Beatles Vinyl Mono Reissues 2014-Opinions?

Anyody have any of these?

I just splurged almost 100 EUR on Revolver, SPLHCB and the White Album in MONO on vinyl..
They say the chain has all been analog and the reviews are really good (but you know..PAYOLA...especially with the Beatles)

So, taking the 180º approach to the disappointing 1+ BD, I decided it was time to get these as god intended ..IN MONO ON LP!!!!!

fire away!

(Edit..I have SPLHCB and the White ALbum in the original UK pressings, but..they are almost 50 years old!!)

I actually purchased the entire vinyl mono set a few months back as a Christmas present for the wife (alright, partially for me too... ). So yes, I have them, but I haven't had a chance to listen yet. I can say this though: The box-set packaging is absolutely beautiful. It's going to look very nice on the shelf.

I was on the verge of buying it yesterday, as it was a bargain on amazon.ca (something like 120£ or so).
Edit: Just checked and it's being sold for 281€. Not a bad deal...

I have the box set and it's a thing of beauty. Yes, it’s an all-analog chain and the original cutting notes were used as a guideline minus the compromises imposed by the lofi home equipment of the time. The sleeves, card stocks and labels replicate the originals as closely as possible (top loading, individually numbered White Album for example). I love it - my favorite vinyl set to be sure.

I think Brother Snood will want to chime in as well at some point.

I got mono from kissing my girlfriend in the 8th grade. I do not recommend it.

edisonbaggins said:

I got mono from kissing my girlfriend in the 8th grade. I do not recommend it.

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There are at least 3 increasingly inappropriate jokes embedded in the above statement.

As intended, Kap'n? I've heard that statement in a number of places before. I've always thought that the only truly "intended" way to listen to The Beatles was in The Cavern Club while imbibing numerous pints. Sadly, most of us never experienced that so we compensate by purchasing the same recordings presented on various media over and over. :sun

blue.monk said:

I think Brother Snood will want to chime in as well at some point.

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Brother Snood has been summoned by Brother blue.monk :banana:

The Snood abides

Think me and Blue Monk pre-ordered this and we were pming each other crossing our fingers it would not be like the Stereo LP Box (which was mastered digitally from digital masters to vinyl...wha?? CD to vinyl?) Snood never picked this one up.

But everything we read...........this was mastered directly from the original Analog tapes

Let's put it this way, if 1+ would have come out before this, Snood would have never trusted them again lol, but thankfully this came out last year.

First Off the Boxset itself is aesthetically beautifully done - production of the tangible product is second to none. My only complaint was that I had to send 4 albums back for replacement for being a lil (not a lot) warped, Snood is fanatic at getting new as new can be. They do pack it tight with some foam inside the white box itself.

With those minor problems aside, if you like this obscure band called The Beatles and do enjoy digging and showing off/listening to some vinyl/records then BUY IT!!! It is AWESOME!!! Not only the sound, the way the Beatles meant for it to be heard, but also to catch all the different nuances and there are maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnny. There are pages online that go over the differences between the mono and stereo cuts of each song............very great sound and awesome packaging.

Brother Snood says you will be pleased :music

Are you only getting 2 of the LPS?? Or the Whole box??

Me thinks after hearing just 1 or 2, you will want more.

Let us know what you think tho Kap'n - always love to compare my ears

Snood..
just getting the ones I think the boys were really involved on the mixing:
(Never cared much for Rubber Soul)

-Revolver (which I have a Stereo 70's UK repressing and the butchered Capitol Mono version from the 60's ,,VG-)
-SPLHCB, which I have a stereo 70's Capitol pressing, a Spanish EMI-ODEON mmono pressing which somebody accidentally had a weed seed melt the first songs (umplayable), and decent UK Mono 60's pressing, in which the inner groove was played over an over again...
-The White Album, which I have another mid 70's Capitol Stereo Pressing, and a VERY EXPENSIVE original numbered UK pressing , which , as usual , the ebay seller stated it was almost perfect and it wasn't...a lot of groove distortion from playing it with a f*cked up stylus...

-As for MMT , I have a quite minty(or orangey) UK EP original pressing
-Abbey Road is a LOVELY MFSL I got way back when...
-and Let it be in a RED APPLE pressing I got way back in Dec 1976 at Jimmy's Music World in Queens..or Brooklyn!!!

I'll report back...

Since I seem to be hitting different subjects today, may I provide an opinion (just an opinion) about the mono versus stereo Beatles mix debate?

While it is true that the times that "the boys" participated in the mix it was mostly with the mono mix, there are very few black and white situations with The Beatles. For instance, on The Beatles (aka The White Album), Paul participated in the stereo and mono mix of Helter Skelter. That is why the mixes are so different. A friend or fan had told Paul that he bought both mono and stereo copies of the albums because of the differences in the mixes. So Paul decided to purposely make differences in the White Album to give those fans more reasons to buy both versions and sell more records.

But even with the earlier albums, the Beatles indirectly participated in both mixes. The mono mix was almost always done first and then the stereo mix was done later - usually days or a few weeks later for albums (for singles this was not true). The mix was still fresh and, more importantly, the mono mix notes were available for the stereo mix. On top of that the people doing the mix were the same recording engineers who were at the mono mixing sessions. I really believe that this is the reason that there aren't more differences between the mono and stereo mixes.

Sometimes doing the mix the second time for stereo meant some "mistakes" were corrected. The sound effects on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) are much smoother on the stereo mix than on the mono mix. That said, there may be another reason for the clean-up concerning two different versions of the sound effects for the Reprise, but that's another story. Of course, the mono mix of She's Leaving Home is far superior than the stereo mix because of the lack of the pitch correction on the stereo mix.

The only stereo mix I can't defend is Rubber Soul. It was an experimental mix that George Martin tried due to the common stereo setups of 1965, which included very widely spaced speaker channels. When listened to with modern equipment that stereo mix didn't age very well.

To me, there isn't a black-and-white, mono mix is better than stereo mix. Or The Beatles only participated in the mono mixes. It really isn't that simple.

The one absolute is that the new mono LPs are the only current releases that have a full analog chain throughout. I may pick-up a mono Revolver (personally my favorite album). I have the stereo LP and it would be fun to compare, stereo versus mono, digital source versus analog source.

Hope I didn't opinionize too much (I try not to do that too often).

Andy

alk3997 said:

Of course, the mono mix of She's Leaving Home is far superior than the stereo mix because of the lack of the pitch correction on the stereo mix.

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Yeah, I much prefer the mono mix. The faster tempo (and higher pitch) better suits the song IMO.

alk3997 said:

The one absolute is that the new mono LPs are the only current releases that have a full analog chain throughout.

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The recent Red (1962-66) and Blue (1967-70) compilations also use a full analog chain sourced from the same tapes compiled for the original '73 UK pressings.

alk3997 said:

To me, there isn't a black-and-white, mono mix is better than stereo mix

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For me as well, absolutely. It's very much at a song by song basis my preference mono vs stereo. Very happy to have both options.

blue.monk said:

Yeah, I much prefer the mono mix. The faster tempo (and higher pitch) better suits the song IMO.



The recent Red (1962-66) and Blue (1967-70) compilations also use a full analog chain sourced from the same tapes compiled for the original '73 UK pressings.



For me as well, absolutely. It's very much at a song by song basis my preference mono vs stereo. Very happy to have both options.

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I didn't know about the Red and Blue Albums having an analog source. Thank you for the info!

Andy