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Author Topic: Remasters!  (Read 64633 times)

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Revolver42

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #120 on: April 14, 2009, 04:14:22 PM »

Quote from: 63
I'd say it depends on how they have made the early album stereo...

Is it true that Sgt Pepper's is better in mono?  I would guess that all of the other from Rubber Soul onward would be better in stereo.
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Jane

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #121 on: April 14, 2009, 08:50:16 PM »

Better or not (which is impossible) I will have to buy all of them.
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Bobber

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #122 on: April 15, 2009, 07:11:01 AM »

Quote from: 1426

Is it true that Sgt Pepper's is better in mono?  I would guess that all of the other from Rubber Soul onward would be better in stereo.

It's all a matter of taste of course. There's a lot of people that like the compact sound of mono better. Plus they say that the mono version is the way The Beatles wanted it to sound. But then again, they didn't have the equipment that's available today.
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DaveRam

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #123 on: April 15, 2009, 08:39:27 AM »

I've got a few mono recordings by other artists and i quite like it , seems a cleaner sound less frills to my ears .
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mclen57

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #124 on: April 15, 2009, 01:25:00 PM »

I've got a bootleg of Pepper in mono and there are some instruments and sounds effects that jump out at you more than on the stereo mix. George Martin has been quoted as saying, "You've never really heard Sgt Pepper until you've heard it in mono."

The Beatles were hardly present during the stereo mixing sessions, they pretty much just left that to the engineers, while they always attended the mono sessions. It wasn't until 8 track came out that they started to shift focus on stereo.
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Henry the Horse

REDD51

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #125 on: April 16, 2009, 02:10:15 AM »

In Geoff's book, he states that he and George spent three or four times as long on the mono mixes than they did on the stereo mixes.

They were two completely different sessions, and with nobody really owning stereo equipment in their homes yet, the stereo mixes were (at the time) seen as somewhat of a novelty.

In other words, the real mixes are the mono mixes.
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sregis

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #126 on: April 16, 2009, 01:58:55 PM »

but are they the better sounding?  that's the bottom line question i have.
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REDD51

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #127 on: April 16, 2009, 02:44:45 PM »

I would imagine that what they were doing for three or four times longer was making them sound better.........there's not much else they could be doing, and that's generally what mixing is all about  :)

But if you mean better sounding to you personally, that's a question only you can answer on 09/09/09.

(personally, and because they're what the band, producer, and engineer considered to be the format that would preserve their artistic intentions for the ages, I'm getting the mono's).
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REDD51

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #128 on: April 18, 2009, 06:14:09 PM »

It's worth pointing out too that the Beatles mono mixes contain instrumentation and vocalization that simply don't exist on the stereo mixes..........not that you can't hear, but that aren't there!

In other words, if you've never heard the mono mixes, there are previously unheard and original Beatles songs awaiting you.

I don't think it's possible to understate that the Beatles didn't believe the stereo mixes to be of any historical importance, and that it was only the mono mixes they considered to be their true legacy.

Stereo is what it is, and for music originated for stereo playback it's quite wonderful.
For music that's not originated for stereo playback, it is quite frankly, somewhat of a disaster.

None of the Beatles mono releases was originated for stereo playback, but rather they were "re-purposed" for stereo release, and even at that, stereo was considered by the Beatles to be little more than a novelty at the time, not worthy of their personal attention or concern.
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Revolver

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #129 on: April 19, 2009, 02:16:22 PM »

I'm going with the stereo.

From the press release, it sounds like they aren't doing anything with the mono mixes except re-releasing them on CD.  I have most of the mono mixes on my computer in FLAC format, anyway.  Pepper, The White Album, and Revolver are the only three mono mixes that seem to have significant differences from the stereo.  

I grew up with the stereo versions.  They are what I'm used to.
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Revolver

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #130 on: April 20, 2009, 07:02:53 PM »

Anybody know what they'll be doing about the fake stereo for PPM and WTB.

I've heard some very bad stereo mixes for those two.  Just wondering if any cleanup will be done on those, if that's even possible.
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Revolver42

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #131 on: April 23, 2009, 04:03:36 PM »

Not sure if anyone one here mentioned it or not, but I just happended to look at the US store on The Beatles official website.  The remasters are now listed for pre-order with pricing.  As of now all the cds are $14.95 except for the White Album and Past Masters which are $22.95/each.  The boxes are not listed at this time.  I hope the prices come down some at the time they are released.
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Euan Buchan

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #132 on: April 25, 2009, 10:00:24 AM »

Yesterday I saw a sticker on the 1 album adverstising the remasters & rockband release
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DaveRam

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #133 on: May 04, 2009, 02:44:10 PM »

Quote from: 986
Yesterday I saw a sticker on the 1 album adverstising the remasters & rockband release

I see The Beatles 1's album as re-entered the UK album charts at # 56 looks like the sticker you saw is working

(thumbsup)
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DaveRam

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #134 on: May 10, 2009, 09:58:35 PM »

The Beatles 1 Album climed 10 to # 46 on the UK albums chart giving it a second week on the chart .
I wonder if this is the first sign of remasters fever ?
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BlueMeanie

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #135 on: May 11, 2009, 09:16:09 AM »

Quote from: 971
The Beatles 1 Album climed 10 to # 46 on the UK albums chart giving it a second week on the chart .
I wonder if this is the first sign of remasters fever ?

I've noticed recently most of The Beatles albums - including '1' - being discounted, which is a rarity. Could be the reason for the sales. Or just the current spate of activity in the press is putting them back in the minds of potential buyers.
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Bobber

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #136 on: May 11, 2009, 01:07:53 PM »

Quote from: 986
Yesterday I saw a sticker on the 1 album adverstising the remasters & rockband release


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Joe

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #137 on: May 12, 2009, 09:31:56 AM »

Quote from: 233
I've got a bootleg of Pepper in mono and there are some instruments and sounds effects that jump out at you more than on the stereo mix. George Martin has been quoted as saying, "You've never really heard Sgt Pepper until you've heard it in mono."

The Beatles were hardly present during the stereo mixing sessions, they pretty much just left that to the engineers, while they always attended the mono sessions. It wasn't until 8 track came out that they started to shift focus on stereo.

I listened to my vinyl mono copy of Sgt Pepper a couple of times at the weekend. I have to say that, in my opinion, the talk of the mono mixes being vastly superior is probably overstated. I'll leave aside the obvious point about vinyl sounding warmer than CD, and concentrate on the detail of the mixes.

George Martin gave a quote similar to the one above ("You've never really heard Sgt Pepper until you've heard it in mono") to Lewisohn in The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. The book was first published in 1987, so Martin was most likely comparing the 1960s mono and stereo mixes, not the 1967 mono and 1987 stereo. That's an important distinction, I think, but it's since passed into Beatles lore that the 1960s monos are the best mixes out there.

Compared to the 1960s stereo mixes, sure, they spent more time perfecting the mono versions. However, the recordings were remixed by George Martin in the 1980s. The original mono mixes are certainly different from the 1980s stereo ones, but to say they're superior isn't necessarily true.

There *are* some things that are mixed differently in the original mono Pepper (Good Morning Good Morning sounds bassier and has far more punch to it, and the guitar licks on the title track sound somehow better). However, there are others elements that are mixed better on the CD version - instruments are often faded in and out with less jerkiness than in the mono, in particular. There are also details that were brought to the fore second time around, such as George Harrison's "three, four" count-in before the final verse of Within You Without You, which is much harder to hear on the original mix.

Either way it's all down to personal preference, and when they're all issued in September people will be able to pick and choose their favourite. I just wanted to point out that The Beatles in mono aren't intrinsically better; that's only the case when there are duff stereo versions to compare them to. Most people probably haven't ever *heard* the original 1960s stereo versions, as the majority of people had monophonic equipment and so bought the mono versions in greater quantities.
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dylanjohn

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #138 on: May 15, 2009, 04:25:27 PM »

Joe - well thought out post.  I always enjoy hearing people's takes on the mono and stereo debates.
I'm guessing all the new remasters will be a step up from what we've had.  The debate will only
intensify once we have both new versions in our hands.  
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retrocool73

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Re: Remasters!
« Reply #139 on: May 17, 2009, 10:27:14 PM »

Dave Clark has stuck to mono mixes of the DC5 stuff, preferring the punchier sound they strived for undiluted by stereo.

Having said that, we all know the Beatles are on a different stratosphere, though there's no denying despite my reservations about the man himself, the singles put out by the DC5 in 1964 were sonically superior to almost everything else.
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