Beatles Mono Collection

mep

mep

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I'm going to share some very preliminary thoughts about the Beatles mono collection. You might say it's "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."

The "Good" is how good the LPs I have played so far sound. All of my comparisons are based on very long term listening to the Beatles BC-13 collection which I have been high on for many, many years. The voices sound much better on the mono collection as they have lost all of the peakiness the stereo versions have. All of the instruments sound better meaning more natural. You hear Ringo's drumming in a whole new aural light. His cymbal work and particularly the high-hat are very prominent and have much better top-end extension and clarity than the BC-13 stereo versions. George's guitar work sounds better with much more definition and wood tone when he plays acoustic. Ditto for the wood tones/shell sounds from Ringo's drums. Let's face it, everything sounds better and the mono LPs present the information in a different way than you are probably used to unless you already own them.

The "Bad" is I hate those sticky plastic covers with the fold-over flap. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. They are a pain in the ass when you take the album out and they are another pain in the ass when you put them back in. I don't care for the inner sleeves either. We can save talk about our feelings concerning the quality of the jackets for another day.

The "Ugly" is that you can damn sure tell these LPs weren't pressed by QRP. Too bad they didn't have Chad press this collection. Some LPs are worse than others, but they all have some whooshing sounds between the tracks. When the music starts, it's all good. I guess there is a possibility you wouldn't hear the noise I'm describing between tracks if you had a mono cartridge, but I wouldn't bet my paycheck on it.

One final thing, I have to listen to the first side of Sgt. Pepper's again. I swear that I heard some things at the end of the first 4 songs that I have never heard before and they were fast and subtle. Before I say anymore, I need to listen again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I have heard this LP a million times if I have heard it once and I swear they snuck some things in there that I have never heard before.

More later.
 
I don't own the Beatles Mono box set but I hate the whooshing between tracks or sometimes mid-track too. I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone in hearing it with new reissue LPs.

Others here have told me that it's due to my setup/alignment, and it may be true that my alignment is to blame, but since I only hear the whooshing on some LPs I tend to point the finger at the vinyl pressing itself. Unfortunately in my case the whooshing is most noticed when playing the few newer reissue LPs that I own. All that said, it doesn't surprise me that even a special new-box-set like the Beatles Mono isn't without flaw.

Have other owners of the new Beatles Mono noticed the same whooshing sounds that you do Mark? Maybe it's just your setup / alignment? LOL (see what I just did there?)
 
Mark and Mike, when I got my mono box in November, I ripped them all to 192/24 with my Miyajima Zero Mono cartridge (using Pyramix and PacMicro Model2). I just played back the beginnings and several intertracks from four of the albums from the rips. I don't hear any whooshes. Sounds good to me.

Larry
 
astrotoy said:
Mark and Mike, when I got my mono box in November, I ripped them all to 192/24 with my Miyajima Zero Mono cartridge (using Pyramix and PacMicro Model2). I just played back the beginnings and several intertracks from four of the albums from the rips. I don't hear any whooshes. Sounds good to me.

Larry
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Larry-You are using a mono cartridge and maybe that does make a difference. Or maybe, you might just have a different pressing than box set.
 
Plastic sticky covers...once opened, they go to the garbage and replaced with normal poly sleeves. No whoosh in my collections either. I have played them with a mono cart but did play Rubber Soul back to back with a stereo and mono cart. No whoosh from what I remember but am curious and will listen again for it soon.
 
Be interesting to know if the LPs were pressed at the same plant and the matrix numbers?

BTW, what type of plastic flaps are you referring to Mark? There are/were a couple different types eg. like Classic used that were forgettable and the much nicer real flaps like supplied with the Super Analogue releases. The former are thinner and very prone to tearing while the latter jackets are much thicker and last forever. Don't know if the jackets Super Analogue used are still available?
 
Myles-These are the thinner ones that will tear easy. Jazz Doc-You have a mono cartridge too. I only played a few LPs last night. The Beatles second LP was pretty quiet. The noise I'm describing is more subtle than disturbing, but it's there on Beatles For Sale for sure (at least on mine). Trust me, I'm damn glad to have this collection. As I said, once the music starts you only hear music. After coming off a diet of QRP LPs, you get spoiled.
 
There are a number of different digital versions (i.e. ripped from the LP's with different setups) of this box around, and it's probably not a big surprise that the different phono setups and ADC's used result in pretty different sound quality. It's a bit more of a surprise that some of the more modest setups (still involving thousands of dollars - at retail - of phono cart/arm/table/preamp) end up sounding worse to my ears than the CD's; surprising because the sound quality of the master tapes used is better than for the CD's as well as the fact that the transfers are at 24/96 or 24/192.
 
Rob-I have the remastered CD stereo and mono Beatles collection as well as the little green USB apple and they all blow. If anybody has a sealed copy of the mono collection, I will gladly trade you my remastered stereo, mono, and the limited edition USB apple collection for it. I would be fine with having another mono box set in my collection.
 
Mark, I took out Rubber Soul and played it with my stereo cartridge. No noise between the cuts or in the lead in groove. So it may be the pressing.

Larry
 
astrotoy said:
Mark, I took out Rubber Soul and played it with my stereo cartridge. No noise between the cuts or in the lead in groove. So it may be the pressing.

Larry
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Thanks Larry. I haven't tried Rubber Soul yet so we will see how that goes.
 
I have played the mono set with Stereo and Mono cartridge. Beautiful and quiet, no whoosh sound just music. Lovely German Optimal pressings. If it is happening on all LP's, perhaps re check your alignment parameters.

The thin plastic covers were replacements for the horrid shrink wrap. I think they are fantastic!. You are not supposed to keep them :D
 
Well boys and girls, my cartridge setup is super quiet on the majority of my LPs. It's not like this is a constant sound I'm hearing with my other LPs. Another thing I noticed last night that I didn't comment on was the center holes-they aren't all punched to the same diameter. Some you have to push the LP to fit on the spindle and some just drop on. That tells me a little about their QC and lack of reducing variability from their manufacturing process. Where is Dr. Deming when you need him?
 
astrotoy said:
Mark and Mike, when I got my mono box in November, I ripped them all to 192/24 with my Miyajima Zero Mono cartridge (using Pyramix and PacMicro Model2). I just played back the beginnings and several intertracks from four of the albums from the rips. I don't hear any whooshes. Sounds good to me.

Larry
Click to expand...

Larry.... Would be interested to learn more about your vinyl ripping setup. Been considering a few options but haven't tried anything yet. I was looking at the Ayre AD product a while back. I bought a Creative Labs USB ADC with a phono and line input sometime ago to try out. It's probably not going to give me what I want. Perhaps you may like to start a new thread?
 
Steve said:
Could your SRA be out?
Click to expand...

I doubt it. If the majority of my LPs had this sound, I would be worried. The sound that I'm hearing between tracks in unlike anything I ever hear normally. It's subtle, but there between tracks and it's not there on my other LPs. No reason for me to panic about my setup. The music sounds great.
 
I am also one of the lucky whoosh free ones. I use a Denon DL-103R stereo cartridge with the preamp set to mono. I also hate the sticky plastic covers. And my book has the cover on upside down. Not really a problem, just annoying qc. But the music sounds great so I am happy.
 
Albert said:
I am also one of the lucky whoosh free ones. I use a Denon DL-103R stereo cartridge with the preamp set to mono. I also hate the sticky plastic covers. And my book has the cover on upside down. Not really a problem, just annoying qc. But the music sounds great so I am happy.
Click to expand...


worse than shrink wrap?

imo all LP's should come with these covers. Easily removed, thrown away and replaced with normal outer sleeves.
 
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