Sound quality of the 2009 remasters | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I tend to side with you in that I prefer most stereo versions. However, that may be simply because I'm still not used to the mono versions.

I've conducted (yet another:) experiment last night: played “Strawberry Fields Forever ” (stereo first), then immediately after that skipped to the mono version. Now, the stereo version sounds amazing, it simply melts your heart. But the mono version… hmmm… I may be missing something, but it just does not deliver the way the stereo version does.

To confirm this impression, I've played the stereo version once again, and, by golly, yes! the music in stereo just opens up. Even the very intro, the sound of mellotron, it just sings. It pirouettes across the room, it's just lovely.

I don't know why, but overall I find the mono tracks sounding a bit muddy when compared to their stereo counterparts.In contrast, the opening mellotron in mono just sits there, barely moving, sounding a bit dull.

I should hasten to add that I'm only listening to these remasters on the speakers. I detest listening to music on headphones. Even the most expensive high-end headphones make music sound a bit cartoonish (to my ears); what's missing is the sound of the room you're listening in.

Maybe if I were to evaluate these stereo/mono versions using headphones, the mono version would win. But on the speakers, my impression is that stereo rules!

Alex

Alissa,

Back in the early 1960s, when the Beatles came to prominence, most people were listening to music on a home radio that contained only one speaker. People who played back records at that time mostly used record players (so-called turntables) that also contained only one speaker. The term 'mono' refers to the music that is played back using only one channel, through a single speaker.

It was around that same time that the new technology, called stereo, was gaining popularity. Stereo uses two channels (left channel and right channel), and the music is reproduced using two speakers. This is how most of us listens to music today, but 45 years ago that was still a novelty.

When the Beatles were releasing their songs, they would record their instruments and vocals and would then mix them all together, producing the final track. What that basically means is that even though they would record drums on one track, guitars on another track, bass on another, and vocals on another track, in the end they would combine all four tracks to produce one final, master track. That track was then used to create the mono recording.

The engineers at EMI (later renamed to Abbey Road ) studios would also, after the Beatles have left the studio, produce a different version, by combining the four or more tracks into the final two tracks — the left and right channels. That version was a stereo version, which was then offered for sale mainly to the audio enthusiasts who at that time had stereo equipment.

Because of that, you will be able to hear that there are differences in the mono and stereo mixes of the Beatles songs. The originally intended way how these song are supposed to sound was indeed mono. However, many of us have subsequently found that stereo mixes tend to contain more depth and clearer sounding instrumentation and vocals.

In the end, it all boils down to individual taste. I recommend you try to hear both versions before making a purchasing decision. If you like to listen to music that contains lot of details, I think you will find stereo mixes more to your liking.

Amphion said:

Since I last posted on this site, I have purchased both 'Beatles For Sale ' and 'Help .' These are, of course, the re-mastered version's. and they both only go to underline just how good The Beatles are. 'Ticket To Ride ,' has always been a favorite, but the one thing that I noticed on Help (Re-mastered) is that the whole album seems to have been a step forward in the use of percussion, more so than any previous album. There are little tam fizzes that may start as a quaver at the beginning of each eight bar segmant, and merely be the pre-cursor of the main off-beat. Listen to Ticket To Ride . During the first verse it sounds like Ringo is just hitting the rim (Rim shot) of the snare, and then you hear what sounds like a tambourine which at first seems slightly off beat. As the verse continues you cannot help but be drawn into this rythmn which by the time of the second verse now sounds like  Ringo on the first beat of each bar is hitting the snare full on. There are numerous little tricks like that throughout the 'Help ' album. There is also a snaking upright bass tone that seems to be meandering around 'I Need You .' Sometimes it sounds like it has no interest in the song it is accompanying, but every Now And Then it underscores a particular line. This again, seems to pop up on various other tracks. There are sounds on here that I haven't been aware of before. This is why The Beatles are as relevannt now as they have always been.

These are all excellent points. One thing I would suggest people do is switch from playing back the CDs using a CD player to playing them back using a digital streaming (DS) player. The difference in sound quality is stupendous, and it is well worth the investment.

For example, only after switching to streaming the Beatles remasters to my DS player was I able to detect many of the subtle differences, like the ones you've mentioned above. The tambourine on “Ticket To Ride ” is a super interesting phenomenon to observe. It starts by banging each second beat slightly off-beat (it almost sounds kind of 'wrong', but in a very exciting sense). The listening experience is uncanny. Only later in the song does the tambouring pick up the 'right' (mathematically speaking) beat. But the freshness of such 'anomalies' is what makes their music so outstanding.

Now, the best way to clearly hear these little details is to abandon the CD player altogether. That technology is archaic, and the player, no matter how fancy and high-end it may be, is messing up with the timing of the song. This is because the player is responsible for physically spinning the CD, and as soon as you have this mechanical thing happening, the precise timing is lost.

But if you store that same song on your computer, and then stream it wirelessly to the DS player, you will notice a stunning improvement in the timing of the song. Suddenly, the song picks up the pace, and comes to life with reckless precision.

Try it, you will be blown away by the difference in sound.

I think the best bang for the buck right now would be Logitech's Duet Squeezebox, although if you are willing to wait until February, Logitech's Touch Squeezebox is even better. Some people like Sonos (a bit pricier), but not me, because Sonos cannot play back high-definition (or high-resolution) music. Moving upward from there, Logitech's Transporter is a good choice, although at $2,000.00 a pop, it is indeed very pricey. Then, you get into the esoteric territory, such as Linn Majik, or even Linn Akurate, which retail for $8,000.00 (yes, you read it right, eight thousand bucks!)

I've listened to them all, and can say that even with Logitech Duet Squeezebox, the sound quality is so much improved, that it will blow you away.

If you decide to go with a DS player, make sure you contact me, because it's very important, once you get it, to set it up correctly, as they do not come properly calibrated from the factory. And believe me, that set up is crucially important.