New Beatles remasters

Jimjoyce,

sorry to be so general.....just trying to focus on the musical enjoyment. but to list a few things specifically on the Abbey Road new stereo disc compared to the 80's CD;

--much more separation of musical lines for a number of reasons. better dynamic contrasts. blacker backgrounds. bass lines are more distinct; with more slam and articulation. even though the vocals were at exactly the same level on the new disc and the 80's disc the other musical lines were much more alive and energetic. the 80's disc must have been EQ'd to death.

--better sense of space and bloom. this might be a bit system specific, but on my big rig there are some very nice things happening soundstage-wise on the new disc.

--less digital signature by far. none of that 'rough at the edges' early 80's CD signature. (i am concerned that what i'm hearing might have been a bit 'scrubbed' in the mastering and could be missing some of the 'life' and 'air' of the 80's CD's. i will need to listen more to really be able to tell one way or another; but it's possible. i'm a listener that 'likes' tape hiss in his music because it almost always means that 'all' the music is still there to be retrieved from a recording. i also am big into Lps (3-tt's, 10,000 lps) and love RTR tape. so i'm not into having big brother scrub my classic rock.)

--more a sense of musical flow and energy; the music pulses more with life. this is a very big deal as this is at the heart of things. of course; dub it down to MP3 and the life will leave.

--tonality is more real and the vocals are fuller and more textured.

i hope this helps somewhat; again.....it's only my limited viewpoint of Abbey Road.

Thanks Mike. That is what I am looking for. For me, the most important aspect is the realism of the sound. I found, for example, that the sound of the Rolling Stones re-masters is a good deal less real than the sound of the originals.

Some reviewers have said that the re-mastered Beatles CDs are louder than the originals by a noticeable amount. Is this something that you corrected for in your listening?

The mono box set, so far, just sounds "there." It is so dynamic and clear and exciting to hear the bass, different guitar parts, and Ringo's drumming, where before the vocals were SO prominent and at least to me the stuff each of the Beatles was playing just didn't stand out where you could really hear each of them like you can now. It is now quite easy to hear what George, John, Paul, and Ringo are each doing on every song. Besides the better bass and drums, it is the little riffs and percussions you can now hear that are great. Plus, there is NO compression on the monos. I confess I haven't heard the stereo versions yet.

for the guys who have mono and stereo,if you had only one choice would you go mono or stereo?
al

Some reviewers have said that the re-mastered Beatles CDs are louder than the originals by a noticeable amount. Is this something that you corrected for in your listening?

again; i've only compared new to 80's CD with Abbey Road. in this example the overall level of gain of the vocals was possibly slightly higher on the new remastered CD, which is really of no real consequence. what i did was level match the vocals. the difference is that while the vocals are quite similar in level, everything else is more alive and dynamic....mostly somewhat louder. but it's way more than that. since there are blacker backgrounds and more separation between musical mines, you simply hear farther into the mix, and things are both more prominent and you hear things that were previously obscure.

i don't want to guess about how these CD's compare to my Lp pressings, but i won't be surprised if they don't get into that level of detail.

so the answer to your question is that yes; they are louder but the main reason is the compressed and homogenized mix of the 80's CD's. if you A/B the old and new you will notice that the vocals are similar in level but everything else seems louder.

i think the degree of diference might be affected by the quality of one's playback system. maybe the 80's CD's were appropriate to the early crap redbook players.