Mono? or Stereo? Or Both?

[JakeK]

If you all didn't know, with no intention of getting it whatsoever, my grandmother gave me the mono box set for my birthday. I was able to compare mixes and there is a noticable difference between the stereo and mono mixes. To be honest, there are some songs from '62-'68 that are better in stereo, while some are better in mono.

Songs such as "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," "The Night Before," "Drive My Car," "And Your Bird Can Sing," "Lady Madonna," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Don't Pass Me By" and "Helter Skelter" sound better in stereo to me than mono.

For entire albums, I'd have to cast my vote to "Please Please Me," "With the Beatles" and "Rubber Soul" being better in mono. I can't get past the vocals on the right/backing track on the left separation. (Although, in stereo (at least the '87 remix of it), the piano in "Drive My Car" is more prominent than in mono. In stereo, it plays for the chorus and the fade-out, while in mono, I can only hear it after every lyric in the chorus.)

Something to note: in mono, tracks such as "I Call Your Name," "I'm Down," "Day Tripper," "Paperback Writer," "Baby You're a Rich Man," "All You Need is Love," "I am the Walrus," "Hello Goodbye" and "Hey Jude" have longer fade-outs than they do in stereo, which is pretty cool, having been so acquainted with the stereo mixes for so long.

And about the Mono sets being on eBay for cheap...that's too good to be true. I learned from a TV show that if a deal sounds too good to be true, than it probably is!

[brammy]

Both.

I call it "Sterno"

(sorry 'bout that )

[electrofaro]

I have that false start somewhere, I know it.

I read back a bit, but failed to get which song you mean. If there's a version with a false start it's probably also on the Alternate album bootleg series by Pear.

As for which box sets: both

I disagree there's not much difference between mono and stereo - there are some very big difference here and there, even!

[bottom4]

There are numerous Mono Box Sets on Ebay for under $150.00 Has any one here picked one of these up (from ebay) are they legit???

Anyone have any experience buying this off ebay???

[electrofaro]

There are numerous Mono Box Sets on Ebay for under $150.00 Has any one here picked one of these up (from ebay) are they legit???

Anyone have any experience buying this off ebay???

Ooh, quoting yourself, how inventive

Anyway, I doubt anyone bought one of those, otherwise someone'd have replied about it by now, eh?

[kkawachi]

Last time i was at amazon they were just over 180 i believe.

Better than what I paid, but ive had mine since 9/9/09 so its a small price to pay.

[suedehead71]

i got the Mono st, and the individual stereo discs for "abbey road' "let it be" & 'the stereo masters' (black cover).

[TheyMightBe]

I have the mono box and I absolutely love it.

[FretlessOnly]

I bought the mono set on pre-order and then slowly added in a few of the stereo discs as I found them (generally @ $11.99; not too bad). Before I knew it, I had all of the stereo discs too (except for Yellow Submarine - the 1999 remaster is sufficient there).

Now whenever I find myself in a CD department I keep wondering if there are any new Beatles releases out yet.