The Beatles - The Beatles Stereo Box Set
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Free Music Notes for The Beatles Stereo Box Set
Free Music Review: This is how music should sound
Hit: 5 Stars
The 'holy scripture' of recorded music, the Beatles catalog has finally received the right treatment. Even though the remastered mono box set is also an absolute must-have, I still feel that the stereo remastered box set is the ultimate in music.
In this review, I'll focus on the sound quality, as it is the absolute selling feature of this set (yes, the presentation/packaging is also nice, but it contributes only 0.001% of the overall lure). And of course, the quality and the significance of the Beatles music has been discussed to no end, so I'll keep that aspect at the minimum here.
Let me start by saying that the sound quality on these CDs is to die for. As a matter of fact, I'd be hard pressed to find a better sounding CD in my vast collection (the one that does come to mind is Mike Oldfield's 'needle drop' remaster of his original 1974 "Hergest Ridge" CD). There is an unmatched sweetness of the sound that oozes from many tracks off many of these CDs. I'm not sure what was it that the remastering team did to these CDs, but they've definitely managed to imbibe a lot of musicality and just overall sweetness in the sound that is packed on these CDs.
And, as I've noted in the title of this review, this is exactly how I feel music should sound when reproduced on a home stereo system. It should sound full-bodied, punchy, lucid, present, well rounded, sweet, non-harsh, and yet at the same time in-your-face. These CDs bring all these qualities in troves. They are indeed worth every penny.
Some people feel that these remasters sound as good as I've just described them only on a high-end audio system. And while I am indeed using an esoteric, hand built high end audio system for reviewing these remastered, I should also hasten to add that I've first heard some of the remastered tracks on a crappy Starbucks sound system on September 9, 2009, when I was visiting Manhattan with my wife. And even then, I fell off my chair when I heard "Thank You Girl". The presence of John's and Paul's vocals was cutting though even on a crappy Starbucks sound system, despite the ambient noises coming from the espresso grinders!
I knew right then and there that the engineers had managed to do wonders with the Beatles catalog. Needless to say, I rushed out and bought the remasters on the spot.
Tons of digital ink have already been spilled describing the improvements these remasters have brought in terms of deeper, warmer, punchier bass, as well as snappier drums (especially Ringo's snare drum). And while I agree with these assessments, I still am convinced that the biggest victories have been won on the vocal front. Where I hear the biggest improvements is in the way John's, Paul's and George's voices are now cutting through. On many remastered tracks, you can now literally see the vocalists as if they are physically singing in your room. The clarity of the vocal delivery is beyond amazing, it is simply magical.
One thing you will notice on these remastered tracks is how careful the Beatles were (and especially John Lennon) with pronouncing each and every consonant while singing. You can now hear very clearly how meticulous John was when signing the word 'world' (for example, when singing "Revolution"); pay attention to how he goes out of his way to pronounce 'd' at the end of the 'worlD'. It's uncanny!
Many other exciting, even exhilarating discoveries await you as you may listen though this remastered catalog. Another startling discovery will be in the percussion area. You'll hear amazing dynamic range that a simple instrument, such as tambourine, can deliver on tracks such as "Day Tripper", "You've Gotta Hide Your Love Away", "Norwegian Wood", "Hey Jude" etc.
You will also be startled by the electro shocks you'll now hear when listening to the guitar solos on "Got To Get You Into My life", "Good Morning Good Morning", "Taxman", and so on. The electric guitar now truly leaps out of the speakers, you can reach out and touch it, it is so three-dimensional on these remastered tracks.
Oddly enough, there are several tracks, few and in-between, where it is getting difficult to detect any improvements. I don't know how to explain that phenomenon, seeing how most of the material delivers such a phenomenal, incomparable improvement. A surprising example would be "I Am The Walrus". I was expecting to be bowled over by the remastered version, but my listening experience didn't reveal much difference. there are several other tracks where I failed to detect significant improvements. Overall, however, these are very few and in-between, and thus cannot affect the overall glorious improvements.
Other good news is that these remastered tracks have not succumbed to the egregious 'loudness wars', which means that it is now very easy to do a comparative listen between the remastered stere and mono tracks. They are almost always at the same, or similar loudness level (very surprisingly, many of the mono remasters sound a bit louder than their stereo counterparts). This is great, as we don't have to level-adjust the volume when we want to skip from a mono version of the song to the stereo version, and vice versa. I find these back-to-back comparative listens very revealing, as I'm now learning more about the Beatles esthetics and what the four lads were considering worthy of releasing to the audience. Many of the mono versions sound a bit more compact than the stereo version, but many mono tracks do lose some of the musical details in favor of presenting a coherent picture.
My biggest shock came when comparing stereo "Paperback Writer" to the much more famous mono version. I was expecting the mono version to wipe the floor with the stereo version, but to my ears, the stereo version somehow delivers more punch than the mono does. This despite the prevailing lore of the urban legend which claims that the definitive version of this song is mono.
Same goes, to a certain extent, with the mono Sgt. Pepper's. Urban legend would have you believed that you haven't lived until you've experienced the mono Pepper. But to my ears, stereo Pepper still sounds better and delivers more punch and color. For example, the mono version of "Sgt. Pepper's Reprise" carries almost cartoonish vocals, while the stereo version really rocks the house!
In conclusion, I think every household must have this stereo box set, as this is indeed the best conceived, composed, executed and recorded music on the planet. And now with the refurbished and remastered sound, it truly delivers the sweetest, most angelic sounding music ever recorded! Run and buy this box, if you haven't already. then, after you've experienced all the greatness it contains, think some more about acquiring the mono version of the same catalog, since it also contains some additional details and sweetness not necessarily found in the stereo set.
Free Music Review: My Personal Experience [so far] . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
Forget the naysayers pining for complete remixes, all the great things you've heard about these remasters are true. What follows are simply my impressions of what I have heard so far.
First off, I'm a 45 year-old Beatle "freak" and I was going to buy the stereo box set without question. Upon hearing a portion of this collection [see below], I've also ordered the mono collection. Yeah, it's that good. I'm no audiophile or purist, but I do care about sound quality and I do seek to gain the best equipment I can without going insane price-wise [I'd classify my gear as slightly upper middle class, no better].
Thus far, I've listened to five of these discs -- in whole or in part -- in three different situations: a 5.1 home theater/stereo configuration, a 5.1 computer "surround sound" set up off the shelf from Best Buy, and on the 4 year-old, factory-issued speakers in my Ford vehicle.
For what they're worth, here are my impressions:
HARD DAY'S NIGHT. This was the first disc I played, in my van on the way home from the one & only store in my city that still had a stereo box set available. I chose this because I'm less familiar with the album and it's one I've been keen on exploring. I was bowled over ... I kept wanting to replay tracks once they'd ended, but I was too anxious to hear what was next to do so. The acoustic guitars just shimmered, and the vocal separation amazed me. You can really hear the individual backing vocal contributions with great clarity [assuming you can distinguish George's voice from, say, John's], and yet the harmonies are intact and present. It was a very "intimate" listening experience, that's how I can best describe it.
TAXMAN [from REVOLVER]. I also gave this song a whirl on the way home. It sounded pristine and great, but not amazing -- not that different from my past experience with this track.
HELP! Meh. I listened to this via the computer, which perhaps was a mistake. The vocals were WAY separated and "floaty" from the instrumental elements, and there seemed to be far too much echo. I fiddled lots with my controls, but I couldn't seem to make this CD sound "right." Hopefully, this will sound or mesh better on the home system...
RUBBER SOUL. Okay, now THIS was a shocker. Listened on the home system, several times over, just tonight. The "artificial" stereo of the original mix [vocals on one side, instrumentals on another] IS annoying, and this isn't much corrected on the remaster. What IS corrected is the harsh, tinny sound my original CD spat out. The entire record seems more mellow and listenable now. On the old CD, songs like Nowhere Man and In My Life seemed almost grating, as the vocals were just SO tinny. Here, they are life-like, well-rounded, and not at all harsh on the ear. I feel like I can finally enjoy these songs & harmonies again! Also notable, here and on most everything I've heard thus far, is the acoustic guitar sound. Imagine Paul seated on a stool, plucking away ... now imagine yourself seated in front of him, a foot or two away ... the sound is *that* close and detailed, it's simply wonderful.
SGT PEPPER. Sampled a few tracks in the van this afternoon. I'm going to have to give this a more dedicated listen, as I wasn't bowled over. Paul's vocal in the title track was much more "real" and life-like, but in general this sounded like the same track I've grown up with, as did Within You, Without You and When I'm Sixty-Four. Can't say I was listening very closely, but based on this extremely-limited exposure, I wasn't bowled over. One interesting thing, though: once the initial "crowd" noise subsided and the band kicked in, the bass sound very nearly blew my speakers. It was WAY powerful and I had to quickly find the dashboard control to lower the bass level & reduce the factory-issued speaker distortion. That was kind of interesting ...
THE WHITE ALBUM. THIS was a revelation. Actually, that's an understatement. It was so good I listened to the entire double-album thrice -- twice on my home system and once on the computer. A song like "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" completely blew my mind, I felt like I'd NEVER really heard that song before. The piano on songs like "Martha My Dear" is so clear, I feel as if I'm leaning over the opened lid of a Steinway, hearing the pedals strike each string. I cannot even begin to describe "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" ... I stood in the middle of the living room just SWIRLING within and completely overwhelmed by this song. If you haven't yet, you're just going to have to experience this for yourself, using your favorite Beatle album or song as a barometer. The White Album also provided me with the best examples so far of what HEFT the Paul/Ringo rhythm section packed. Ringo, especially -- the "heavy" songs on this disc [Yer Blues, Helter Skelter, etc.] just REALLY knock you for a loop with how solid they are. It's like a hard punch right in the chest, and it's something I've never really experienced whilst listening to the Beatles before.
... And that's it. I've not listened to any more of this collection, and my impressions so far have been so fantastic I have no desire to rush the experience. As someone who has hunted down and captured every single known bootleg & outtake associated with The Beatles, and as one who grew up listening to them on vinyl and more recently on CD, I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard this music in quite this way, before. I've not "done" any of these tracks on headphones yet, though I can say I'm really looking forward to THAT experience, too.
All of the comments on the packaging are dead-on, this collection is lovingly delivered and I feel as if my money was well-spent in that regard. The "mini-documentaries" are fun but a bit of a waste for those who already own the Anthology DVDs. Each gives a nice & very general overview of the band at the time of the album's creation, and watching the separate DVD disc included in the stereo box [which features all clips & can be watched as a whole] gives one a pretty good -- but very limited -- overview of the band's growth and progression over the years. Aside from the odd rare photos and video clips featured in these, the mini-docs will primarily appeal to Beatle newbies, I think.
If you are a real Beatles fan, I highly recommend picking up the stereo box set. If you're a more casual fan, definitely buy a disc or two and see what you think. My bet is you'll be returning for more, one day:)
Free Music Review: Stereo vs. Mono? Definitely get the stereo set. Make your own mono instead!
Hit: 5 Stars
So I purchased both sets, stereo and mono. In my honest opinion, I prefer the sound quality of the stereo set to the mono set by a huge margin. To my sensitive ears, listening side by side (so to speak) through a good preamp and good cans between the new stereo box set, the new mono box set and the previous 1987 releases, IMO the mono set sounds only marginally better than the previous 1987 cds... you really have to listen carefully for the subtle differences. There is a better low end there for sure, but the difference is not night and day. The stereo set is the real standout. It sounds amazingly clean, clear and warm with clarity, definition, depth and details not present in the 1987 releases. In most respects, it sounds better than recordings of music done with the most modern equipment rather than these which were recorded up to 46 years ago! (can you believe that?)... seriously. You will not believe it until you strap the cans on and hear this for yourself!
Yes, the simple panned stereo versions of "Please Please Me" and "With the Beatles" and some of the later albums take some getting used to (especially with headphones). But they don't have to. I decided to conduct an experiment to see what I thought sounded better - the mono versions just as they are or the stereo versions combined into mono and then more balanced stereo mixes. Intrigued? Read on.
What I did was rip the stereo versions of "Please Please Me" and "With the Beatles" to WAV files. I loaded those rips into SoundForge (which is a commercial audio editing program) but you can likely use a free program like Audacity instead (which is available via audacity dot sourceforge dot net). I combined the left and right channels into a single mono channel at an average of 62%, checked that no peaks were clipped on each track and saved the resulting mono WAV files. (at this point, you could encode them into whatever format you like such as MP3 or FLAC or whatever).
In my honest opinion, the results of my self-made stereo-to-mono tracks were easily as good as what the audio sounds like straight from the mono set for the first two albums I tried this on, Please Please Me and With the Beatles. The punch of the original mono set was all there, but it lacked the depth of the stereo.
So instead of going completely mono, I also tried to balance the panned stereo effect, but keep the tracks with some separation. In SoundForge, I combined the stereo channels at 62% left and 50% right for left channel and 50% left and 62% right for the right channel. The results are still stereo, but a more natural sounding mix than the highly panned original. To me, it sounds better than the mono. You may not agree, but for me this was the best solution for having the best possible sound quality and depth (from the stereo set) and yet not have the distracting issue of the especially primitively panned unbalanced stereo present on those albums (and some tracks on later ones as well). I will likely revisit this procedure and experiment with different percentage ratios as my time permits.
With A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale, I find the stereo versions better than the mono without having to make them mono or combine the channels to balance the stereo as I described above. Even though the instruments may be panned they are not nearly as unbalanced as they are on the first two albums and most importantly, the vocals are perfectly centered - and to me, that makes all the difference in the world.
Tracks on Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper, The Magical Mystery Tour and the White Album sound just great in stereo but some tracks do suffer from a heavier panned effect than others. I will likely try combining stereo channels on some tracks from these albums as I previously described above and see how I like the results.
Abbey Road sounds just amazing in it's stereo version! No issues with that.
I haven't listened to Yellow Submarine, Let It Be or the Past Masters yet, so I cannot comment on these yet.
Overall, so far I found the sound quality of the set to be clear, rich and exceptional. The difference in audio quality between this set and the 1987 releases is astonishing. You will hear things that just were not there before. I know it's cliché and that others have said it in their reviews, but it's true!... It's like hearing the fab four for the first time all over again! A good analogy would be that it's as if they peeled the thin plastic protective layer from the screen of a new phone to reveal the pristine, shiny glass beneath. That's what these discs sound like compared with the 1987 releases.
Honestly, this whole mono vs. stereo thing could have been avoided by combining them into one set. It's not like it would have cost them significantly extra to do that and it would have satisfied just about everyone with one set. I'm giving the set five stars, but I would give it 4.5 stars if I could just because of the unnecessary dual release that could have easily been avoided. And yes, it would be nice to have this on SACD or DVD audio. And yes, full, balanced stereo remixes would have been even better IMO. Still, I am VERY VERY VERY happy and massively impressed with the sound of these discs. There is simply no way I can explain how much better these sound over the 1987 counterparts. If you have decent equipment and decent hearing, it is likely that you'll instantly love them.
So I can't help but recommend the stereo set for all except the purists who would balk at what I suggested for the sake of the history of the mixes, etc. IMO, if you want the best possible audio quality and depth, go for the stereo set. Optionally, and if you have the ability, try making your own mono or balanced mixes for the first two cds (and possibly some tracks on others). Whatever your choice or preference, Happy Listening!
Free Music Review: Armchair Audio Engineers should Shut-up and enjoy!
Hit: 5 Stars
At the time that I wrote this review I hadn't bought either of the box sets yet, but I had listened to them with friends on my system, and others. I've since bought the stereo box, and hope to get the mono box after tax time. Still, my original observations about some of the ludicrous assertions by some reviewers and why you should buy these sets still holds true.
One of the most stupid comparisons to date is that the Capitol Box sets sound better. Well, they do if you love over-compression, and harmonic distortion, particularly on Meet the Beatles and 2nd, (this is how we first heard the Beatles in this country by way of the Capitol engineers attempt to 'improve' the recordings with added compression and reverb for American listeners). I do own the Capitol sets, because I'm nostalgic that way, not because they were superior recordings.
If you are hearing mud out of these new re-masters, either you have a crap system, no real reference as to how music should sound, or you need a Q-tip to get all of that wax out of your head.
As a RE-MASTER, NOT A REMIX, this sounds great! Granted, I would love to see the catalog remixed, ala Yellow Submarine Songtrack as an optional set down the road, but these are THE original two-channel mixes, pumped and filtered a bit, but not in a heavy handed way and to the benefit of the material overall. And unlike their vinyl and 1987 CD counterparts, the low frequencies have not been attenuated.
Then there are the the audiophiles that pontificate as to how horrible this set sounds compared to the original vinyl and 1987 CD's, (usually in broad technical terms that they often misuse). Please remember; audiophiles only believe in vinyl and tubes and all else is false and defective audio-wise. To admit that a CD can sound better than vinyl would be an admission that they may be wrong about vinyl superiority and sound in general (and spending 100,000.00 on a turntable does not give you gravitas). Most are not engineers, or musicians, and don't really know what music really sounds like, they just know what they like, and take those likes as gospel. I'm pretty sure that these same people would find fault with even the original source masters. So disregard these 'experts' and get this box set! If it sounds bad to you, double check your system and your ears.
I am an active recording/mastering engineer,(about 30 years now) and an active musician (about 40 years, and I play three instruments), and a die-hard audiophile for the last 46 years (although I now prefer being called an audio enthusiast, as audiophiles are now viewed as snobs and loonies in most circles) and I really like what I am hearing on these discs, including the Mono CD's.
I think the other complaints stem from a change to the familiar. These do sound different from the original issues, (better I think), with enough difference to put some listeners out of their comfort zone, (something like,"it should sound the way I remember, not like a new release").
Funny thing is, I used to have all but a few Beatle albums on pre-recorded open reel tape, which sounded much better than the vinyl at the time (still do), and these CD's put me in mind of the quality level of some of those tapes. The few I still have do sound better than the original CD releases, and much better than the vinyl ( these are the Capitol duplicated tapes, not the later Ampex tapes). My few audiophile friends have been stunned with how great the old tapes sound, but are unhappy with the re-mastered CD's that sound frighteningly like those tapes, but with better clarity and warmth. Go figure.
The other stupid comments I've seen is that there are songs missing. Hello! These are Parlophone/EMI versions of the albums. Open up the Past Masters discs, and I think you'll find the missing tunes, genius.
One more thing regarding the hard-panned stereo mixes; if you compare these recordings to the previous versions, you will note the material is somewhat softer panned than before. This type of mix was not unique to George Martin. I have many early stereo releases that are very strangely panned, or hard panned. It was the nature, I think, for record producers to get the most exaggerated stereo effect possible in those days. The Beatle mixes are mild in comparison to many records I have from the same time period.
As to the Mono box, this is not for everyone. Those of us that remember the mono mixes will find this collection priceless and a welcome addition. These were real mixes, not just an engineer combining the left and right channels together, and they differ from the stereo mixes in most cases, in that some things are more predominant or forward in the mix. They do sound different, but I think that these mixes will be better appreciated by those few of us that can remember those versions, and some new initiates with good ears.
One of the more moronic criticisms state that 'you can't clearly distinguish the instruments or vocals in the mono mix' and then call it 'muddy sounding'. Yo! idiot! It's MONAURAL! ONE CHANNEL! It's not muddy or confused, it's the nature of mono. You get more cancellation in a mono mix. These sound like they are supposed to, the way we originally heard The Beatles on our radios, Mono record players and HiFi sets, only much better (minus the Capitol engineers addition of reverb and compression).
BEWARE OF THE CHINESE COUNTERFEITS! At a certain auction site, that's all I could find! If it's selling for 100.00 and the thing says 'Made in EU' , run, don't walk back to Amazon, or a reputable seller.
Once you're sure you've found a legitimate version, buy the CD's and enjoy. Just remember, It's Getting Better All The Time! (Now if we could only see a remastered copy of 'Rarities' someday). Cheers!
Free Music Review: The Beatles Remastered - but should they have been Remixed?
Hit: 5 Stars
I've had the Beatles Stereo Box set for nearly 3 months now, and have listened to all the albums a number of times through and feel compelled to post my feedback to help anyone unsure about taking the $175.99 financial 'plunge'....
In fairness, I have to admit to being a dedicated Beatles fan (for the past 40 years) - so I'm not going to give an unbiased view on the music collected together here in one place...it's a true treasure trove.
However, I do back up the point a number of other reviewers have put forward that, whisper it, some of these remasters don't actually sound that good - they're better than the 1987 releases, without a shadow of a doubt - but let's face it, it would be difficult for them not to sound better after 22 years of CD development!
Now don't misunderstand me, several albums in this Box Set sound substantially better compared to the late 1980's digital releases:
ABBEY ROAD is now a very satisfying, detailed and dynamic listen - this is especially apparent when you hear the musical 'duel' of guitars and drums that make up the album closer 'The End' - in truth, every track on this remaster is far better than the muddy mix on the 1987 CD.
THE BEATLES (White Album) now delivers a fine stereo image with real 'studio depth' and lots of power to vocals, Lead guitars and Bass guitar - beating the 1987 2CD set quite easily.
SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND is now far more balanced as a stereo listen, especially satisfying on Headphones - all the instruments and vocals now sound believable and crisp, with Paul's melodic Bass playing really jumping forward - it makes the 1987 CD version redundant.
RUBBER SOUL and REVOLVER have a number of highlights - as does the PAST MASTERS set.....but the earlier albums, from PLEASE PLEASE ME to HELP! and the final LET IT BE disc are (at times) not really in the same sonic ball-park.
Now, how could I possibly be so critical of the sound on this Box Set? - Well, I've no doubts that the Abbey Road team have done their best - but they have simply squeezed the maximum they can out of 40 to 47 year old Album Master Tapes.
In comparison, over the past 5 years or so we have been treated to the remastered back catalogue of a growing number of equally prominant Artists such as The Doors (on DMC), Elvis Presley (on FTD) and The Rolling Stones (on ABKO) who, after initial 'slap-dash' releases in the 1980's and 1990's have all finally done justice to their heritage by making every effort to trawl tape vaults and sound archives to find, wherever possible, the First Generation Session Multi-tracks to Remix fresh Album Masters - anyone owning any number of these CD's will bear witness to the fact that as a consequence of all this extra effort, they sound truly 'STUNNING' - sounding like they were recorded yesterday....
In fact this technique isn't anything new to the Beatles' Technical Team either, the very same work was done on the 'Yellow Submarine - Songtrack' Album as well as the 'Let it Be - Naked' release - which is why they both sound superior to their respective 2009 remasters.
As such, I feel an opportunity has been lost to make this release a truly definitive one, especially when the Technical Lead for the Remaster Project at Abbey Road (Allan Rouse) has been quoted as saying (in the latest October 2009 U.K.issue of The Record Collector Magazine) that the Remastering process for all the Albums only took around 3 months - not the 4 years that is so often quoted in many reviews...it seems there was plenty of time to provide Remixed Album Masters from the Original 2, 4 and 8 track Session Multi-tracks....but this fantastic opportunity wasn't taken - perhaps it was stopped by the surviving members of the Group - but it's a real shame it didn't happen.....
So, is it worth buying this Stereo Box Set? Well, yes it is.....each CD album is held within its own glossy digipack which includes informative liner notes in a booklet stored within...the outer box (with its outer slip-case and magnetic securing clasp) has been beautifully designed and manufactured - as a result, the whole package gives the owner plenty of user appeal...
Is this the best The Beatles' Albums have sounded on CD? Well, at the moment yes.....but if they'd been Remixed from the Original Session Multi-tracks they would have sounded even better!