Comments on: Basement Songs: The Beatles, “Rubber Soul” (remastered)

By: Jgkojak

Jgkojak — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Funny though because the Rubber Soul remaster (along with Help!) are actually the EXACT SAME 16-bit PCM files used for the 1987 remaster – they just EQ’d in 24-bit. If you want to REALLY hear Rubber Soul- listen to the original 1965 stereo mix on the Mono Masters – it was transferred straight with no ‘jiggery-pokery’ and sounds fantastic- like the other Beatles Remasters do.

By: Jgkojak

Jgkojak — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 07:03:00 +0000

They took the 16 bit remastered files from 1987 (for HELP and RUBBER SOUL) that George Martin remixed (because the original stereros of these suck) and simply put them into a 24 bit floating point format- meaning, they transferred the 16 bit to 24 bit, then applied volume and EQ in the 24 bit arena. So they sound good, but its an EQ job– not a real transfer. Check out “I’m Looking Through You” on the Mono box- the original stereo mix, or In My LIfe, then listen to the official remaster- though the instrument placement and vocal placements suck- its much warmer- because it WAS given a legit 24 bit transfer.

Not sure why they couldn’t be bothered to replicate GMs mixes in a 24 bit environment- 4 tracks- how hard could it be?

By: Matt.

Matt. — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:32:50 +0000

I just bought the 2009 Remaster of Rubber Soul and compared it to the 1987 CD. No 'new sounds' are revealed, but the sound of the album has been improved. The bass line is beefier (which works particularly well on 'Drive My Car', 'The Word', 'Wait' and 'If I Needed Someone'. The vocals have a bit more depth and the percussion a bit more punchy. The accoustic and lead guitar 'picking' is a bit more crisp, which is most noticeable on 'Michelle', 'Girl' and 'If I Needed Someone'. Overall, this is a moderate but useful improvement on the sound of the 1987 stereo remix made by George Martin. The team at EMI remastered from that '87 mix, the original stereo master tapes being the rather crude 1965 stereo mix.

Can one simply say that the album has been made just louder with a bit more bass? Maybe, but I think such comment is too simplistic. To my ears, the 1987 CD now sounds a bit wooly and tinny compared to the 2009 Remaster! The '87 bassline sounds muffled, and the vocals a bit tinny. However, it is still one of the better 1987 Beatles CDs (and the lowest priority on my replacement list). At £7.99 (Amazon and HMV online), the 2009 Remaster is worth buying, in my opinion.

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:34:08 +0000

I don't have direct sources to cite this, but I've read on at least two posts that you really aren't missing out on anything. The stereo versions of Help and Rubber Soul found in the Mono Box set were "not very good." I know that sounds very subjective, but here's the story. The review that I remember best said that these versions ended up just proving how much better that the new stereo masters are. The review listed various reasons.

Of course there is always a novelty to listening to the older version, but I think it boils down to this:

The single stereo remaster CDs are those that George Martin fixed, the others (in the mono box) may have been the way that you heard them as a kid. You can basically hear the fixed versions, or you can hear the more nostalgic versions. Personally, I have absolutely nothing against anything that George Martin did. He was an amazing producer

By: jimmoulton

jimmoulton — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:11:23 +0000

For some reason, if you bought the single stereo remaster CDS of “Help” and “Rubber Soul”, you were not given a new digital transfer ,but the remastered versions from the 87 original pcm transfer of these two CDs. I would like to have heard the 87 version of “Rubber Soul” to see the difference. If you bought the mono box set, you were treated to new digital transfers and also no limiting was done to these more audiophile versions. The limiting added more volume and also more distortion to the mix.

By: wedgecon

wedgecon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:07:26 +0000

Help and Rubber Soul were given new digital transfers in both mono and stereo. I don't know where you got your information as you obviously have the wrong CD.

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:34:08 +0000

By: jimmoulton

jimmoulton — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:11:23 +0000

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:34:08 +0000

By: jimmoulton

jimmoulton — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:11:23 +0000