Mono Box Set review

[liaminh]

http://www.tonepublications.com/music/beatles-box-in-stereo-and-mono/

Each album unfolds like never before—particularly Abbey Road. Thicker tracks such as “She’s So Heavy” come on as indestructible walls of sound replete with phenomenal low-end weight, superb definition, vivid dynamics, and unlimited ceilings and floors. Starr’s drumming on “The End” is absorbing and titanic; it sounds so good, it’s almost difficult to believe this is the Beatles, which, unless one had unlimited funds for collectable LPs, have never sounded great. Depending on one’s perspective, such a conclusion is the ultimate sign that the folks at Capitol and Abbey Road Studios not only succeeded but surpassed most expectations. For if the Beatles remasters signify the last great hurrah of the compact disc, at least the format is going out in style.

[Moony_Lupin]

I really hope I can get my hands on a Mono set on 09/09/09.

[chrth_rb]

You realllly confused the heck out of me by mentioning only the Mono in the title and then quoting the Abbey Road portion of review

EDIT: Both sets sound like they sound fantastic, though. My wallet owes my poor hearing big time.

[Blehgopie]

Holy christ, I need BOTH of those, and I already have their entire discography!

What a sucky time to not have a job.

[IColinoI]

http://www.tonepublications.com/music/beatles-box-in-stereo-and-mono/

Each album unfolds like never before—particularly Abbey Road.

Abbey Road is stereo only... The topic title is a little misleading... :p

[KilgoreWolfe]

The topic title isn't exactly misleading, as the review does focus far more on the mono set.


Holy christ, I need BOTH of those, and I already have their entire discography!

What a sucky time to not have a job.

Or have one that barely allows you to get the disc-only TB:RB. :(

[Blehgopie]

The topic title isn't exactly misleading, as the review does focus far more on the mono set.



Or have one that barely allows you to get the disc-only TB:RB. :(

I actually have exactly enough money for TB:RB disc-only. I have turned down doing many things with my friends in the past few weeks...not to mention DLC/WoW subscription.

[KilgoreWolfe]

I actually have exactly enough money for TB:RB disc-only. I have turned down doing many things with my friends in the past few weeks...not to mention DLC/WoW subscription.

Yeah, I've been staying at home, eating at home, and I have just enough for the disc + release-day shipping from amazon. I'd have a little more spending money for myself, except I'm going out of town over the weekend, and so I won't be able to pick up my paycheck until Tuesday morning, by which time I imagine the game will have shipped and my bank account will be charged.

[theINC]

I'm still stuck between the Mono and Stereo box sets.

I'll probably just end up buying a couple of the Stereo CDs and pick up the Mono box set at a later date...

Also, for any Aussies out there:
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/support.aspx?q=Beatles,%20%20The&source=artist&sort=release_desc&cat=&man=&col=&size=&plow=0&phigh=0&len=10 - the full list of upcoming remastered albums by The Beatles on 9/9/09.
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/the-beatles-stereo-box-set-2009-remastered/449263 - Stereo Box Set
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/the-beatles-in-mono-13-cd-set-2009-remastered/449264 - The Beatles in Mono.

[Rod_Stixx]

Definitely a bit misleading on the title, stating mono review, then the only quote is about a stereo-only album. Adding a little "The linked review focuses more on the mono albums, but here is a great quote about the stereo Abbey Road..." would fix that up just spiffy.

The review itself is quite good. Great that he highlighted so many of the differences that not everybody is aware of in these sets.

[RADIO CHRIS]

getting individual albums

[Flybird]

I actually downloaded the high-quality bootlegs of the mono versions of Help! through The Beatles

I've compared this back and forth, and I have to say, the mono versions of Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Peppers are very superior, just due to the instruments and vocals not being awfully panned. With headphones, the stereo versions make me dizzy. With mono, they sound a lot more natural. The bass is underlying, instead of being stuck in the left headphone. The vocal are upfront, instead of stuck in the right headphones. It feels a lot nicer to listen to, and the songs sounds more lush and flowing because of it.

The Beatles, however, sounds better in stereo IMO. You can tell they meant to make this album in stereo, because the songs sound a lot more natural than the mono version. The mono version sounds...empty to me. Thrown together. Devoid of something the stereo has.

So for me, I'm buying the Mono set when they get restocked, putting the mono version of The Beatles on eBay and getting The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be and Past Masters in stereo.

[liaminh]

I actually downloaded the high-quality bootlegs of the mono versions of Help! through The Beatles

I've compared this back and forth, and I have to say, the mono versions of Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Peppers are very superior, just due to the instruments and vocals not being awfully panned. With headphones, the stereo versions make me dizzy. With mono, they sound a lot more natural. The bass is underlying, instead of being stuck in the left headphone. The vocal are upfront, instead of stuck in the right headphones. It feels a lot nicer to listen to, and the songs sounds more lush and flowing because of it.

The Beatles, however, sounds better in stereo IMO. You can tell they meant to make this album in stereo, because the songs sound a lot more natural than the mono version. The mono version sounds...empty to me. Thrown together. Devoid of something the stereo has.

So for me, I'm buying the Mono set when they get restocked, putting the mono version of The Beatles on eBay and getting The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be and Past Masters in stereo.

Interesting. How did you find the bootlegs? And are you sure the quality is good enough for comparison purposes?

Anyhow, my apologies for the unintentional misleading title. Yes, the review covered both stereo and mono mixes, although the main thrust is on the mono. And since that box set is limited, I thought it'd be of more interest to many people, whereas you can get the stereo box set anywhere, so its review is not as critical if someone's still undecided on which box to order.

[deathmonkey]

My first reaction to hearing that they were releasing Mono versions alongside Stereo versions was along the lines of "WTF??!?! Isn't that like stepping back and downgrading?"

Then I quickly gathered myself and realized that it's the freakin' Beatles...I'm 33, so I obviously never got to experience them in their original form, so I would love to hear what they sounded like originally...I think it's awesome they did this...

[Flybird]

Interesting. How did you find the bootlegs? And are you sure the quality is good enough for comparison purposes?

They're the Dr. Ebbetts bootlegs, you can find them easily. What he does is he get vinyls of the albums (mono and stereo) and using high-quality audio equipment, converts it all to FLAC (then to mp3)

They sound better than the stereo albums out right now, I can tell you that much. But I was comparing stereo bootleg to mono bootleg, so it was fair.

[harveyglobetrot]

I'm still stuck between the Mono and Stereo box sets.

I'll probably just end up buying a couple of the Stereo CDs and pick up the Mono box set at a later date...

Also, for any Aussies out there:
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/support.aspx?q=Beatles,%20%20The&source=artist&sort=release_desc&cat=&man=&col=&size=&plow=0&phigh=0&len=10 - the full list of upcoming remastered albums by The Beatles on 9/9/09.
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/the-beatles-stereo-box-set-2009-remastered/449263 - Stereo Box Set
http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/pop-rock/the-beatles-in-mono-13-cd-set-2009-remastered/449264 - The Beatles in Mono.

Wow, $20 per CD! That's quite good, I was expecting them to be $27-30 each, considering that's what the current CD releases cost.

That seriously tempts me to pick up a few of my favourite albums straight away, rather than waiting a few months and getting the box set. I may look at picking up a few around release date, and a one or two a week from then on. I might buy Revolver, Sgt Peppers and Past Masters, and then go from there.

[Flybird]

My first reaction to hearing that they were releasing Mono versions alongside Stereo versions was along the lines of "WTF??!?! Isn't that like stepping back and downgrading?"

Then I quickly gathered myself and realized that it's the freakin' Beatles...I'm 33, so I obviously never got to experience them in their original form, so I would love to hear what they sounded like originally...I think it's awesome they did this...

Well, not just that, it's just the mono and stereo albums were mixed a lot differently, and they never took advantage of stereo. They used it as a gimmick. "Oh, let's put one instrument here in this speaker and the other one there!" Since the stereo versions were mixed horribly prior to The Beatles and the mono versions were mixed wonderfully, that's why some Beatles fans (including me) think it's better.

Now, if the stereo versions were mixed a lot better, it would've been a much different story.

Unfortunately, the stereo albums aren't remixed, just remastered, so they just cleaned up the quality a bit, but didn't mix anything differently. So they'll sound exactly the same, but a lot cleaner. The exception to this are the first 4 albums, which were remixed to stereo, but really they were given the same treatment as the other albums (horribly panned), which makes me sad.

[deathmonkey]

Well, not just that, it's just the mono and stereo albums were mixed a lot differently, and they never took advantage of stereo. They used it as a gimmick. "Oh, let's put one instrument here in this speaker and the other one there!" Since the stereo versions were mixed horribly prior to The Beatles and the mono versions were mixed wonderfully, that's why some Beatles fans (including me) think it's better.

Now, if the stereo versions were mixed a lot better, it would've been a much different story.

Unfortunately, the stereo albums aren't remixed, just remastered, so they just cleaned up the quality a bit, but didn't mix anything differently. So they'll sound exactly the same, but a lot cleaner. The exception to this are the first 4 albums, which were remixed to stereo, but really they were given the same treatment as the other albums (horribly panned), which makes me sad.

Ahhhh...understood. I guess this means they'll pull a George Lucas on us and release a remastered remixed special collector's edition version of the albums in stereo and 5.1 on blu-ray...next year...:p

[theINC]

Wow, $20 per CD! That's quite good, I was expecting them to be $27-30 each, considering that's what the current CD releases cost.

That seriously tempts me to pick up a few of my favourite albums straight away, rather than waiting a few months and getting the box set. I may look at picking up a few around release date, and a one or two a week from then on. I might buy Revolver, Sgt Peppers and Past Masters, and then go from there.

That's what I thought - a few months back I was considering purchasing some Beatles CDs to get me prepped for TBRB. They were as much as $35, even from JB! The fact that these are gonna be right down at $20 is amazing, and will encourage me to pick up the whole stereo collection gradually - don't have enough money at the moment to spend on the Mono Box Set even though that sounds like the best way to hear them...

I agree that the mixing on the Stereo Beatles songs is annoying - cases where vocals are panned to the far right and guitar is panned to the far left.

[GloiGloi]

Ahhhh...understood. I guess this means they'll pull a George Lucas on us and release a remastered remixed special collector's edition version of the albums in stereo and 5.1 on blu-ray...next year...:p

2012 is the rumour for blu ray

[Jordan10la]

I'm not entirely sure I want to read a review of something I'll never be able to afford...

[Ramirez16]

2012 is the rumour for blu rayReally how much more is there. Then they'll say "Oh now you can hear guitar and drums in Good Night!"