Beatles "Abbey Road" .... Vinyl Pressing Comparisons & Black Triangle CD, etc

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Tone, Jun 10, 2009.

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  1. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey

    Good to hear clips from the JPN CD. Doesn't live up to the hype some have given it. No where near the original -2/-1 UK LP mastering.

    It's interesting that, based on your clips, each subsequent UK mastering on this album seems to have its overall sound deteroriate compared to what came before. None of them sound bad, but the overall sound/fidelity reduces with each newer cut. By the time you get to the -4 side 2, I think I prefer the '87 CD.
     
  2. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    My sentiments too. This Abbey Road Toshiba EMI Black Triangle CD is over-rated IMO, especially considering what some folks are selling them for.

    Same feeling in 'the living room' too. The 1st press has such wonderful dimension, and each later stamper # looses a bit of that depth.

    www.beatledrops.com/abbey_road

    These Abbey Road UK first pressings are worth seaching out. Quiet copies can be hard to find though.
     
  3. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    Good suggestion. I'm going to try and track one of those down. I've also heard that this issue sounds very good. Previous forum thread on the AP-8815.

    http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=85244
     
  4. Ben Sinise

    Ben Sinise Forum Reticent

    Location:
    Sydney
    Close, but no cigar.

    It was in fact the guy who trained a novice George Peckham in the art of mastering, Malcolm Davies. The Beatles poached Malcolm from Abbey Road to be their chief disc cutter at Apple Studios, where he cut the first 2 sets of production lacquers for the Abbey Road album. Harry Moss recut the next lacquers much later in 1975/76 (-4/-3)

    Incidentally, Malcolm is the one responsible for having Her Majesty included on the album. It was originally dropped from the running order of segues between Mean Mr Mustard and Polythene Pam, but instead he cut the discarded track at the end of the tape reel onto the playback acetate. McCartney liked what he heard, and the rest is history.
     
    rockness87 likes this.
  5. yasujiro

    yasujiro Senior Member

    Location:
    tokyo
    Well, IMHO it is not only said for the CP-35 AR. Even in the most modest sense, many CDs that fetch big bucks are so easily beaten by the vinyl counterparts...
     
    rockness87 likes this.
  6. DragonQ

    DragonQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Moon
    The original vinyl sounds too bright to me - you can tell from the remixes of both of the sample tracks on Love that they're not this bright on the multi-tracks.
     
  7. Khojem

    Khojem Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irvine, CA, USA
    Very interesting comparison between the JPN black triangle and the stock 1987 CD. To me at least, there isn't a lot of difference. However, in my opinion the black triangle has a very slight edge. I don't think it's worth $200-300 though. I would say more along the lines of $50.
     
    John Bliss likes this.
  8. Beatle Terr

    Beatle Terr Super Senior SH Forum Member Musician & Guitarist

    In all fairness to the Japanese Black Triangle "Abbey Road" CD disc. I'd have to say that one would have to hear the entire disc to make the comparision to the original disc that I purchased back in the late 80's when it was released.

    Newer pressed discs of the 1987-88 disc I do believe sound better than my original disc that I have. So the Japan Black Triangle CD in fact was and still is quite the ear and eye opener to me. Though I feel there is a NeedleDrop out there that has them all beat. :agree::agree:
     
  9. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    Lot of CDs and Records have value as collectors items too. Wonder how rare the Black Triangles are? They do sound good.

    But there is a lot of hype on the web about how "amazing" certain pressings sound. It all becomes meaningless after a while.
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  10. JPwalker

    JPwalker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    As a general guideline, forum-hyped pressings usually are the best version of that particular album, but the difference usually turns out to be subtle in real world comparisons. I used to take the recommendations as gospel, now I buy cheap pressings of everything to compare for myself.
     
    marcfeld69 likes this.
  11. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    You speak the truth. I didn't know about the BT till I got here, and after hearing about it, I was assuming that the difference would be more dramatic than it was. As it is, I prefer the BT, but it's more about nuances and certain tonalities than an in-your-face, across the board improvement. I'm glad to have it, but I'm also glad I didn't shell out big bucks for it (I was lucky enough to get a CDR copy from a friend's Beatles-collecting dad).
     
  12. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
    Sorry to resurrect this one...but I have a question; is the Australian Green vinyl PSCP 7088 worth having or just a curio because of its coloured look?
     
  13. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    Just put up a Applle Dutch / Holland vinyl pressing (courtesy of fine member John C) and it's sounds really good. One to watch out for.

    http://www.beatledrops.com/abbey_road.html

    Last clip on the left. Enjoy.
     
  14. inperson

    inperson Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    Is a Rainbow label Canadian pressing easy to find? I am guessing it is from the early 80's. I got one many years ago.
     
  15. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    Should be pretty easy to find.
     
  16. BlueSpeedway

    BlueSpeedway Curated Iconic Half-Speed Picture Disc

    Location:
    England
    I just stumbled across this while looking for something else, do some Abbey Roads really fade the track? How on earth was that allowed to happen?!
     
  17. ronbow

    ronbow Senior Member

    Location:
    St. Louis MO
    So what is the consensus on the Japanese Pro-Use edition?

    I've always thought it was great sounding, full and smooth, but I don't know that I ever did a definitive A/B to a first issue UK or US pressing.
     
    John Bliss likes this.
  18. John Carsell

    John Carsell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northwest Illinois
    Cutting engineer unfamiliar with the ending jumped the gun.

    Guess he didn't feel like recutting the whole side even though he should have.
     
  19. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    Ronbow, I prefer the 1st UK press to the Japanese Pro-Use. There's a certain magic on the -2/-1 pressing that isn't found on any others. The Pro-Use is nice, but I would go with the original UK.
     
  20. MILKEY

    MILKEY Forum Resident

    Location:
    NEW YORK
    It looks like the CD remaster is considered only good for iPod and car stereo.
    Isn't it possilbe with good equiptment the Cd remaster is the best sounding verison for 13.99 at Target etc..
     
  21. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    The CD remaster has been 'played with' so it's not quite the same experience as the original vinyl.. which I've been listening to for far too long. I like it, but it's not quite the same. The original Japan BT CD is very similar to that vinyl.. and a copy of that is what I play in the car.
     
  22. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    Courtesy of forum member den0iZer, I've posted some 1972/1979 Czechoslovakian
    Supraphon/Parlophone label clips.... www.beatledrops.com/abbey_road .... (bottom of page)

    Cool labels! Volume is a bit lower than the other clips on the page, so turn them up when comparing.

    Den0iZer has also provided some clips from the "Oldies" album, with some very cool labels! I'll post those soon.

    Thanks Mr. D!
     
  23. den0iZer

    den0iZer Forum Resident

    I try to look around and find somewhere also mono version... if possible. :)
     
  24. Tone

    Tone Senior Member Thread Starter

    Excellent........ We can compare it to the Braillian Mono. :)
     
  25. Gerbaby

    Gerbaby Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Tube cut Abbey Road

    I hear what your saying. I believe Abbey Road was not mastered using a tube pre amp to the cutting lathe. However,in some countries like So Africa they didnt have the technology and they did used tube amps for the pressings. I have one.
    The difference is there,better or worse. That said as you mentioned the boards had changed at AR when recording Abbey Road. I gues it is a hybrid ?
    I played both a UK 2/1 and the So African pressings and the bass is fantastic on both,the So African has a little more air in it.
    Difficult album to find that plays really quiet if a first pressings. The trade off of course is the sound. I have heard later pressings that are very quiet,but there is no there there in the sound.



     
    Aftermath likes this.
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