But you should buy a nice cheap deck like the Denon DP-300f and listen to it first........
then your going to have a hard decision to make.
the beave

 

I sure wouldn't!

Few people are extremely careful with this stuff and are aware of its worth. The chances of something bad happening to it through carelessness or wrong usage would be a crying shame.

In the extremely unlikely event that she fully realizes the worth of that album, knows how to perfectly operate and calibrate a turntable, and that she's an audiophile, I'd give it to her. Otherwise, giving her a brand spankin' new copy of the latest remasters for her to use and abuse to her heart's desires without sacrificing a much rarer piece of vinyl.

My 2 cents.

 

I'm interested. Could you please point to the specific version via a Discogs link?

 

Ca

Can I be your freind??
The beave

 

as I've said somewhere in the 10,000 White Album threads the UK white vinyl is stunningly tops, but that DMM german white vinyl is fab, a very silky sound IMO and the German stereo black vinyl version is nice too but more comparable to a standard UK stereo press.
for mono, nothing to me has ever topped the Japan red vinyl 1982 issue. just jaw dropping.

 

Consider it done

 

Niiiiice.
I'm actually going to track a bit of the Purple Capitol 1995 'limited edition' version of the White album tonight.
I bought all the ones of that series from Rubber Soul to Abbey Road a few years ago. Think I might have played Revolver a bit but that's about it. I know their digitally mastered but it'll be fun to see what Wally did with them.
the beave

 

Agreed. I bought my copy at Chicago Beatlefest, way back in the early 90's. I think it was about $30. I only bought it because I thought, "Hey, White Album, white vinyl, this is sweet", etc. I didn't really appreciate it as much then, as I do now, since I was only about 20 years old at the time. But yeah, it sounds amazing. I can't say that I would choose it over my '78 UK blue box copy, especially since mine is tube cut on three of the four sides. But, the 1985 German DMM on white, is a great sounding record, no doubt about that.

 

Well as you can't play it and music is to be shared especially with family I would pass it on. It sounds like she would treasure it if you bought a display case.
It hard to part with great LPs but who better to give it to ?

 

Mine is the '85 and I can assure you...at the time, I also, had no idea what a great sounding album it was. It wasn't till years later when I had gotten a hold of even more White Albums and I started making serious comparisons that i realized how special this particular copy was.

 

It is a lot of fun to compare different pressings of the same album. I also have the 1978 US Capitol white vinyl, and surprisingly, it doesn't sound bad at all - I believe it's a Wally T. or Gene Thompson cutting. On the other hand, both of my 1978 US Capitol red and blue albums, on the red and blue vinyl, sound absolutely dreadful, no way around it. They are both near mint, in terms of no scratches or scuffs - it's possible that the original owner gouged the grooves with an old stylus or something, I'm not sure. But, I doubt it, because the volume is very low on all four discs, which is usually a mastering/pressing process issue. The late 70's is when the whole colored vinyl thing started to ramp up, and they probably hadn't quite nailed down the process yet. I keep them just to have them as a completist, but I won't play them, they sound terrible, lol.

 

For me, certainly reasons to like and appreciate both, just speaking of the stereo issues. The German Apple DMM has more bass, for example. The UK original tube is just a great overall listen.

 

I actually never had an interest in the red and blue vinyls of the Capitol pressings; I do have the blue and red vinyls from the 70's, U.K. Apple and 90's, also U.K. Apple and all four discs sound great (the 90's sets are digital so they're a bit brighter). But the "gouged groove" syndrome is a common thing with a lot of much older albums...really bad with original mid-60's pressings so you have to be extra careful with those. I've bought home and subsequently discarded many of those....I'm also a completist with The Beatles provided my wallet wants to cooperate. But i can't stand or have any use for bad sounding vinyl due to "poor" use.