Stereo Box Set [Box set, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered, Best of, Enhanced]

Believe the hype: the stereo remasters sound *much* better than the tinny 1987 CDs and deserve to be The Beatles' new audio standard. However, these are not remixes like 1999's Yellow Submarine Songtrack or Love -- and that is a missed opportunity. Hence my four- but not five-star rating.

PROS: Ringo's drums and Paul's bass shine on all tracks. Bottom end was lacking on the pre-REVOLVER albums but is restored here. The bass and drums sound gloriously warm and rounded. On the other end, details in the harmonies and high-hat leap out of the stereo mix like never before. The remasters give the music depth and dimension. The albums that benefit the most are BEATLES FOR SALE, HELP!, ABBEY ROAD and LET IT BE.

CONS: The hard two-channel stereo (instruments on one side, vocals on the other) mixes mar PLEASE PLEASE ME, WITH THE BEATLES and certain tracks on other albums (i.e. Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer). The result leaves a sonic hole in the middle of the stereo picture that's large enough for a jumbo jet to fly through. (John Lennon rightfully called the Revolution stereo mix an "ice cream s*** sandwich.") The cleaner sound only draws more attention to this brutal stereo separation and begs the question: Why didn't they remix? Even the mixes from 1976's vinyl compilation, ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC, sound better.

What follows is a quick album-by-album critique and rating out of 5 stars, based on listening on Sennheiser headphones:

PLEASE PLEASE ME (2/5 stars)
WITH THE BEATLES (2/5 stars)
As noted, the primitive stereo separation cancels out the gains made in the new warmth and detail of the remasters. Listening to these albums on headphone is a headache, and on speakers confusing (vocals in one corner of the room, all instruments way over there). It would've been more sensible to include BOTH the stereo and mono mixes on each disc. With each album clocking in around 35 minutes, there's certainly room.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (4/5 stars)
Warmer and brighter across the board. The stereo mix is good, though simple.

BEATLES FOR SALE (5/5 stars)
This is where the remasters really work. From the opening guitar strums of No Reply, the listener feels like he's in the same room as The Beatles. Ringo's drums are louder and clearer than ever. Paul's bass is warm, though not as ostentatious as later albums when he was mixed higher. This one surprised me.

HELP! (5/5 stars)
Surprisingly, this album is the most improved, hands-down. The title track simply roars with a newfound rhythmn section. I always preferred the mono vinyl mix of Ticket To Tide, but this stereo remaster makes me reconsider. I love to detail in Paul's voice in Another Girl, and his acoustic guitar in Yesterday. Dizzy Miss Lizzy was an album filler, but now Lennon's vocals tear the soundscape apart. I could praise each track, but don't have the room for it. Super.

RUBBER SOUL (3/5 stars)
Oddly enough I didn't hear *that* much improvement on this beloved album. If anything, the hard stereo mix made me reach for the Yellow Submarine Songtrack (YSS) on cuts like Nowhere Man and Think For Yourself. Others like Norwegian Wood beg for a remix.

REVOLVER (4/5 stars)
At this point, I start preferring the mono mixes. Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, For No One and Got To Get You Into My Life may offer more detail, but sound terrible in wide stereo. I much prefer the mono versions which inject each song with immediacy and drive. The stereo versions sound lifeless. That said, the remastering flatters She Said She Said where Ringo's drums triumph, And Your Bird Can Sing where the guitars are slashing, Here There and Everywhere where you can make out John and George's voices in the backing track, and Tomorrow Never Knows whose sound effects sound like a hurricane raging in your headphones. And did you know there was a bass drum in Good Day Sunshine?

SGT. PEPPER (4/5 stars)
Another stereo vs. mono debate. I'd have to mix some mono, some stereo and some YSS tracks to arrive at my definitive Pepper. Sonic quality is improved on all tracks, but stand-outs are She's Leaving Home and A Day in the Life. In contrast, Mr. Kite and When I'm 64 suffer in stereo.

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (3/5 stars)
THE WHITE ALBUM (3/5 stars)
As with Rubber Soul, I didn't hear a huge a difference in these two albums, though there is a noticeable improvement in sonic quality. The White Album deserves a listen in mono, however, particular the rock tracks like Back In The USSR and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. By now, the stereo mixes are better and more consistent.

YELLOW SUBMARINE (2/5 stars)
The low rating comes from me preferring all the Beatles tracks on YSS. Sure, the songs sound brighter and warmer, but YSS' mixes trump them any day. Just do an A/B comparison of Hey Bulldog.

ABBEY ROAD (5/5 stars)
From the first notes of this great album, you discover subtle nuances, like untangling the jungle of guitars in I Want You or riding Paul's melodic bass on Something. This was always the best-mixed of The Beatles' albums and the remasters add a layer of shine. I can't imagine Abbey Road ever sounding better than this.

LET IT BE (5/5 stars)
Another surprise. The 1987 sounded compressed and lifeless. Here it comes to life with warm and vitality. Two of Us is so vivid, and the live cuts make me like I'm standing there on the rootop.

PAST MASTERS 1&2 (4/5 stars)
More hit than miss. Remastering flatters the latter songs more than the early ones. Again, an issue of stereo mixing. At least there's less bass on The Ballad of John and Yoko.

A final note: If you're a diehard Beatles fanatic then grab the mono box first. Until 1968, The Beatles invested more time in mixing mono than stereo, because record buyers bought more mono than stereo in those days. I cannot consider the stereo mixes on this collection definitive, because they were not paid that much care or attention. In some cases, The Beatles weren't even present for the stereo mixing. Until Apple remixes the stereo catalogue along the standards of YSS, then I predict that fans will take matters into their own hands and remix them ourselves on audio software.

Another question for Apple: How come no 5.1? If that ever happens, perhaps that's when we'll see new mixes.

So, apart from my whining about the stereo mixes, do I recommend this set? Absolutely. Apart from the first two albums, The Beatles sound much, much better. Another thing: play loud.

I got the stereo Box Set on September 10th. So far have had the time to listen to only a couple of the CDs -- "Please Please Me" and "With the Beatles". My initial impressions are very positive. The sound quality is great, much better than on previous Beatles CDs in my collection, it's a revelation. Kudos to the team involved in the project. Combined with the great music, it gave me the goose bumps!

I would like to add a few thoughts on the debate about the stereo vs mono mixes. I haven't had the chance to listen to the mono mixes, but I accept their merits, e.g., the fact that those mixes were approved directly by the musicians themselves at the time, and due to technical limitations some of the early stereo mixes may have required re-recording, which in turn could have degraded the sound quality somewhat. For purists and/or collectors the mono box set is probably worth getting. Subjectively I find that the new remastered stereo mixes sound fine, especially in a larger room with a decent distance from the speakers. Even the sometimes artificial separation of instruments and/or vocals coming from different speakers is not a big problem for me. It reminds me of a band playing live in a small club, with individual instruments and vocals amplified and played via separate single speakers, not through a mixing console and a wall of speakers, like in a large venue. Those speakers would be positioned in various locations on stage and therefore the instruments would sound as coming from distinct directions. When you think about it, that's what the Beatles must have sounded like playing in clubs in the early days. Let's not forget what the real ultimate goal of playing recorded music should be -- to reproduce as closely as possible the experience of listening to a live music performance (not a mono radio broadcast, although that one may have its appeal for nostalgia reasons).

In addition, if a mono effect is desired, it could easily be achieved from the stereo mix during playback by using the capabilities of modern preamps and receivers. A stereo mix also lends itself to processing via a multitude of surround sound algorithms such as Dolby ProLogicIIx, etc. Those processing modes add information from the L&R channels to the center channel, therefore creating a more uniform presentation. People can experiment and find what works best for their taste and listening environment. Purists would argue (and sometimes I am one of them) that any post-processing is negative, but at the end of the day the beauty is in the ear of the beholder. For those planning to rip the CDs to listen on portable devices with headphones, there is probably a way to create a mono mix during the ripping process, if desired. Or perhaps have the player produce a mono mix during playback for a more natural sound. I am not sure which portable players have that capability.

Bottom line, it's a great sounding collection well worth the money. I wish they would release the whole thing in hi-res audio, perhaps on blu-ray (since SACD and DVD-A seem to be fading away). Since the re-mastering was done at 192 kHz x 24 bit in the studio, why not put the final result in that format on the disc?! It would be great for audiophiles. Perhaps include all three mixes -- mono, stereo and a remixed multichannel version. I would spend the money all over again!

Great music received well within the time stated under free super saver shipping but it wasn't packaged well enough to avoid the magnetic black box with the green apple logo which houses the cd albums to receive cosmetic damage. One corner was dented up pretty good, usually not the biggest deal in the world but I would expect mint condition when paying $230 dollars taxes in for a box set! Also I paid $230 earlier in the year and have seen it going for $140 during sale periods throughout the year, so if you are going to go all out and get this awesome set , wait until the price is right! 5 stars for the music, -1/2star for shipping damages(yet quick shipping time). 4.5 stars