Hot Stamper Pressings of Rubber Soul
Reviews and Commentaries for Rubber Soul
One of our good customers had a question about our Hot Stampers recently:
I notice you don’t mention whether the Beatles recordings are stereo or mono. The rubber soul that just arrived is stereo. I’m guessing that the one I reordered is also stereo.
Do you guys stock the mono versions? Do you say on the site when something is mono. Let me know, as I like mono versions too.
I was close with Geoff Emerick and he always stressed to me that they spent tons of time on the mono mixes and not much on the stereos (up through Revolver). So let me know if/when you have mono for Rubber Soul and Revolver and perhaps I can snatch them up.
Brian
Brian,
All our records are stereo unless we specifically mention otherwise, as are our Beatles records.
We never sell Beatles records in mono, ever.
Here is a little something I wrote about it: Revolver in disgraceful mono
They spent time on the mono mixes because getting the levels right for all the elements in a recording is ten times harder than deciding whether an instrument or voice should be placed in the left, middle or right of the soundstage.
And they didn’t even do the stereo mixes right some of the time, IMHO.
But wall to wall beats all stacked up in the middle any day of the week in my book.
If you like mono Beatles records you will have to do your own shootouts, sorry!
Best, TP
Hey Tom,
Very interesting info on the Mono Beatles. I’ve never had the opportunity to play any early stereo pressings against the monos. Thanks for the opinion. I looked over the versions of the Beatles albums I bought that you are replacing for me and I noticed that they are 4th or 5th pressings.
Do you find that era better than first or second pressings (in general) or is it just a price and condition thing. Just curious. I’m new to higher end collecting and looking for an expert opinion (which clearly you are!). I’m excited to hear the better versions you’re sending me.
Brian
Brian,
Some of the best pressings, but not all the best pressings, were cut by Harry Moss in the ’70s, on much better transistor mastering equipment than they had in the ’60s, and that is part of the reason why some of them sound so much better than most of the earlier pressings.
But plenty of what Moss cut does not sound good, so searching out his versions may be helpful but not as helpful as most audiophiles and record collectors would like to believe it is.
It’s what scientists and historians refer to as “the illusion of knowledge.” It prevents you from understanding what is really going on with records.
This accounts for the posts on virtually every internet thread and every comments section where audiophiles can be found. These are people who think they know a lot more than they do, and therefore have no need to do the work it takes to find out more, because they already know it.
A Mr Dunning and a Mr Kruger wrote about it here, and it should be well worth your time to read.
Best, TP