John Lennon Imagine 2018 Boxed Set (Content and Sound Quality Issues Only!)*

you're welcome.

 

You have the same issue? Same player: Sony UBP-x800? I'll try it out on the PS4 and see what happens.

 

Really enjoying the various iterations of the songs. Well mixed. The outtakes and extra tracks in some instances outshine the album versions... I don't wanna be a soldier mamma and It's so Hard really benefit from being roughed up.

 

@lennonology - The book states that the Ultimate Mix of Well... (Baby Please Don't Go) is Take 6, but this is the same take that was on Anthology and unedited on Imagine... All The Outtakes which was supposedly take 11. Any ideas? Do you know how many takes were recorded on the 11 Feb and 16 Feb?

The Evolution contains some interesting excerpts - it starts with the first 40 secs of 'standard' Take 11 (or 6 going by the book), but then goes to various take excerpts from the 16 Feb as saxophone is present. However, the book says that "The Evolution Documentary includes the beginning of take 11 in which John slipped into the wrong song. Well, they both began with 'Well". It's all a bit confusing!

 

I have always found the sessions and boots from this fine album a bit confusing. Tracks recorded at John's home studio in England. Vocals and I guess lots of other overdubs ie the strings of the flux fiddlers added in New York. Whistling on Jealous Guy added in New York. Is that about right?

 

I spotted this too. I'm compiling a list of queries as I go through the set in detail. I think we need a sticky with Q&A's for each track

 

Paul Hicks has incredible attention to detail and he would not have mixed this in anything other than the highest possible resolution. What happened at mastering is anyone's guess.

In the blurb on the imaginejohnyoko website:
"
Faithfully remixed from the ground up by triple Grammy® Award winning engineer Paul Hicks at Abbey Road Studios under the supervision of Yoko Ono Lennon, using high-definition 24-96 audio transfers of the original first generation multi-track recordings"

Having just checked my Blu-Ray 96K rips in Sound Forge and Cubase, I can confirm so far that the stereo version of the Ultimate Mix in 96K has nothing above 20khz, ish.

Would be good to know if there was a mistake in the authoring...?

 

There were two takes recorded on 2/11/71 by John, Jim Gordon and Klaus. Only Take 2 was complete (4'30) and has recently surfaced in "those circles."

On 2/16/71, there were a further nine takes (Takes 3-11) recorded amidst the tracking of 'I Don't Want To Be A Soldier'. These featured Bobby Keys in addition to John, Jim Gordon and Klaus. It was Take 11 that was included on John Lennon Anthology and again on the new set as the "Ultimate Mix (CD Disc 1, Track 12). On Take 10, John sings a bit of "Soldier" by accident and Take 9 is described by John as having "moments of World War I." I have not disassembled the Evolution track yet.

Chip Madinger
EIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU | remastered
LENNONOLOGY | Strange Days Indeed
www.lennonology.com

 

One of the highlights for me is where John and George are (almost) alone in the evolution version of Crippled Inside (around 2 minutes in).

 

I really do like Nicky Hopkins‘ piano playing on „Oh Yoko“. It brings so much joy to that song and it is so much better to hear now in the new mix.

 

What do you guys think: For what reasons are „The Quadrasonic Mixes“ included in the box set? They are remastered alright, but the mix seems to be old. So the songs haven‘t got the power and transparency of the new stuff. To me the sound seems to be muddier than the „ultimate mixes“.

Anyway: Who can listen to them properly in the intended „quadrasonic“ way - and who has got working (vintage) quadrophonic equipment at home? Just curious.

 

I think they are there for historical completeness and as a curiosity. The tracks play on a modern 5.1 system (the center channel is unused), although I won’t lay claim to the notion they play in “optimal” quadrosonic.

 

Thanks for your reply. I played them too on my 5.1-system, which transferred them to some kind of „faux“ 5.1.-surround. Would like to listen to them in a decent qudrophonic environment though, but I don‘t see any chance for this.

 

I have to believe a mistake was made along the way in authoring the Blu-ray versions.

 

I'm intrigued as to how you know it is Take 11 on Anthology/Imagine, Chip. The book says Take 6. You'd think they'd know. What makes you say otherwise?

 

As long as you have 4 identical speakers and your player/amp don't do any processing to the 4.0 mix, you are hearing it properly in "real" Quad.

 

I analyzed the files with a proper spectrogram software, there is audio information up to 48kHz on the 24/96 tracks on the Blu-Ray, no problem with the authoring.

That was just a few posts ago:
John Lennon Imagine 2018 Boxed Set (Content and Sound Quality Issues Only!)*

 

I once heard the Quad 8-Track tape; It was amazing!

 

I wonder if any of those who are not finding anything beyond 20kHz on this album have recently run the same test on high-resolution files from another album. Did they see the expected results there?

 

I hope that this beautiful set has successfully provided the blueprint for future "ultimate" releases. Because...as phenomenal as this one is, as I've been listening to it over the past week, I can't seem to get the following thought out of my mind:

In 2020, we're probably going to get the grandest of all Ultimate Super Deluxe Box Sets: 50th anniversary All Things Must Pass. Apart from outtakes and alternates galore, we'll probably finally get the stripped down remix that George wanted to do 20 years ago.

It boggles the mind to ponder what could be done, if done correctly.

 

I'm really looking forward to it. I hope Olivia and Dhani give the "Imagine"-box a good listen.

 

Wasn't this take from the earlier session supposed to come out on a Vigotone, but never did once the big bust occurred?

Well, not "never" obviously, but not until a few weeks ago!

 

sound quality 1-10?
have you heard it?

 

Who are you asking?

 

everyone on this thread...sorry for the misunderstanding.