Quote:
Originally Posted by 1KW
Why would anyone pick the mono version over the stereo version ?
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Excellent question indeed. Let me say first, just because there is a mono disc or vinyl – don’t discount it just because of it. There are many, many great mono recordings out there that will make you sit up and take notice. Some of which can be referred to as reference quality. Generally, most will agree that mono has better bass authority than stereo (depending on genere of music).
Now to answer your question -- The Beatles music sounds particularly well suited for mono because all the instruments were recorded as a mono image. The guitars, bass & drums were all recorded on one channel & voices on the other so they could be blended for the final mono mix. The original stereo mixes were done at a time where it was very time consuming to create a mix where an instrument was NOT either dead center, hard right or hard right. Generally in the Beatles early stereo mixes the music is either panned to the excessive right, or excessive left or dead center. This style is generally known as fake stereo because all you are really hearing is a mono recording. IMO, studio trickery w/the Beatles stereo versions, has no soundstage nor imaging & honestly, they just sound wrong. Mono on the other hand has a great soundstage; but, imaging is lacking & because they were recorded in mono, everything seems to fall into place. In the Beatles mono releases, they are actually going to retain the full dynamic range of the original mixes & more importantly, many of the tracks are quite different in balance, sound effects, even tempo & run time compared with their stereo counterparts – the mono’s will not be sold individually like their stereo remasters. So, the mono box set is unique in that aspect too.
It wasn't until the ’68 White Album, the Beatles last mono release—the mixing console was upgraded and you can hear that there is some definite effort to create a truer stereo sound. In Abbey Road & Let it Be which were never released in mono, it’s where we begin to hear The Beatles mixed in a way that is far more in agreement with the way music would later be mixed. Sgt Pepper as heard in Mono, or Revolver as heard in mono are pretty much a sonic tour de force.
One can notice a bit of difference between mono & stereo using Sgt Pepper’s as an example. George Martin & Geoff Emerick worked very hard to get the mono mix of Sgt. Pepper perfect. In comparison they spent much less time working on the stereo version. Because of this many people feel that the mono version of the album is the way it's "intended to be heard” and has quite a few aspects to it that sound different than the stereo version:
**The guitar at the end of SPLHCB is far more prominent in the mono mix.
**The mono mix of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" includes a lot of echo on John Lennon's lead vocal which gives this version of the song a more "spacey" quality & is a bit slower.
**"She's Leaving Home" sounds faster in the mono mix. Perhaps it was slowed down for some reason when they were mixing in stereo?
I hope I've answered your question -- only couple more weeks.
P.S. Thanks to a few friends who I consulted on this response.