Hi Mofi - Can you provide a link for preordering of these ?
Thanks in advance
Peter
Thanks in advance
Peter
Beatles Reissues on VINYL Finally
Set to ship on November 13th, 2012.
The Beatles Stereo Albums 180g 16LP Limited Edition Box Set, plus available as individual LPs.
All 12 Studio Albums plus Magical Mystery Tour and Past Masters in a Stereo Box Set.
Sourced from the Original Master Tapes.
Cut at Abbey Road Studios by a First-Rate Team of Producers and Engineers.
Proper care and a painstaking series of steps were taken to ensure that music lovers would hear the Fab Four in all their glory. With EMI’s legendary Abbey Road Studios providing the backdrop, the four-year restoration process combined veteran expertise, state-of-the-art equipment, vintage studio gear, and rigorous testing to net what is without doubt the highest fidelity possible and authentic, jaw-dropping sound guaranteed to rival the original LPs. There is no longer any need to pay hundreds of dollars for Japanese pressings.
At the start of the restoration process, engineers conducted extensive tests before copying the analog master tapes into the digital realm using 24-bit/192 kHz resolution and a Prism A-D converter. Dust build-ups were removed from tape machine heads after the completion of each title. Artifacts such as electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance, and poor edits were improved upon as long as it was determined that doing so didn’t at all damage the integrity of the songs. Similarly, de-noising technology was applied in only a few necessary spots and on a sum total of less than five of the entire 525 minutes of Beatles music. Compression was also used sparingly and only on the stereo versions to preserve the sanctity of the dynamics.
A rigorous string of checks and balances ensured that the results exceeded expectations. Subject to numerous playback tests, songs were auditioned by the remastering team to determine if any lingering mistakes needed correction. The restored versions were also compared side-by-side against the original vinyl pressings (loaded into Pro Tools), and then again auditioned in the same studio where all recent Beatles projects, including Love, were mixed. Once all EQ issues had been addressed, another round of listening litmus tests occurred in still another location. Finalization required the approval of everyone involved in the remastering process. For this project, there was no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Yes, it took a village to get it right.
Each album features original U.K. vinyl album artwork, original U.K. track listings, expanded booklets containing original and newly penned liner notes, recording notes, rare photos, and fold-out packaging. Everything comes housed in a tall, glossy, hard black lift-top case augmented with a magnetic clasp.
The Beatles Stereo Albums 180g 16LP Limited Edition Box Set, plus available as individual LPs.
All 12 Studio Albums plus Magical Mystery Tour and Past Masters in a Stereo Box Set.
Sourced from the Original Master Tapes.
Cut at Abbey Road Studios by a First-Rate Team of Producers and Engineers.
Proper care and a painstaking series of steps were taken to ensure that music lovers would hear the Fab Four in all their glory. With EMI’s legendary Abbey Road Studios providing the backdrop, the four-year restoration process combined veteran expertise, state-of-the-art equipment, vintage studio gear, and rigorous testing to net what is without doubt the highest fidelity possible and authentic, jaw-dropping sound guaranteed to rival the original LPs. There is no longer any need to pay hundreds of dollars for Japanese pressings.
At the start of the restoration process, engineers conducted extensive tests before copying the analog master tapes into the digital realm using 24-bit/192 kHz resolution and a Prism A-D converter. Dust build-ups were removed from tape machine heads after the completion of each title. Artifacts such as electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance, and poor edits were improved upon as long as it was determined that doing so didn’t at all damage the integrity of the songs. Similarly, de-noising technology was applied in only a few necessary spots and on a sum total of less than five of the entire 525 minutes of Beatles music. Compression was also used sparingly and only on the stereo versions to preserve the sanctity of the dynamics.
A rigorous string of checks and balances ensured that the results exceeded expectations. Subject to numerous playback tests, songs were auditioned by the remastering team to determine if any lingering mistakes needed correction. The restored versions were also compared side-by-side against the original vinyl pressings (loaded into Pro Tools), and then again auditioned in the same studio where all recent Beatles projects, including Love, were mixed. Once all EQ issues had been addressed, another round of listening litmus tests occurred in still another location. Finalization required the approval of everyone involved in the remastering process. For this project, there was no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Yes, it took a village to get it right.
Each album features original U.K. vinyl album artwork, original U.K. track listings, expanded booklets containing original and newly penned liner notes, recording notes, rare photos, and fold-out packaging. Everything comes housed in a tall, glossy, hard black lift-top case augmented with a magnetic clasp.
64 responses Add your response
I preordered mine here: http://www.musicdirect.com/p-100303-the-beatles-the-beatles-stereo-box-set-limited-edition-16lp-box-set-43-book.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=9-20-12&utm_content=&utm_campaign=soundbytes& Elusive Disc and Acoustic Sounds also have them for preorder. |
Here is some more discussion: http://www.analogplanet.com/content/beatles-vinyl-remastered-finally-coming-shipping-mid-november |
All that time, all the effort, all those cooks -- and we're still going to have those ridiculous stereo mixes on the early LPs, the ones with all the vocals on one channel. Oy. Some would say that doing anything else wouldn't be authentic, would be like revising The Bible or Plato or something. I call Bolshevik on that. As everyone knows, the mono mixes were the authentic ones, with the early stereo mixes just an afterthought. With the opportunity to make things right, why not do it? Because of fear that some purist will squeal. Phooey. There was no good reason for them to have been mixed that way to start with. Can't someone have the courage to admit that and endeavor to get things as they should have been from the first? Imagine hearing "I Saw Her Standing There" without having Paul standing (and singing) way over there. Imagine a mix as it should have been, as it could have been, as it would have been if The Beatles had actually paid attention to the stereo versions way back when. It's easy if you try. But someone has got to try. -- Howard |
Agreed about the mono mixes. That was the primary goal back in the day of three track recording and it should be the goal of these releases i.e. to be as authentic to the master tapes that were the primary focus. There may be a marketing group perception that the buying public won't buy mono because they fear it won't sound good, when in fact there is considerably more coherence in a mono mix than panned mono or duophonic. Plus, once one's ears settle into mono, the room itself imparts a "stereo" like spread and the increased depth of soundstage contributes to the sense of L/R space. Plus nothing beats the punch of Paul's bass and Ringo's drums in mono. |
As mentioned in the Analog Planet thread, "the original tapes were transfered flat to 24/192... BUT... the mastered versions (EQ'd and level adjusted) were printed back to 24/44.1. That means the highest resolution that the approved mastered versions exist in is 24/44.1." So the new vinyl is "only" 24/44.1? |
09-24-12: Dgarretson Well, before I took that as gospel, I'd want to know who "Smafdy Assmilk" is, the purported author of that comment. |
The press release from the OP is the same as for the 2009 CD's; the only "approved" version of those is the 24/44.1 (and derived 16/44.1), thus the confusion about the source of the new LP's. Lacking further information it is reasonable IMHO to speculate that the LP's will be sourced from those 24/44.1 masters. |
I have LPs of Let it Be Naked, Yellow Submarine Songtrack, and the #1 Hits albums, which were all digitally remastered. In a perfect world I'd prefer an all-analog chain, but these LPs aren't too bad, with excellent clarity and dynamics. If the new ones hit that sound quality at $22.99, that's a decent deal. Still, for everything up to the White Album, I'll wait for the mono versions scheduled for 2013, or search for early EMI mono versions at used record stores. |
Yawn, yawn, yawn. Beatles on vinyl mastered from PCM. what the vinyl loving world does not need. most of us have multiple pressings of all these albums and don't need another. this is not a comment on the sound, which i expect to be pretty good, maybe even very good; until we hear them who can say and we need to be open minded. but to me this is an opportunity wasted. to go to all this time and trouble and not have these analog based is the sad part. what would get me in a lather would be an analog based 45rpm box set with the monos and stereo mixes like what Classic did with Led Zepplin. they could pretty much name their price. when this PCM based set does get released no doubt many will enjoy it and i have no problem with that. maybe it will pull more people into getting vinyl set-ups. which would be good. but i do think about what might have been. :( |
For the vinyl purists out there, isn't it true that vinyl that comes from digital still has the problems associated with digital, and in fact is digital played with a needle? This is like the old AAD cd's only put back on vinyl. It's fake vinyl. The only vinyl I would buy is analog vinyl. I have the mono cd's, they're good but not vinyl. |
For the vinyl purists out there, isn't it true that vinyl that comes from digital still has the problems associated with digital, and in fact is digital played with a needle? This is like the old AAD cd's only put back on vinyl. It's fake vinyl. The only vinyl I would buy is analog vinyl. I have the mono cd's, they're good but not vinyl. i'm a vinyl purist. there are quite a few good sounding Lps sourced from digital recordings. i have many dozens of Lps that come to mind, particularly late 70's and 80's classical digital recordings which sound good. would they sound better if they had been analog recordings? sure, but they were not and if we like the music on vinyl then we have no choice. i have CD's of many of these digitally sourced Lps and the Lps sound better by far. as far as what a digitally sourced recording does to vinyl in a general sense, there are plenty of opinions, but it just has less meat on the bones and lacks the air, ease, ambient detail, and overall detail. but these things are matters of degree. a digital recording is not an evil thing, it's just less of the good things. and there are plenty of crap sounding Lps sourced from digital recordings too. too numerous to mention. but.....to take an analog recording (likely the most significant in history based on interest), dumb it down to digital, and then put it on vinyl.....that cannot ever be as good as keeping it analog. the only excpetion is when the analog tapes are damaged in some way and need digital repairs. and that is what is a shame about this Beatles set; what it could have been! |
Mikelavigne, it seems we mostly agree. I wasn't saying digital can't sound good or an LP sourced from digital can't sound good. BUT, it's either analog or digital right? Anything involving digital is basically digital whether it sounds good because the 1 and 0's are what eventually make it to vinyl. It doesn't have the full vinyl magic. I'm certainly not anti-digital but was curious what vinyl purists think about Lp's made from digital masters? Aren't most of the new Lp's being pressed made from digital masters? That's what I believe, so I only buy old vinyl. |
Here is an interesting review comparing the BC-13 Box Set, the MOFI Box Set and the NEW box set. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-12/entertainment/ct-ent-1113-beatles-vinyl-20121112_1_beatles-nostalgia-beatles-catalog-beatles-lps I've had my new box set since Saturday, (it got delivered early) but I have a nasty cold that has plugged up my ears, so I haven't even opened it yet. I'll post my impressions once my cold goes away. |
Well, if you read the article that mofimadness posted, it is pretty clear that digitizing a tape during the mastering process does not necessarily ruin the sound, it can actually improve it. Who would have thought that? Here is an excerpt from a report Michael Lavorgna wrote about RMAF 2012 on the Audiostream website: "People. Music. Enjoyment. In my opinion, this is what our hi-fi hobby is all about. What's its not about is finding fault in a comparative or theoretical way. While differences and ideas are rampant, a hi-fi show smacks you upside your head with the fact that people make hi-fi gear and while theories and attitudes go into the mix, entering different rooms is like entering different worlds in terms how each person decides to approach reproducing music. In the end its people's enjoyment of music that is the deciding factor and even here we have nearly as many points of view as people. I know for some this notion of enjoyment is a constant source of frustration because they know they're right and everyone who disagrees with them is wrong. From my way of seeing and listening, the only positive outcome of this attitude is a lot of frown lines." Makes a lot of sense doesn't it? |
Here is Fremer's take on only the Abbey Road title from the new Box Set: http://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-roadblock |
I find myself agreeing very strongly with Mr. Fremer. I think this box set for the price is well worthwhile, especially for those of us that bought the USA versions on day of release and have nothing else. I do like the 1979 Blue Box set and we also played the (Sweden) red vinyl monos and all have something to contribute. Like Mike says, depends on what you expect and what tonal balance your system is. I ordered my box set from Walmart before they raised the price. Shipping only $1.97 and the complete set for $280.76. For that I'll gladly keep mine and maybe search for original Parlophone at hundreds of dollars each when (and if) the economy improves. |
Well, I played the new Abbey Road last night; not good. Actually I had ordered both a complete Box Set(which I have not opened yet) and a single copy of Abbey Road. It sounds terrible! It is closed-in, distant, and almost distorted; maybe my copy is just a really bad pressing??? Not sure. I am going to call AS today and discuss returning the Box Set and may send the open copy of AR back so that they can take a listen and make their own judgement. The artwork on Abbey Road is also very disappointing; not high quality at all. The colors on the cover seem washed-out and the paper material just seems cheap, like re-cycled cardboard... Mr. Fremer gave the new Abbey Road a '10' for Music (I agree) and an "8" for Sound...NO WAY. I like and respect Mikey, have spoken to him many times at the various shows, but he has missed this one big time. A "5" on Sound is much closer to the Truth. I don't get caught-up in the vinyl vs digital debates or the 192/24 vs 96/24 vs 44/24 vs 44/16 and so on...Yes, overall I think on average vinyl typically trumps digital (but not always; there are many variables and most go back to how well was the original recording was done and handled); I just want the version that sounds the Best or Great! This new Beatles Box set is pretty much a failure; it's really disappointing that we cannot get the record companies to present an outstanding quality, hi-resolution, and top quality Box set of the absolute greatest music group of ALL TIME. Shame on EMI and all parties that were involved in the release. |
I stopped by my local record shop yesterday to pick up one or two of these reissues. To my disappointment the guy there told me they did not have any copies of Abbey Road because all of the ones they received were defective. Apparently they all had extremely obvious surface noise and poor overall sound quality. Reading reviews from customers on Amazon confirms that several of these were pressed very poorly. The White Album is the other one that gets mentioned as having lots of surface noise. I was really excited about these albums being reissued and almost bit on the presell of them, but decided to wait to hear the reports on their sound before committing. It looks like I made the right choice. I'll probably buy one or two of the individual releases when they are on sale but no box set for me. Too bad. |
Got Magical Mystery tour because my 1978 Netherlands blue box set didn't have it. Upon first listen the sound is quite good and detailed, the opening horns, drums and bass are all solid and confirm how heavy the Beatles were. The artwork and graphics are all great and well done. I'm satisified with the MMTour at least. |
I decided to try Past Masters because it's a unique collection I don't have elsewhere (non-LP singles) and I was curious about these reissues. Mine was at 1/2 Price Books of all places. They seem to carry more new vinyl these days. Anyway, I'm pleasantly surprised by the sound. I don't know if I'll buy any more because I have the Blue Box which is better. I also have the original Capitals and Black and Yellow Parlophones. It's hard to beat the old Parlophones but each one is a $100+ gamble to find a clean sounding one. I'm sorry to hear about the Abbey Road problems because that's another I would be tempted to try. Any feedback on Sgt. Pepper? A good copy of that can sound amazing. Paul's bass can have a full tubey quality that's rarely encountered. If this reissue reproduces that well it's worth $22 just for that. |
I noticed almost all of the feedback is from the US. Are there other pressings from other countries? If so, what are you hearing? I picked up Rubber Soul to fill a hole in my collection, and other than the mid 60's funky stereo, found it good. Also picked up Revolver and after changing VTA thought it was good also. Originally sounded muffled. I do not have any other vinyl versions of these two recordings to compare these to so I am satisfied with my purchase. Maybe I would be more critical if I had 6 versions but was never that kind of fan. |
I opened my extra copy of SPLHCB last night (still haven't open the box set) and was pleasantly surprised; it sounds decent, not wonderful but good. I wish that they had used a better pressing plant, the vinyl is nosier than it has to be be. The cover art is also decent, much better I think than Abbey Road.... I will still probably return the unopened box set (alread got the RMA # from AS) but I am going to wait until I receive the 1978 Blue Box set that I picked-up off of eBay; if it is as good as I have heard others claim then the new box set goes back. |
I own a blue box, german pressed horzu MMT and japanese hey jude, 62-66, 67-70. I ordered us mmt and past masters to fill out the blue box These do not cut it. Much less dynamics, tonally off, it's as if a wet blanket was laid over the proceedings Tose on steve hoffman forums have complained of numerous problems on the us - rainbo plant pressing - no fills, warps, offcenter. My two discs were fine except one had a residue sheen. Posters listed vertually no problems with the european boxset which they ordered via amazon uk. I ordered the same albums, hoping for a sonic improvement, if so I'll jump for the EU box Check out the ever growing beatles box thread http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/beatles-remasters-on-vinyl-part-10.302243/#post-8271441 |
Audiotomb, I sprung for the Seargent Pepper reissue and have just been comparing it to my Blue Box copy. I couldn't agree more. The reissue is just not as dynamic which IMO is what makes this title fun to play. The solid tubey thump of Paul's bass just doesn't come through as palpably. The rest of the tonal balance just isn't as good either and the vinyl from my Blue Box is much more quiet. The vinyl was also not flat. This was one of Fremer's favorites from the new box so I would guess it's a fair representation. I got Past Masters as well and am not sorry due to the unique mix of songs it contains with descent sound. Seargent Pepper will at least look nice framed on the wall. I think this set will still appeal to those with nothing else to go on. As for me, I'm done with it. The Blue Box is still very obtainable and clearly superior IMO. It will run slightly more expensive than the new set now days and I expect that the prices on it will only be going up as a result of this release. |
