The Beatles US Capitol Albums Volume 3 On CD

yes, so much better than the nearly brickwalled 2009's...; ) I love V 1& 2!

 

agreed...nothing is going to change that the US Box is a fake/lie...NOTHING.

 

yes, for one they are not (((((((((((((AS LOUD)))))))))))) and just sound better with the ORIGINAL CAPITOL TAPES...

 

Indeed the only positive thing about the Fake US Box...nice artwork!

 

Can you really have a kickstarter without the license holder/s on board? I mean, is Kickstarter normally utilized like an online petition?

 

unfortunately it may be a pipe dream. : (

 

I understand your desire for the set, it drives me crazy when I can't get original mixes or the sound of records on CD I grew up with.

 

agree...we sure can relate!

 

That's not really true. For starters, some of those Capitol boxes CDs are very much compressed. Meet the Beatles!, for example, has a DR of 7:
Album details - Dynamic Range Database

In comparison, the 2009 CD of With the Beatles (the album with more tracks in common) has a DR of 9:
Album details - Dynamic Range Database

The rest of the Capitol CDs are DR8 or DR9. Some of their 2009 British counterparts are DR9, some others are superior. So no, the 2009 remasters are not brickwalled. Nor are they louder or more compressed than the Capitol CDs, it's the opposite.

 

First you debunk the myth about no US mixes in the US albums box and now you throw up these facts that debunk the myth that the Capitol box sets have superior dynamics to the 2009 remasters. With fact checkers like you around how can we sit back and enjoy the propaganda?

 

I'm just a guy with access to the internet. People like slane, lukpac and nikh33 are the real deal of Beatle knowledge.

 

The Capitol Albums are (arguably, I guess) more compressed and loud by design. The tapes had added compression, EQ, and reverb to sweeten the mixes. That's what makes them 'punchy' when compared to UK originals. The 2014 CD box acknowledged this and even added some compression to match it: there is more limiting on all the mono portions of those discs than there was in the 2009 In Mono box set

 

Also, I believe @slane can provide more details, but my recollection is that while the 2009 restorations were used for much of the box, the 2009 *masters* with limiting were not, and that any limiting/compression was done specifically for the box. Hopefully I'm not too far off there.

 

I agree, that compression is true to the original Capitol sound. So the Capitol fans don't need to brag about dynamics with those CDs, their strong point is supposed to be the replication of the original records, warts and all.

As for the 2014 box, Greg Calbi explained that he mastered the tracks sourced from the 2009 remasters differently than in the 2009 CDs:

So, imagine my surprise when Greg Calbi declared that, although they received the 2009 UK masters for use in the U.S. Albums box set, they were received in an uncompressed state with no limiting applied. And then this, “My feeling about the 2009 masters was that they sounded great but, in relation to my memory of the records, sounded just a little bit towards the sterile side,” said Calbi. “Clean and precise but just a hair sterile. Knowing that the American albums were just the opposite, they were dirty because of the late generation tapes, we elected to make the thing sound a little bit smoother. It’s a slight difference, though.”

Both eyebrows began to rise. They continued as Calbi further described how he handled the 2009 masters for the U.S. Albums box set, “I added a neutral gain structure to the stereo files. I wouldn’t even call it compression but the result is a hair louder than the original non-compressed files. I didn’t push the files through any multi-band compression or maximiser.”

Frankly, I could have hugged the guy. The chance of hearing the stereo masters, without any limiting applied, would be worth the price of the box set alone, “They’ve been put through a subtle analogue-to-digital re-write back to the same sampling rate in order to move into a direction of, I would say, smoother and a little bit more bass clarity but both are very subtle,” said Calbi. “To keep the spirit of the 2009 masters, two things had to be done. Firstly, taking the songs that were not on the same record and putting them into a new record so the consistency of the listen had to be taken into consideration. But anyone who listens to the 2009 masters and this set will hear a subtle difference. I wanted to make this box set a more musical listen without putting a mark on it in any way or change the balances or the relationship between the instruments.”

I recommend this two-part article to know more about what was done:

The Beatles: Which CD Version? (Part 1) - The Audiophile Man
The Beatles: Which CD Version? (Part 2) - The Audiophile Man

 

Thanks for that link. It would appear that the unique stereo mixes of the three 'Today' songs on Yesterday and Today were overlooked for a simple reason: they only had a first-state vinyl pressing, not the revised version for reference, so they just replaced the fake stereo with true stereo from the 2009 Revolver

 

Yes, I'm sure it's a mistake for that reason. But in a project like this they should have researched a little more.

 

That makes sense. I consider the 2014 the best way to hear the 2009 masters. I like the Capitol sets as they are historical and fun to listen to but I consider the U.S. Albums set the best listening experience for the music. Say what you will but I consider the US Albums set as updated versions of the US masters like Capitol used to do for the vinyl versions.

 

That's worth noting. Stuff like the stereo Second Album wasn't changed over the years, but other albums were, replacing fake stereo with true stereo (Y&T) or eliminating added reverb ('65).

 

They also overlooked the need to use the '65 Stereo mixes for the Help!/Rubber Soul material - which is spread over four US albums in this US Albums box (26 tracks). Instead, they went with mixes done in the 1980s! So the Stereo Yesterday & Today on the US Albums set needed even more help to get it close to 'correct' - if it was based on the 'True Stereo' version of Y&T.

I think this set did set out with good intentions - to appease the need, psychologically at least, for a Capitol Albums Vol. 3 by having Y&T and a truncated Revolver on board (psychological, given that the mixes wouldn't' be from actual Capitol remasters) - as well as by including albums outside the scope of Capitol's original oversight - AHDN/Hey Jude. Even the ultimate bone thrown - The Beatles Story.

But in a set of this magnitude (alright, they're Pop/Rock music albums) more care and research was required to make the set 'just right' - given its own parameters for itself - and while the effort itself was there, in the end it turned out that not enough care, consideration, and research was given (for my liking). (Maybe they got it exactly how they wanted it?)

The presence of the 1987 stereo remixes on the US Albums box (as well as on the 2009 Stereo Box - the heavy jewel of the Beatles 'core' catalog) mars the set and ruins what would be an otherwise 'reasonable alternative' listening experience (alternative to hearing the actual original Capitol/UA/Apple'70 masters of these albums in one place), making it a non-essential purchase, for me.

 

I agree — hence why I posted my own fantasy sequence for a real Vol. 3, to mop up the stray mixes not included on official CDs yet

 

I also think they should have included the 2nd album's heavy reverbed songs along with the correct Help and Rubber Soul stereo mixes and 3 missing unique stereo mixes on Y&T. That for me would have been a major improvement to the US Albums box.

 

That would be a great program! Unfortunately we know it [or anything even close to it] is unlikely to ever happen...

One, thing, in case it hasn't been pointed out before [yes, I'm a couple of days behind] is that the original Hollywood Bowl lp was mixed by G. Martin, not G. Emerick.
Oh, and I think the Walrus on the MMT lp was the same as the standard stereo one, but the 45 was different, so that would be another bonus track next to Penny Lane.

But.. yeah, I would buy that set in half a heartbeat!!

 

It was produced by Martin but engineered by Emerick.

No, the stereo mix of I Am The Walrus used in the US and Germany was different from the one used in the UK (and on CD).

 

Yeah, so I would give Martin more credit than Emerick. I doubt George had lost that much of his hearing by 1977...

Edit: Although I suppose listening to those tapes [with all the shrieking noise] for too long a time at a substantial volume could induce hearing loss...

Are you referring to the lopping off of the first two beats of the intro? I'd forgotten about that.

 

No, the mix itself is different. And the beats aren’t edited off on German releases.