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mono vs stereo albums and remasters
19 February 2013
4.50am
exarctly
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o, my preferred choice of listening to the Beatles these days is the stereo remasters (I just really like stereo separation, feels more like the music is on a canvas). But I am open to listening to mono more to compare it. And would love to have the vinyl recordings. Though to be honest, I really do not care for the first couple albums in stereo. I actually listened to old un remastered versions of them instead because I think it is silly to just have all instruments on one side and all vocals on another. I find it really frustrating that they will not sell the mono recordings separately so I could have the remastered mono without having to buy the box set. they should have just made the box set mono for the first few recordings, and then all stereo for the ones where it made sense and they had some interesting mixes.

But my question is this: What is the mono stereo breakdown on Past Masters ? Is there a link explaining which songs are stereo or mono. Is there a mono and stereo version of the whole collection? I noticed that a lot of the early songs even on my stereo box set were mono (as I’d prefer the early singles to be). Thoguh I was not sure about This Boy . I think it is in mono, but it almost sounds like some sounds are more prominent in one speaker or the next…but I think that was more my imagination, as I could hear some vocals and some instruments in each… But there was a stereo track in there as well I think. So, did they sell Past Masters or make it different for each box set?  

 

Thanks. 

19 February 2013
8.32am
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Gerard
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As far as I know some tracks on the Past Masters do not appear at the Mono Masters at all. There are also some differences between the tracks of mono and stereo apart from the obvious ones like in She’s A Woman reverb effect.

25 February 2013
5.46pm
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DrBeatle
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There are differences between the mono and stereo mixes of many songs, including different takes being used of vocals and instruments. Also, on Mono Masters, the Get Back /Don’t Let Me Down and Ballad of J&Y/Old Brown Shoe singles are not included because they were only ever mixed in stereo. Instead, you get the never released mono mixes of the 4 Yellow Submarine songs that were intended for an EP that was not released. I prefer them, especially Hey Bulldog ..it’s much more powerful.

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25 February 2013
6.32pm
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meanmistermustard
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Get Back and Dont Let Me Down are on Mono Masters, they were the last Beatles single of the 60’s to be released in mono.

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25 February 2013
7.17pm
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DrBeatle
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meanmistermustard said
Get Back and Dont Let Me Down are on Mono Masters, they were the last Beatles single of the 60’s to be released in mono.

Whoops, you’re right, how embarrassing! (especially because I listened to Mono Masters this morning!). I meant The Ballad of J&Y/Old Brown Shoe and Let it Be (A-side only)…my mistake a-hard-days-night-ringo-6

 

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11 June 2014
7.31pm
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IveJustSeenAFaceo
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For me, I’ve changed my mind. The mono mixes are better on most of them (some stuff on Revolver , sgt Peppers, and Rubber Soul , White Album  are better in stereo). Because of all the hard panning, the stereo mixes get really annoying. 

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11 June 2014
11.43pm
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trcanberra
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IveJustSeenAFaceo said
For me, I’ve changed my mind. The mono mixes are better on most of them (some stuff on Revolver , sgt Peppers, and Rubber Soul , White Album  are better in stereo). Because of all the hard panning, the stereo mixes get really annoying. 

I have noted elsewhere that I generally prefer the mono for the older ‘singer on one side drums the other’ mixes and the stereo for the rest.  They really need to remix the early stuff the way they did with the songs on the Yellow Submarine songtrack.  I was hoping the ‘black box’ a few years back would be the time, but as noted on other threads I suspect they will do this in the future to try and make us buy everything yet again (go for it mmm).

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11 June 2014
11.58pm
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meanmistermustard
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Go for what? 

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12 June 2014
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trcanberra
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meanmistermustard said
Go for what? 

Ah – I was commenting on Apple possibly taking the opportunity to pillage our pockets with yet another edition of Beatles albums, remixed this time – and was hoping to hear your thoughts on how they would throw in some plastic inflatable deck chairs to make the package more enticing :)

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12 June 2014
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meanmistermustard
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Oh. That shtick has been put away for a rainy day. Like Johns attitude to the harmonica in a Beatles song.

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12 June 2014
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MrMoonlight
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Honestly, I prefer stereo, just because of the general sound, but I don’t mind either way. Mono just sounds more… compressed and low-definition to me.

12 June 2014
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IveJustSeenAFaceo
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I would love it if they remixed the entire catalog. Needs way less hard panning, more centralized stuff. Yellow Submarine Soundtrack and Let It Be … Naked  are both excellent in that regard. I’d buy those if they were remixed. 

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12 June 2014
10.53pm
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Bongo
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MrMoonlight said
Honestly, I prefer stereo, just because of the general sound, but I don’t mind either way. Mono just sounds more… compressed and low-definition to me.

I gotta agree.  I get why older people who grew up with mono (no pun intended) prefer it, but to actually say it sounds better is just telling me their hearing is going!a-hard-days-night-paul-11

 I love the sound of the 2009 Stereo re-issue CD’s. Best thing they ever did, without it being another money grab.george-martin

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29 January 2016
10.53am
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Expert Textpert
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These are the two best ways to hear The Beatles, in my opinion:

1

Please Please Me (mono)

With the Beatles (mono)

A Hard Day’s Night (mono)

Beatles For Sale (mono)

Help! (1987 stereo mix)

Rubber Soul (mono)

Revolver (mono)

Sgt. Pepper (mono)

Magical Myster Tour (stereo)

Mono Masters (+ stereo Old Brown Shoe, Let it Be and Ballad of John and Yoko)

The Beatles (mono)

Abbey Road (stereo)

Let it Be (Spector mix, stereo)

2

Please Please Me (mono)

With the Beatles (mono)

A Hard Day’s Night (stereo)

Beatles For Sale (stereo)

Help! (1965 stereo mix)

Rubber Soul (mono)

Revolver (stereo)

Sgt. Pepper (stereo)

Magical Myster Tour (stereo)

Mono Masters (+ stereo Old Brown Shoe, Let it Be and Ballad of John and Yoko)

The Beatles (stereo)

Abbey Road (stereo)

Let it Be (Spector mix, stereo)

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25 May 2017
5.24pm
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knethen222
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I received my Beatles in Mono CD boxed set yesterday, and after listening to Mono Masters Disc 2 with my girlfriend last night, I am starting at the beginning with PPM .  I love the collection so far!  Also loving the Beatles Channel on Sirius XM!

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26 May 2017
7.22am
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Bongo
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Now we get to compare 2017 Sgt Pepper in mono vs stereo all over again!!! paul-mccartney-thumb_gif

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29 March 2018
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Timothy
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MrMoonlight said
Honestly, I prefer stereo, just because of the general sound, but I don’t mind either way. Mono just sounds more… compressed and low-definition to me.  

I prefer mono for the early albums (Please Please Me , With The Beatles , A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale ) and stereo for the others. 

1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
9.A Hard Day’s Night 10.Please Please Me 11.Beatles For Sale 12.With The Beatles 13.Yellow Submarine

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10 October 2018
2.04pm
sunnymaple
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Mono Masters should be sold separately. CD and LP.  So that I can buy copies whenever I want.

10 October 2018
5.35pm
sunnymaple
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Expert Textpert said

These are the two best ways to hear The Beatles, in my opinion:

1

Please Please Me (mono)

With the Beatles (mono)

A Hard Day’s Night (mono)

Beatles For Sale (mono)

Help! (1987 stereo mix)

Rubber Soul (mono)

Revolver (mono)

Sgt. Pepper (mono)

Magical Myster Tour (stereo)

Mono Masters (+ stereo Old Brown Shoe, Let it Be and Ballad of John and Yoko)

The Beatles (mono)

Abbey Road (stereo)

Let it Be (Spector mix, stereo)

2

Please Please Me (mono)

With the Beatles (mono)

A Hard Day’s Night (stereo)

Beatles For Sale (stereo)

Help! (1965 stereo mix)

Rubber Soul (mono)

Revolver (stereo)

Sgt. Pepper (stereo)

Magical Myster Tour (stereo)

Mono Masters (+ stereo Old Brown Shoe, Let it Be and Ballad of John and Yoko)

The Beatles (stereo)

Abbey Road (stereo)

Let it Be (Spector mix, stereo)  

I prefer Help in mono because Ticket To Ride starts LOUDER in mono.  Actually I would like to add Ticket To Ride and Help to Mono Masters.

10 October 2018
9.59pm
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Dark Overlord
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@sunnymaple have you tried out A Collection Of Beatles Oldies, which has those 2 songs as well as some other non album tracks and was released in mono (as well as stereo), i think it might be what you’re looking for.

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