Are all Beatles pressings from Japan top notch?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Isamet, Mar 9, 2020.

  1. RingoStarr39

    RingoStarr39 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baden, PA
    I believe he was talking about the US versions of the red and blue album, which are complete garbage. I don't think all of those EAS reissues are inherently bad but they seem to have a worse track record than the earlier pressings.
     
  2. Pali Gap

    Pali Gap Whiskey, mystics and men

    Location:
    Under the bridge
    I figured it out- some of the EAS pressings (incl Abbey Road) use the UK masters and sound better than the rest.
     
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  3. Old Fred

    Old Fred Forum Resident

    I wonder if there's a way to determine if the Japanese EAS blue box uses the UK masters?
     
  4. woodyfan

    woodyfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    michigan
    Nope, verifiable in many ways. Some of the box, to my ears, sound better than the UK, some are about comparable, and two of them (PPM and Rarities) are abominable. WTB was cut at the wrong speed, but very nice eq.
     
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  5. Old Fred

    Old Fred Forum Resident

    Hmm...you say nope. But then say "verifiable in many ways."

    Care to clarify the confusion? Thanks.
     
  6. woodyfan

    woodyfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    michigan
    Nope, not UK parts, verifiable in many ways. Totally Japanese mastering.
     
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  7. Old Fred

    Old Fred Forum Resident

    I have no idea what this means, but thanks anyways.
     
  8. woodyfan

    woodyfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    michigan
    It means the Toshiba blue box (and any Japanese pressing, far as I know) does not use UK mastering).
     
  9. Old Fred

    Old Fred Forum Resident

    OK, got it. Thanks.
     
  10. zbarbera

    zbarbera A stereo's a stereo. Art is forever!

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    This video supports what I’ve always understood around 6:13). The ‘82 red vinyl and UK reissues of the same time both use a direct copy of the original master. Neither uses the original master tapes directly. Although, I have also heard that some of the early 80s UK pressings used some of the original metal parts…so…don’t know 100%

     
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  11. Ben Sinise

    Ben Sinise Forum Reticent

    Location:
    Sydney
    The 1982 Japanese monos are pressed from copies of the UK master tapes, most of them from fresh tapes made for Japan in July 1981.

    The individual UK mono reissues released in July 1981 mainly used the original tube cut metal masters for the repress.
    However, by the time of the UK mono box sets released in August (red box) and October 1982 (black box) quite a few more of Moss's newly cut sides were used to complete those production runs.
     
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  12. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    So it would appear that the general consensus here is that the EAS pressings (those with the country-of-origin flags at the top of the red-and-white OBI strips) are, at best, a mixed bag and some are downright awful, while the "Beatles Forever" pressings (identifiable by the dark green OBI with a large Apple logo near the top) are consistently excellent, is that right?

    Also, how are the so-called "AP" pressings best identified? Do they have a unique OBI?
     
  13. maui jim

    maui jim Forum Resident

    Location:
    West of LA
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  14. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    Ok, so what people refer to as the Japanese “AP” versions are those with the big Apple on the green OBI with “The Beatles Forever” at the bottom of the strip? Good to know. I just bought that variation of my favorite Japanese album, “Beatles No. 5.”

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. john lennonist

    john lennonist There ONCE was a NOTE, PURE and EASY...


    Yes.

    What we refer to as the (preferred) "AP" pressings are the same as "The Beatles Forever" (note bottom of the OBI in your pic) pressings.

    First ones pressed in 1969, IINM ... maybe more titles pressed in the next year or two after that.


    I love the ones I own... on super quiet vinyl, too. :righton:
     
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  16. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    I recently did a shoot out of a few EAS pressings against the 2009 Stereo remasters (24 bit version from the USB):
    1. AHDN was MUCH more bright, hot, and less detailed than the regular old 2009 remaster. I preferred the 2009.
    2. Beatles for Sale was also less detailed than the 2009.

    Generally I prefer the UK pressings, or Blue Box over the 2009s. So the EAS' can't even compete with the 2009s... they're not so good. Definitely not master tape (as we all knew).

    But damn that pressing quality is just too good. Wish everything was done this way! Better than the new MoFis.
     
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  17. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    Those EAS are probably the least good sounding of the Japanese Beatle albums....just a ridiculous amount of high end. Kind of defeats the purpose of the high quality pressing.
     
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  18. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I had all the Japanese Red Vinyl Mono from the very early 80's and they were excellent...so were the Beatles American albums...I wasn't disappointed with any of the Beatles Japanese vinyl...
     
  19. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    yup, that's the ones I had... had them all...
     
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  20. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    if you say so...; )
     
  21. RingoStarr39

    RingoStarr39 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baden, PA
    Not quite but you're close. The very first AP series LP's were released in 1969/70 like you said. However, they were not part of the Beatles Forever series yet. That came later in late 1972 or 1973. As far as I know the mastering should be about the same for both.
     
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  22. CybrKhatru

    CybrKhatru Music is life.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The only Japanese Beatles LPs I have are the Red and Blue albums.. Found them for a decent price about 15 years ago.
     
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  23. chris8519

    chris8519 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Indeed. I rushed out to buy as many as I could find. Have nearly the whole set now. But I couldn’t ever find the AP pressings, just EAS.
    Cool set to own but not really listen to.

    im not sure there’s a list of decent EAS releases? Anyone done a comparison? I guess I could!
     
  24. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    The post Revolver albums sound pretty good. So you have pretty good sound on excellent pressings. :rolleyes:
     
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  25. dlokazip

    dlokazip Forum Transient

    Location:
    Austin, TX, USA
    I bought an AP black vinyl copy of Abbey Road (sans obi) in July, once I realized that British and Australian pressings are going for insane prices. I had to clean it up to get rid of the crackle, but now that I have, it sounds great.

    Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my research tells me that none of the US vinyl pressings of Abbey Road sound that great, so Americans either need to embrace the CDs or get a vinyl copy from overseas. Europeans and Australians may not find the Japanese pressings appealing, but for Americans, they are worthy of consideration.
     
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