Details of Beatles Vinyl Master Recording BOX Set?

If you like Rubber Soul, the only mono version is in the Capital box set. THe stereo versions are quite annoying with the voice on one speaker only - thanks to "Sir" George on that one!

Back in the days of Rubber Soul, stereo was still in its relative early stages in terms of market penetration. I guess Sir George thought that the voice in on speaker mix helped make the songs more ear catching and appealing to the newby stereo masses.

I think perhaps he earned his knighthood not just because of his skills as a technician and his ear for music, but also for his willingness (along with the Beatles) to explore new ground. In the case of the early stereo masters, lets just say from an audophiles perspective that he went too far at first in regards to stereo separation.

Things did improve in terms of stereo mixing though after Rubber Soul, I would say. Abbey Road is one of the best ever in my opinion, but I think Alan Parsons had a hand or two in that.

As I understand it, the Rubber Soul stereo mix was an odd experiment gone awry. A Hard Days Night, Beatles For Sale and Help! -- all of which preceded Rubber Soul -- have more conventional stereo mixes with the lead vocals in the center and the instruments panned left and right. So it wasn't simply a matter of inexperienced primitive stereo mixing, but rather was a conscious decision.

The thought process behind the hard left/right mix of Rubber Soul with nothing in the middle was apparently an experiment such that when folks with mono eqpt played the stereo LP, the mix would folddown to mono with the levels still balanced (any l/r info in a folddown becomes 3db quieter in comparison with center channel info). In addition, many stereo consoles back then had the speakers close together so this may have been to accomodate that eqpt as well.

I guess they were worried about stereo/mono compatibility or something and they were trying out a different approach. However it makes little sense that someone with mono eqpt would have paid the extra money for the stereo LP. But not every experiment is done based upon sound logic, I suppose.

Has anyone heard anything about the on going remaster that is supposedly taking place? It was anounced by N. Aspinall (sp?) in court during the Apple vs. Apple case so it must be true!

BTW, I have near mint copies of MFSL White Album and MMT and they really are not much better than my early 70's NM versions.

Late post! I've only heard the Abbey Road MFSL LP and it was a crime. The high treble range is boosted to the point of thinning out the whole mix and all the magic is lost. I would have been extremely angry at having paid $60.00 for this (or worse, whatever the whole box listed for), getting home, and hearing this.

At least for Abbey Road, the UK Blue Box is actually a much better listen. That whole set was around $99 back in the 80s, and can still be had on eBay for around twice that or less.

Also, a common opinion that I second completely is that the German Magical Mystery Tour is the best version of that record.