Statement from Capitol Records on THE BEATLES "The Capitol Albums Vol. 2" set

I wonder about that too. I'd be pretty POd if I had to pay shipping to return a product that they new was defective from day one.

 

Capitol statement: "....Although there is no discernible difference in the sound quality in the initial run, Capitol made the adjustment for historical accuracy....."


To be fair, I think they are merely making the distinction between a faulty pressing with audible errors and one in which the wrong masters were used but where the sound quality is fine. That is, if you were none the wiser then you wouldn't hear a problem on the faulty set.

 

I'd be interested to know if the new fold-downs had any separate-channel processing.

 

When you get the faulty set that will be easy to test .

 

I'm not a Capitol fan in general, but I don't think they deserve the blame for the Beatles CDs, which goes way beyond mastering. It was George Martin who remixed Rubber Soul, not Capitol. And the Beatles and Apple have the final say on the CDs. I give Capitol credit for taking the initiative and providing some kind of alternative. If anyone doesn't appreciate that, they don't have to buy the new CDs.

 

Very true indeed. Still, as much as Capitol may have been trying to make it clear that the discs are not defective as in faulty playback or manufacturing problems, etc., the statement also seems to marginalize those who feel that the use of mono mixes isn't simply an issue of "historical accuracy" alone, but also an issue of a preferable way to hear the songs, or at least a different way. In short, Capitol wants to downplay the problem as much as possible, while apparently also simultaneously admitting the problem does exist. Strange, other than perhaps from a legal standpoint.

We could also get into all sorts of semantics over whether a fold-down of a stereo mix is actually a case of "inferior sound quality" to real mono mixes. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even by some sort of record label's legal definition, "inferior sound quality" can consist of something other than a disc that is unplayable due to manufacturing defects, or a disc with a bunch of digital clicks and pops.

 

Wollensack, THANK YOU for posting this. I'm pleased that a statement was released.

I'll be getting up early on 4/11 to buy The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 before I go to work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the production error with this set will not jeapordize a third Capitol Albums box set from being produced.

 

Here's why it's important to have the real "Rubber Soul" mono mix

The corrected "Vol.2" box would be the official CD debut of most of the "Rubber Soul" mono mixes(a few are on a UK CD E.P.),and the debut of an exclusive alternate mono mix of "Michelle",which predates(and differs from) the UK mono mix of the song.So much for Capitol's claim that there's no audible difference between the stereo mixes folded down to mono versus the dedicated mono mixes.I'm going to wait a few months before buying the box.Perhaps Capitol should made a change in the catalogue number,or some marking on the packaging of the corrected set so that consumers and dealers will know.

 

Thanks very much Wollensack..your return was worth the wait! My apologies for any doubts about your original postings regarding your set.

Okay, so if I bought a set from someone off Ebay this week, and they say they got it yesterday..Does this mean they are sending me the "incorrect" version, or did Capitol already ship the updated version to distributors ?

 

Unfortunately, I don't think this is so uncommon. In the world of DVD, I can think of TWO high-profile releases right off the top of my head (both are Universal titles) that had similar controversies surrounding their release.

The original DTS version of Jurassic Park had an incorrectly mastered DTS track (of all things) and customers had to return their disc by mail for a replacement. The original widescreen Back to the Future Trilogy box set contained 2 defective discs, yet Universal never recalled the set and was readily available at retail for more than two years! If you wanted corrected discs, you had to call an 800 number and listen to an operator recite a message from Universal Home Video about how the discs were NOT defective, but, if you really wanted to, you could send them your originals and they would send you replacement discs. Pretty amazing!

 

But they don't say that - they say that there is no difference in the "sound quality" which is different than saying two things sound the same. Of course, one could argue that you can't really compare the sound quality of two different sources but I think they are just trying to make it clear that the faulty set does not suffer from any technical problems.

 

What I understand from the press release is that every set that has been manufactured has the incorrect CD's. I think your best bet if you want it right away is to buy it and then return the incorrect CD's to Capitol to get your replacement CD.

 

Well actually my intentions was to get the "incorrect" version just as a collectable...I will still buy the "updated" version on April 11

 

Is there a way to tell the difference between the US and European / Japan pressings ?

 

I'm glad they owned up to it and are fixing the problem. The way I read it, many of these are out there, so who can blame Capitol for hoping that some buyer won't know, or care about the mono mixes. Many people will never even play those versions.

I will be holding off getting this until I know I'll be getting the right one.

Thanks Wollensack for the timely info!

 

Yea but are they going to recall them from all the retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City,etc.. , or have those stores even gotten the sets yet in the US ?

 

If they dont recall they need to make some kind of difference in the UPC code or catalog number!

 

I don't think any sets will be recalled. They will just issue replacement discs.

 

Worrying about dedicated mono mixes vs. fold-downs I can understand.

Worrying about the differences between new fold-downs vs. old fold-downs? I don't get it.

The guys putting together this project will get judged much more on sound quality than they will on historical accuracy. They care about their reputations in that regard, and they should. As Steve alluded to earlier, those old fold-down tapes will sound pretty wonky, and would need plenty of futzing to make them presentable, in which case they no longer sound like the old tapes. It makes perfect sense for them to do what they did. The original fold-downs were bastard children to begin with.

 

I want original mixes, not something recreated for 2006. What is the point if they're not original ?

 

This is a good question. Are new fold-downs preferable to old ones? The new ones might actually be better!

This is just for The Early Beatles and Help of course.

 

If I come home from Best Buy on Tuesday with the incorrect mono mixes, CAPITOL is paying for the shipping on the replacements, not me! This is their incompetence, and if they try to argue it I will be getting free stuff

 

All I want is the original master tapes in 24 bit mono, just like Volume 1

I would assume that they have master reels for the mono versions of all the lp's ?

 

There appears to be no shortage of tapes.....they even have offspring.

 

My question that nobody seems to be able to answer is: Are all of the US sets sold NOW the incorrect versions? I bought one off of Ebay and should have it by the end of the week.

I would think the US retailers didnt get them yet, so wouldnt they receive the corrected discs? When I worked at Sam Goody we didnt get new release shipments until the day before (usually Mondays).