Beatles Capitol albums vol. 2?

Just what the name says.
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lukpac
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Postby lukpac » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:44 pm

I'm sure the masses will fawn over Jensen's mastering once again.

"He did such a great job with those horrible tapes!"
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Mike Hunte » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:53 pm

The EQ is just as crappy as the first box.

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Postby Phil Elliott » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:56 pm

Rubber Soul sounds especially sweet though.

Oh, and the accidental fold down problem is on all of the discs. The mono tracks sync up with the stereo ones ...
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Postby lukpac » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:01 pm

Some LP clips for comparison:

http://lukpac.org/mp3/beatles/vinyl/8daw.mp3

http://lukpac.org/mp3/beatles/vinyl/die ... 0Shout.mp3

I think you may have to bring the volume down on the Jensen clips a bit.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby MK » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:11 pm

They already stabbed TJ in the back, so I doubt he'll care if they praise his shit-polishing.
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Postby Crummy Old Label Avatar » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:07 pm

Wow. That SHtv thread is something to behold: tears of rage, ludicrous paranoia (how come no one has yet blamed Yoko for the fold-down debacle, anyway?), half-assed conspiracy theories not even worthy of a sub-par X Files episode, suicidal depression -- the gamut of the many faces of the dysfunctional Beatle collector in all his (never "her") naked glory.

I mean, I've heard Volume 1, and I agree with Luke: sonically it's garbage. Garbage mixes to begin with, then said garbage is overlaid with dentist drill top end. Is there anything more surreal than the notion of resurrecting these crappy tapes and configurations? Oh, yes, there certainly is something more surreal than that, and that is the fact that people are not only buying them, they are (were?) praising the sound of said garbage.

As if we needed further proof that Beatle fans will buy anything, no matter how dreadful the product actually is.

Funny thing is, if the fuck ups actually are corrected in a subsequent pressing, imagine how many $$$ Beatle fans will soon be paying for the "rare, 'mistakenly folded-down' first pressing" of the cursed box. Fools.

Somehow I doubt the errors will be corrected. The first box didn't sell much; this one will sell even less. In this day and age, a Beatles reissue matters very little to Capitol's bottom line; it's no different from slapping together a crappy Nat "King" Cole or Sinatra compilation -- with similar sales action.
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Postby lukpac » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:21 pm

Crummy Old Label Avatar wrote:I mean, I've heard Volume 1, and I agree with Luke: sonically it's garbage. Garbage mixes to begin with, then said garbage is overlaid with dentist drill top end.


Well...to be clear, other than Second Album and the Duophonic tracks, I actually think both boxes sound pretty good if not for the EQ. I've done some "reverse" EQ, and they sound no worse than any other versions I've heard - with the same EQ I doubt there are many sonic differences between the Capitol tapes and the EMI originals.

Somehow I doubt the errors will be corrected. The first box didn't sell much; this one will sell even less. In this day and age, a Beatles reissue matters very little to Capitol's bottom line; it's no different from slapping together a crappy Nat "King" Cole or Sinatra compilation -- with similar sales action.


Perhaps, but record companies are generally pretty good about this type of thing. If MCA can fix (and send out free replacements) *Face Dances* of all things, surely Capitol can for The Beatles. Not to mention the recent Sam Cooke Harlem Square CD.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby MK » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:24 pm

Do any of you actually own these shitty Capitol box sets? Just flush your money down the toilet and save yourself the trouble. Seriously, they can be super, hi-res flat transfers for all I care, they would still suck.
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Postby lukpac » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:29 pm

I couldn't give a rat's ass about the Capitol albums themselves, but the sound is better than anything that has (and probably will) come from Abbey Road. I really only care about them to create CD-Rs of the UK LPs.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby MK » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:34 pm

Oh, that. Shit dude, Dr. Ebbets are a better source. I would change the EQ on some of them, but they're the best sources to use, IMHO. I was really skeptical needle drops could be better, but they are.
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Postby Ess Ay Cee Dee » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:34 pm

I received the first Capitol box as a Xmas present back in '04 and I've listened to it exactly once. The whole endeavor seems utterly pointless. It's just a salve for idiots like M*****l who want their precious, hacked-up, echo-laden nostalgia pieces.

Just for shits'n'giggles, I downloaded a Dr. Ebbetts "Beatles Mexican Albums" torrent a few weeks ago. I'll be damned if those needle-drops don't sound noticeably better than the Capitol box.

I hatehatehate those fake MFSL needle-drop CD's, though. Did Ebbetts do those? Whoever transferred the fucking things needs to invest in something better than a $25 phono cartridge. Sibilance galore.

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Postby lukpac » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:10 pm

MK wrote:Oh, that. Shit dude, Dr. Ebbets are a better source. I would change the EQ on some of them, but they're the best sources to use, IMHO. I was really skeptical needle drops could be better, but they are.


Have you tried to re-EQ the box? The tapes themselves seem fine. I think I've got the Ebbets Abbey Road, and I wasn't impressed by some of the NR. If I'm going to use needle drops I'll do my own...

What's funny is that for all of the supposed "magic" that Jensen did to make the tapes sound decent, my guess is he actually made them sound *worse*. Jacking up the high end on that material - regardless of the source - just exposes all of the faults, notably the hiss. Like Hoffman and his Mona Lisa in the sun...
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby MK » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:53 pm

Ess Ay Cee Dee wrote:I hatehatehate those fake MFSL needle-drop CD's, though. Did Ebbetts do those? Whoever transferred the fucking things needs to invest in something better than a $25 phono cartridge. Sibilance galore.


He did a set. What do these look like?

I've only heard two sets of MFSL dubs. One was Ebbetts's, the other was really quiet with all the pops intact and with "substantial" (relatively speaking) of space at the beginning and end of the discs, at least two seconds worth. Wasn't impressed by that one.

I haven't EQ'ed the Capitol box, but I don't feel compelled to. I mean, the Rubber Soul samples sound surprisingly dry, so maybe there's merit there, but the early stuff...blech, EQ ain't gonna fix that. Listen to "Yes It Is," man.

As for Ebbetts, I dialed out 4 dB @ 10k for the mono White Album which is waaay too bright. The mono Pepper lost 6 dB at 10k, and I think Ebbetts used a boot/pirate/whatever of that cancelled mono CD mastered by Greg Calbi. Each album seems to have consistent EQ, so if you have the EP box, singles box, Pastmasters, etc., it makes things easy to compare.
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Postby lukpac » Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:29 pm

MK wrote:I haven't EQ'ed the Capitol box, but I don't feel compelled to. I mean, the Rubber Soul samples sound surprisingly dry, so maybe there's merit there, but the early stuff...blech, EQ ain't gonna fix that. Listen to "Yes It Is," man.


Why not? It's a tape source. No inner groove nasties, no need for NR, etc.

Other than Second Album (which again is worthless, at least in stereo), there's only a handful of tracks that have been mucked with. IIRC:

IWTHYH, This Boy, I Feel Fine, She's A Woman, Yes It Is, Ticket to Ride. I *think* that's it off the top of my head.

EQ *really* helps.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Andreas » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:33 am

lukpac wrote:I think I've got the Ebbets Abbey Road, and I wasn't impressed by some of the NR.


Thanks for writing that. I have CDR copies of the Ebbetts transfers of most of the UK albums, and they aren't that great in terms of mastering. They are all heavy on the midrange, thin and somehow processed. For example, the comparable tracks from the official CD Singles and EP collections blow them away. His mono Pepper CD sounds noise-reduced.

The great thing about Ebbetts is that he uses great sounding vinyl with the correct mixes, and that his transfers are pretty good.