The Beatles - White Album 50th Anniversary (Content, Sound Quality & Discussion Thread)

I will await your thank you card. haha. Enjoy @DrJ!! It's killer.

 

That LOUD?

 

Can't afford that. Getting the 3-CD set, but thanks anyway!

 

Not heard any love for 5.1 mix yet.
Instrument placing?

 

Amen, brother

 

I don't know what that expression means.

 

... how mature...

 

I've listened to all 3 sessions discs, which are a mixed bag of course. Some good, some trifiling. Good sound overall.

Listened to all of the Esher demos. Nice stuff for the most part, great to have finally.

I now have some time to myself at home and popped the blu-ray into the XBox 1S. Listening to the DTS-HD 5.1 mix, sounding quite good so far. I'm noticing some little mixing quirks that are a bit annoying (the outro guitar on "Dear Prudence" and how it kind of cuts out). The design of the blu-ray is minimal, but laid out well. A cursor shows you what track is playing, and the inner group head shots scroll and move around on the screen. Nothing over-elaborate, and didn't need to be.

(Never noticed the spanish-sounding guitar at the end of "Wild Honey Pie" or beginning of "Bungalow Bill"--was this actually played by one of the boys or sampled in?).

This is quite a nice set, though a little on the pricey side. I haven't listened to the stereo 2018 mix CD's yet, or thumbed through the big book too much yet.

 

Amoeba in Hollywood has lots of copies in the various formats, I got the 2 LP version just now. Amoeba included a small poster on heavy stock with the four White Album photos, a very nice keepsake. Free stuff!

 

The edit before the muted verse of Yer Blues is less noticeable than before.

 

Re: “Helter Skelter” in DTS 5.1, Paul’s vocal, Ringo’s drums and the backing vocals sound most prominent (not sure I ever really conciously noticed the rising notes of the backing vox during the chorus like that before). The guitars seem squished and nearly non-existent though (while the lead vocal and the drums sound much more “live”),

 

What pressing plant was used to press the deluxe edition 4-LPs set and the 2-lp set?Also is the only way to get the 1968 original mix of the white album is in super deluxe edition set that's on the blu-ray disc?

 

The vocal-only track of Helter Skelter that floats around is AWESOME. It just made me appreciate the song that much more. Paul is raw, and the backing vocals are so cool for such a raucous tune.

 

One of mine's in there somewhere. I'm very proud.

 

Well dammit. This thread made me go out and get the 2LP version.
And that's on top of the Deluxe set coming later this week!

 

I won't have mine for a few days still...on Birthday...are the instruments in stereo?

 

I think the whole new 2018 mix of "The Beatles" aka "White Album Deluxe" is wonderful! It sounds fresh and new! It does not take anything away from the original 1968 mix. This is, for lack of a better word, more "wide". I am hearing things I never heard before. And I have been listening to this album since 1968. Congratulations to Giles Martin! You hit this out of the park! If you haven't heard it yet you will be pleasantly surprised! A splendid time will be had by all!

 

There’s not much point IMO - the 2018 is high rez, the 2009 CD isn’t. So they’re starting from different starting blocks rez wise. The 2018 sounds great to me, but that could be the higher rez rather than the transfer, I don’t know.

 

Yep! Same with "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da".

 

Got the 3-CD set this afternoon. Hesitated to pay the $36.99 price but took the plunge. Listening to Disc 1 so far. I can summarize this with the following: What was edgy is more edgy. What was ornate is (much) more ornate. What was bizarre (Wild Honey Pie) is even more bizarre. The more prominent groans at the end of While My Guitar Gently Weeps make the song seem bizarre as well. Happiness Is A Warm Gun is wonderful!

 

Thanks. Well...I just went through sections from a bunch of the tracks on You Tube. I'd like to start by saying that I honestly wish people would stop with their Giles-whining. The man did a superb job on this album, overall. Yes, there is a small handful which doesn't jump out at you...but even with those, if you truly "know" your White Album, you can hear subtle differences, little instrumental passages and such, vocal nuances, which are buried in the original mix. In general, the name of the game here is 'Clarity" with a super capital "C". Vocals , percussion and instruments are all treated with the most tasteful of "adjustments" making the majority of these tracks breathe newfound life. Among the VERY notable standouts in this department are Dear Prudence, Bungalow Bill, I'm So Tired, Piggies, I Will, Long Long Long (which, for me, literally comes alive for the first time in 50 years)Cry Baby Cry and Good Night. The latter in fact, is so gorgeously enveloping in its' orchestration treatment that it almost brought me to tears. Someone here said they don't hear much of a difference in this track....all i can say to that is, "...seriously..??". The tracks which do not immediately hit you in the face also have their share of improvement in terms of an overall crisper, cleaner "aural landscape" and better definition/presence texturally. Some of these are, USSR, My Guitar Gently Weeps, Warm Gun, Birthday, Sexy Sadie, Glass Onion, Road (a powerhouse remix on this one) and Martha My Dear. If I had to pick one honest to goodness disappointment it would be Helter Skelter...maybe a slight improvement but not what I had hoped for. In general, any gut loving fans of The White Album should be very happy with what Giles has given us here. Thank you Mr. Martin, Jr.

 

Not read any of the reviews because I don't want high expectations and false prejudice in my head before I sit down to do an intrinsic aural examination when I get my SDE, 4LP, Japanese 3CD SH thingy, not due until next Tuesday. I went round to my mates this morning, he got his yesterday. We listened to the Esher Demos first, remix next, all the BD next and finished up with the outtakes etc.

Two words: Bloody Marvelous!

 

"Piggies" had me in tears, literally. It sounds so magnificent and somehow even funnier than before.

 

No audible clipping, but I am not looking at waveforms to state this absolutely. It seems a lot less crushed in the mastering.

 

The instrumental is stereo-ized, much wider than the original.