by Jake Topp
The appeal of The Beatles Mono Box Set should be pretty obvious. For the first time ever the original mono mixes that The Beatles themselves spent the most time perfecting back in the 1960s will be available on CD. These are mixes that are entirely different from the ones on the old stereo CDs.
On the other hand, it's a little bit more difficult to explain the appeal of The Beatles Stereo Box Set since these are the same mixes that have been available on CD since 1987.
The #1 factor that should make the Stereo box set appealing to Beatles fans (even those who already own all of their albums on CD) is much higher sound quality. The old Beatles CDs are notorious for their lack of sound quality. By all accounts they lack the "depth" and the "warmth" of the original vinyl LP releases. This is mostly because the technology of 1987 (when these CDs were originally mastered and released) was still in it's infancy when it comes to mastering for CD.
These new remastered stereo CDs capture much more of the original sound from the analog tape masters. This means greater "warmth," more "depth," and far more detail. Most exciting to most Beatles fans is the detail aspect. There may be parts in their music that you have never heard before because it was buried due to poor mastering on the old CDs.
To explain the technical aspect of it somewhat, in 1987, 16 bit technology was used to capture the sound from the analog tape source while on these new CDs, 24 bit technology was used. This increase helps in capturing all of the highs and the lows and the overall character of the music.
If you're already aware of flaws of the old CDs then you'll be very exited to finally get to hear The Beatles as they are supposed to sound on CD, and if you're someone who has only heard the old CDs then you should be even more excited because you will finally get to "be in the room" with The Beatles.
What do I mean by "be in the room"? Well that's how Paul McCartney himself described the new masters. He said it was the closest to the actual tape masters he's ever heard (yes, even closer than the original vinyl LPs!).
Besides sound quality, another nice reason to get the Stereo Box Set is the aesthetics of it. It looks great and the packaging is fantastic. Each CD is packaged in a replica of it's original '60s vinyl LP artwork. There's also an exclusive documentary DVD that is not available for individual sale, only as a part of this set.
Jake Topp recommends http://www.The-Great-Mall.com to buy all of your favorite Beatles stuff.
Its funny the Mono mixes are so desirable because
ReplyDeleteeveryone griped about the first 4 CDs being issued in Mono back in 1987. The compared the sound to "Improved AM radio audio" Now the Mono mixes are like the Holy grail.