Beatles uk vs us vinyl

[nesster97]

i was looking at one of thoose boxes. but i have all the beatles work already i still keep my eyes open if i find another uk copy of something. Becuase since i play my beatles records so much i wear them out and have to buy anther copy

[binsey]

I read somewhere that the Mobile Fidelity reissues were from the Capitol 2nd generation masters and not the EMI mastertapes.

[macshifi]

According to an article in Goldmine's Price Guide to Collectible Records, 3rd edition, 1993, only Magical Mystery Tour was taken from Capitol records master tapes for the Mobile Fidelity records, all others were taken from Parlophone master tapes.

Mark

[Ottermel]

Hmm,
I have all the original 60's Canadian issues and two 60's German issues and they all sound great (of course that was before vinyl was "thinned" down to wrapping paper thickness in the 70's)

[Marknoir]

i was looking at one of thoose boxes. but i have all the beatles work already i still keep my eyes open if i find another uk copy of something. Becuase since i play my beatles records so much i wear them out and have to buy anther copy

Firstly, on a relatively high-end rig, you would have a single copy last you a LONG time. If they wear out this fast, consider changing a cartridge. or the whole set-up, or use a good cleaning machine.

Secondly, if you do wear them out so fast, why not copy yours onto CD-R? I know, anathema, but my CD-r copies that I make for my car sound pretty damn close to my home vinyl repro. And I don't play my valuable stuff a lot, I play copies of it for the most. It hardly make sense - to me - to pay $100 for an early UK press and wear it out in a few months. May be I'm wrong.

[Marknoir]

I read somewhere that the Mobile Fidelity reissues were from the Capitol 2nd generation masters and not the EMI mastertapes.

According to the info I have, the box issues were produced from 2-d generation EMI/Apple tapes, and only MMT was produced from Capitol tape, because MMT LP layout was specific to US market. Note, that track listings on all MFSL reissues corresponds exactly to UK lists, not to US Capitol variants. But strangely, the MFSL MMT cassette tape was produced from EMI tape meant for German market, exactly like it was pressed by German Horzu/Apple. So, for a while, it was the only thing available in true stereo, and commanded (still does) very high prices. It actually sounds good, better than MFSL MMT LP for sure (MFSL MMT is probably the WORST sounding MMT that I have heard, the best being German Horzu/Apple). Also, mastering for box issues and separate album issues was DIFFERENT, easily seen by different dead wax size. IMHO, separate issues do sound better in general, but I found that MFSL pressings vary greatly from one to another even on the same title, and can sound from excruciatingly bright to almost normal to great.

[Marknoir]

BTW, I forgot to mention, that, despite it's crazy smiling-face-plus-treble boost EQ, MFSL issues had one major plus: ZERO limiting/compressing (their claim). From what I could hear, I have to agree. They do not have the nasty artifacts present in nearly every other Beatles issue, caused by ancient limiting techniques. I especially can hear them in the earliest pressings, like my "Please Please Me" and "With the Beatles" MONOs. The 2009 digital remasters still use limiting/compressing, albeit computerized, and sound pretty bad to my ears. MFSL Box has two pressings that are really good - "Sgt. Pepper", that is damn close to UHQR, and "Let IT Be". So these boxes still command high prices.

[macshifi]

I have a copy of Magical Mystery Tour on 2 EP's, Parlophone issue, but have yet to listen to them.

Mark