Beatles "Let It Be" (5.1 surround & Dolby Atmos mixes out in October!)

[LuvMyQuad]

I did not know this, do I have this correct?
Let It Be was released after Abbey Road, but the Abbey Road sessions where done during the same time as the Let it Be sessions?
It seems some other singles where rehearsed also?

LIB was indeed released after Abbey Road. But the Abbey Road sessions were done sometime after the the LIB project. George Martin produced Abbey Road. He was not involved in LIB. It was produced by Phil Spector. There are some tracks that were rehearsed during the LIB sessions that showed up on Abbey Road.

 

[marpow]

@marpow it's a bit complicated because they were working on dozens and dozens of songs that ended up on Let it Be, Abbey Road, All Things Must Pass, Imagine, etc.
A lot songs were recorded in January '69 or February to August of '69.
The spring/summer stuff was released as Abbey Road in September '69.
The January '69 stuff was held up due to the Let It Be film editing and various quality concerns and was released as Let It Be in May of '70.
For example Oh Darling, Polythene Pam, Something, Maxwell's, She came in through the bathroom window, etc were all around in January '69 but weren't finished until August '69.
Let It Be the album was almost completely recorded in Jan '69, though I Me Mine and Across the Universe overdubs happened way later in April '70.
Abbey Road took much longer, generally spanning February to August '69 recordings: I Want You was the first recorded (Feb 22, '69) and the sessions go until August '69.

Oh boy, a little complicated, thank you.

 

[popshop]

It's totally insane how much they did in such a short span.
Rubber Soul released December of '65. Revolver released August of '66.
Sgt Pepper released in May of '67. Magical Mystery Tour released in November of '67.
They go to India, then start recording in May of '68.
White album released in November of '68. They start recording in January of '69, finish LiB January 30th.
Three weeks later they start recording I Want You and record until August '69. Abbey Road released in September.

 

[marpow]

Just finished listening to the 4 supplemental RBCD's and the 5.1 from the box set. I really liked all of it. I did a quick listen of the Atmos but wanted the 5.1 experience first. Love the mix and sound of the 5.1.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Just finished listening to the 4 supplemental RBCD's and the 5.1 from the box set. I really liked all of it. I did a quick listen of the Atmos but wanted the 5.1 experience first. Love the mix and sound of the 5.1.

Cracked open this astounding box set an hour ago and am listening to LET IN BE in 5.1. And to my ears .... A TOTAL TRIUMPH!

And Markie, you're not alone in luvin' the 5.1 remix. Here's blu~ray.com's review of the box set [they MUCH preferred the 5.1 over the ATMOS remix]:

The Beatles: Let It Be Blu-ray (Super Deluxe Edition | Blu-ray Audio)

The Beatles: Let It Be Blu-ray Release Date October 15, 2021 (Super Deluxe Edition | Blu-ray Audio). Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals.

www.blu-ray.com

 

[ar surround]

Has anyone gotten their set who ordered from Import CDs?

 

[4-earredwonder]

Has anyone gotten their set who ordered from Import CDs?

My set arrived today from Deep Discount .... ImportCD's sister company. You should receive it soon. BTW, arrived in PERFECTO condition!

 

[GOS]

Has anyone gotten their set who ordered from Import CDs?

Have they even shipped yours yet?

 

[ar surround]

Have they even shipped yours yet?

My wife bought it for my birthday, so she has the order. She's not gonna tell me because she will wants to see me drool when it finally gets here. I'm salivating after hearing @edisonbaggins review of the title track. It is my favorite Beatles song.

 

[madship]

Mine arrived yesterday from DD DVD. I thoroughly enjoyed the 5.1 and down mixed ATMOS mixes. They were my first hearing for most of the songs. I liked I Me Mine best of the songs I had not heard before.

Somehow most of the individual disc sleeve were damages in packing or shipping. Which is weird because there was no other damage to the rest of the set.

 

[mattB2]

Mine arrived yesterday from DD DVD. I thoroughly enjoyed the 5.1 and down mixed ATMOS mixes. They were my first hearing for most of the songs. I liked I Me Mine best of the songs I had not heard before.

Somehow most of the individual disc sleeve were damages in packing or shipping. Which is weird because there was no other damage to the rest of the set.

View attachment 72732

I had the same problem with CD1 - the sleeve looked as though it had been forced into the slot and had ripped the edge (similar to the third one down in your picture). Luckily the other discs had been inserted with a bit more care.

 

[sjcorne]

I thought it'd be interesting to compare the new 5.1 mix of "Let It Be" with the prior multichannel version from the 1/1+ Blu-Ray set. It's hard to believe these were mixed by the same team!

The new mix has Paul's lead vocal and the guitar solo isolated in the center speaker (with some support in the front channels as well), whereas the older mix barely uses it at all. I tried soloing the center and it sounds like a low-level mono summation of the front channels, like on those old Miller Nevada DTS-CD's that used transfers of '70s quad mixes.

On the 2021 remix, the rear speakers are deployed for isolated choir, brass, keyboard, and organ. If you mute the rears, all of those elements disappear. There's a particularly cool moment at 1:45 where the keyboard in the left rear channel is answered by the church organ in the right rear channel. The 1/1+ mix also features isolated choir and brass in the rears, but both elements can be heard at slightly lower level in the front channels.

"Let It Be" (2015 1/1+ 5.1):

"Let It Be" (2021 Let It Be 5.1):

As with Abbey Road, one of the coolest aspects of the new 5.1 mix for me is being able to hear Billy Preston's contributions isolated in the rear speakers. The electric piano part throughout "Get Back" in particular really stands out in a way I hadn't noticed before. Great work by Giles & Sam!

 

[Quadwreck]

Well I think “Two of Us” is a great quintessential Beatles song and has always been one of my favorites on the album.

And is Doris a horse, or just some lucky randy bird?

Doris Day, as referenced in "Dig It".

 

[Guy Robinson]

Cracked open this astounding box set an hour ago and am listening to LET IN BE in 5.1. And to my ears .... A TOTAL TRIUMPH!

And Markie, you're not alone in luvin' the 5.1 remix. Here's blu~ray.com's review of the box set [they MUCH preferred the 5.1 over the ATMOS remix]:

The Beatles: Let It Be Blu-ray (Super Deluxe Edition | Blu-ray Audio)

The Beatles: Let It Be Blu-ray Release Date October 15, 2021 (Super Deluxe Edition | Blu-ray Audio). Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. Cheap Blu-ray movies and deals.

www.blu-ray.com

Thanks for the link to the review. Their bias seems to be mainly volume related. I actually took the 5.1 and using Audacity expanded it out to 7.1. It sounds even better than the 5.1 to me and the best of all the mixes.

 

[ar surround]

Thanks for the link to the review. Their bias seems to be mainly volume related. I actually took the 5.1 and using Audacity expanded it out to 7.1. It sounds even better than the 5.1 to me and the best of all the mixes.

Nice! So what did you do to expand it to 7.1 in Audacity? Any trickery other than duplicating the surrounds?

 

[Guy Robinson]

Nice! So what did you do to expand it to 7.1 in Audacity? Any trickery other than duplicating the surrounds?

Just duplicated the 2 rear channels into the back channels. Imported it as a 24 bit 8 channel wav file. A wav because my receiver does not recognize 8 channel 24 bit flac files.

 

[marcb]

Oh boy, a little complicated, thank you.

It’s not that complicated. Simply put, the finished songs from the Let It Be sessions ended up on Let It Be. The unfinished songs from those sessions which were finished a little later during the Abbey Road sessions ended up on Abbey Road.

 

[stormchaser]

I'll just echo previous comments that this is a triumph. While I have always, and WILL always find this to be a flawed album, this version sounds amazingly intimate and has startling clarity at times. I have only listened to the ATMOS mix so far and find it wonderfully immersive but not at all gimmicky.

 

[stereoptic]

LIB was indeed released after Abbey Road. But the Abbey Road sessions were done sometime after the the LIB project. George Martin produced Abbey Road. He was not involved in LIB. It was produced by Phil Spector. There are some tracks that were rehearsed during the LIB sessions that showed up on Abbey Road.

Good info, except that George Martin was involved with some of the recording process at Apple and the rooftop performance. More than I realized! It is documented in the book included with the boxset.

 

[citysoundman]

I've been listening to the 5.1 release, and overall really love it! Honestly I never gave this album much of a listen before from beginning to end. The surround mix is fun to listen to, with nice separation in the rears that let you hear Billy's piano and provide a nice spread for the guitars. The album really starts with a bang - the mix on Two Of Us is spectacular! Ringo's kick drum just punches right through and the vocals and guitars sound warm and just beautiful. Then Dig A Pony also sounds amazing. Across The Universe is a beautiful song but I've never liked whatever treatment they put on John and his guitar, it just sounds phasey and cold. If you've heard the alternate take, last track on CD6 on the 2018 White album release you can hear John in all his natural beauty and it is awesome!

They did a very nice job also on the scrap book graphics that slowly unfurl, a nice touch.