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10.45pm
28 March 2014
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[sp_show_poll id=”65″] Curious of what people really listen to when playing the Beatles. Mono or Stereo?
Obviously with the release of the new mono analog LP’s, people are blushing over how great these new LPS sound, but for many other members who don’t own them, what is your preference.
And yes, The Beatles did prefer to record in Mono as that’s all they knew back then, as Stereo was still very new. Obviously later in life they did not revert back to mono during their solo careers, since they finally realized that the future was now, and mono was in the past.
2009 CD released both compilations in mono & stereo. I’m wondering which sets sold more, stereo or mono????
Myself, without a doubt, I prefer playing The Beatles in Stereo, and just the odd time throwing on a mono just to hear the slight differences, and yes I do own the complete original UK LPS in mono up to the white LP simply because that’s how they were released back then.
You?????
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms! 
10.56pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline @Bongo, is there a reason why the poll is there twice? Unless each person ensures they vote twice the results might be hard working out if not become totally skewed.
Anyway.
I have no real preference as to what i select. I tend to alternate between them to keep the songs fresh. I’d also think that folk might alternate which they listen to depending on the album period as the stereo mixes of the first two, for example, have the vocals on one channel and the instruments on the other.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
11.02pm
11 November 2010
Offline meanmistermustard said
@Bongo, is there a reason why the poll is there twice? Unless each person ensures they vote twice the results might be hard working out if not become totally skewed.Anyway.
I have no real preference as to what i select. I tend to alternate between them to keep the songs fresh. I’d also think that folk might alternate which they listen to depending on the album period as the stereo mixes of the first two, for example, have the vocals on one channel and the instruments on the other.
I voted in the second one, then I voted in the first one. It didn’t count my vote for the first one.
Anyway, stereo.
I'm Necko. I'm like Ringo except I wear necklaces.
I'm also ewe2 on weekends.
Most likely to post things that make you go hmm... 2015, 2016, 2017. 
12.19am
8 February 2014
Offline I prefer mono through Revolver , and stereo starting with Sgt. Pepper ‘s (I voted in the official poll, but wanted to ramble on a bit).
I own the mono box set, which has stereo versions for most of them as well as mono. I’m glad I got the mono because only one speaker usually works in my car and stereo just doesn’t work with just one side. The good news is, the right speaker works, it’s just a flaky connection, so once it warms up a bit I’m going to try to dig it out and re-solder/tape the wires. When both speakers are working it comes on and off when I drive over a bump or get a passenger to kick it gently ;), it sounds pretty good for stock 93 Honda speakers (the stereo itself is a $99 USD special – it has no cd player, just radio, usb, Bluetooth, and 3/8 inch aux inputs. I have a 8Gb flash drive and can bring it inside and rotate the music on it (except most of the music that’s in stereo!), and it’s so much easier than fooling with cds while driving. I have about 20Gb on the phone, so I can always Bluetooth stuff from it (my total digital music collection, counting tons of Beatle-related extras like rehearsals and demos, is about 25Gb – a good 15 of which is Beatles/ex-Beatles solo, from the mono box set to early bootlegs to pc deluxe versions to several individual albums from the canon I bought separately).
I know, 
12.21am
8 January 2015
Offline
Poll is too binary for me. Some songs have as many as 5-6 variants spread out over mono and stereo, and that’s just standard releases before we get into remasters and remixes. And new ones are being discovered all the time. It’s worse than finding errors in the Lord Of The Rings editions, except I like all those variations.
I'm like Necko only I'm a bassist ukulele guitar synthesizer kazoo penguin and also everyone. Or is everyone me? Now I'm a confused bassist ukulele guitar synthesizer kazoo penguin everyone who is definitely not @Joe. This has been true for 2016 & 2017 
but I may have to get more specific in the future.
1.59am
28 March 2014
Offline meanmistermustard said
@Bongo, is there a reason why the poll is there twice? Unless each person ensures they vote twice the results might be hard working out if not become totally skewed.
No idea why it’s done twice. Mods, feel free to delete 1 if you’d like, as I will screw it up!
Comments are welcome as well as reasons for your choice.
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
5.11am
15 May 2014
Offline I prefer the stereo versions, always or almost always, because they let you hear all the instruments/arrangements more distinctly.
EDIT: Wow, I’ve reached 1001 posts!
The following people thank Oudis for this post:
Ahhh Girl“Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit” (“Perhaps one day it will be a pleasure to look back on even this”; Virgil, The Aeneid, Book 1, line 203, where Aeneas says this to his men after the shipwreck that put them on the shores of Africa)
5.32am
10 November 2009
Offline 
Stereo, mainly due to being doing stereo remixes and remasters but I have mono as well and for me, both sound equally great in every song.
Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to...Strawberry Fields.
5.45am
11 November 2010
Offline I must say, I chose stereo mainly because that’s what I’m most used to and the mode that I “discovered” the Beatles on. When I first listened to them (on my own), I was a ten-year-old in 2002, so the 1987 remasters were the norm and the 1987 remasters were stereo from Help ! onward.
The following people thank Necko for this post:
BongoI'm Necko. I'm like Ringo except I wear necklaces.
I'm also ewe2 on weekends.
Most likely to post things that make you go hmm... 2015, 2016, 2017.
1.48pm
28 March 2014
Offline Matt Busby said
I prefer mono through Revolver , and stereo starting with Sgt. Pepper ‘s (I voted in the official poll, but wanted to ramble on a bit).I own the mono box set, which has stereo versions for most of them as well as mono. I’m glad I got the mono because only one speaker usually works in my car and stereo just doesn’t work with just one side. The good news is, the right speaker works, it’s just a flaky connection, so once it warms up a bit I’m going to try to dig it out and re-solder/tape the wires. When both speakers are working it comes on and off when I drive over a bump or get a passenger to kick it gently ;), it sounds pretty good for stock 93 Honda speakers (the stereo itself is a $99 USD special – it has no cd player, just radio, usb, Bluetooth, and 3/8 inch aux inputs. I have a 8Gb flash drive and can bring it inside and rotate the music on it (except most of the music that’s in stereo!), and it’s so much easier than fooling with cds while driving. I have about 20Gb on the phone, so I can always Bluetooth stuff from it (my total digital music collection, counting tons of Beatle-related extras like rehearsals and demos, is about 25Gb – a good 15 of which is Beatles/ex-Beatles solo, from the mono box set to early bootlegs to pc deluxe versions to several individual albums from the canon I bought separately).
I know,
Ok after all that ramble Matt, I must insist you replace your front door speakers with real ones and get rid of the Honda OEM paper speakers. Now your system will come alive like you’ve never heard it before. The Beatles will be in your face……
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Matt Busby BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
1.57pm
28 March 2014
Offline Necko said
I must say, I chose stereo mainly because that’s what I’m most used to and the mode that I “discovered” the Beatles on. When I first listened to them (on my own), I was a ten-year-old in 2002, so the 1987 remasters were the norm and the 1987 remasters were stereo from Help ! onward.
That’s the kind of response I was expecting, (not about your age), but about how you first heard it.
Me being Canadian, I first didn’t even realize there was a difference between Capitol & Parlophone records, I just thought they had a whole bunch of records, and since stereo is big in N.A., I had no idea they were first made in mono.
Gotta remember, before the 90’s, there was no Internet, so a lot of this info was very vague unless you started digging at libraries, ect…..
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
10.46pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline My “go-to” is stereo. I do enjoy the differences and there is much to be said for the mono sound – my favorite is the opening of Pepper. However, I enjoy hearing each instrument separated as much as the remastered stereo versions allow.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
10.50pm
1 November 2013
Offline I like stereo cause each year gets a different experience and you can switch it up easier by switching ear buds
11.28pm
28 March 2014
Offline Come on folks, there’s gotta be more responses here. 
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
6.46pm
5 February 2010
Offline I “met” the Beatles in stereo, so that’s what I’m used to. HOWEVER …
I picked up the “US Albums” box set when it came out, and, because I’d heard there were some slight differences in the mono mixes from the stereo mixes, I popped on a set of headphones and cranked up the mono albums.
I was shocked.
I shouldn’t have been, I guess. I’ve done a fair bit of music production over the years, and I know that panning parts of the mix to the left or right can have the effect of taking some of the “punch” out. It can make the mix as a whole seem thinner, because the bass is over there, and the guitar is over there on the opposite side, etc
So yeah, first time listening to the “US Albums” set, it was just like BAM! HERE ARE THE BEATLES! ENJOY THESE SOUNDS FRONT AND CENTER!
Kind of a cool experience, even if ultimately I drift back to stereo separation.
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Oudis, Matt BusbyNot a bit like Cagney.
9.18pm
8 February 2014
Offline There’s a really good, almost song by song analysis of the mono vs. stereo cd box sets on Amazon somewhere, but I can’t find it now. I’ll keep looking because it’s very interesting, even if I didn’t agree with everything he said. This article gives a pretty good analysis of the differences, notably an insert into the stereo vinyl that said it was created entirely with analog equipment from the original masters, as it was in the 60s. Dude says the listening experience is notably better to him (he really only covers Sgt. Pepper ‘s to any specific degree).
9.29pm
18 April 2013
Offline When listening through headphones, the albums at least up to Help ! are better in mono. After a while, hearing vocals in one ear and guitars in the other ear hurts my ears. I generally prefer the mono when mono is available, with a few minor exceptions.
"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
10.12pm
1 August 2014
Offline I prefer Mono because I want to actually hear Ringo sing on What Goes On , and my speakers don’t do that well enouh 
10.13pm
28 March 2014
Offline PeterWeatherby said
I picked up the “US Albums” box set when it came out, and, because I’d heard there were some slight differences in the mono mixes from the stereo mixesI was shocked.
I know that panning parts of the mix to the left or right can have the effect of taking some of the “punch” out. It can make the mix as a whole seem thinner, because the bass is over there, and the guitar is over there on the opposite side, etc
So yeah, first time listening to the “US Albums” set, it was just like BAM! HERE ARE THE BEATLES! ENJOY THESE SOUNDS FRONT AND CENTER!
For sure. MY fav mono LP is the Canadian “Beatlemania! With The Beatles “. Like you described, much more pounding sound, but eventually I still go back to Stereo
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
6.19pm
5 February 2010
Offline I TAKE IT ALL BACK!
I’ve been a Beatles fan for some 25 years, and for some reason I’m only just discovering the UK mono albums (released as part of the remaster project in 2009).
For some reason I’ve always equated “mono” with “US releases.”
So now I’m discovering a whole new world, where these UK mono mixes are basically the authentic “canon,” in the sense that these are the mixes the Beatles themselves oversaw and approved. So, for instance, when the opening hand-claps I’m so used to hearing on “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da ” are missing from the UK mono mix, that apparently is how Paul wanted it. It’s the stereo mix that is the deviation, not the mono.
Once I realized this (thanks mostly to reading Geoff Emerick’s book this past week — I’ll post some significant quotes below), I got the mono box set from 2009 and I’ve been listening to it for days.
I have to say, I really do like these more than the stereo versions. John’s vocal on “Help !”, in particular, is so much more raw and aching on the “canon” mono mix — I understand why this is the mix he’d want released.
Consider me a mono fan until further notice. 
From Emerick’s book (bold emphasis added):
We also devoted a few days to remixing the stereo version of the [Sgt Pepper ] album. In contrast to the way they carefully oversaw the original mono mixes, the group had expressed no interest in even being present when we did the new ones; that’s how little thought we all gave stereo in those days.
Because I had done the mono mixes [of the Yellow Submarine album], I was asked to do the stereo versions as well. All four Beatles were present, to my surprise—in the past, they hadn’t bothered being there for stereo remixes
Unfortunately, the stereo mix of “Paperback Writer ” does the song no justice. It’s completely disjointed, and it isn’t at all the balance that we intended.
Incredibly, all the stereo mixes of the [Revolver ] album were done in a single long day. Our focus was on the mono mixes, which were the real mixes as far as we were concerned, since so few people had stereo record players in those days.
Back in 1967, most people’s record players were mono; stereo was still largely the purview of high-end audiophiles. True Beatles fans would do well to avail themselves of the mono versions of Sgt. Pepper and Revolver because far more time and effort went into those mixes than into the stereo mixes. The stereo versions of those albums also have an unnecessary surfeit of panning and effects like ADT (Automatic Double Tracking) and flanging.
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Ahhh Girl, Matt Busby, ksargentNot a bit like Cagney.
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