The Beatles Mono vs. Stereo (Remastered CDs Coming Sept. 2009)

Rob — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:32:16 +0000

I’m a huge fan of The Beatles. I grew up listening to my parents’ old Beatles records, 45s, 8-tracks, and cassette tapes. They even bought me some of my own as I got a little older. Then, in 1987, they started upgrading to CD and by the late 1980s, we had almost every Beatles album in digital form. At that point, our records sat in crates untouched. We still used our tapes in the car, but at home, we enjoyed our crystal clear Beatles CDs.

All of the Beatles music my parents and I owned was in stereo. My parents owned a good stereo sound system, so why would they have bought the mono versions of Beatles albums? I didn’t even know Beatles albums were released in mono until my parents started buying the CDs. I remember being disappointed that the first four Beatles albums on CD were in mono. Why would Apple do that? As scratched and abused as our old records were, the stereo separation on those early recordings sounded great. I loved being able to “feel” the studio space in my headphones. Plus, I appreciated the fact that I could isolate the vocals and study the harmonies or isolate the instruments and focus on Paul’s bass lines, Ringo’s drumming, etc. Overall, the stereo versions sounded clearer, cleaner, and more powerful to me. Here’s an example:

“Anna (Go to Him)” 1963, short mono/stereo comparison clip:

Listen:
Download audio file (anna-mono-stereo.mp3)

Download:
24 second MP3 file – 0.9 MB (right-click to save)

In 2003, my old coworker Chris got me interested in the mono versions of later Beatles albums (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, etc.), mainly so I could hear the recording and mixing variations that exist between the two versions. It may seem like a strange process today, but in the 1960s, EMI’s engineers mixed each Beatles album in mono first, then went back to the multitrack recordings, set up their effects processors all over again, and created the stereo edits and mixes from scratch – sometimes days later. That’s why the mono and stereo versions of later Beatles albums feature so many differences.

It would’ve been easier and faster to mix each album in stereo first and then simply create a mono reduction from the stereo mixes, but that’s not how it was done 45 years ago when mono was the dominant format.

Because the Beatles were present when the mono mixes were created – but supposedly not for the stereo mixes – some fans believe the mono mixes are automatically superior. According to Chris Carter, host of the weekly radio show Breakfast with the Beatles on KLOS-FM and Sirius/XM, “The mono mixes of those LPs is the way the Beatles themselves intended you to hear those albums. The stereo mixes were usually done as an afterthought by second engineers without any Beatles present.”

I strongly disagree. Just because John, Paul, George, and Ringo supposedly weren’t present for the stereo mixes, that doesn’t mean EMI’s engineers created them as an afterthought. In fact, the stereo mixes often featured improved editing and more refined special effects than the mono mixes. Here’s an example:

editing between “Good Morning Good Morning” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” 1967, short stereo/mono comparison clip:

Listen:
Download audio file (sgt-pepper-repr-mono-stereo.mp3)

Download:
59 second MP3 file – 2.3 MB (right-click to save)

I enjoy being able to hear each instrument and vocal crisply and clearly in the stereo mixes, but some people are disoriented by the severe stereo separation/hard panning in many of the songs and prefer what they consider to be the less-jarring mono versions. No problem. It’s really a matter of personal preference, but to say the stereo albums were afterthoughts is silly.

During the last several years, the later mono albums have grown on me and I’m now at the point where I don’t consider them to be inferior, just…different. I listen to the mono version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band one day and the stereo version the next. If I had to choose one set of Beatles albums to keep though, I’d still go for the stereo versions. The mono versions are interesting and new to my ears, but they always sound a bit muffled and cluttered by comparison, especially in the busier, more ambitious recordings. A relatively sparse song like “A Day in the Life” sounds fine in mono, but a song like “Good Morning Good Morning” sounds like a jumbled mess. There’s just too much going on.

That said, the entire Beatles catalog is being remastered for the first time since 1987. The new CDs are scheduled for release on September 9, 2009, and will include the mono and stereo versions of each album, except Abbey Road and Let It Be, which were only released in stereo. That means several Beatles albums will be officially available on CD in mono or stereo for the first time ever.

Part of me is skeptical because of today’s improper mastering techniques, known as the loudness war…but part of me is optimistic after reading this Guardian.co.uk article, which states, “engineers at EMI’s Abbey Road studios spent four years on the remasters, ‘utilising state-of-the-art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings.’”

That’s a good sign, but just in case, I’m begging the mastering engineer: please don’t resort to brickwall limiting or hard clipping. Give me a chance to turn the volume up on my home sound system for a change.

I know this collection of CDs isn’t going to be cheap, so I’ve already begun setting aside money. I should have enough in my Beatles fund by September. In the meantime, listen to some more of my stereo/mono comparison samples and let me know which segments you think sound better, the mono or the stereo (listen to these clips in headphones for a more dramatic effect):

“Good Morning Good Morning” 1967, short stereo/mono comparison clip:

Listen:
Download audio file (good-morning-mono-stereo.mp3)

Download:
59 second MP3 file – 2.3 MB (right-click to save)

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“I’m Only Sleeping” 1966, short stereo/mono comparison clip:

Listen:
Download audio file (im-only-sleep-mono-stereo.mp3)

Download:
57 second MP3 file – 2.2 MB (right-click to save)

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“Lovely Rita” 1967, short stereo/mono comparison clip:

Listen:
Download audio file (lovely-rita-mono-stereo.mp3)

Download:
56 second MP3 file – 2.2 MB (right-click to save)

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