Faithful Beatles remasters?
Tonebarge
most accurate.
Cheers,
TB
Ubik wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've decided it's time to study the works of my elders... I've gotten really
> into the sounds and textures of the late 60's / early 70's recordings, and
> figured the best place to begin my scholastics is with the Beatles.
>
> I bought the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, only to discover it's all remixed and
> very 'updated' sounding... not what I had in mind.
>
> So, I'd like some advice on which late-era (~Peppers) CD to get. I'd prefer
> something that's been nicely remastered, but *not* remixed. Basically, as
> faithful to the original mixes as possible.
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Greg
--
- All tribal myths are true, for a given value of "true" -
typocalypse
and so on. They isolated each Beatle's parts and put them on individual
discs. Maybe not the most fun listen, but if you're studying..
And pick up 'Beatles Recording Sessions', too.
--
'we make our own music and we're not
going around sampling people who are
either dead or in jail...' - lou reed.
Ubik <ub...@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:ubik-6333CE.2...@news.supernews.com...
Roger W. Norman
originals. The box set and subsequent releases are heavily remixed,
although if memory can possibly serve when trying to "remember" music, the 1
album is pretty good for a list of hits. Seems that was more just cleaned
up rather than remixing the tunes.
I still, however, prefer my memories of the vinyl. Come Together just
doesn't sound the same via digital. What I'd like to see are some half
speed master laquers of albums like Rubber Sole and Sgt Pepper's. I'd even
dig up my Thorens and give it a good workover for that.
--
Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
www.SirMusicStudio.com
Roger....@verizon.net
Ro...@SirMusicStudio.com
301-585-4681
www.mp3.com/buddywhite
www.mp3.com/thelivewireband
"guys, it takes a lifetime to just get just a BIT closer..."
George Massenburg
Me
go for 1k for the box set nowadays, but i agree , the MFSL abbey road has
got to be the best version of this ever, same for the rolling stones box
set,
And dont buy them and transfer them to CDF, they sound nowhere near as
good
John Deacon
Granite records
ps ebay have about 3 box sets at the moment of the beatles
Dominick Costanzo
Geoff Wood
are all the original mixes. The re-mastering situation is less clear. Maybe
the older the 'better', though the original transfers to digital were
probably less accurate than later ones (if any).
I would love to hear an authoritive discourse on Beatles CD 'quality'.
geoff
"Roger W. Norman" <rno...@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:9fieq2$6ki$1...@sshuraab-i-1.production.compuserve.com...
Geoff Wood
> John Deacon
> Granite records
Jack Czajkowski
> <<Don't forget that up to and including "Revolver" the mono mixes are key
up to and including Sgt Pepper, which is awesome powerful in mono
and thin in stereo.
Consider the White Album as well, which has significant mix differences
John S. Etnier
<jo...@sig.net> wrote:
> Theyre pretty easy to find, but the price is going up every day, they can
> go for 1k for the box set nowadays, but i agree , the MFSL abbey road has
> got to be the best version of this ever, same for the rolling stones box
> set,
And then there's the SINATRA set. Wow.
--
=============================================
John Etnier
Studio Dual
-------------------------------------
http://www.studiodual.com
=============================================
Me
tauranga, to see my family,,,,,
All the best
johnd
morinix
search the threads. you will find that the MoFi beatles stuff had a
smile curve imposed on it.
The real rock dragging across plastic freaks say that the Japanese Red
Discs are the best.
Robert Morin
Still at Alesis
A Numark Corp.
Don Cooper
>
> Don't forget that up to and including "Revolver" the mono mixes are key
Exactly. And from what I've read, for the the first few albums, the
"stereo" was nothing more than two tracks that were destined to become a
mono mix. Think of those two tracks as a multi-track.
Don
Tonebarge
Strange how these rumors start. Out of curiosity I went over to that
site and searched the entire data base for MFSL or Mobile Fidelity Sound
Lab. There wasn't one post I could find referring to what you posted.
Be that as it may, there were only four people privy to the mastering
notes on the Beatles Collection. Two are dead and I'm one of the other
two.
The difficulty for a reviewer, critic or end user in this matter is that
for their analysis to have any credibility they would have to have had
access to the +original+ masters while comparing the vinyl for EQ
changes, not withstanding the need for a very accurate playback chain.
There were so many different plants, companies and mastering engineers
out there who did the Beatles, all over the world (note: check the can
notes on the Collection for some) that it would be possible, with enough
diligence, to find whatever mastering approach spins your propeller.
With that said, and the obvious inference that what you read on the net
ain't always the truth, let me add that what you are saying in your post
is complete fucking bullshit. If you want to know details and neat
trivia then I can help you out with the truth.
Hope that helps.
Regards,
TB
morinix wrote:
--
Tonebarge
pots at the time.
Cheers,
TB
Don Cooper wrote:
--
Dominick Costanzo
morinix wrote in message
<72746f73.01060...@posting.google.com>...
>search the threads. you will find that the MoFi beatles stuff had a
>smile curve imposed on it.
?????
Original Parlophone (sp?) LP's and 45's from the UK seemed more "HiFi" than
their USA Capitol cousins, which sounded as if the low and high end were
rolled off and then the entire thing compressed to make it "louder". Sounds
familliar? Nothing changes.
Chances are USA vinyl was a tape generation or two down as well.
The MoFi stuff might be closer to the Parlophone and might sound "smiley" to
persons used to the
USA vinyl.
Of course the USA versions are the ones that were burned into my youthful
synapses by WMCA and WABC so they sound most "right" to me.
Dominick Costanzo
Jack Czajkowski wrote in message ...
True that, just compare the mono of "Revolution" (single version) to the
stereo
Not that the stereo is bad, but the effect achieved at the intro by that
crappy diode clipped fuzz guitar, close miked, heavily compressed and tape
saturated, drums and John's scream all coming up the middle in your face is
torn apart and greatly diminished by the seperation on the stereo.
Sounds like it's half as loud even though it isn't
Roger W. Norman
lathe. That's what real mastering is. Today it's something different, but
it started out making the mix sound good on turntables of questionable
quality (how many quarters are still taped to old stereo turntables in the
trash dump, do you suppose?). Also things like riding groove width so that
the tonearm wouldn't be jumping off the record. A Fletcher-Munson curve
wouldn't be a surprise in the days of vinyl.
--
Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
www.SirMusicStudio.com
Roger....@verizon.net
Ro...@SirMusicStudio.com
301-585-4681
www.mp3.com/buddywhite
www.mp3.com/thelivewireband
"guys, it takes a lifetime to just get just a BIT closer..."
George Massenburg
"morinix" <rmo...@alesis.com> wrote in message
news:72746f73.01060...@posting.google.com...
geo...@gjhsun.cl.msu.edu
much to the dismay of Martin et al. They re-arranged the order
of the tunes and even did bone-headed things like re-arrange the
order of the pictures on the cover of HELP --- not realizing that
The Beatles were using semiphores to spell out H-E-L-P !!!
Very fitting that The Beatles dressed as butchers for one of
the Capitol butcher-scrap albums --- though the surviving
members insist that it was not an intentional stmt.
morinix
You have not done a very good job at searching
http://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/t.pl?f=rock&m=4794
Robert Morin
Tonebarge <Tone...@iscweb.com> wrote in message news:<3B1E8D48...@iscweb.com>...
morinix
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/6585.html
It is strange how you are not very creative in your searches.
Robert Morin
Still at Alesis
A Numark Corp.
Tonebarge <Tone...@iscweb.com> wrote in message news:<3B1E8D48...@iscweb.com>...
Marc Wielage
the 'To' and 'Newsgroups' headers for details. ]]
On Wed, 6 Jun 2001 13:06:35 -0700, Tonebarge wrote
(in message <3B1E8D48...@iscweb.com>):
> Strange how these rumors start. Out of curiosity I went over to that
> site and searched the entire data base for MFSL or Mobile Fidelity Sound
> Lab. There wasn't one post I could find referring to what you posted.
> Be that as it may, there were only four people privy to the mastering
> notes on the Beatles Collection. Two are dead and I'm one of the other
> two.
>-------------------------------<snip happens>-----------------------------<
It's not just a rumor. I believe Stan Ricker in LA was involved with this
project. Several years ago, a vinyl-only magazine called TRACKING ANGLE, run
by Michael Fremer (now of STEREOPHILE magazine) interviewed him, and he went
on for several paragraphs about how the guy who ran Mobile Fidelity during
the 1980s made him really hype up the high-end on these records, to the point
where they were up something like 10 dB at 15kHz. (I'm going from memory,
but that's what I remember.)
Ricker was insistant that the EQ on the Beatles LPs for the MoFi set was
totally wrong, and that he was embarrassed by the entire affair. [I believe
it was Ricker who said this, but again, I'm going by memory.]
I could dig out the specific issue for the exact quote, but it'd take me
days, because I'm in the process of reorganizing my office.
But to answer the original question: probably the most reasonable thing
anybody could do at this point would be to buy the 1980s-era British boxed
set of all the Beatles' albums on vinyl -- widely available on Ebay for about
$100-$125 -- and listen to that. Those will be at least a couple hundred
bucks cheaper than what the MoFi set is going for these days, and I believe
they'll be more accurate in terms of EQ as well. But the MoFi discs do use
better vinyl, and are better in terms of pressing quality.
If you have more details, please tell us your real name and explain what you
had to do with the mastering of the Mobile Fidelity Beatles boxed LP set.
--MFW
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= Marc Wielage | "The computerized authority =-
-= MusicTrax, LLC | on rock, pop, & soul." =-
-= Chatsworth, CA | m...@musictrax.com =-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Don Cooper
Dominick Costanzo wrote:
> Original Parlophone (sp?) LP's and 45's from the UK seemed more "HiFi" than
> their USA Capitol cousins,
I bought all the Parlophone versions in the late '70's at Bleecker Bob's
in NYC.
Big difference from the USA versions!
> Of course the USA versions are the ones that were burned into my youthful
> synapses by WMCA and WABC so they sound most "right" to me.
That's what I grew up with, too. They fiddled with 'em in Hollywood, and
pressed 'em in Scranton.
Don
Don Cooper
geo...@gjhsun.cl.msu.edu wrote:
> and even did bone-headed things like re-arrange the
> order of the pictures on the cover of HELP --- not realizing that
> The Beatles were using semiphores to spell out H-E-L-P !!!
I've heard that there was no truth to that rumor (that they were
spelling anything). But I've also heard the rumor, so who knows.
> Very fitting that The Beatles dressed as butchers for one of
> the Capitol butcher-scrap albums --- though the surviving
> members insist that it was not an intentional stmt.
Apparently another Beatles "Urban Legend".
One thing I do remember is that the USA releases were "prepared for
release in the USA by William Miller (?)" or words to that effect on the
back cover. When John was killed, Billboard magazine "featured" a very
tiny tribute deep in following issue. The cover said "Number One
Awards", or something. The tribute was written by this same man.
Apparently, when John was on his five year hiatus from the music
business, he said "Life doesn't end when your subscription to Billboard
runs out". they returned the favor, I suppose. pretty weird, since every
other magazine from Time to Newsweek to Rolling stone featured John on
the cover that week.
I haven't been a big Billboard fan since then.
Don
Don Cooper
Tonebarge wrote:
>
> There were also the three track mono versions. Left, Right, Center. No pan
> pots at the time.
When did that begin? When I worked at A1 in 1979 they still had some of
those three tracks. Wild stuff!
Don
Tonebarge
Cheers,
TB
--
Tonebarge
for $15.00" didn't get read. Be that as it may, Jeff B. wasn't there. I've heard of one
engineer from MFSL making these comments but haven't been able to track down anything in
print. That engineer was involved in a constant pissing match with a VP who had had an
accident involving his left ear. Subsequent tests verified that he hadn't suffered any
hearing loss. That engineer left the company.
Jeff is also incorrect on another point he makes in that post. The safeties (British
version meaning: recorded at same time as master but on a different machine) included
stereo mixes which were to be test marketed in Germany (stereo was a new fad then). All
tapes were masters on the MMT release. We did use the German stereo masters for the
cassette release. All you need do is check the logs on the cans (pics are on the sleeves
in the collection).
The other post you point out (by Bill) claims that the owner demanded the EQ settings.
That is also false. The owner never did any such thing. In fact, I would challenge Bill,
or you for that matter, to say who the "owner" was. I was there. Those posters on that
site weren't. Rumors, just rumors.
Cheers,
TB
morinix wrote:
> and here Tonebarge
>
> http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/6585.html
>
> It is strange how you are not very creative in your searches.
--
Tonebarge
I responded to you via email. For the rest here:
Gregg Schnitzer
Director Of Product Development (1980-1986)
Chief Engineer (1984-1986)
Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs
I was there from 1980 to 1986 at which time I sold my stock back at a loss and
went elsewhere to watch the demise of vinyl from a distance.
Cheers,
TB
Marc Wielage wrote:
> If you have more details, please tell us your real name and explain what you
> had to do with the mastering of the Mobile Fidelity Beatles boxed LP set.
- All tribal myths are true, for a given value of "true" -
Tonebarge
TB
Don Cooper wrote:
--
Scott Dorsey
>Don Cooper wrote:
>
>> Tonebarge wrote:
>> >
>> > There were also the three track mono versions. Left, Right, Center. No pan
>> > pots at the time.
>>
>> When did that begin? When I worked at A1 in 1979 they still had some of
>> those three tracks. Wild stuff!
>
I dunno, early fifties some time. The 350 was available with 3-track 1/2"
heads. Very handy for spaced triads, or for a stereo ambience pair and
one spot mike. You can still buy new 3-track heads today but I think the
440 was the last machine Ampex shipped with a 3-track configuration available
new.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Jack Czajkowski
Yeah! Great example that I had forgotten about.
Couldn't have said better if I tried; well I was trying but . .
Don Cooper
Scott Dorsey wrote:
> I dunno, early fifties some time. The 350 was available with 3-track 1/2"
> heads. Very handy for spaced triads, or for a stereo ambience pair and
> one spot mike. You can still buy new 3-track heads today but I think the
> 440 was the last machine Ampex shipped with a 3-track configuration available
> new.
Thank you, Scott.
Patrick Neve
A confimed Beatles nut works in a local video store. Tonight he was
wearing a shirt that said simply, "mono". White letters on a black shirt,
in the White Album font. I asked him knowingly, "oh, you have mono? I'm
so sorry."
*************************************************
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~splat/zappapage.html
Geoff Wood
geoff
"Patrick Neve" <sp...@darkwing.uoregon.edu> wrote in message > A confimed
shawn
vivo se la cae la banana de vez en cuando." Rough translation: "Hey, even
the smartest monkey drops the banana once in a while." Guaranteed to get
you out of any jam.
"Geoff Wood" <ge...@paf.co.nz-nospam> wrote in message
news:tibg0d5...@news.supernews.com...
Geoff Wood
platano !
g ;-)
"shawn" <shawn_r...@yahoo.comNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:3b261...@news.smith.edu...
Geoff Wood
geoff
"Patrick Neve" <sp...@darkwing.uoregon.edu> wrote in message
> A confimed Beatles nut works in a local video store. Tonight he was
Yrplace Or Mine
<rtr...@rcn.com> wrote:
"Cousin Bruce-ee"!