It's almost Beatles:30

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

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sad iron
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It's almost Beatles:30

Post by sad iron » Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:29 pm

I'm so excited for the remasters tomorrow I feel like I've gotta pee all the time. You?
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Post by cgarges » Tue Sep 08, 2009 10:44 pm

Amazon's already out of them.

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Post by Babaluma » Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:10 pm

hoping for the rumoured vinyl editions...

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Post by acjetnut » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:25 am

My mono boxset is on its way, but the stereo discs I picked up today sound fantastic. They did an amazing job at these reissues.

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Post by Jitters » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:34 am

Beatles shmeatles, the Big Star box set drops next week!

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Post by alex matson » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:57 am

Babaluma wrote:hoping for the rumoured vinyl editions...
I asked about this on an earlier thread, then felt stupid cause it seems the remastering was for digital. Was I right about this...or should I feel stupid about feeling stupid earlier?

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Post by Babaluma » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:54 pm

i am not 100% sure, but i think they converted everything to really high quality digital from the original multitrack masters when george and giles martin made the "love" album, and that these new remasters are from those sessions. if this is the case then there's no reason why they couldn't make new vinyl from these files, which could theoretically sound better than the original vinyl.

there have been a lot of rumours on blogs etc, that the release date for the vinyl versions will be november 14th, that they will be available singly, and that they will cost about $25 each.

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Post by chris harris » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:24 pm

I'm pretty impressed with these remasters.

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Post by woodhenge » Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:09 pm

I'm blown away... sounds so much better than the old CD's! That stereo box set was the best music purchase I've made in AGES!
insert witty comment here...

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Post by acjetnut » Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:42 pm

Babaluma wrote:i am not 100% sure, but i think they converted everything to really high quality digital from the original multitrack masters when george and giles martin made the "love" album, and that these new remasters are from those sessions. if this is the case then there's no reason why they couldn't make new vinyl from these files, which could theoretically sound better than the original vinyl.
Partly right - they re-transfered everything via prism A/D at 192/24, then mastered (in the analog domain) from those files. I can't imagine them not releasing vinyl of the remasters, since they have consistently had vinyl in print from the old digital masters for quite some time now. Coming from such hi-rez files, they can really sound fantastic!

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Post by sad iron » Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:01 pm

Just starting to listen to Revolver now. Couldn't get the box (had to teach this morning and by the time I was done everyplace was sold out. Best Buy had all the disks on sale for $12.99, so the price to buy them individually was the same as the box. No worries. I'll get the mono box when they press more.

I've bounced back and forth between the original cds and these and the differences are clear, but it's in actual listening/living where the true proof will lie.

I also spent a couple hours playing Beatles Rock band this evening and it's pretty great. I'm actually pretty bummed that I have to play and can't watch. Been singing and playing guitar the first time through. Challenging. Fun.

the opening sequence of the game is amazing.
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Post by sparkletone » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:22 pm

Babaluma wrote:i am not 100% sure, but i think they converted everything to really high quality digital from the original multitrack masters when george and giles martin made the "love" album, and that these new remasters are from those sessions.
Sort of, as someone else said.

They DID retransfer everything they used from the master tapes at a higher resolution than was possible 20 years ago.

However, they remastered the existing mixes, they didn't remix multitracks. So, the hard panning in the older stereo mixes is all still there, etc, etc.

For the stereo mixes, since those will be what most people buy, they did a small amount of compression to make them hold up a little better next to modern recordings. They did NOT NOT NOT brick wall them. They also did a very, very small amount of noise cleanup. They didn't touch anything they felt was part of the performance (eg: Squeaky drum pedal's left alone, etc.).

The mono versions they didn't touch at all beyond transferring them and a tiny amount of de-noising (something like 2 minutes total for the whole catalog).

The mono versions were considered the "pure" ones, so they were left alone. They messed with the stereo ones a little more, but believe me when I say they did a lovely job of it. These are loads better than the old CDs to my ears.

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Post by Aj » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:32 pm

Making my way through the stereo box.... MAN! Tons of energy and vinegar, especially in the early stuff that I hadn't really felt before (and I really appreciate the Beatles). Play Twist & Shout or Rock & Roll Music loud, it almost sounds punky.

Question I had... I read somewhere that the first few albums are presented in stereo for the first time. What's the story behind that? Who mixed them into stereo, and when? And why weren't they ever released until now? I know a fair bit of Beatles recording trivia, but that part slipped by me.

Aj

(And they certainly left the hiss in! There's that wonderful shush sound all over Long Long Long. And the tom fills still peak!)
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Post by iamthecosmos » Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:53 am

Aj wrote:Question I had... I read somewhere that the first few albums are presented in stereo for the first time. What's the story behind that? Who mixed them into stereo, and when? And why weren't they ever released until now? I know a fair bit of Beatles recording trivia, but that part slipped by me.
Nah, absolute bollocks that. The stereo mixes were done at the time because their American distributors insisted on it. These were done either by George Martin, after The Beatles had been present for the mono mixing, or more commonly by just the engineers. The only stereo mixes that weren't available until now on CD (officially) are the '65 ones for Help and Rubber Soul.

I was more interested in the mono box since the Beatles mixed for mono up until Abbey Road and Let It Be. It sounds fucking tremendous. The dynamics that are left intact are miles better than just about any CD I own. It's Beatles geek overdrive listening to the mono remasters while reading Recording The Beatles. My girlfriend seems surprisingly tolerant so far...

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Post by acjetnut » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:17 am

sparkletone wrote: The mono versions they didn't touch at all beyond transferring them and a tiny amount of de-noising (something like 2 minutes total for the whole catalog).
Also partly correct - there was de-noising applied to a total of 5 minutes of music, but only on the stereo remasters. None was done to the mono.

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