Do You Own The Mono Box?

Reverend Rock inspired me to post this poll....

I, myself, pre-ordered The Mono Box and had it in-hand 9/12.

Let's just say that the internet "borrowed me" the mono box...

Yes, I have it.

I have it as well. Just for Sgt. Pepper's and The White Album, it was totally worth it. Not that the rest of the albums sound bad, either.

I believe The Beatles own it

But...I haven't got it yet but some time I will

(as being Dutch of course I have it on naughty download)

I'm only interested in a few titles in Mono. So I'm not going to rush right out and buy the mono box.

Originally Posted by darkhorse

I have it as well. Just for Sgt. Pepper's and The White Album, it was totally worth it. Not that the rest of the albums sound bad, either.

Agreed. Also, the original mono Rubber Soul is truly a treasure.

Revolver is fascinating, and superior in spots (such as "Eleanor Rigby", "Yellow Submarine", and "She Said She Said"), but overall it's just a little disappointing. The stereo mix actually sounds like it was done with more care for the most part.

I downloaded the mono box set . I don't think its really worth owning. I mean sure the packaging is nice but its just not worth 300 bucks to hear a slightly different version of the same tune .

I finally bought mine (on sale at Best Buy for $229.99) on Dec. 4th and I LOVE it!!!

No Beatles fan should be without it. Seriously.

Originally Posted by dav-here

I finally bought mine (on sale at Best Buy for $229.99) on Dec. 4th and I LOVE it!!!

No Beatles fan should be without it. Seriously.

Yeah! Ain't it awesome?!

For me, it's essential. I don't think that you've really heard Rubber Soul or Sgt. Pepper, at the very least, until you've heard them in their original mono configurations. The White Album is just too fascinating in its differences from the stereo version we all know and love for me not to be able to compare the two, and in my opinion there are a few tracks on the mono White Album that sound vastly superior to their stereo counterparts.

The Mono Box certainly isn't for everybody. But I wouldn't want to be without it.

I definitely prefer the Mono box over the stereo, both sound and aesthetically. On the whole I'm figuring out the Mono mixes of the tracks are stronger than their stereo counterparts. The packaging goes without saying, it's gorgeous!

MONO vs. STEREO

Here's my rundown of things, album by album:

Please Please Me--definitely superior in Mono.

With the Beatles--same as above. The early stuff just kicks lots more you-know-what in mono.

A Hard Day's Night--Both stereo and mono have a lot to offer, but the mono is mixed with more care and accuracy, and yet again wins out.

Beatles for Sale--For me, this is where it begins to get a little iffy. BFS sounds great in mono, and presents me no problems whatsoever, but the stereo has some really nice mixes, and in some cases better fade-outs (I think of "Mr. Moonlight", a track I like a lot more than a lot of people seem to). So here I'll say it's a tie.

Help--I prefer the original stereo mix (NOT the '87 redux), which is available in the Mono Box. While the mono definitely has it's charms ("The Night Before" rocks much more effectively, for instance), it seems a little muffled for some reason.

Rubber Soul--As I said earlier, this is a mono master that I feel gives you the album as it was meant to be, and you haven't really experienced Rubber Soul in its full glory if you haven't heard this version. Both stereo versions are also quite grand, and I wouldn't want to be without them (or the U.S. bastardization, which I grew up with and love for sentimental reasons). But honestly, when I first heard the Mono Box version of Rubber Soul, I was in tears because I realized that I'd never really heard the album properly before.

Revolver--For me, this one is the shocker. I fully expected to be blown over by the mono version, but I wasn't. It has its moments, but all-in-all the stereo mix sounds more perfected, more nuanced, more detailed in every way. I have a hard time believeing, in this case alone, that more care was given to the mono mix. I guess I'll take their word for it, but I still very much prefer the stereo Revolver.

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band--I have known for many years that the mono version is much to be preferred over the stereo, in a myriad of details. This is one album that I feel should have been made available on CD in mono from the very start. The historical significance of this album makes both the stereo and mono versions to be artistic documents of great importance. And I'd say without hesitation, you really have not heard Sgt. Pepper until you've heard it in mono.

Magical Mystery Tour--Overall, the stereo sounds much better to me. MMT is the one album that I feel even with the remasters has not gotten the treatment it deserves. It should have been released in the original form of the American masters (fake stereo and all) like the albums in the Beatles Capitol Albums sets. That's how it first appeared, and that's how it makes most sense historically and aesthetically.

The "White Album"--What an enigma!!! The mono was only released in the UK, and by late 1968, stereo was truly beginning to come into its own as the preferred way of listening for the discriminating music fan. The Beatles should be experienced in stereo first and foremost, but the mono is a treasure. Subtle and obvious differences abound between the two versions, and it's just really a lot of fun to compare. But the stereo wins out easily, I think. I mean, who can really imagine a world in which Ringo doesn't shout "I've got blisters on my fingers!" at the end of "Helter Skelter"???

As I said before, the internet was very kind to "borrow" me the mono box (I already made my contribution to Paul's, Ringo's, Yoko's and Olivia's happier Xmas by buying the stereo box and the Rock Band game...)

Anyway, the files are 320 kbps, so they should sound good. Truth is that they sound a little muffled, almost like it was a audio cassete from the 80's.
Ok, maybe not that bad, but also not as clear as I was thinking they would sound, and definitely not as good as the stereo CD's.

Do they have a good sound to you, or is this "normal"?

Originally Posted by 62hofner

Yeah! Ain't it awesome?!

"Yes it is, yes it is, oh, yes it iiiiisss...yeah!"

I bought the mono box as an early Chrimble present to myself. I earned it!!

Originally Posted by taxman

As I said before, the internet was very kind to "borrow" me the mono box (I already made my contribution to Paul's, Ringo's, Yoko's and Olivia's happier Xmas by buying the stereo box and the Rock Band game...)

Anyway, the files are 320 kbps, so they should sound good. Truth is that they sound a little muffled, almost like it was a audio cassete from the 80's.
Ok, maybe not that bad, but also not as clear as I was thinking they would sound, and definitely not as good as the stereo CD's.

Do they have a good sound to you, or is this "normal"?

First of all, it is normal for mono to have a "fatter" or "warmer" sound than stereo, if the mix is really done well. It is normal for a good mono mix to emphasize mid-range sound more than stereo. This may strike ears not used to mono recordings as "muffled".

For myself, I was raised on mono sound (having grown up in the 60s and early 70s), so I know exactly what to expect and I think I have a good idea of what mono should sound like when it's done well. And overall, the Mono Box is mono done extremely well. The only exception might be the Help! mono mix, and I have no idea why it sounds unnaturally muffled to me, but it does--or it did at first, anyway. But after a few listens, I'm not even sure that's true of Help! I think I may have been just a little shocked at first by how different it sounds from the stereo version. But I don't think I'm the only one who has felt this way about Help!, so there may be a case to be made that it is not quite as good as the rest.

Thank you for all of the details [especially your album-by album rundown, Rev. Rock] because I desperately want the Mono Box. When I got to the store on 09/09/09 they only had the Stereo Box left, and even though they gave me a rain-check with a $20 discount for when it did arrive back in the store, they never came through for me!
I'm hoping to get it ASAP after the holidays because I know I need both :[

One thing I failed to mention in my album-by-album rundown is Mono Masters, the collection of singles that corresponds to Past Masters.

What makes Mono Masters an important document is that this is the only place in the remasters catalog where these songs are presented in the actual form that they were released in the 1960s. Until the very late 60s, all 45RPM singles were released in mono only. There are some fairly distinct differences in some of these from their stereo counterparts.

I won't have much disposable income for the forseeable future so I'll have to settle for the Purple Chick Ebbetts mono mixes which suit me just fine. I would like both boxes for the collection just because.

I have both of the sets and each has its positives and negatives. Having gotten the mono set for Christmas, I was very surprised at what I was hearing. Being 56, I also grew up listening non stop to the original albums on vinyl, my sister was the biggest Beatles fan, so we had the albums as they came out. Back in the day, it was all mono except for a few jazz albums. I have to say I was quite blown away by the full range of sounds that I was treated to. I believe that the remix is even better than the original albums. Not only are they cleaner than the records, but the mix presented my ears with a Phil Spectorish full wall of sound. Each note is crystal clear and you can hear the detail of each and every song. The Stereo mix reminded me much of the Capital Re-issue of the American versions of the catalog. As good as the stereo versions are great, the Mono, just blows them out of the water.