When they came out in 2009, I listened to The Beatles remastered on CD. They were good, with a lot more detail than in the original recordings. The biggest problem with them was that they are over-compressed, making them too 'in yer face'.
When the LP version of this set came out at the end of last year I bought one expecting the sound to be even better, and sure enough the combination of digital remastering and vinyl gives the best sounding Beatles records ever.
The pressing quality, on the other hand, is poor. My set came from Amazon USA and was pressed by Rainbo Records. Every disc has high surface noise, and several have non-fill noise which sounds like sliding a zipper. A couple also have noticeable distortion.
I was disappointed, so when an unopened CD Beatles box set appeared for sale I bought that. To my surprise I discovered it was a counterfeit set. With the earthquake I hadn't caught up with the fact that Beatles records in general and box sets in particular are rife with fakes (many of which are sold through legitimate sellers). Now I know. The picture and cardboard quality is low. I could have lived with that but three of the discs created a stuttering effect when played. The only thing to do was order genuine CDs form a reputable retailer.
I also bought a set of The Beatles Collection (BC13) that came out around 1980, as several people on the forums said this was better sounding than the new release anyway. I don't agree - they are ok, but lack the spark of the new set.
Having identified which LPs were faulty I contacted Amazon to indicate that I wanted 6 replaced. No reply. They do have a replacement policy but that would mean shipping a whole box set out and I would be up for postage back to the US for the first box. The feedback was full of people who had got a second (or even 3rd) box, only to find that they still couldn't get good pressings of all the discs in the set. In the end I contacted EMI directly, who have said they will send out replacements for the faulty ones. When they arrive I'll let you know how I get on.
So, from expecting an audiophile collectors edition of all The Beatles songs, I ended up with this comedy of errors. It seems there are no guarantees with vinyl records, and even CDs can be not what you expect.
When the LP version of this set came out at the end of last year I bought one expecting the sound to be even better, and sure enough the combination of digital remastering and vinyl gives the best sounding Beatles records ever.
The pressing quality, on the other hand, is poor. My set came from Amazon USA and was pressed by Rainbo Records. Every disc has high surface noise, and several have non-fill noise which sounds like sliding a zipper. A couple also have noticeable distortion.
I was disappointed, so when an unopened CD Beatles box set appeared for sale I bought that. To my surprise I discovered it was a counterfeit set. With the earthquake I hadn't caught up with the fact that Beatles records in general and box sets in particular are rife with fakes (many of which are sold through legitimate sellers). Now I know. The picture and cardboard quality is low. I could have lived with that but three of the discs created a stuttering effect when played. The only thing to do was order genuine CDs form a reputable retailer.
I also bought a set of The Beatles Collection (BC13) that came out around 1980, as several people on the forums said this was better sounding than the new release anyway. I don't agree - they are ok, but lack the spark of the new set.
Having identified which LPs were faulty I contacted Amazon to indicate that I wanted 6 replaced. No reply. They do have a replacement policy but that would mean shipping a whole box set out and I would be up for postage back to the US for the first box. The feedback was full of people who had got a second (or even 3rd) box, only to find that they still couldn't get good pressings of all the discs in the set. In the end I contacted EMI directly, who have said they will send out replacements for the faulty ones. When they arrive I'll let you know how I get on.
So, from expecting an audiophile collectors edition of all The Beatles songs, I ended up with this comedy of errors. It seems there are no guarantees with vinyl records, and even CDs can be not what you expect.
