The mono Beatles box set thread *

Hey, when you're obviously wrong, you're obviously wrong.

 

+1

Disagree, make arguments, state your own point of view, YMMV, etc... but let's not discourage people from expressing their opinions, please?

 

But not everyone agrees he's wrong. There've been several posts in this thread that agree with him. Besides, even those who are wrong deserve some basic respect.

 

I think that, theoretically, a properly done stereo mix should always be superior.

Of course; we are left with the Beatles stereo & mono mixes as they are historically. So in my mind when I say 'a' mono mix is superior, its not a definitive statement about stereo, but about a stereo mix as it exists (or as we know it).

As a result, I like the Hard Days Night, Help, and Rubber Soul mono mixes. (Although I like the stereo mixes of Help about as much as the mono, and even like the RS mix at times). Most of the Pepper mixes sound better to me in mono. Some of the white album songs are better sounding to me in mono. Beatles For Sale sux in mono. And I still prefer the stereo Revolver over the mono, despite trying to 'get into' the Revolver mono mix.

The Stones analogy is fairly apt. Aftermath is another album that, once I discovered the mono - I have a hard time listening to the stereo like I used to.

 

This is one really effing-funny post here. Uh HUH!

 

I only agree with you on Beatles for Sale which is abysmal compared to the Stereo version---otherwise I like what I like and not because anyone told me to!

Long Tall Sally EP for a start---the MONO with less reverb better suits the raw immediacy of the tracks.

I do prefer Sgt. Pepper in Stereo (I don’t mind the MONO mix but I wasn’t raised on it and the differences in this case are distracting) but, to me, HELP! and Rubber Soul sound markedly better, for the most part, in MONO.

 

As Raunchnroll already noted, I, too, was very skeptical of mono when I first joined this forum. I simply assumed that two speakers were better than one, and that mono couldn't provide the same depth of soundstage as stereo. But I have simply heard too many 60s records whose mono mixes are notably superior to their stereo counterparts for me to continue to write off mono. It's not just the Beatles who put more care into the mono mixes - I could not be without the mono mixes of the Stones' Out of Our Heads, Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, the Supremes' early singles such as "Baby Love," "Where Did Our Love Go," etc. That the focus of pre-Sgt. Pepper pop music was the mono 45 mix seems indisputable to me.

 

I say: buy the mono box to get the versions you do not already have on cd
(which is all but the first four) then buy the first four as individual stereo cds.

The 1986-7 cds from 'Revolver' onward are not horrible, and you save $160 using my plan.

 

Well for the Stones you really have no choice (I'm not even going talk about fake stereo). I know what you're saying, but I just don't like the sound of mono. As I wrote in another thread recently, it's like everything that's normally supposed to be in the left and right channel is missing and all that's left is the lead vocal. I perceive the holes on the side of the spectrum and the loss of sonic inforomation there annoys me too much to enjoy the mono. Granted, if I listened to mostly mono, my ears would adjust. For a couple of years I was heavily involed with surround sound as I was developing a plugin fro it, and most of my listening at home was in 5.1. After awhile I couldn't stand the collapsed, seemingly one-dimensional sound of plain stereo. Take that feeling and multiply it, the result is what I hear with mono. Since most of the material I listen to is in stereo, it's unlikely my ears will ever get acclimatized to mono listening.

By the way, the statement you quoted wasn't mind. AHSlong's wrote it; I just repeated it and credited him for it.

 

Yes, please.

 

Well said!

I don't there's too many on this forum who like mono for it's own sake. It's the simple fact that many mono mixes from the 50s and 60s sound great, and can offer a more cohesive (or at least a differently flavored) listening experience than their stereo counterparts.

 

That's not what I hear at all. Many 60s mono mixes feature huge drums and bass. Check out the Classic mono reissue of Hendrix's Axis: Bold as Love to hear Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding like you've never heard them before. The footstomps and handclaps on the mono single mix of the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" sound huge.

 

Actually I avoided the mono Axis and opted for George Marino's phenomenal new analog stereo LP remaster. It's by far the nicest Hendrix I've ever heard.

 

Thats the point you can't say Mono is better than Stereo and Vice Versus! Because some of the mono is good and some of the stereo is good its a mixed bag, I like the idea I have a choice of either personally, and two different version of the same album!

 

This is really ironic, because I didn't find your anti-mono rant to be terribly respectful. It's one thing to say you don't like the sound of mono, it's quite another to imply that those who do are ignorant of basic laws of physics, or need to "move on" and "use their two ears." I've never heard any monophile argue that mono was the best way to hear all music, but it appears that you are convinced that mono is a fundamentally incorrect way to hear music, and I find that far more arrogant than anything said about anyone's preference for the Beatles' mono mixes.

Now, I'm aware that you were attempting to attack what you perceive as false ideas related to some peoples' mono preference, but when you do so with such unmistakable arrogance, you can't fail to understand that it will ramp up the argument and move people to take sides.

 

When I want mono I just unplug one of my speakers.

 

Guess you missed Stefan's comments in the "Exile" thread:

"I won't go to a film that was done in black and white, even if for artistic reasons, simply because I hate watching B&W films.:

 

Yes please! Give us everything!

 

You should read his Zeppelin posts...

 

I didn't say anything about people being ignorant of the laws of physics. I simply stated them as they are. I also made it very clear that I was referring to how I personally hear mono, to the point where I've had to remind people by requoting myself and underlining the words. Yes, I said move on adn use two ears. It was a joke, check the smiles afterwards. At least I didn't imply the people were crazy.

 

Actually people should read YOUR anti-Zeppelin diatribes!!!

 

I never read Zeppelin posts.

 

Stefan must not have watched much of the Beatles Anthology then, as most of the performance clips featured black & white footage.