Box Set

Product Description
The Beatles in mono: This is how most listeners first heard the group in the 1960s, when mono was the predominant audio format. Up until 1968, each Beatles album was given a unique mono and stereo mix, but the group always regarded the mono as primary. THE BEATLES IN MONO VINYL BOX SET is released in mono on fourteen 180-gram vinyl LPs with faithfully replicated artwork, newly mastered from the analogue master tapes.

In an audiophile-minded undertaking, The Beatles' acclaimed mono albums have been newly mastered for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes at Abbey Road Studios by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Sean Magee and GRAMMY®-winning mastering supervisor Steve Berkowitz. While THE BEATLES IN MONO CD boxed set released in 2009 was created from digital remasters, for this new vinyl project, Magee and Berkowitz cut the records without using any digital technology. Instead, they employed the same procedures used in the 1960s, guided by the original albums and by detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers.

Working in the same room at Abbey Road where most of The Beatles' albums were initially cut, the pair first dedicated weeks to concentrated listening, fastidiously comparing the master tapes with first pressings of the mono records made in the 1960s. Using a rigorously tested Studer A80 machine to play back the precious tapes, the new vinyl was cut on a 1980s-era VMS80 lathe.

Manufactured for the world at Optimal Media in Germany, The Beatles' albums are presented in their original glory, both sonically and in their packaging. The boxed collection's exclusive 12-inch by 12-inch hardbound book features new essays and a detailed history of the mastering process by award-winning radio producer and author Kevin Howlett. The book is illustrated with many rare studio photos of The Beatles, fascinating archive documents, and articles and advertisements sourced from 1960s publications.

Albums included in the box set are REVOLVER, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR, RUBBER SOUL, WITH THE BEATLES, MONO MASTERS (3LP SET), THE BEATLES (2LP SET), BEATLES FOR SALE, SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, PLEASE PLEASE ME, HELP! and A HARD DAY'S NIGHT.

Amazon USA
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005NJ9CHK/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon Canada
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005NJ9CHK/?tag=imwanca-20

Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005NJ9CHK/?tag=imwan-21

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Individual Albums

    

    

   

Variety mentions this tidbit from Bruce Resnikoff, president-CEO of Universal's catalogue division:

I see a small, dim ray of light at the end of this long tunnel...

Bump: American pre-order links are now in the first post for the box set as well as the individual LPs. (Awaiting Canadian and British links ....)

Milk Milk Milk the cow.................... gently down the stream; merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is just a $.

Collectors should take special note that the 14-LP box set is a limited edition.

I'm no defender of record companies...particularly on quality control and, say, requiring people to buy the most expensive version of a release to get a single rare track.

But when it comes to rebuying a release one already has on CD in excellent fidelity (like the 2009 Beatles remasters, stereo and mono) I really don't buy into the "milking" complaint. It's not like anyone's forcing fans to buy every single reissue in every format.

I suppose some people feel compelled to buy every version of every favored album in every format. Nothing wrong with that either...but these folks are really just milking themselves, aren't they?

So to speak.

Bovine Masturbation?

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Bump: The Canadian and British pre-order links in the first post are now live. The initial Amazon Canada price is about $50 less than the American one ...

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005NJ9CHK/?tag=imwanca-20

There is a new Monkees podcast (featuring Dr. Chris Evil) which posed a tantalizing question: what if Rhino had handled the Beatles reissues?

It's more than $50 less when you consider the exchange rate.

The mind boggles!

So, they're cutting this from the analogue tapes AND NOT THE DIGITAL REMASTERS.

And all the vinyl has been manufactured FOR THE WHOLE WORLD AT OPTIMAL MEDIA IN GERMANY.

They obviously learned their lesson from the stereo LP box quagmire / nightmare. THANK YOU !!

Which now begs the question, HOW ABOUT RE-DOING THE STEREO LP BOX, this time from the analogue tapes, and all pressed by Optimal?

5 words for the stereo debacle: BONK BONK ON THE HEAD !! _ _ _

Yeah - more like $80-$81 by my calculation. (Well, not really "mine"...the one I ran online...) I still think it's high.

Could someone clarify something for me: I didn't buy the stereo box set because I have a "blue box". The stereo vinyl box set was sourced from the digital transfers?!?!? Didn't they make that mistake once already in 1987? (I still have one those sets in the black wooden box & when I read that, I never even bothered to crack the shrink wrap.)

Also, could someone please give me the "Cliff Notes" version of the pressing issues on the stereo set?

I think this is a fairly accurate answer, short and to the point.
The Stereo vinyl box set was mastered from 44.1k/24bit unlimited files, the cds from 44.1k/16bit files. The volume is lower on the lps compared to the cds.
The pressing issues stemmed from using Rainbo Records to press the U.S. vinyl. Non-fill, warping, dishing, dirty pressings from Rainbo's inability to press a decent 180 gram lp.

I still recommend the 80's Japanese black vinyl Capitol box.

Thank you! The pressing issues are inexcusable in my opinion - especially for an item of this cost. I have to wonder why they didn't master these from the analog - weird. At least they aren't limited.

Historically, USA vinyl pressings tended to lag quality wise below:
1. Japan
2. Germany
3 & 4 (tie) England & Netherlands
5. Canada

At minimum; I may be forgetting some European Countries.

Optimal in Germany pressed all the European box sets and they were pretty much problem free. If RTI or QRP would have pressed the U.S. boxes, there would never have been a problem.