Sold Date: March 10, 2015
Start Date: October 12, 2012
Final Price: $49.99 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 72556
Buyer Feedback: 0

Howdy and welcome to my store! Sourced From the Original Master Tapes Cut at Abbey Road Studios by a First-Rate Team of Producers and Engineers: Stringent Procedures and Safeguards Ensure Optimum Audiophile-Quality Sound You've Waited Long Enough: The Definitive Analog Beatles Catalog Is Here The Beatles were so prolific during their decade-long reign, full-length albums couldn’t contain all their music. In England, the Fab Four often released singles that never appeared on their British albums. Some of the quartet’s best-known material saw the light of day on EPs and 45s. We’re talking internationally recognized songs ranging from “I’m Down” to “Across the Universe.” These non-LP tracks are wondrously and seamlessly assembled on Past Masters. Once two separate releases, the anthologies are combined here on a double album for the enjoyment of fans everywhere. Part of Capitol/Apple’s quintessential Beatles catalog masters series on LP, Past Masters has been remastered by a dedicated team of engineers that includes Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, and Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee. Proper care and a painstaking series of steps were taken to ensure that music lovers would hear the Fab Four in all their glory with unprecedented clarity and transparency. Want proof? Savor the rising harmonies on early classics such as “She Loves You” and “From Me To You,” and witness the edginess and palpable electricity flowing through raw, rock n’ roll numbers “Long Tall Sally” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” The second half of the collection, beginning in 1965, spotlights equally influential, timeless singles like the grandly distorted “Revolution” and poignant “Across the Universe.” Listening to the set in order also functions as a microcosm of the band’s evolution in the studio as, for the first time in analog, distinctions pertaining to equipment, recording techniques, and studio ambience can now fully be detected. Here’s why you need this analog pressing: With EMI’s legendary Abbey Road Studios providing the backdrop, the four-year restoration process combined veteran expertise, state-of-the-art equipment, vintage studio gear, and rigorous testing to net what is without doubt the highest fidelity possible and authentic, jaw-dropping sound guaranteed to rival the original LPs. There is no longer any need to pay hundreds of dollars for Japanese pressings. At the start of the restoration process, engineers conducted extensive tests before copying the analog master tapes into the digital realm using 24-bit/192 kHz resolution and a Prism A-D converter. Dust build-ups were removed from tape machine heads after the completion of each title. Artifacts such as electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance, and poor edits were improved upon as long as it was determined that doing so didn’t at all damage the integrity of the songs. Similarly, de-noising technology was applied in only a few necessary spots and on a sum total of less than five of the entire 525 minutes of Beatles music. In cutting the digital masters to vinyl, stringent safeguards and procedures were employed. After cutting to lacquer, determined to be warmer and consistent than cutting to DMM, the next step was to use the Neumann VMS80 cutting lathe at Abbey Road. Following thorough mechanical and electrical tests to ensure it was operating in peak condition, engineer Sean Magee cut the LPs in chronological release order. He used the original 24-bit remasters rather than the 16-bit versions that were required for CD production. It was also decided to use the remasters that had not undergone ‘limiting,' a procedure to increase the sound level. Having made initial test cuts, Magee pinpointed any sound problems that can occur during playback of vinyl records. To rectify them, changes were made to the remasters with a Digital Audio Workstation. For example, each vinyl album was listened to for any ‘sibilant episodes.' vocal distortion that can occur on consonant sounds such as S and T. These were corrected by reducing the level in the very small portion of sound causing the undesired effect. Similarly, any likelihood of inner-groove distortion was addressed. As the stylus approaches the center of the record, it is liable to track the groove less accurately. This can affect the high-middle frequencies, producing a ‘mushy’ sound particularly noticeable on vocals. Using what Magee has described as ‘surgical EQ,’ problem frequencies were identified and reduced in level to compensate for this. The last phase of the vinyl mastering process began with the arrival of the first batches of test pressings made from master lacquers that had been sent to the two pressing plant factories. Stringent quality tests identified any noise or click appearing on more than one test pressing in the same place. If this happened, it was clear that the undesired sounds had been introduced either during the cutting or the pressing stage and so the test records were rejected. In the quest to achieve the highest quality possible, the Abbey Road team worked closely with the pressing factories and the manufacturers of the lacquer and cutting styli. For this project, there was no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Yes, it took a village to get it right. Tracklisting: 1. Love Me Do 2. From Me To You 3. Thank You Girl 4. She Loves You 5. I'll Get You 6. I Want To Hold Your Hand 8. This Boy 8. Kom, Gib Mir Deine Hand 9. Sie Liebt Dich 10. Long Tall Sally 11. I Call Your Name 12. Slow Down 13. Matchbox 14. I Feel Fine 15. She's A Woman 16. Bad Boy 17. Yes It Is 18. I'm Down 19. Day Tripper 20. We Can Work It Out 22. Rain 23. Lady Madonna 24. The Inner Light 25. Revolution 26. Get Back 27. Don't Let Me Down 28. The Ballad Of John and Yoko 29. Old Brown Shoe 30. Across The Universe 31. Let It Be 32. You Know My Name Record Condition: This record is brand new and unplayed! Check out my other acutions and save on shipping! PLEASE NOTE: This is a presale. The official release date for this album is November 13, 2012. All orders will ship to arrive around this date however on occasion there are release delays. If this happens all winning bidders will be notified. Checkout my other auctions for lots more records and CDs. Only $2 shipping to add any other record in the USA! Win more then one item and save on shipping (only $2 for each additional LP in the USA!).

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