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BEATLES CD sound quality.... (1 Viewer)

BarryM

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Mar 25, 2002
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Barry Margolis
Here's my opinion: the 1987 CDs were the best at that time. The first 4 were in mono (I refuse to own these), and "Help" and "Rubber Soul" were slightly remixed. "Help" is mellower sounding than the other 1987 titles and "Rubber Soul" is no better, but has some slightly toward-center remixing to correct some of the horrible location choices George Martin made at the time.

The newer "Yellow Submarine" CD really does sound substantially better than the earlier issues; bright, loud and just top-of-the-line sonically.

I don't own "One"....don't need those tracks again.

I wish they would simply remix and repair ALL of the LPs...add the singles-only tracks on the albums that were issued at the time, and delete the "Past Masters" CDs (which, fo course, would be unneccessary).

Barry
 

Michael St. Clair

Senior HTF Member
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I don't want anything remixed...I just want remasters of the original mono versions of my favorites:

Help!

Rubber Soul

Revolver

Sgt. Pepper's

White Album

If anybody knows the best way for me to get decent mono versions of these in the meantime without spending a thousand dollars on good quality original pressings, please let me know!
 

Derek Miner

Screenwriter
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Feb 22, 1999
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I read somewhere that George Martin insisted that they use circa-early 70s analog mixing equipment for the Anthology tracks.
That might be true in some part, but not completely. One of my biggest peeves with the Anthology series is that they dug up some previously completed mixes and threw them on the set. They stand out like a sore thumb if you're familiar with them.

Some of the more notable ones are "That Means a Lot," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and "Come and Get It". These were originally mixed for the aborted "Sessions" album in the early '80s. Oddly enough, other mixes from the same batch were scrapped and done fresh on the Anthologies, "If You've Got Troubles," I think, and "One After 909" for sure.
 

Ryan L B

Supporting Actor
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Feb 5, 2002
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870
go to a pawn shop or a antique shop or look for a yard sale and you could find the original copys of the records with out paying much.
 

Scott Merryfield

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If we took a CD of the Beatles and carefully ran it back through a tube preamp and the RIAA curve and then into a Neumann disc cutting head onto nice 180-gram vinyl, would it sound like the much talked-about Beatles LPs? Would this process get rid of any digital 'harshness'?
No, but you would hear the phrase "Paul is dead". :D
 

Anthony Hom

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 24, 1999
Messages
890
Also about the bad mixes from Sessions, they even included the edit Not Guilty, its the same one. I kind of wondered just how much approval they actually got from the 3 upon hearing the final mixes. What got me is how they created a more complete You Know My Name and ended up faded it out sooner than the original ending.

I have all the original Lps when they were pressed in the 70's and sold as Capitol Imports. Of other note is a German Magical Mystery Tour from that time sounds just as good as the CD, very clean and good bass. Also there was a Japanese LP box set that had such a good sound. Yesterday never sounded so clear, I ended up liking that song again.
 

Larry Geller

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
608
Also there was a Japanese LP box set that had such a good sound
Had that set & got rid of it-whereas the vinyl quality was superb, the mastering was at least one generation removed from the same UK box (I assume you are referring to the blue Beatles Collection) or the MFSL box.
 

Derek Miner

Screenwriter
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Feb 22, 1999
Messages
1,662
What got me is how they created a more complete You Know My Name and ended up faded it out sooner than the original ending.
Yeah, that was lame as well. They went to the trouble of creating a stereo mix and then cutting out parts that were in the original version. I realize they felt that the casual fan would not want a long version of such an unusual track, but they did such a bad job with it.

I've always felt that they should come up with a collection for the die-hard fans with some tracks that the casual listener might not be interested in. A full version of "12 Bar Original," the full "You Know My Name," the full "Christmas Time Is Here Again"...

Oh, and since you mentioned the "Sessions" version of "Not Guilty," I'll also point out that the "demo" version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was also an edit. The original take had a cold ending, but when "Sessions" was prepared, they took a guitar phrase and repeated it through a fade out, which is what you hear on the Anthology.
 

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