# Sell me on the Beatles mono box **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580 "2009-08-25T01:09:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/1 "2009-08-25T01:09:03Z")
Beatles aficionados, I’m a Beatles admirer but not a fan _per se_. When I was nine I bought the _Sgt. Pepper’s_ 20th anniversary edition coloured vinyl and _A Hard Day’s Night_ on video (Beta, no less!), and then a few years ago I bought the blue album, but that’s about the extent of my Beatles collection. (Unless you count _All the Best!_ by Paul McCartney and the two Traveling Wilburys albums…) So, I’d like to rectify this situation with the new remasters. Like I said, I’m not a Beatles fan, but I am a music fan and purist in general. I mean, I bought the triple-disc _Piper at the Gates of Dawn_ just to get both mixes and the singles. So are the Beatles mono mixes substantially different from the stereo mixes? Given that the stereo albums such as _Let It Be_ won’t be included, will I be able to complete the collection by buying those albums separately? In essence, why should I buy the mono box over the stereo box? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/2 "2009-08-25T01:56:07Z")
They remixed the stereo version and took out the mistakes. Mono is the only way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/3 "2009-08-25T02:03:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > They remixed the stereo version and took out the mistakes. Mono is the only way to go. What do you mean by “mistakes”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/4 "2009-08-25T02:07:15Z")
The original mono mixes are full of things like John singing the wrong verse (“Please Please Me”), background chatter, Paul coming in a beat early (I forget which song) and things like that. I prefer the Beatles the way I first heard them, not polished up and “fixed.” ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/5 "2009-08-25T02:20:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The original mono mixes are full of things like John singing the wrong verse (“Please Please Me”), background chatter, Paul coming in a beat early (I forget which song) and things like that. I prefer the Beatles the way I first heard them, not polished up and “fixed.” Got it. The analogy I’d use is the _Star Wars_ special editions versus the theatrical cuts; I can certainly see the appeal. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/6 "2009-08-25T02:34:30Z")
Exactly. Han shot first! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/7 "2009-08-25T02:48:21Z")
I just checked, and the mono box set is sold out at [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and only available as an expensive import from [Buy.com](http://Buy.com) or Best Buy. Is it that limited in quantity? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/8 "2009-08-25T03:00:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I just checked, and the mono box set is sold out at [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and only available as an expensive import from [Buy.com](http://Buy.com) or Best Buy. Is it that limited in quantity? Per Amazon “Limited edition (10,000 in the U.S. market)”. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/9 "2009-08-25T08:38:01Z")
I’ve not heard anything about the stereo version being “re-mixed” or any mistakes being repaired. I wish they’d remix them, going back to the original tapes and doing a proper stereo mix of the older albums. No, from what I understand, they cleaned up the stereo master tapes and compressed them to make them “louder” and sound like all the other over-compressed crap out there and have it be loud enough to blast your eardrums when you’re listening to an iPod via earbuds on a subway train. The mono versions had different takes of some vocals and were the mix that the Beatles themselves actually sat in on. Stereo was considered a gimmick at the time and they didn’t bother doing the mix themselves, leaving George Martin and Geoff Emerick to do whatever they pleased. Also, the mono mixes have not been compressed for iPod listening, and will have greater dynamic range. Get the mono version if the following is true: [ul] [li]You want to hear what the Beatles originally heard.[/li][li]You plan to listen to this on a home system.[/li][li]You prefer music with dynamic range.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-on-the-beatles-mono-box/507580/10 "2009-08-25T13:36:00Z")
Nope, they’ve definitely “fixed” them. The botched lyrics aren’t there anymore.