The Beatles "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" original 1965 stereo mixes?

You can do that if you want, but I wouldn't want to.

You can also simply narrow the channels in Audacity directly without using the Head Fit processing. That is what Martin would have done, which would yield a slightly different result.

I'm glad the mixes are available as-is, though.

 

I think it is ridiculous to make a stereo record so it sounds best on a mono record player! People who bought stereo records back in the day most likely wanted them to sound the best on THEIR STEREO! This whole industry idea that recordings should be mastered for mono, AM radio, iPod, computer speakers, smart phones can go to hell as far as I am concerned.

So why was this "nothing in the center channel" used on Rubber Soul, Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out and only sparingly on their other stereo recordings since the first two albums? If was such a great idea why not on ALL their albums? Why? because it was a sucky idea, that is why. It sucks, I hate it and I do not like it at all. Lead vocals belong in the center, PERIOD. High praise from me for the Yellow Submarine Songtrack.

The only time I prefer the US mix at all is the US mono mix of And I Love her because Paul's voice is NOT double tracked. Double tracking vocals is another industry standard I have never liked. (I think there is another example where I prefer the US mix, but I do not recall it at the moment).
Oh and the US mix of The Word is also on the newer US CD versions; but the original Capitol box sounds better, not as harsh. However the original stereo mix found on the mono box is the best sounding.

 

Well then.

 

Well, i don't know if it was already mentioned here, but he already did this for some of the tracks on the Beatles "Love Songs" double LP.

 

Where were you in 1965?

 

This is really funny!

 

I still love hearing vocals in one speaker and it's pretty funny how much it upsets some people! I'm glad people were so creative with stereo mixing back in the day.

 

I don't mind that much if there is a balanced mix with a good use of the stereo soundstage (Here Comes the Sun, for example). The most annoying thing for me is the big hole in the middle of the mix.

 

Never heard of new recordings being mastered for AM radio.???? I am happy that CDs are remastered for my iTunes though!

 

I wish I'd known that when I "remixed" Rubber Soul for my own personal listening- I did it the hard way: opened each track in Sound Forge, copied both the left and right channels into their own tracks, then opened those tracks in Audacity, where I moved 'em around in the stereo spectrum. Had I realized I could have done all that simply in Audacity it might have saved me about a half an hour of work

 

The muddiest

 

I just got the mono box and have a question. Maybe the same one posed above. When I put on Help, I immediately noticed something sounded different and I haven't listened to it in a while on a good stereo. What I heard on help & Rubber Soul was it sounded like the mix was recorded next to a lead pipe that rang sympathetically with particular tones. It's across both albums and on the 2009 stereo ones also and I never noticed that before. I wasn't listen hard for it. It was just there. It bothered me a lot initially. Is this what you hear Steve?

 

Wow...I just don't get everyone's problem with the Help! album. I do feel that Rubber Soul has it's sound issues some of which were moderated on the 80's remix (although I'll take the MFSL vinyl over *that* as well)...but BFS beats out both album by a long shot. I think one reason for this is that it's among the most natural Beatle albums, instrumentally, without much in the way of embellishment (if any). This resulted in a very clean overall sound.

 

Then it must really bother you that a late song like HCTS still has vocals on one side. It bothers me.

 

The echo chambers were filled with lead pipes. Maybe that has somethimg to do with the sound that you are hearing.

 

I own the Capitol Volume 1 Box Set and I agree, it sounds great but they used way too much compression making the songs way too loud. What I don't understand is why Capital didn't complete the series with Volume 3. All the Beatle fans that wanted the "true" U.S. versions of the songs would have them, and everyone else could by those other U.S. CD's making everyone happy. It's as if Capitol started to build a house and stopped at 3 walls.

 

There's not that much compression, and I believe what is there was mostly on the tapes.

 

Yes, the lip smacking was removed but not with NR. They edited it out with Pro Tools.

 

Is it just me or am I the only one that can hear how loud the original 2005 (I think that's the year) Box Set is? They did it very well so you don't hear any harshness, pumping or any other artifacts but the loudness is there. It could be the lack of compression artifacts that mistaken lead people to believe a lot of compression was not used.

There is no way you can get a 16 bit compact disk that loud without compression. But I will give the Box a listen tonight. I am open to the concept that I might be wrong. Maybe I am.

 

Years ago I compared Matchbox in stereo with the version on the original Past Masters. There's not that much compression. The EQ makes it sound a bit hyped.

 

Growing up with it, it never bothered me. As long as I am sitting in my sweet spot, I find it totally irrelevant.

 

The guy behind the Capitol sets was fired before a vol III if I'm not mistaken.
Add to that, only Yesterday and Today would have been a real unique Capitol album for mixes.
Just for novelty they could have added with Y&T the US Revolver for it's tracklist even though the mixes weren't unique and Hey Jude just for it's tracklist.
That's still only 3 albums though.
So today we complete the Capitol novelty with the US albums Y&T for it's cover and tracklist and the US albums Revolver and Hey Jude as well as the United Artists A Hard Days Night.

 

You're forgetting the original U.S. MMT, which had some unique mixes, as well as the U.S. Rarities.

I would be happy with a standalone Y&T that included ALL of the unique mixes (mono, duophonic, and the three true stereo replacement track).

 

This was also my theory I floated years ago here that Martin's "Rubber Soul" stereo mixes were a retaliation to Capitol wrecking his "Help!" stereo mixes by folding them down and ruining the balance. So Martin gave them stereo mixes that were music left and vocals right with nothing in the middle. He punked them. The "compatible for mono LP" story was just a cover. This is the same guy that falsely claimed somebody else mixed the stereo versions of the first two albums. We also now know the real reason the Beatles got that demo session or first session and it wasn't because Martin saw they had potential, just the opposite.

 

I'd be surprised if Martin paid any attention to the US album.