I just picked up a mint copy of this. My mind is blown. Does anyone else own this / has anyone else heard it? The Beatles – Abbey Road (1984, Vinyl) I own the following copies in mint condition. The Beatles – Abbey Road (1976, Vinyl) The Beatles – Abbey Road (2019, 180g, Vinyl) The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969, Vinyl) And have Aussie and Japanese Blue albums in mint condition. This thing is beyond ridiculous. Cut by Don Bradley at EMI Australia who cut the mythical Sgt Peppers AUDIO 5 cut a year after he cut AUDIO5 The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1983, Half Speed Mastered, Vinyl) The Origin of The Rarest and Most Sought After Pressing of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Story of the Audio5 "It was created for the Sydney Audio Show in 1983. A team of EMI Australia executives decided to do a special release of five albums. These dedicated audiophiles and regular show attendees wanted these pressings to be top quality recordings that would highlight EMI Australia’s capabilities as an audiophile label. Given the audience, they knew these pressings needed to be of the highest quality. They had also recently spent millions of dollars to upgrade their facility and create a mirror of Abbey Road Studios, all the way down to the TG mixing board, staff assignments and maintenance schedules. So they called the home office and relayed their requirements. Abbey Road engineers created a direct 1:1 tape copy of the original Sgt. Pepper’s… source tape —the one and only, with the actual edits spliced and taped together —and called in Don Bartley, by then acknowledged as EMI Australia’s top mastering engineer. They then gave him the freedom to make it sound the way he wanted to hear it. And, using the much vaunted mastering board, they followed what were then considered to be state-of-the-art production methods, including the half-speed cutting process and heavier virgin vinyl. Since this was 1983 and mastering technology had improved since the late 1960’s, the sonic result was said to be spectacular." I've listened to Abbey Road thousands of times over the years in many formats. I have NEVER heard anything like this. It's like listening to it for the first time. The detail is incredible. I'm picking up things I've never heard before. The instrument separation is astonishing. The balance of bass, mids and treble is PERFECT. The vinyl is One-Step silent. Listening in $2000 headphones you can't hear the needle between tracks. It's literally BLACK. Has anyone else got this and can comment? EMI Australia was pitching themselves as a new Audiophile label in the mid 80's off the back off the AUDIO5 cut, and I'm tipping they used the same process on this. "One to one copy of the original. It was 30 IPS quarter inch tape with no noise reduction or Dolby applied" and then mastered it on their brand new multi million $ gear. Would have been amazing what would have happened if vinyl didn't die around this time... I am floored.
Here's an excellent site, looked after by Jaesen Jones nowadays, which is all about Australian Beatles records: Don Bartley recut side two for "Abbey Road" in 1984. I Am The Platypus - The Beatles Australian Records Labelography - ABBEY ROAD ( PCSO 7088 )
The AUDIO5 Sgt Peppers was only at the show. 500 copies. Pretty sure Abbey Road was regular release. However it was 1984 in Australia. Can't imagine they sold millions of them.
Yeah I'm all over that site DB definitely cut side 2 in 1984. Tipping he also cut side 1 in 1981 too as that was also cut in Aus. Or whoever cut side 1 in 1981 did an incredible job also
There's a photo of the Abbey Road master tapes somewhere on this forum, but it only goes up to the last Japanese cut. I don't know 100% if they did a 1to1 for this, however it certainly sounds like it. It actually sounds better than the Aussie OG which is cut from the UK master from fresh tapes. I can't imagine they could have done this without an amazing 1to1 tape. I'm going by time lines, and history, and common sense at the moment. I've emailed DB to ask for the story and will see if he comes back to me
My copy came as part of a "Blue Box" set: side one is YEX 749-4 and side two is YEX 750-3. I can't recall seeing DB in the deadwax, so I'll have to check that again. Otherwise, that combination isn't listed on "I Am The Platypus"!!
I've also got "With The Beatles" with side two cut by Don Bartley (I saw his initials in the deadwax!!).
I own that 1984 Australian version too (so yes, ordinary punters could buy it). I've just been listening to it (on HD 800S). Come Together, Something, Oh! Darling are indeed wonderful and detailed. Side Two is most impressive to my ears (damn those guys were good!) - the end of You Never Give Me Your Money and transition into Sun King stood out for hidden subtleties undisturbed by surface noise. And Carry That Weight was sublime. But I'm not Beatles expert enough to tell whether this pressing is that much better than other versions. For Abbey Road I only have the vinyl remasters box and 2019 anniversary edition as comparison points but that will have to wait until tomorrow. If it were The Kinks though, I'd have more versions and could be of more help.
Matrix / Runout ( stamped runout side 1 ): YEX 749-4 Matrix / Runout ( etched runout side 2 ): YEX 750-3 DB
How good is it! I couldn't believe all the extra details due to zero surface noise, and amazing mastering.
The Aussie Blue box cuts are incredible. Most are UK cuts on silent vinyl, but I'm astonished at how good the Aussie cuts are
I don’t know what your dead wax numbers are but I have a number of the Australian orange Parlophones from the late seventies. Not only are they beautiful pressings, sonically they have a ton of breathing room; very nice sounding. They’re the opposite end of the harsh, overly high ended EAS Japanese pressings from the seventies.
I'm not surprised. There's a lot of great sounding vinyl that came out of Australia. My main gripe with Australian releases is the packaging--those very thin cardboard covers and crinkly plastic inner sleeves.