The Beatles - Abbey Road 50th Anniversary (5.1 & Dolby Atmos mixes)

[marpow]

Dare I ask...Do the Japanese SHM discs sound better? On second thought, better not to ask...

My first purchase of Beatles discs where US as they came out as CD's, then I purchased the Beatles stereo Black box set, then CDJapan had a Cardboard Mini LP 16 discs all in SHM CD, currently sold out. I compared the black box stereo to the mini cardboard SHM CD's and the SHM CD's where a definite improvement in a major way.
Listening now to Abbey Road SHM CD, DR values range from 9, 10,11, pretty good. Really nice bass and warm sound as good as I would expect from an SACD.
Abbey Road Sold Out SHM CD Mini Cardboard LP

 

[Albert Dagger]

The original version is included

I don’t think so. It’s never been the case for the recent remixes of the Beatles.

 

[milt]

Dare I ask...Do the Japanese SHM discs sound better? On second thought, better not to ask...

As someone below posted, I have not compared the deluxe edition domestic edition CD to the Japan SHMs so I can't say.
My primary reason for ordering from Japan is for packaging.

I have multiple feelings about SHM CDs & SACDs.
It absolutely depends on what you're comparing them to & which release it is.
I have quite a few of both & many are the best versions I've heard.
A good chunk don't sound better than what I've heard or have.

1st one I bought was Who's Next SACD.
Compared exhaustively with Hoffman\MCA version.
I know I could not discern the 2 on a blind test.
This is not an exemplar of mixing or mastering.
Tommy although it contains a lot of what are essentially demos is a far better sound album.

After doing in-depth comparos, for me I learned if I can't tell a difference for the better in the 1st 30 seconds, I'm not willing to pay for it.
I listen for enjoyment. Serious A/Bs are not enjoyment, they're exhausting if you do it seriously

FWIW, also ordered the Imagine set from Japan

 

[milt]

Funny you should say that about the bass. For many years I used the LP and then the first CD edition of Abbey Road as one of a handful of references to integrate subwoofers and evaluate bass performance. My general guideline was if I could crank it and not get the bass all boomy and one-notey, I was on the path to good mid-bass performance. It would also point out any rudimentary room buzzes too, ya know, like rattling pictures, loose doors, other exciteable room objects...

There are 3 or four other albums I used in kind of the same manner, but this one told the truth pretty quickly.

That being said, I'm very much looking forward to it. Please keep the bass reference quality.

I'm looking forward to the reviews from the Atmos guys out there as well.

Luverly,
If you want an excellent disc for doing bass eval, speaker placement, subwoofer integration, voice, etc.
the best I've heard and have is the Rob Wasserman Duets SACD\CD, specifically Jennifer Warnes' Ballad Of The Runaway Horse.

Aside from being a classic Leonard Cohen song, this rendition is brilliant.
I believe I ordered it from Acoustic Sounds as the CD is oop & more expensive than the SACD?!
Win win I say

 

[milt]

Hey milt, curious what Amazon.jp charges for a CD to ship to the U.S.; went to the site and wasn't sure about shipping charges?
Big Hi and thanks!

Since I'm a nice guy, I searched my emails.
WA 50th deluxe
Boxset Price 15,061 yen, shipping 950 yen

That was in November, don't know what the exchange rate is now.
Easy to find out.
I live on the northwest coast so Japanese shipments come fast as they're air shipped to San Fran(Alameda specifically) for customs and then here.
Usually no more than 5 biz days upon shipping.
In case some are unaware, an Amaxon.jp.co account is separate from all other Amazon accounts.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Since I'm a nice guy, I searched my emails.
WA 50th deluxe
Boxset Price 15,061 yen, shipping 950 yen
I live on the northwest coast so Japanese shipments come fast as they're air shipped to San Fran(Alameda specifically) for customs and then here. Usually no more than 5 biz days upon shipping.
In case some are unaware, an Amaxon.jp.co account is separate from all other Amazon accounts.

Hey thanks, and you sure are a nice guy! The account stuff I was also wondering about, so thanks again for reading my mind. 950 yen is equal to $8.80 U.S and the WA is a sizeable box. Some things that come from Japan must take a small vacation around the pacific or thereabouts; I just got one that took at least 2 weeks; so 5 days sounds good to me.

 

[Perp]

In case some are unaware, an Amaxon.jp.co account is separate from all other Amazon accounts.

Separate in what way? Generally, I use the Amazon iOS app, can choose any supported country and no extra login required. Maybe they changed their policy for Japan recently?

 

[4-earredwonder]

I recently sprung for the Universal MQA SHM~CD remaster of George Harrison's ALL THINGS MUST PAST and reported on it in another thread. VERY disappointed. I played it first on my Meridian 808 Reference RBCD player and was seriously underwhelmed [NO MQA decoding] and again on my OPPO 205 which does have MQA decoding. Still seriously disappointed. Then another poster chimed it that there's a VINYL pressing which sounds 'audiophile....' Go Figure.

Since it was NEVER ascertained that the SHM~SACD, SHM~CD or Blue Spec CD 'processes' sound better because of the newer technology or whether it can be attributed to better masters and mastering, I have curtailed buying any further reissues from Japan unless they're NO LONGER AVAILABLE in the states.

As for the Beatles ...... the masters are held in the UK [country of origin] and I've never had a problem with the British Pressings and can forgo the Japanese special packaging which I could really do without! I want the music .... NOT the GLITZ!

 

[quicksrt]

My first purchase of Beatles discs where US as they came out as CD's, then I purchased the Beatles stereo Black box set, then CDJapan had a Cardboard Mini LP 16 discs all in SHM CD, currently sold out. I compared the black box stereo to the mini cardboard SHM CD's and the SHM CD's where a definite improvement in a major way.
Listening now to Abbey Road SHM CD, DR values range from 9, 10,11, pretty good. Really nice bass and warm sound as good as I would expect from an SACD.
Abbey Road Sold Out SHM CD Mini Cardboard LP

Since it was NEVER ascertained that the SHM~SACD, SHM~CD or Blue Spec CD 'processes' sound better because of the newer technology or whether it can be attributed to better masters and mastering, I have curtailed buying any further reissues from Japan unless they're NO LONGER AVAILABLE in the states.

As for the Beatles ...... the masters are held in the UK [country of origin] and I've never had a problem with the British Pressings and can forgo the Japanese special packaging which I could really do without! I want the music .... NOT the GLITZ!

Marpow is stating that the mastering is improved on the SHM CD (over the 2009 Apple remastering), making it sound like an SACD. Not just the glitz of the packaging.

I am also surprised EMI/Apple/UNI would have special mastering for Japan SHM product, if in fact they did.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Marpow is stating that the mastering is improved on the SHM CD (over the 2009 Apple remastering), making it sound like an SACD. Not just the glitz of the packaging.

I am also surprised EMI/Apple/UNI would have special mastering for Japan SHM product, if in fact they did.

I will unequivocally state that those SONY 5.1 SACD remasters in special 7" packaging do sound uniformly superb ..... probably due to their recent A>D DSD 256 conversions ..... same system employed by US reissue company MoFi for their Stereo SACDs [also called QUAD DSD remastering].

BTW, those Beatle absolute Master Tapes never leave the UK! Locked up tight in the Abbey Road Studio vaults. And since analogue tapes should be played every so often to avoid 'print through,' wonder if ALL the Beatles' multitracks/master tapes have been upgraded to DSD 256 remastering [if, in fact, that's the best analogue>digital conversion being performed today]?

 

[Perp]

wonder if ALL the Beatles' multitracks/master tapes have been upgraded to DSD 256 remastering [if, in fact, that's the best digital conversion being performed today].

Not unless you have dog ears. woof woof

 

[4-earredwonder]

Not unless you have dog ears. woof woof

Well, Perp ....now that you've asked. Pupster has nothing over on me in the hearing department!

 

[Perp]

Hmmm I seem to remember you stated the following just the other day.

A lot of processors automatically upsample to 96 [from 48] and IMO, the difference is inaudible unless you've lived your life as a dawg!

 

[H.A.L.]

Hmm . . . Blue Spec. Another HDCD? At any rate, I pre-ordered the Japanese Blue Spec of Bowie's last release (not knowing at the time it WOULD be his last release). Sounded fantastic! But I have nothing to compare it with.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Hmmm I seem to remember you stated the following just the other day.

48>96 is probably inaudible, IMO but I have noticed that since MoFi installed QUAD DSD A>D converters in their mastering chain, the quality of their SACD reissues HAS Improved ........ 4x oversampling is a bit more 'upscale' than going from 48>96. But again, not knowing too much about modern A>D conversion, I wonder if the same or better could be achieved via PCM QUAD oversampling or 32 bit, etc. Classical label 2L has utilized DXD 384 [PCM] oversampling rates for most of their recordings....and they sound superb!

A Dog whistle OTOH .............

 

[marpow]

Yeah, you got that right as Lynyrd Skynrd would say.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Well, Perp ....now that you've asked. Pupster has nothing over on me in the hearing department!

 

[4-earredwonder]

View attachment 41750

Someone needs a Tic Tac!

 

[Scott65]

Someone needs a Tic Tac!

Good Tac Tic suggesting that...

 

[Mcallister]

DennisMarby and dr. Simple. Let’s find a date that works once we get a true release date for AR. Make a day of it!
Any other members welcome!