With the Beatles Remastered - Stereo Or Mono?

By Johnny Moon

I'm doing a whole series of articles on The Beatles 2009 remasters on whether the stereo or mono version is better and on most of those I feel my best answer is "both" (yes, they're both better!?) but with this one the answer is a bit more straightforward: The mono version of With The Beatles remastered is superior.

These songs just don't sound that great (but they still sound really, really good) in stereo probably because they were not originally meant to be played back in stereo.

In mono the songs pack more punch and surprisingly (as this is not usually the case) the individual elements of the songs actually seems to be more clear in the mono versions than in the stereo versions. I can hear the vocals, the drums, and the guitar all very clearly.

As someone who records music at home, I find the clarity and power of these mono mixes quite awe inspiring and it has convinced me to try recording and mixing in mono myself (at least initially.) I think if you can make each part of the song have it's own "space" in the mix with everything up the middle than you should be able to really have a great amount of clarity when you do some panning.

Now I'm not saying I dislike the stereo version of With The Beatles remastered (I'm listening to it right now as I write this article.) It definitely has it's charms but if I was to take one version or the other to a deserted island, I would have to go with the mono mix.

CLICK HERE for information on The Beatles in Mono Box Set.
CLICK HERE for information on The Beatles in Stereo Box Set.
Both of these box sets includes With The Beatles remastered (in mono and stereo, respectively).

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