Revisiting the 2012 era Beatles remastered lps

 There have been countless re-issues of the Beatles studio albums since there first issues mono with the much acclaimed 2014 Beatles In Mono series which you could buy disc by disc as I did or as a box set and the stereo series which can be divided between those cut prior to 1987 using analogue tape to the cutting lathe and those after that used digital files of which the last whole set was issued in 2012.

That last series was based upon the digital re-masters that were issued with much fanfare on September 9th 2009 where the overall sound was shaped, clicks and the like removed and on the cd and usb stick versions a "small" amount of limiting applied.

When the record counterparts were announced audiophiles were not too happy that what was used to make the cds was going to play a big part of them rather than cutting and mastering from tape.

The ensuing row lead to the mono records being cut from tape.

Back in 2012 I was torn around this vinyl as I had by that point good sounding British stereo records collected over time from the 70's and 80's and apart from the Past Masters compilation of singles, an extended play record and two german language singles what could it offer me?

I bought the Magical Mystery Tour album as the 1976 UK edition had its issues like three songs in fake stereo which was pretty decent but three others did put me off.

Revolver and the White Album were altered on the cds, revolver losing some high notes not least on She Said She said and both to my ears seemed to have excessive bass and that carried over the record edition.

In some respects the oddest was Abbey Road where while many contend it was tinkered with a very clear cd seemed to loose a bagful of detail and top on the European Pressing.

I did accidentally get a US pressed version which sounded much better despite the odd minor pressing defect.

"What gives? " was very much my thought which brings up something which is a person can cut a lacquer but the plating can affect the sound too and with last example something went badly wrong on the German pressed editions.

A thought lingering for many years as I put any notion of buying any others on hold was could it be the others *might* of been capable of more than I heard because of this.

Because what you have may be good doesn't mean it is perfect and that is quite true of their first album, Please Please Me  which had the first single Love Me Do and it's b side in fake stereo which does not sound good at all while the 2009 cd series restored the album on cd to stereo but had those two tracks in mono.

Recently I did get a copy of the 2012 lp and on balance feel being a bit more dynamic, having a bit more bass and putting those two track in their original mono makes for better listen.

Another I tried was part of short lived magazine with a record series devoted to the beatles from around 2017 where the album was recut at Abbey Road studios by Sean Magee but plated and pressed by MPO in France.

It comes with all the extras, a booklet with the original 1987 notes on the album and cut outs.

The only minor irritant is the Italian SAIE tax sticker on the bottom right of the rear jacket.

This cut is a bit louder, using more of the vinyl area than the ones used in 2012 being a complete recut and it does miss off the 15khz dog whistle and jibberish on side two's end like North American originals like my Canadian Capitol did unlike British copies.

It does sound really good, smoother with deeper bass and even a bit more detail at the start of A Day In The Life compared to my mid 70's UK copy.

For just £24 delivered it's a great bargain.

How do I conclude this?

The 2009 cd series were a mixed bag, better booklets, sometimes bloated bass and questionable choices all impacted to varying degrees by that decision to apply limiting that in the case of the cd of Sgt Pepper does take away the power of the crescendo and coda decaying.

The best discs of that series such as Beatles For Sale, Please Please Me and With The Beatles in the remastered lp series transferred to great sounding lps that are rewarding.

Sgt Pepper which on cd sounded smoother gained from losing all the limiting making for a fantastic new lp that had extras no original did.

I would not recommend White Album  A Hard Day's Night and Revolver as the base mastering on the cd is flawed and Help and Rubber Soul use remixes that are too modern and obvious with their echo.

There are people who did like the MPO 2017 Abbey Road and that may be worth exploring but certainly using digital mastering doesn't mean a lp has to be bad and some of these are among my most impressive buys.