Miles BB billionth reissue

[JSngry]

I'm not really a "mono guy" either, but things like a Phil Spector or Brian Wilson production sound "better" to me in mono just because that was the intent of the record. It's the same reason I have a thing for some 45s, it's not just mono, it goes into the whole notion of mastering hot, and tweaking them for AM radio and jukeboxes. They just sound different, and on purpose. Having heard isome of them all different kind of ways, I can say with a personal conviction that the One True Way to hear a Ronettes record is on a Philles 45. Anything, EVERYTHING else is an approximatiopn. Trust me on this one.

But hell, you take something that was intended to be in stereo (or quad, or multi channel, or whatever else), if they got it the way they wanted it the forst time, that's the way I want to hear it. I think you could buy Bitches Brew in mono back in the day(?), but...seriously? Why? For that mater, if you got high enough, why would you ever want to listen to it through anything other than headphones?

The thing about those Beatles records in mono is that there are a few things, actual parts/instruments/whatever on the mono mix that are literally not there in stereo. Nothing really significant, mind you, just some stray horns, tambourine, what not. And just in a few places on a few songs. But if you've heard those records one way for essentially as long as they've existed, you notice when something new shows up, it's like you're kissing your wife and she's got a mole like Miss Kitty, and you're like, damn baby, where did THIS come from after all these years, and she's like, oh, I'm just letting you kiss my mono mix, and then you're like, well, ok, now I know, when can we go back to stereo, and she's like, are you sure you want to, and you're like, yeah, probably, definitely...but let's do this just a little while longer before we do.

And then that's that!

[Scott Dolan]

I hear all of that. Well, minus the Miss Kitty left turn. 

And you are absolutely right about things being in the mono mix that didn’t “show up” in the stereo mix. Sgt. Pepper’s is an excellent example of that. There were things that magically appeared in the new re-mix that weren’t in the original stereo mix. Yes, subtle. Either way, they certainly caught me by surprise. Though I suppose you’d have to know the original mix inside and out for them to strike you. 

It’s actually quite amazing, for example, how the horn section in Good Morning, Good Morning sounds in the new re-mix. Not sure if there was one alto missing from the original mix, but it certainly sounds like it now! 

[medjuck]

50 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I'm not really a "mono guy" either, but things like a Phil Spector or Brian Wilson production sound "better" to me in mono just because that was the intent of the record. It's the same reason I have a thing for some 45s, it's not just mono, it goes into the whole notion of mastering hot, and tweaking them for AM radio and jukeboxes. They just sound different, and on purpose. Having heard isome of them all different kind of ways, I can say with a personal conviction that the One True Way to hear a Ronettes record is on a Philles 45. Anything, EVERYTHING else is an approximatiopn. Trust me on this one.

But hell, you take something that was intended to be in stereo (or quad, or multi channel, or whatever else), if they got it the way they wanted it the forst time, that's the way I want to hear it. I think you could buy Bitches Brew in mono back in the day(?), but...seriously? Why? For that mater, if you got high enough, why would you ever want to listen to it through anything other than headphones?

The thing about those Beatles records in mono is that there are a few things, actual parts/instruments/whatever on the mono mix that are literally not there in stereo. Nothing really significant, mind you, just some stray horns, tambourine, what not. And just in a few places on a few songs. But if you've heard those records one way for essentially as long as they've existed, you notice when something new shows up, it's like you're kissing your wife and she's got a mole like Miss Kitty, and you're like, damn baby, where did THIS come from after all these years, and she's like, oh, I'm just letting you kiss my mono mix, and then you're like, well, ok, now I know, when can we go back to stereo, and she's like, are you sure you want to, and you're like, yeah, probably, definitely...but let's do this just a little while longer before we do.

And then that's that!

 I gotta admit that I prefer Spector and Wilson in stereo.  They sound compressed to me in mono.  But then again  I never heard them on 45s.  I was too old for that when they were new.  

[Scott Dolan]

35 minutes ago, medjuck said:

 I gotta admit that I prefer Spector and Wilson in stereo.  They sound compressed to me in mono.  But then again  I never heard them on 45s.  I was too old for that when they were new.  

“Compressed”. Interesting description, but I agree now that I think about it. 

The “center channel” is limited in scope, and music with more than one source of sound is not naturally mono. Though, I guess if you line all the musicians up in a straight line...

Edited April 25, 2018 by Scott Dolan

[JSngry]

Wall Of Sound, not Ocean Of Sound. It's not supposed to let you through.

[Scott Dolan]

Walls are more horizontal than vertical. As they should be.