The Beatles In Mono

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Now, I'm wondering if there is an LP, CD or download release that has true mono versions of the Star Club recordings. In 2014, five years after the initial CD release, mono editions of each of the albums were released individually in vinyl format, though the mono editions for CD were still available only in the box set.

Your ears are getting more auditory information than you get with mono, but more information does not as a rule make for a better listening experience or even better audio quality. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, all the mono mixes were done together with the Beatles themselves, throughout the recording of the album, whereas the stereo mixes were done in only six days by Abbey Road personnel George Martin, Geoff Emerick and Richard Lush after the album had been finished, with none of the Beatles attending. This compilation was released individually as a triple vinyl LP set on 9 September 2014 in Europe and the following day in North America on the same day that The Beatles in Mono box set was released in vinyl LP format. Here, the added auditory information of stereo actually does make for a richer, more detailed listen.Anyway, it's an incredibly well made set - beautiful visually and most importantly, sounds incredible! Abbey Road and Let It Be were issued in the UK in mono on reel-to-reel tape and on LP in Brazil and other countries but, again, only as fold-downs from the respective stereo versions. From what I’ve read, they used the original master tapes to make it, so it’s not just a repressing of the old mono releases. The last two Beatles albums Abbey Road, and Let It Be were also not included as they never received a mono LP release in the UK.

All albums are packaged in miniature vinyl sleeves that faithfully recreate the original LP releases down to the finest detail including inner sleeves, inserts and are presented with the original LP labels on the CDs. It's a lesson I'm thankful I learned, and hopefully, this article can serve as a reminder to young and old folks alike that, even today, sometimes you're better off listening in mono over the traditional stereo mix. The Revolver to white album series of records have the "tubey" cool shimmer of the originals which I lack on the 2014 lp's. Stereo recordings were a fairly new concept for pop music in the 1960s and did not become standard until nearly the end of that decade.

I could post a review about how great this set is, but I’d rather share how I got the box because I still think it’s the strangest and coolest story in my vinyl collecting journey. A Karlson speaker and a monophonic amplifier revealed to me the sonic difference that exists between a wide frequency spectrum and a good acoustic cabinet or two channels with small speakers.