The Beatles Remasters: Mono or Stereo

p0mt3 wrote: Padraic wrote: mystic fred wrote: Padraic wrote: Negoba wrote: I heard some limiting was done, which makes me nervous....   I think I read somewhere (please don't quote me ), that at least on the mono version, absolutely no limiting was done.  May also be true for the stereo version, but I don't know for sure.     putting  24bit remasters on 16bit CD's must  involve some limiting   It doesn't. Well, it doesn't NEED limiting, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they did use some limiting on the stereo releases to created the illusion of 'fullness' to compensate for the lower bit rate. I could be crazy, though. Who knows.

Well you ARE crazy, but you could also be right. 

Padraic wrote: mystic fred wrote: Padraic wrote: Negoba wrote: I heard some limiting was done, which makes me nervous....   I think I read somewhere (please don't quote me ), that at least on the mono version, absolutely no limiting was done.  May also be true for the stereo version, but I don't know for sure.     putting  24bit remasters on 16bit CD's must  involve some limiting   It doesn't.

Well, it doesn't NEED limiting, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they did use some limiting on the stereo releases to created the illusion of 'fullness' to compensate for the lower bit rate.

I could be crazy, though. Who knows.

Padraic wrote: Negoba wrote: I heard some limiting was done, which makes me nervous....   I think I read somewhere (please don't quote me ), that at least on the mono version, absolutely no limiting was done.  May also be true for the stereo version, but I don't know for sure.

I am definitely interested in acquiring one of the box sets.  The big negative with the mono boxset is that it's about $50 more expensive - and then I still have to get the stereo remasters of Abbey Road and Let It Be.

^very true, but stereo in 1965 was not what it is today, it was still an experimental novelty, though i used to love playing with the balance control on these recordings..

Edited by mystic fred - September 10 2009 at 11:25

@Man Erg: Transferred them to iPod as mpeg4 and listened to them via earphones. I've finished listening to all of them and my overall impression has not changed, it's absolutely fantastic. 

I should be receiving my Stereo box set in the mail soon.  Can't wait!

Now, I have managed to hear some uploaded songs via youtube that are apparently from these new remasters, and I have enjoyed immensely what I have heard so far. Some of the vocal issues I have had with the previous mixes have been fixed, with double-tracked, left-and-right channel vocals present the majority of the time. However, some songs still feature vocals in only one channel, though the overall mix and master is much crisper, and you can hear a helluva lot more Bass, I noticed right away.

But I'll give a more indepth review once my copies arrive, whenever that is. Either way, it's going to be worth it because the production values and packaging are clearly much better quality from what we've already got. Plus, I haven't but one original Beatles Compact Disc, so this will be my first true CD collection of The Beatle's works. The only way I've had the entire discography before is on Vinyl.

Got the stereo box yesterday and spent most of the night listening to the whole lot, just lying on the couch and having a great time.

The Beatles Remasters

I originally posted this in The Shed 2

Apple goes a bit pear-shaped

'I would go as far as saying that the boffins at Capitol/Abbey Road have missed a trick.They have fallen at the first fence.
There should be a sticker on the albums from Rubber Soul through to and including Revolver saying 'Buyer Beware!'
There is a bit more punch and they are less tinny,but they (the remasterers) have not sorted out the vocal seperation that has blighted the stereo cds since they were issued.

For example; Revolver. 'Eleanor Rigby' Paul McCartney keeps his voice in a jar by the door in the corner of a very large room. The seperation/channeling of McCartney's vocals is so extreme that I checked the input connection on my speakers! Listening to it on head/earphones is useless. In these times where most people listen to music on headphones,you would think that the boffins would have considered this.
A few tracks on Revolver suffer badly from seperation but,suprisingly,most of the tracks had the vocals double tracked left and right and sound fine.

I am still going to buy the first four albums, I bought A Hard Days Night and that sound very good, and I will also buy the albums from Sgt Pepper onwards. The reason for this is that the first four albums were never rebungled for stereo and the last four were recorded when the Fab Four suddenly took an interest in stereo recording.Previously,the band never wanted the albums to be recorded/mastered in stereo.

I have 'Japanese' 'remasters' in mono and stereo of all of the Beatles albums and I must say that on the whole I prefer the mono versions.
They have a warmer,fuller sound. The White album sounds great both in stereo and in mono. The subsequent albums were never recorded in mono.    

Back To Mono '

Edited by Man Erg - September 10 2009 at 02:22

Y'all are surely whetting my appetite.  Maybe I'll pick up a couple tomorrow.  Probably start with Rubber Soul and Revolver, then work my way backwards and forwards.