Beatles Ep and Singles box sets: anybody heard these?

[MK]

I already have every Apple-released Beatles CD currently in-print, with the exception of One. I was tempted to get these just for the superior sound, and in the case of the singles box set, the mono mixes, but they're kind of pricey, especially for a few hours of music, all of which I already own (albeit in a "different" form). In all honesty, are these worth it? Does the difference in sonics merit the cost?

[Xenu]

I've always been pissed that Apple didn't release these in "collectors" and "non-collectors" editions.

Are they worth the $90+ asking price? Nah. The Singles collection is roughly two discs of material; the EP set is slightly over 2 discs. They're both necessary in a collectors sense, but as this isn't sh.tv...just have someone copy 'em for you. They're really extortionist items.

And FWIW, sh.tv has been parrotting quite a bit of misinformation about these. Here's how it boils down:

Singles collection: clearly has a lot of unique material. The thing is, the stuff that's already mono in the catalog sounds pretty much identical here: this *includes* the horribly chewed up PPME, She Loves You, Ask Me Why, etc. I've never done a digital AB, but I wouldn't be surprised if these were just those transfers used for the CDs. The "newly mono" material sounds pretty good, though. The "still in stereo" stuff sounds pretty much identical too, IIRC. Basically, this sounds like the CD masters for the duplicated stuff, plus new mono cuts.

EP collection: has much less clearly unique material, but there's still some stealth wonderment to be found. Steve Hoffman claims that they used the EP tapes for this collection, but I don't buy that at all. Firstly, it simply wouldn't make sense: EMI shows all evidence of knowing on both this and the Singles set where mono mixes were used, etc., and thus if they knew that the Beatles for Sale EP simply used the mono cuts, they probably didn't bother seeking out the EP master!

This is borne out by several points. Firstly, the tracks which had obvious audio problems before are clearly cleaned up here...this marks the first appearences of the "good" PPME, SLY, etc. that're all comped on the Red album. Indeed, the entire set has a "upgraded after the stock CDs" feel, although the differences are slight in most cases. Additionally, the early already-in-mono stuff sounds *slightly* different/better. And the MMT stuff is really stellar; both the mono *and* stereo programmes sound great (the Blue album uses this upgraded material). And the bonus EP is really nice.

Of course, this is balanced out by the fact that insofar as actual unique *content* is concerned...well, there's the bonus EP ('tho some of that is duplicated on Pastmasters), the seriously-upgraded early tracks (though most of that is available on the Red album), the mono LTS EP, the mono RS/MMT EPs...it just isn't quite as exciting.

Bah. Again. Is it worth the money? Not really, unless you score these for really cheap. You'll end up compiling 'em into CDR form anyway. The unique material is nice to have, but it really makes you wonder why mono/stereo albums and a few mono/stereo discs of singles and EP cuts were so hard to do.

[MK]

I was hoping I could avoid buying it because it totally is a rip-off. I already have all the other CD's, on an ethical note, buying this set off ebay isn't putting anymore royalties in the Beatles' pocket because it's out-of-print (and OOP because it sold poorly since most fans realized it was a rip-off; the media even blasted it as one). Looking at the singles box set, I basically want it for 33 mono mixes for songs I've already purchased.

I tried to arrange a CD-R trade once, and the person got on their high horse and got all snotty on me. In his eyes, it's my fault for not having a few hundred dollars to blow on both sets, even though I've already bought every other album.

I'm still open to arranging a CD-R trade, if anyone's got them.