Mofi Abbey Road and Rubber Soul

[Sam]

Even though they were mastered with the boost in the 10Khz region, I believe Tom Port has stated in his catalogs that he finds these two Beatle Mofi's among the best pressings available. ( I love 'em). Did the magic fairy dust just happen to fall on these two mofi pressings even though they screwed around with the EQ? Are some of the Beatles mofi pressings exempt from the boost at 10Khz (As Mr. Hoffman once commented on referring to info he received from Mr. Port). Are there other Beatles mofi pressings that are considered to be superior to many other pressings?

[FabFourFan]

Originally posted by Sam
Are some of the Beatles mofi pressings exempt from the boost at 10Khz
(As Mr. Hoffman once commented on referring to info he received from Mr. Port).That's a question that I sure wish someone could answer convincingly!

The question is whether there were somehow TWO DIFFERENT SETS of Beatles MOFIs made,
one with the 10k eq, and one without it.

The LPs in the big MFSL Beatles Box are supposed to have the naughty eq, of course,
but the rumour was that some of the titles that were subsequently released separately
were spared from having their treble boosted, or something like that.

I seem to remember that someone in Australia was saying this in rec.music.beatles a few years ago,
but that's as much as I ever heard about it, until Steve mentioned the same rumor a few months ago on the old forum.

Who knows?? Mr Humorem, have you figured this out? Or is this just another urban legend? :eek:

[Duke of Prunes]

Hmmm. Can anyone tell me how I might go about getting a digital copy of the "good" ones of these albums, if what FabFourFan said is agreed upon? For example, does anyone know about the source of various MoFi-derived CD bootlegs (i.e. whether they are from the EQ'd or non-EQ'd, box or singles)? Is that "Millenium Remasters" set from the box? I think so, but can't remember...

Thanks
Rob

P.S. - I know it's a bit sketchy, as is clear, and I wouldn't know if they were rumors, but any extension of knowledge would be helpful.

[Stax Fan]

"Abbey Road" is the only one I have. Mine sounds pretty tame.

[Todd Fredericks]

I enjoy my MFSL 'Abbey Road' but I do think that it does have some EQ boost (at least compared to other pressings I have, etc). The bass seems kind of bloated...

Todd

P.S. Also, the over-all gain seems pretty low (maybe because of the bass increase?)....

[mcow1]

Originally posted by Duke of Prunes
Is that "Millenium Remasters" set from the box? I think so, but can't remember...

Thanks
Rob

P.S. - I know it's a bit sketchy, as is clear, and I wouldn't know if they were rumors, but any extension of knowledge would be helpful.

I do believe it is from the box.

[Stax Fan]

Originally posted by Todd Fredericks
I enjoy my MFSL 'Abbey Road' but I do think that it does have some EQ boost (at least compared to other pressings I have, etc). The bass seems kind of bloated...

Todd

P.S. Also, the over-all gain seems pretty low (maybe because of the bass increase?)....

Same with mine, but I certainly don't notice anything around 10k.

[John Buchanan]

SPLHCB was remastered at least once on MoFi, as the box set version I had omitted the chatter at the album's end, whereas later pressings had this, apparently. As for the other albums, who knows.

[Todd Fredericks]

Tom Port has confirmed that the standard MFSL Pepper was mastered by at least 2 different people (Stan Ricker and the other name escapes me)...

Todd

[Duke of Prunes]

Jack Hunt

[Larpy]

Originally posted by Todd Fredericks
Tom Port has confirmed that the standard MFSL Pepper was mastered by at least 2 different people (Stan Ricker and the other name escapes me)...

Todd

The other guy was Jack Hunt. It's funny because for all of Tom's criticism of the MoFis, he said in a thread back in the spring that he preferred Ricker's version to Hunt's--Hunt's was too dead sounding. I've never quite understood how it could be that the two prominent criticisms of the MoFi Beatles are either that they're "grotestquely zippy" or "kinda flat." One of these responses I could understand, but BOTH?

By the way, all of the copies I have are separately issued--no box versions. And indeed they sound a bit bright, but I wouldn't call them distractingly unbalanced. In fact, I think they're less bright than the Japanese versions. I like them (though I feel slightly guilty for saying so, as MoFi-basing has been all the rage): I wouldn't want them to be the only copies of Beatles records I had, but I wouldn't want to give them up either.

It'd be interesting to hear from someone who could directly compare a box version with a later version.

Larpy

[Stax Fan]

I think the sound of "Abbey Road" in general lends itself to not sounding too bright.

[lennonfan]

i think the orig individual released mofi's win hands down in all areas. they sound like high grade straight transfers to me, tho if there is a 10k boost it was done with prudence;)
only prob i see is that abbey road was cut a little too low which brings out every tiny flaw in the vinyl. pity.

[Stax Fan]

Originally posted by lennonfan
only prob i see is that abbey road was cut a little too low which brings out every tiny flaw in the vinyl. pity.

At least it's pressed on the finest vinyl ever formulated.

[count.d]

I have most of the individual issue mfsl Beatles (except White and Magical).

I find them the best pressings that I've heard of the Beatles. I'm in the UK and have compared them to many UK releases.

Most releases sound too bright with harsh voices. The MFSL sound refined with a mellow rich Lennon voice.

I was in the thread, with Humorem, in the Spring. I thought my Jack Hunt Pepper MFSL was superb. It really shines above any other pressing I've heard, open, spacious and detailed.

You should make your own mind up in listening sessions. Humorem has knowledge, but is not neccessarily correct.

[MMM]

The MoFi "Abbey Road" is very high resolution and has very precise, well defined images. It's very clean sounding. It seems to have a little extra top, but nothing grotesque. The bass is a little overripe, but it's not so bad. It is cut a little low, but having it pressed on the finest vinyl ever formulated as Arin said, makes this less of a problem than if it were pressed on the more commonly used vinyl mixed with melted used tires. My gripe with it though is its somewhat sucked out midrange sound - it's just unreal for "Abbey Road". The MoFi is Eq'd too "hi-fi" like IMO, making it a little too smooth and polite sounding without enough "balls".

On a related note, the 1987 CD seems to have somewhat the opposite mid/upper mid Eq'ing - it sounds too midrangey. It also does not have enough apparent extention on top - basically it sucks, but we all know that ;).

BTW - my coments on the MoFi "Abbey Road" are based on the individually issued version - I've never heard the box set version and can't comment if any differences exist between them.

[sgraham]

All of these comments pertain to the unboxed individual albums.

I like my MoFi Rubber Soul, but it definitely does have that MoFi sound, for better and worse. It hints at how good the master tape might sound.

My A Hard Day's Night and Please Please Me both suffer, I think, from a bit too much of the treble boost. Makes the vocals sound raspy.

It has been a long time since I heard the MoFi White album, but at the time I was disappointed by the sucked out midrange and the fact that it ran slow compared to the standard issues. Impressive bass on a few cuts.

In my opinion, and I hope this isn't heresy for which I'll get tarred and feathered here, all the Beatles Parlophones before Pepper (for all their virtues) were seriously lacking in bass, as well as a bit rolled on top.

[Steve Hoffman]

Agreed, but the magic is always in the midrange.

Whatever pressing gets THAT right, wins!

[Dave]

My 1.3 cents Can.

Until Steve gets his magic hands on these, the Mofi's will be the best sounding. I sure hope this can happen one day Steve.;)

[John Carsell]

I had originally purchased all the Beatles MFSL's individually back in the 80's.
I didn't particularly notice much treble boost on either Rubber Soul or Abbey Road. I also never have compared them to copies from the MFSL box set either.
For me the winner of The Beatles big treble boost is With The Beatles.

[Evan L]

All I have is the MFSL Abbey Road, and it is a winner. Yes, it is cut very low but the bass is nice and deep, and it's not too trebly or midrangy at all. Kicks butt on even the German issue.

[Stax Fan]

Wait...we're shifting focus here. I didn't intend my posts to reflect a preference for the MFSL "Abbey Road", just that I think it's a reasonably good issue without excessive high frequency EQ. It's bloomy at the bottom, and a little bloom can be appealing. But, for overall balance and better midrange presence, the UK original is tops IMO. The later UK pressings ain't nothing to sneeze at, either. The MFSL "Abbey Road" does de-emphasize the mids a bit.