Beach Boys SACD Remastered Series from Acoustic Sounds

[Jeffrey Michael]

I have The Beach Boys Made in America 6 CD box set...

This has to be the best box set I've ever purchased.

Yes I agree. Lots of unusual stuff on these. Probably essential for any Beach Boys fan.
Phil.

Actually, I was talking about this one:



Is this the same one, Philip?

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Well it turns out to be some sort of reprocessed stereo on the new disc. I'm not sure exactly what they did but it sounds like much of it is through the application of reverb. It doesn't sound bad, certainly better than the old duophonic process. Perhaps someone with more knowledge could chime in. BTW the other mono track on the LP, "A Young Man is Gone" receives similar treatment.



Edit: Someone on the SH Forums posted an informative link (below) on the whole mono/stereo BB history. These are evidently recent "extraction mixes". The process is explained in the article.

http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/monostereo.html

I wonder when that article was written...they mention 2013 so I assume it wasn't authored before that date....I just wonder if the information is relevant for these 2015 releases....

 

[Clint Eastwood]

This has to be the best box set I've ever purchased.

When you say the "best".. you are talking about the content..right...not the sound quality..

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

When you say the "best".. you are talking about the content..right...not the sound quality..

Yes. Though, I haven't listened to it in many years (since the 90's) because I have all the individual albums. So, I do not remember the sound quality or even if I was paying attention to it, so long ago.

 

[blue.monk]

I wonder when that article was written...they mention 2013 so I assume it wasn't authored before that date....I just wonder if the information is relevant for these 2015 releases....

Yes, it appears so based on the product descriptions at Acoustic Sounds and chatter on the SH Forums. New stereo or extraction mixes will be used only where no period stereo mix exists. So i'm very pleased that none of the original mono or stereo mixes will be replaced.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Yes. Though, I haven't listened to it in many years (since the 90's) because I have all the individual albums. So, I do not remember the sound quality or even if I was paying attention to it, so long ago.

The quality of the Beach Boys catalog isn't very good in the Dynamic Range area...I have a Beach Boys Best Of CD called Sounds of Summer...great content...and you can play it at low volumes and it sounds pretty good...but as soon as you crank it up it falls apart...check out the DR on it HERE..a lot of the Beach Boys albums have numbers like that...it's a shame...

 

[cupboy]

I have The Beach Boys Made in America 6 CD box set and it also has 409 in mono. It says original mono long version but it clocks in at a mere 2:08. Are the times on these discs being discussed the same.
Phil

Is there really a stereo Do It Again on that box set. If so is it a good mix?

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

The quality of the Beach Boys catalog isn't very good in the Dynamic Range area...I have a Beach Boys Best Of CD called Sounds of Summer...great content...and you can play it at low volumes and it sounds pretty good...but as soon as you crank it up it falls apart...check out the DR on it HERE..a lot of the Beach Boys albums have numbers like that...it's a shame...

About an hour or so ago, I looked at the DR value on the box set and it looked pretty good for most of the songs. I'll have to dig it out and give it a spin again to see how it sounds to my ears.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Actually, I was talking about this one:

View attachment 17315

Is this the same one, Philip?

No, mine is different. It says 2013 on the box. A square package which looks like an lp box. Sorry no photos.
Phil.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Is there really a stereo Do It Again on that box set. If so is it a good mix?

Do it Again is on disc 3 on my copy. It says 2012 stereo mix. I will check it out tonight.
Phil.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Both clock in at a mighty 2:02.

Wow. 409 is a whole 6 seconds longer in the box. I guess the fade out is a little longer.
Phil

 

[blue.monk]

Wow. 409 is a whole 6 seconds longer in the box. I guess the fade out is a little longer.
Phil

in fact, unlike other versions, the song has no fade at all on the box set which is a nice variation to have.

 

[blue.monk]

I have The Beach Boys Made in America 6 CD box set and it also has 409 in mono. It says original mono long version but it clocks in at a mere 2:08. Are the times on these discs being discussed the same.
Phil

Ah, I just realized we're talking about 2 different box sets. I'm not familiar with that newer one. I was referring to the Good Vibrations set (as Perpendicular posted). But it would appear both sets contain the same longer version of "409".

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

Ah, I just realized we're talking about 2 different box sets. I'm not familiar with that newer one. I was referring to the Good Vibrations set (as Perpendicular posted). But it would appear both sets contain the same longer version of "409".

Yeah, I can't seem to find the other one that Philip mentioned at first. I, too, thought he was talking about the boxset I Posted.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Is there really a stereo Do It Again on that box set. If so is it a good mix?

I played Do It Again last night and it is definitely stereo. Starts off like mono with just vocals in center but then the band kicks in playing on the left channel and some kind of fuzzy bass or something in the right. Background vocals come in left and right. Then the guitar solo plays on the right channel. I'm not that critical of a listener and I don't have too many Beach Boys records but I have to say that these songs sound very good to me on this set.
Phil.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Yeah, I can't seem to find the other one that Philip mentioned at first. I, too, thought he was talking about the boxset I Posted.

This is the one I'm talking about. http://www.amazon.com/Made-California-The-Beach-Boys/dp/B008XZKSRY
Phil.

 

[cupboy]

I played Do It Again last night and it is definitely stereo. Starts off like mono with just vocals in center but then the band kicks in playing on the left channel and some kind of fuzzy bass or something in the right. Background vocals come in left and right. Then the guitar solo plays on the right channel. I'm not that critical of a listener and I don't have too many Beach Boys records but I have to say that these songs sound very good to me on this set.
Phil.

Would be nice to have this on a 20/20 SACD. That album always seems to get passed over though.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Would be nice to have this on a 20/20 SACD. That album always seems to get passed over though.

Absolutely.
Phil.

 

[cupboy]

I downloaded the MP3 for 29 cents, just to check out the mix. I had a $1 promo credit. I like it. Except for the ending and they lost some little bits of things. Seems shorter. Come to think of it maybe I like the mono one better after all.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

There are some Mono SACDs out there. Little Richard's Greatest Hits SACD on Mobile Fidelity is one of the better known Mono SACDs that comes to mind.

Now that the first few Beach Boys SACDs are available at Acoustic Sounds, it's ordering time!

View attachment 17311

Beach Boys SACDs on Analogue Productions - In Stock at Acoustic Sounds
http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&searchtext=beach,boys&categoryID=4

Speaking of mono...we had a discussion about some mono mixes on another SACD and I said it was stereo only..you said some of the tracks were mono...but my Oppo indicated they were all stereo...well I called Oppo today and mentioned this and was told that the Oppo couldn't distinguish a mono track from a stereo track...I have the Oppo 103D...it also gets' "confused" on 4.0...it lists it as 5.0....

The rep at Oppo confirmed that there won't be any new models this year....probably late 2016 or 2017...due to the 4k situation..