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2.34am
28 February 2020
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I think you’re all wrong and I think you’re all right as well. It’s all very much up to you.
Except for you “vinyl” people, but that’s a debate for another time. We’re talking strictly CDs here.
Sound Quality wise let’s throw the Capitol sets right out the window immediately. Not so much for the mono as for the stereo. If you want to convince yourselves they sound better then you need to put those ears in the nursing home. If you want to point out that they are more “authentic”, I understand where you’re coming from, but they weren’t authentic in the 60’s either. I’m not talking about the Vol 2 folded stereo fiasco either. They didn’t fully fix their mistake either. Try finding the corrected box today. It’s pretty hard. What I’m saying is that the Americans were being mislead when it came to Beatle Fidelity back then. It’s not up to me to tell you not to choose that path, but down expect me to buy into it either.
I’m not sure how anyone can think the Mono component of the US Albums Box can sound better then the Mono as they were mostly mastered from the same exact source. They are mastered louder and therefore more compressed. I’m not sure how that sounds better, but they don’t sound awful. BTW the Capitol Boxes are fairly compressed as well.
As for completeness The Stereo Box is the only “complete” one. However this is accomplished by adding a few mono tracks, six I think.
As for value, that’s all very subjective, I find value in every Beatles artifact I possess including the auto-rips from Amazon. Here’s the thing though, if you want to compare by price per song the US Albums box is the king. I’m loathe to do the math but it’s not a hard thing to figure out. You’re getting x number of songs at a purchase price and with the US box you’re getting more for less. Plus the box is beautiful.
Does anything I’ve written solve anything? No but I hope it puts things into perspective.
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Von BonteeWhat is happening? And tell me how you've been.
4.29am
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1 May 2011
Offline7.51am
28 February 2020
Offline Here’s a comparison list by a gentleman named Slane on the Steve Hoffman Forums
What is happening? And tell me how you've been.
9.09am
18 April 2013
Offline meanmistermustard said
As posted over on Bootlegzone, a two-part article from The Audiophile Man on the 2014 US box and the difference compared to the other sets.
He agrees with me that the mono is improved.
So how did the Sterling and Abbey Road mono masters rate? By rights, there should have been no difference as Abbey Road didn’t add any limiting or compression to the mono masters within The Beatles In Mono box set. In fact, the latter has always been seen as an audiophile edition box set. Nevertheless, I gave Taxman a spin to hear for myself and was pleasantly surprised to hear subtle yet definite improvements in the Sterling edition. As in the stereo masters, there was an element of warming in the overall presentation of this mono track, triggered by slight lifting of the bass frequencies. More surprisingly, however, was a slight calming of the upper frequencies within the Sterling master that actually improved the clarity slightly, making the Harrison guitar solo more palatable and less wearying to the ear. Similarly, the Harrison lead vocal delivery was more direct and precise. While the mono masters were, basically, very similar, I did prefer the Sterling interpretation
"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
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