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Post by TheEarlyBeatles on May 29, 2013 3:53:22 GMT
Been lurking here for a while and didn't see an official thread about this so I thought I'd start one. I'm more of a mono person than stereo for numerous reasons. The main reason is because I listen with headphones more often than not and mono is more tolerable with headphones. I especially can't stand to listen to Please Please Me and With The Beatles in stereo because it is two-tracked; and WTB is probably my favorite album. Songs like Twist and Shout, which has the the vocals way over on the right and the music way over on the left, really get on my nerves. I don't actually own the Mono Box Set... yet. Hopefully that will change soon. I mostly listen to the music on YouTube. I am a fairly new Beatles fan but have learned a lot of things. I work at a rock radio station and one day while I was talking about The Beatles, about three people called in and told me that Sgt. Pepper's is the best album in the world. A friend of mine also told me the same day. So I went out and bought it (in stereo). I listened to the whole thing and thought about it for a while. I decided that I really didn't like it that much. It just didn't seem to connect with me like Abbey Road did (that was the first Beatles album I ever owned). Several weeks later, I listened to it in mono and was blown away. I don't know if it was because of the mono or possibly because during that time I had gained more appreciation for the band. I'll never know. Albums such as Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album are pretty tolerable in stereo, but when I listen to Sgt. Pepper's in stereo now, I almost feel kind of ashamed. There are also non-album songs that sound way better in mono. Revolution tops that list, and Day Tripper is a close second. I asked my uncle to compare both mixes and he too preferred mono because, in his words, mono has a little more oomph to it. Bottom line, when I casually want to listen to an album, it will 4 out of 5 times be in mono (if one is available ). But I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks.
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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Post by tkitna on May 29, 2013 5:38:18 GMT
I'm a stereo man and prefer that in almost all applications. I think its due to me being a drummer and I find it easier to pick subtle things out in stereo. I'm always being told that i'm missing out by not listening to the mono versions of the Beatles stuff, but i'll happily accept that. Sgt. Peppers seems to be the big one in which everyone says mono is the bees knees. Well, i'll take the stereo recording every single time. I just cant accept mono because people say I should. Just my opinion and I already know i'm in the minority.
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Post by mrmustard on May 29, 2013 11:48:46 GMT
It does come down to personal preference but the mono versions of all the albums up to and including the White Album were all made with mono in mind. Perhaps the White Album was transistional in terms of moving towards stereo but Sgt Pepper was still recorded for mono release with stereo an after thought. All the hard work went into the mono versions with The Beatles in attendance at the mixing sessions from Rubber Soul onwards. Stereo mixes were often done weeks after the mono mixes were made and mastered. Never with The Beatles and rarely with George Martin around. Stereo was never considered the industry standard until the late 60's.
With mono you are listening to what The Beatles and George Martin listened to in the control room before the mastering process. From this point of view the mono versions are the one's to have.
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Post by Amadeus on May 29, 2013 12:17:04 GMT
One song that I can't stand in stereo is 'Slow Down'. But the mono version rocks harder than,,,um,,,the stereo version. Same with 'Paperback writer'.
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klang
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 65
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Post by klang on May 30, 2013 18:15:51 GMT
I have a wonderful box set called "Capitol Albums Vol 1" where the boys' first first American Capitol Records releases are available in both stereo and monophonic forms.For me,these earlier numbers sound a bit more "natural" and "fresh" in the mono.Sounds like maybe I haven't got quite the ear for these things as much as most of you,but I CAN discern some differences between the two listening modes.Was the "final trumpet" version of "Penny Lane" made available in England in the 60's or did you have to make due without this until the 1980 release of "Rarities" just as us in the States?
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Post by The End on May 30, 2013 21:54:12 GMT
Was the "final trumpet" version of "Penny Lane" made available in England in the 60's or did you have to make due without this until the 1980 release of "Rarities" just as us in the States? Welcom to the Beatle Forum, Klang The version of Penny Lane with the piccolo trumpet flourish in the coda was I think only available in early promo versions sent out to US radio stations. For the US version of Rarities, Capital a new version of it by tagging it on to the end. AL
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Post by TheEarlyBeatles on May 31, 2013 4:25:49 GMT
In all fairness, when I'm listening to the music without headphones, I usually don't care what format it's in. But since I use headphones more often than not, I truly do prefer mono.
As Mr. Mustard put it nicely, mono is where all the quality is, and it's usually pretty easy to tell. 9 out of 10 times if something is left out of a song (such as a note, instrument, or aspect), it is left out of the stereo version. However, by the time of Magical Mystery Tour, it seems that stereo was the mix that all the effort was put into; and I still can't figure out why the final 50 seconds of Helter Skelter was cut from the mono mix.
The only pre-Magical Mystery Tour song that I can think of in which the mono mix was missing something is Thank You Girl (many harmonica notes were left off).
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roscoe
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 189
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Post by roscoe on May 31, 2013 6:15:01 GMT
Mono sucks
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Post by mrmustard on May 31, 2013 8:45:57 GMT
You would have the whole world listening to the Roscoe Remasters wouldn't you Roscoe. Contact EMI or Apple Corps ltd and see if they will cut you a deal.
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Post by The End on May 31, 2013 9:27:04 GMT
Sorry but that is a ridiculous thing to say!
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Post by The End on May 31, 2013 9:30:54 GMT
In all fairness, when I'm listening to the music without headphones, I usually don't care what format it's in. But since I use headphones more often than not, I truly do prefer mono. As Mr. Mustard put it nicely, mono is where all the quality is, and it's usually pretty easy to tell. 9 out of 10 times if something is left out of a song (such as a note, instrument, or aspect), it is left out of the stereo version. However, by the time of Magical Mystery Tour, it seems that stereo was the mix that all the effort was put into; and I still can't figure out why the final 50 seconds of Helter Skelter was cut from the mono mix. The only pre- Magical Mystery Tour song that I can think of in which the mono mix was missing something is Thank You Girl (many harmonica notes were left off). It sounds like you enjoy picking out the subtle differences between the various mixes (as do I), so I would recommend comparing the UK mono and stereo versions of Revolver AND, if you can find it, the US versions of the tracks, which can be found spread over Yesterday and Today (which contains Lennon's And Your Bird Can Sing, I'm Only Sleeping and Doctor Robert) and the truncated US version of Revolver (which omits the aforementioned Lennon tracks!) - there are plenty of some really interesting differences to be found because even the UK vs US stereo mixes differ! On a side note, up until the recent remasters were produced, Thank You Girl had never even been released in stereo in the UK! I first heard it via the Capital boxset (they really should have released a third box for the remaining releases!).
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Post by TheEarlyBeatles on May 31, 2013 23:51:01 GMT
I actually have both volumes of the Capitol Albums. I don't have enough room on my iPod to put both the stereo and mono mixes on it, and I actually chose the stereo. Mainly because the mono ones on these releases sound rather flat in my opinion.
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klang
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 65
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Post by klang on Jun 1, 2013 13:17:09 GMT
I heard "Sgt. Pepper" and "White Album" both boast significant differences between their mono and stereophonic forms.
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Post by TheEarlyBeatles on Aug 2, 2013 6:42:41 GMT
I wanted to add a little something to this thread. My quest to get a Beatles Mono box set has not been a happy one. Without going into too much detail, I finally received my copy on Monday, only to discover that it was a counterfeit. I made arrangements to get my money back, but before I did, I decided to throw one of the discs in my stereo just to see what they sounded like, knowing that most counterfeit box sets play in stereo... not mono.
I was amazed to find out that all of the discs actually played in mono! Knowing this, I was able to put all of the albums on my iTunes before I sent them back. All except Revolver, which made noises like the disc was scratched on every track. That really pissed me off because next to Sgt. Pepper, Revolver is probably my favorite album in mono. These noises also appeared on several of the 1965 stereo tracks on Help! as well as on the songs A Hard Day's Night and I'm Down, although it's not nearly as bad on the latter two as it is on the others.
Also, very oddly, Matchbox and Glass Onion play in mono on my computer, yet they play in stereo on my iPod. (?!) I don't know if that's some glitch being caused by the discs not being authentic, or if my iPod is just being stupid. A Day in the Life also has a little hiccup during the transition to it from Sgt. Pepper Reprise when listened to on my iPod. It sounds like the track is being switched even though you not supposed to be able to tell during the actual transition. Again, this is not present when listening to it on my computer.
I have sent the box back now and am already looking into getting a real one.
P.S. I wonder why in all of the Mono vs. Stereo differences videos on YouTube, none of them mention that the "Woo-Hoo"s are missing from the bridge in Back in the USSR. I just found that out yesterday.
P.P.S. In my opinion, the worst Beatles stereo mix is the 1965 version of Rubber Soul. Even though it is a 4-track stereo, I think it even sounds worse than the 2-tracked Please Please Me and With The Beatles. Can anyone tell me why it was mixed like that? There is a video on YouTube that explains why, but it was confusing to understand. It almost sounded like it was deliberately mixed badly so more people would buy the mono version.
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henryj
For A Number Of Things
Posts: 792
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Post by henryj on Aug 2, 2013 17:03:08 GMT
I can't tell you why any album was mixed in any particular way, but I will say that, with mono, you can set the mix any way you like, that is, give the recording the proper balance of instruments and voices, since the left channel and the right channel will have equal volume output. The RIAA requires (or used to require) that the stereo left and right channels be reasonably balanced, and once you start putting sounds from the tracks in the left, right, or middle, one of the channels might be a tad louder than the other when the original mix is used. Hence, to balance the channels, something has to either be brought up or down from the original.
Having said all that, I do prefer the stereo in most cases.
On "Any Time at All," the first version I heard was mono. (Mono LPs were a US dollar cheaper in those days.) I thought it was rather neat how the piano sort of came out of nowhere when the lead guitar stopped. When I heard a friend's stereo version I could hear the piano all the way through the instrumental break, playing along with the guitar. I thought I had been missing out on hearing all the piano, but it turns out that rather neat piano out of nowhere was now the Beatles and G. Martin had originally intended after all.
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henryj
For A Number Of Things
Posts: 792
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Post by henryj on Aug 2, 2013 17:07:15 GMT
klang: "I heard 'Sgt. Pepper' and 'White Album' both boast significant differences between their mono and stereophonic forms."
I didn't know the white album was ever released in mono. IIRC, the record industry discontinued mono records in 1968, the year the white album was release.
Does anyone have a mono copy of the white album? UK version, maybe?
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ranger
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 153
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Post by ranger on Aug 2, 2013 17:20:32 GMT
I believe that the last Beatles Mono LP in the 60s was 'Yellow Submarine' (17/1/69) but it was (only/mainly?) available via mail order and so is very desirable now.
Bizarrely 'Yellow Submarine' did not appear in the recent Mono CD Box. Why not? Yet another example of a half-baked reissue under the Beatles' name?
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henryj
For A Number Of Things
Posts: 792
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Post by henryj on Aug 2, 2013 17:56:58 GMT
Wikipedia states that the white album was the first stereo-only album released by the Beatles, but that a mono version was released in the UK and a few other countries. Of course, a mono white album was part of the mono box released September 2009.
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Post by The End on Aug 5, 2013 14:15:51 GMT
The Mono Box released in 2009 contained the 4 unreleased tracks from Yellow Submarine (but not the film score) on the Mono Masters CD.
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Post by beatles4ever on Aug 5, 2013 20:38:06 GMT
is there a poll on this? well i'm a mono man lets see what wins !
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