Looking on the Tracking Angle website, it looks like there could be a second life for the much applauded 2014 vinyl box set. For those that missed it first time round, myself included, this will be welcome news.
It’s currently only listed on The Beatles US store and priced at $545, but hopefully it will follow on to the UK store soon. Edit - now on the UK store as a pre-order.
As we are past April 1st, I’m hoping its not a hoax!
The blurb…
"The Beatles In Mono. Available to pre-order for the first time in 10 years.
*180-gram LPs, available in a limited 14LP boxed edition with hardbound book. *
*The Beatles in Mono: this is how most listeners first heard the group in the 1960s, when mono was the predominant audio format. Up until 1968, each Beatles album was given a unique mono and stereo mix, but the group always regarded the mono as primary. *
In an audiophile-minded undertaking, The Beatles’ acclaimed mono albums were mastered in 2014 for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes at Abbey Road Studios by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Sean Magee and GRAMMY®-winning mastering supervisor Steve Berkowitz.
While The Beatles In Mono CD boxed set released in 2009 was created from digital remasters, for this vinyl project, Magee and Berkowitz cut the records without using any digital technology. Instead, they employed the same procedures used in the 1960s, guided by the original albums and by detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers.
Working in the same room at Abbey Road where most of The Beatles’ albums were initially cut, the pair first dedicated weeks to concentrated listening, fastidiously comparing the master tapes with first pressings of the mono records made in the 1960s. Using a rigorously tested Studer A80 machine to play back the precious tapes, the new vinyl was cut on a 1980s-era VMS80 lathe. Manufactured for the world at Optimal Media in Germany, The Beatles’ albums are presented in their original glory, both sonically and in their packaging. The boxed collection’s exclusive 12-inch by 12-inch hardbound book features new essays and a detailed history of the mastering process by award-winning radio producer and author Kevin Howlett. The book is illustrated with many rare studio photos of The Beatles, fascinating archive documents, and articles and advertisements sourced from 1960s publications."
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