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Sgt. Pepper's. remastered Mobile Fidelity

A few years ago, I bought directly from a Japanese internet service a remastered Mobile Fidelity CD of the Beatles "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Hoping for a better sounding CD of the original, I paid more money than I should. My first hearing of the CD sounded a bit bright, but very listenable.

However, today, I replayed the same CD on my downsized system in which only the speakers have been downsized in height weight and quality. I have a Rogue hybrid integrated amp of 100RMS and a fully upgraded Ayre CX-7e mp CD player which is outstanding. My newly acquired speakers are the Golden Ear Technology model 7 which received raved reviews at 2012 CES. The speaker cable is Grover Huffman.

I was shocked at how bad the CD sounded, that is. jagged and screechy highs, especially at certain crescendos I wondered if I had made a huge mistake in buying the GET speaker, or the combo of other components was just not for this speaker. Or simply, even though a remastered MF copy, pressed in Japan, that maybe the recording sounded bad because of its age, and the recording techniques used in 1967.

I wonder if there is a first class CD reissue of this masterpiece available beside the original vinyl issue which I used to own. BTW, the speakers sounded fine yesterday on a Procul Harum reissue celebrating their 40th anniversity. ( Cover sleeve is pink with a ghostly figure of a woman in the foreground) PH was a great band far ahead of its time.

Any and all suggestions welcomed. Thank you
sunnyjim
8 responses Add your response
wlutke
725 posts
 
I have the recently reissued Sgt Peppers on Capitol vinyl and it sounds really, really good. The remastered CD was also recently released on Capitol but I have not heard it.
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jafant's avatar
jafant
19,604 posts
 
Sunnyjim-

this is a grey area CD, as MoFi, has never released any of
The Beatles on CD. Yes there was the MoFi vinyl set at one time. These Cds are on eBay all of the time- again, not authorized per Apple Corps. Probably pressed in Russia or China to boot.

Keep me posted & Happy Listening!
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
there is no problem with the recording.

the 24 bit/44 kHz file of 'Sgt. Peppers' is the best sounding digital that I have heard. that came from a USB stick of the whole catalogue. it's better than the 'quite good' re-mastered CD Beatles box (mono and stereo). the 24 bit is only stereo. both box sets are better than any previous CD.

the best Sgt. Peppers I've heard by a long shot is my low gen 15ips 1/4" master dub of Sgt. Peppers which smokes everything else. but it's unicorn and rainbow stuff. I suppose I ought to make a 2xdsd or Quad dsd rip of the tape. that might be the new digital king.

ditto my comments for the White Album including the tape..
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
I don't know about your "Sgt Pepper's" release, Jim, but I was buying Japanese CD remasters for a while, and stopped because they all had one thing in common; over-extended highs. The mastering had very good dynamics, low noise floor, but were very fatiguing due to the highs.

I don't know if this is specific to certain record labels, but the CDs I purchased were all from major labels and I'm sure were legitimate releases.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
The Beatles albums up through the white album are available in newly-remastered mono versions (the preferred mode for purists), and everyone likes them a lot (the first versions about which that can be said). There is a boxset containing all those albums in mono as well, and also a stereo boxset containing those albums plus the later ones. I think the stereo versions are also available individually.
sunnyjim OP
927 posts
 
To Lowrider, Yes, you are correct "overextended" highs. However, by your comment,it seems like you have bought other Japanese pressing of the Beatles or possibly others, and they are better.

BTW, even if the dynamics are outstanding and there is minimal or low noise that is irrelevant if the highs are so fatiguing it burns off your ears and gearing which is the case on the Japanese pressing of SPLHB.

To Bdf, Thank you for the info. I assume you mean remastered mono vinyl box sets, and also remastered stereo vinyl. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I am not that much of a vinyl purist to have add mono vinyl LP. I believe I recently purchased a mono version of the Beatles "Help" which is missing one or two of the better selections....and also sounds flat and washed out....( Thank you again Music Direct) I have a minimal TT in a Project DC Carbon with a Ortofon 2M Red.....I only have it to play the 40 or so LP's that I have not given away or which are just worn out. So, if the remastered Beatles boxset in stereo is vinyl, I would not be interested or getting back into analog. However, can you clarify who is offering these two box sets, and wheather there is a remastered CD box set in stereo. Thank you
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 
The mono Beatles I'm talking about are CD's, released in 2009. It was a big deal at the time, Capitol having spent a lot of time getting it right. The boxset was a limited edition, but there are plenty of them around. Careful though, it was counterfeited in the Far East! If you do a search on You Tube, there are a few postings showing how to identify them.
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