The Beatle Remasters

[mystic fred]

Originally Posted by Lord Grendel That is a rather sweeping statement Hep and not entirely accurate. If you say the majority of old classic rock albums from the 60's and 70's sound "Warmer" on vinyl then I would agree with you. However, the newest CD's can hold their own with old analog records easily. Craig, nice to see you back in action. I bought the DVD of Yellow Submarine, and the sound on the 5.1 system is great, I don't even bother playing the CD anymore, either the original or the remaster...(I like George Martin's orchestral bits and pieces too.)

Shame the Beatles remasters were recorded in 24bit but released on 16bit CD - as an enthusiastic user of Vinyl and 24bit SACD/DVD-A i was disappointed with this purely marketing decision from EMI as the 24bit format would have revealed so much more, anyway maybe they will in the future - for now the remasters are an improvement on the old CD but still have some way to go to get closer to vinyl sound quality and retrieval, i wouldn't say the newest CD's can hold their own with old analog records easily yet - there is a lot more to it than a "warm sound", but one day, well you never know, but as the future is looking towards FLAC and studio master quality downloads CD's are already looking obsolete.



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[Mr. Shadow]

Originally Posted by Craig in Indy I would be less than honest if I didn't also admit that another reason I like to compare at the computer is the convenience factor. I don't have any sort of music server set up to feed the main stereo - that may happen in a couple of years, or it may not - and being able to switch rapidly back and forth between old and new has been extremely helpful. Having said that, I have listened to all of these recordings so far on the main system, and some with headphones (Sennheiser HD-600s). But when I want to listen "into" a recording, while still maintaining a decent illusion of a soundstage (which I think most headphones destroy), I tend to favor near-field speakers.

Elderly direct drive turntable with other 80's era gear and a clean vinyl version of Abbey Road sounds plenty good to me. Most of the time I'm listening through headphones of various quality. I'm interested in the music. Sometimes the "improvements" just get in the way of the way I remember and love.

[Mr. Shadow]

Originally Posted by mystic fred Shame the Beatles remasters were recorded in 24bit but released on 16bit CD - as an enthusiastic user of Vinyl and 24bit SACD/DVD-A i was disappointed with this purely marketing decision from EMI as the 24bit format would have revealed so much more, anyway maybe they will in the future - for now the remasters are an improvement on the old CD but still have some way to go to get closer to vinyl sound quality and retrieval, i wouldn't say the newest CD's can hold their own with old analog records easily yet - there is a lot more to it than a "warm sound", but one day, well you never know, but as the future is looking towards FLAC and studio master quality downloads CD's are already looking obsolete. .

The ultimate would be half-speed reel to reel copies of the master tapes.

"The Tape Project" Master Tapes for reel to reel

[Craig in Indy]

Originally Posted by Mr. Shadow Elderly direct drive turntable with other 80's era gear and a clean vinyl version of Abbey Road sounds plenty good to me.

That's the reason I still hang onto some of my old LPs, including the original British release of Abbey Road, as well as its Mo-Fi re-release. Similarly I have multiple copies of Dark Side of the Moon - the original British and US releases, and the Mo-Fi version.

BTW, you'll all have to forgive me for my tardiness in wrapping up this discussion. I honestly don't know how best to approach either Let It Be (because it exists in two distinctly different forms) and Past Masters (because I never bought its initial release, so I've nothing to compare the remaster with).

[Sweaty]

They will always keep reinventing different formats al the time as this is a money spinner and that is what they want, money. I like the CD for it's space saving quality, however it will never replace vinyl and the sound it gave. I gave up buying vinyl years ago as I couldn't get some albums on vinyl and when I did they were easy to scratch and there were a lot of crackles and of course the space was not there anymore.

I have the Beatles remasters excpt the red and blue albums which I will purchase sometime and I think they are good. I have to have all the Beatles albums anyway it is a given in my opinion.

[whobeatle]

The remasters sound good, people like them. I even like them. But really same old
songs shiny new packaging.

It's been two years since the announcement of the remasters, 2 Years!

I was really looking forward to this wrapping up so we could hear either a new compilation album or ITUNES Bonus tracks so we could hear fresh stuff from
the archives, that we have never heard before..

The finished Beatle version of NOW AND THEN. Carnival of Light, All For Love, (another reunion song from 95) Sour Milk Sea with Harrison on vocals. Peggy Sue Got Married from the last session when they finished I ME MINE.

The unheard Demos. McCartneys 66 demo for "Woman" Peter & Gordon"
The remaining live stuff left out of the Anthology film.. where P,G&R played
live...you can see some of that in the film.

The famous alternate versions of Helter Skelter, and Granny Smith

The fantastic, Beatle Christmas records.

Thats what I want to hear for my money, enough, paying for the same songs
over and over already

[billyshears]

THE BEATLES remasters sound bloody fantastic, what a bunch of whingers.