Recent BEATLES vinyl remasters E.U. Pressing on sale!

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

There is huge difference in quality between the Stateside pressed boxset and E.U. pressed boxset at Optimal in Germany. For those who do not have the Blue Box or other boxsets, you can get the E.U. boxset at Amazon.ca for $229.99. The Amazon.com site lists it for $319.00, but it is the US pressing.

Thought I'd pass it along in case someone were interested!

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

John- I have read the same thing, have not heard the EU pressings, bought only one record from the US set and found it disappointing, soundwise. QC was fine. My take: if you are buying something to have enduring value on vinyl as a completist, you may as well step up and buy a good Blue Box. It will be pricier than the newer set but given the source and mastering of the new set, I can't believe that the EU pressings could compensate. The earliest Blue Box sets had some records that match the deadwax info from the so-called 'tube cut' stereo copies. The Blue Box I bought was a first series, made in the UK and was well worth the additional premium over the new set. And it saved me the trouble of trying to source minty condition copies of the early stereo pressings (acknowledging that the records in the Blue Box are themselves reissues of what was available at the time a given set was released). I don't have the extensive depth of knowledge of all things Beatles re the various pressings that some do, but found the Blue Box to be the best compromise between good sound, ease of purchase and price- which, I think, was the marketing objective, if not the reality, of the recent box.

mep · Nov 3, 2013

But Bill, they should sound better because they were sourced from the jigger-pookied digital files which came from the actual master tapes. Once those tapes were converted to digital, magic happened and now all of the albums sound much better because they were digital before they were converted back to analog.

All kidding aside, I have been touting the BB set for many years. I have two sets of them and I couldn't imagine not having them. I can imagine myself not having my remastered Beatles CD mono and stereo collections along with not having the little USB digital apple.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

Bill - I've been looking at the Blue Box offerings on eBay and the pricing is all over the place. Additionally, I found UK, German and Dutch pressings. Which one is better or preferred? No, I'm not really asking, but it means I have some research to do if I were to nibble at this. The other thing I need to decide is if I'm a big enough fan to fork over the additional dineros. And while the new EU remaster is likely inferior to any of the Blue Box pressings, you can't deny that the price is phenomenal. Amazon UK lists this same set for $480 (converted). I haven't been to the SHForum in a while, so I may try today and see what answers I can find on both the Blu Box pressings and this new EU remaster.

mep · Nov 3, 2013

Johnny Vinyl said:
Bill - I've been looking at the Blue Box offerings on eBay and the pricing is all over the place. Additionally, I found UK, German and Dutch pressings. Which one is better or preferred? No, I'm not really asking, but it means I have some research to do if I were to nibble at this. The other thing I need to decide is if I'm a big enough fan to fork over the additional dineros. And while the new EU remaster is likely inferior to any of the Blue Box pressings, you can't deny that the price is phenomenal. Amazon UK lists this same set for $480 (converted). I haven't been to the SHForum in a while, so I may try today and see what answers I can find on both the Blu Box pressings and this new EU remaster.

John-Common sense and folklore would lead you to believe that BB set from Britain would be the *best.* The first BB set I bought over 30 years ago in downtown Portsmouth, NH, was the EMI Sweden version. It actually came in a different style BB than the British version. The British version BB opens from the top and you reach in and grab out the LPs. The EMI Sweden BB is a two-piece box that you remove the top off the box and you have full access to all of the LPs. Sadly the glue that held the corners of the outer box halves didn't stand the test of time. The good news is the LPs are all still as close to mint as you could possibly hope for after all these years and countless playings. I don't know if I have ever seen another EMI Sweden copy of the BB set, but then I'm not really in the market actively looking either. The bottom line is that I don't think you can go wrong with any of the BB sets provided you get one in great shape.

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

mep said:
But Bill, they should sound better because they were sourced from the jigger-pookied digital files which came from the actual master tapes. Once those tapes were converted to digital, magic happened and now all of the albums sound much better because they were digital before they were converted back to analog.

All kidding aside, I have been touting the BB set for many years. I have two sets of them and I couldn't imagine not having them. I can imagine myself not having my remastered Beatles CD mono and stereo collections along with not having the little USB digital apple.

I know, I've given you props for that- as to the digital bashing, i'm gonna stay out of that- I will say that the copy of Revolver I bought from the new box sounded very sterile and my friend, a serious pro musician with a huge knowledge of recorded music, thought it sounded exactly like the CD that had been issued previously from the same master file.

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

Johnny Vinyl said:
Bill - I've been looking at the Blue Box offerings on eBay and the pricing is all over the place. Additionally, I found UK, German and Dutch pressings. Which one is better or preferred? No, I'm not really asking, but it means I have some research to do if I were to nibble at this. The other thing I need to decide is if I'm a big enough fan to fork over the additional dineros. And while the new EU remaster is likely inferior to any of the Blue Box pressings, you can't deny that the price is phenomenal. Amazon UK lists this same set for $480 (converted). I haven't been to the SHForum in a while, so I may try today and see what answers I can find on both the Blu Box pressings and this new EU remaster.

John, there's a lot of stuff, starting at Hoffman, and going on to sites dedicated to the Beatles on vinyl in general and the Blue Box in particular. I can't tell you as among Dutch, German and UK which is best based on any actual experience. I bought a UK set from the first series- there is info on the web which tells you what indicia to look for on the labels to date the pressings. My ebay seller was willing to verify all this stuff before I bought- and the set looked like most of the records had never been removed from their original, period sleeves. I think you just have to work with a seller you trust, I wouldn't worry about buying a 'sealed' set, or one that is overhyped by the seller- you learn to read between the lines with ebay listings and can get a sense if the person is knowledgeable. This is not a situation where you try to take advantage of an unwitting seller to try and save a few bucks- in fact, almost every time I've bought something from a seller that is unloading records because [death in family/estate/friend who wants to have seller handle sale, fill in the blank], the records didn't come close to graded condition. It is thus cheaper in the long run to pay more to get it right than get a bargain that turns out sour, in my estimation. There are also probably some dealers that could source for you. EIL is the best in the UK, but terribly expensive.
I've had nary a problem with them, and bought a lot of stuff from them over the years, but I've also had good luck with other UK dealers.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

mep said:
John-Common sense and folklore would lead you to believe that BB set from Britain would be the *best.* The first BB set I bought over 30 years ago in downtown Portsmouth, NH, was the EMI Sweden version. It actually came in a different style BB than the British version. The British version BB opens from the top and you reach in and grab out the LPs. The EMI Sweden BB is a two-piece box that you remove the top off the box and you have full access to all of the LPs. Sadly the glue that held the corners of the outer box halves didn't stand the test of time. The good news is the LPs are all still as close to mint as you could possibly hope for after all these years and countless playings. I don't know if I have ever seen another EMI Sweden copy of the BB set, but then I'm not really in the market actively looking either. The bottom line is that I don't think you can go wrong with any of the BB sets provided you get one in great shape.

Mark - I would generally agree with you that pressings from the country of origin might be considered the Gold standard. But surely the German and Dutch pressings will be minutely (perhaps) close, which is basically what you kind of said or intimated in your last sentence. I may just get this Amazon CA boxset and keep it sealed, until I find a decent Blue Box. At this price I'm fairly confident that I could resell it at a profit, or at least not lose anything.

mep · Nov 3, 2013

whart said:
I know, I've given you props for that- as to the digital bashing, i'm gonna stay out of that- I will say that the copy of Revolver I bought from the new box sounded very sterile and my friend, a serious pro musician with a huge knowledge of recorded music, thought it sounded exactly like the CD that had been issued previously from the same master file.

That will bring a smile to the faces of the digital crowd. If I had the extra money laying around, I would have another tonearm dedicated to mono LPs with a nice mono cartridge and I would chase down mono copies of the original EMI Paralaphone LPs. Most of the early LPs were recorded in mono and it only makes sense they might have the upper hand in sound quality when played back the way they were originally intended to be heard. I think the good Doc has some of them and it would be nice if he jumped in here and commented. I would think the mono LPs have the potential to be scary good. Folklore has it that all the time that was spent mastering Sgt. Pepper was spent on the mono version and the mastering done for the stereo version happened as an afterthought by comparison.

mep · Nov 3, 2013

Johnny Vinyl said:
Mark - I would generally agree with you that pressings from the country of origin might be considered the Gold standard. But surely the German and Dutch pressings will be minutely (perhaps) close, which is basically what you kind of said or intimated in your last sentence. I may just get this Amazon CA boxset and keep it sealed, until I find a decent Blue Box. At this price I'm fairly confident that I could resell it at a profit, or at least not lose anything.

John-I think the key thing when buying a BB set is buying one in mint condition as opposed to which country in Europe it came from. I love my Swedish copy. The first LP actually says Sweden on the cover which kind of bummed me out over 30 years ago, but now I think it's pretty cool because I know it's a rarity.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

mep said:
That will bring a smile to the faces of the digital crowd. If I had the extra money laying around, I would have another tonearm dedicated to mono LPs with a nice mono cartridge and I would chase down mono copies of the original EMI Paralaphone LPs. Most of the early LPs were recorded in mono and it only makes sense they might have the upper hand in sound quality when played back the way they were originally intended to be heard. I think the good Doc has some of them and it would be nice if he jumped in here and commented. I would think the mono LPs have the potential to be scary good. Folklore has it that all the time that was spent mastering Sgt. Pepper was spent on the mono version and the mastering done for the stereo version happened as an afterthought by comparison.

I can't remember where it was, but I heard the same as well.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

mep said:
John-I think the key thing when buying a BB set is buying one in mint condition as opposed to which country in Europe it came from. I love my Swedish copy. The first LP actually says Sweden on the cover which kind of bummed me out over 30 years ago, but now I think it's pretty cool because I know it's a rarity.

I agree!

. I wasn't even considering the Blue Box, but you guys have sure given me the itch to acquire one. I don't know whether to be happy or angry at that!

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

Not advocating a UK over Swedish, but just to get you started, look at this thread, which links to other sources. Post #80 within the main thread gives you some general label info on dating the sets.
Since the sets were, from what I gather, assembled from the then extant (re)-issues pressed in each country, I would assume that most of the European pressings are of good quality. Whether the UK copies came from original master tapes vs. tape copies in other countries may (I'm speculating here) be a moot point if we are talking about something other than first pressings anyway (and we are). There were also japanese blue boxes, US numbered set blue boxes, etc.
Anyway, here's one thread, among many, and as I said above, I thought post #80 was helpful:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/buying-a-beatles-blue-box-now-opinions.183633/page-4

What's also fascinating, if you read through it, is that some of the later blue boxes, containing records that had bar codes, had matrix info in the deadwax matching early tube cut pressings. Go figure. I think there's no rhyme or reason to some of the quirks- as one member over there pointed out, the deadwax on some of the records in Blue Boxes can have one side of a particular album with tube cut matrices, and the other side with a later mastering. So, even buying an early UK set is no assurance of consistency among the pressings themselves, given that they were, as mentioned, just assembled from what was being pressed at any given time.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

whart said:
Not advocating a UK over Swedish, but just to get you started, look at this thread, which links to other sources. Post #80 within the main thread gives you some general label info on dating the sets.
Since the sets were, from what I gather, assembled from the then extant (re)-issues pressed in each country, I would assume that most of the European pressings are of good quality. Whether the UK copies came from original master tapes vs. tape copies in other countries may (I'm speculating here) be a moot point if we are talking about something other than first pressings anyway (and we are). There were also japanese blue boxes, US numbered set blue boxes, etc.
Anyway, here's one thread, among many, and as I said above, I thought post #80 was helpful:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/buying-a-beatles-blue-box-now-opinions.183633/page-4

Thanks much Bill! Heading over there now!

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

Johnny Vinyl said:
Thanks much Bill! Heading over there now!

See also the postscript I added after you replied. I don't pretend any expertise here, John, just telling you that there is a heck of a lot of info out there on these sets if you dig in.

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

mep said:
John-I think the key thing when buying a BB set is buying one in mint condition as opposed to which country in Europe it came from. I love my Swedish copy. The first LP actually says Sweden on the cover which kind of bummed me out over 30 years ago, but now I think it's pretty cool because I know it's a rarity.

And, as we know, blondes have more fun. I spent a huge amount of time in Sweden back in the day for work. I enjoyed the people and the culture immensely. I didn't listen to any vinyl there, though.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 3, 2013

whart said:
And, as we know, blondes have more fun. I spent a huge amount of time in Sweden back in the day for work. I enjoyed the people and the culture immensely. I didn't listen to any vinyl there, though.

Did you ever go to the Stampen there?

(read your postscript)

Bill Hart · Nov 3, 2013

Johnny Vinyl said:
Did you ever go to the Stampen there?

(read your postscript)

Not that I recall, I did go to some of the little islands out in the archipelago though. Just looked it up- no. The old town was great- like a restored medieval city filled with good restaurants, boutiques, within a walled city, up the hill from 'modern' Stockholm. We used to regularly go to a first rate restaurant in the old town where you could eat at the bar, high end modern cuisine. Remember, I was there working 15 plus hours a day, so my 'free' time was pretty limited. Sorry I missed the jazz club. There were lot's of cool things that I happened to experience in passing, from the hot air balloon festival to the swedish hot rod meetings in town. Also, there was a killer hot dog stand between the hotel and the office I used to go to- welcome change from herring and reindeer meatballs!
My wife visited once or twice while I was over there- (I would be camped out for 3 weeks to a month at a time). She came back from a touristic adventure while we were working and said, in effect, 'ok, so a lot of the women are pretty, tall, blonde, busty and well dressed- what's the big deal?'

mep · Nov 3, 2013

whart said:
And, as we know, blondes have more fun. I spent a huge amount of time in Sweden back in the day for work. I enjoyed the people and the culture immensely. I didn't listen to any vinyl there, though.

I just started looking at some of the records from my "Swedish" set and most of them say "Marketed, manufactured and distributed by EMI. Printed in Holland by EMI Services, Benelux B.V., Uden." I think that I probably have the Holland collection and the writing I saw on the cover of the first LP is probably Dutch. I had Sweden on the brain and don't know why. I looked at the White Album and it says it was made and pressed in Germany so it seems the collection is a bit of a hodge-podge.

Mike Lavigne · Nov 3, 2013

I've got a Mint 'middle' (BC-13 OC 162 53163-53176) UK Blue Box (1982-1984 without 'renting').

never played it before.

listening to side 2 of Abbey Road from that box now. sounds pretty damn good.

Recent BEATLES vinyl remasters E.U. Pressing on sale!

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