The 1992 CD EP box

[Lord Reith]

Cool. That was a great sounding album. The cover... not so great.

[paul62]

In 1992 EMI released a CD version of the late 1981 EP box. Apparently this release was ignored or dismissed as redundant by most fans. What is desirable about the CD release is that mastering is often superior to what was done in 1986/1987 of the same material.

Although most of the EPs are 2nd gen tapes the "Bonus" EP was possibly a compilation of 1st gen stereo masters.

I've tweaked "I Saw Her Standing There" from the '87 CD to sound more like the '92 CD EP. The waveform for the EP is inverted (compared to the '87 CD) and the '92 version needs to be slowed down by about -0.175% to get close to matching the '87 version (these aren't major issues, but could lend credence to the idea that the EP tapes were 2nd generation copies set aside back in the early '60s: having been rarely played, compared to the LP master, they would have had an excellent chance of being in better condition (which might explain why they sound as good as they do, as well)). The EQ of the EP version of "ISHST" is closer to the sound of the outtake version issued in 1995 than it is to the '87 CD. It would be interesting to know exactly what was done in terms of EQ adjustments for the '87, '92 and '95 issues.

UPDATE:

I've done three tracks of Please Please Me, where I've EQ-matched the left channel of the '87 CD to the left channel of the corresponding track as issued on the '92 CD EP: the EP versions are all inverted and require speed-adjustment (so far) when compared to the '87 CD. Here's some pictures: I've EQ-matched twice, the second time after I've speed-adjusted the '92 CD EP to more or less correlate with the '87 CD LP.

01 ISHST '87 CD top, CD EP bottom (before first EQ-matching undertaken)



01 ISHST '87 CD top, CD EP bottom (after first EQ-matching undertaken)



01 ISHST EQ to make 1987 CD (LC) like CD EP version (LC)



01 ISHST EQ to make 1987 CD (LC) like CD EP version (LC), again after CD EP speed-matched to '87 CD version

[paul62]

What's the likelihood of some of the Delta mono tapes being used to create the EP masters back in the day? (It's an idea that has entered my head and the question is directed at anybody reading this, so speak up if you have any ideas on the matter!!),

[paul62]

OK! So I've loaded the left channel of both the '92 CD EP and the '09 CD LP versions of "I Saw Her Standing There" into Audacity.
Both waveforms have the same polarity (one waveform is not inverted when compared to the other, in other words).
The CD EP version needs to be slowed down by -0.350% to more or less correlate with the '09 CD LP version (half that amount, -0.175% was needed to make the CD EP version more or less correlate with the '87 CD LP version).
The CD EP version received a substantial bass boost, a dip from 350-2000Hz and a boost from 2000-9000Hz (then a steep descent from 9000Hz onwards) when compared to the '09 reissued mono version.

ISHST CD EP (top) 2009 CD LP (bottom) before



EQ curve to make 2009 mono CD like CD EP (SC)



ISHST CD EP (top) 2009 CD LP (bottom) after

[powerPC]

Awesome detective work Paul!

[paul62]

Thanks, Keith!!

[Tex]

Here is one of the "Beatles For Sale" EPs (1 of 2)
hxxps://we.tl/t-lx8I9hUMPC

Here is "A Hard Day's Night (extracts from the film)"
hxxps://we.tl/t-4PYWQaOUze

I'm only posting bits so people (not me) can comment on the mastering.

[Garrett]

Here's the "Long Tall Sally" EP. The mid-range is dialed back way too far so this would be a good candidate for remastering and "EQ matching" (hint, hint). The mono mixes kick ass.

hxxps://we.tl/t-lpxt2ijY6T

Here is my attempt at a remaster, thank you for the source.

hxxps://we.tl/t-qqBZdrT8WL

[Tex]

Here is my attempt at a remaster, thank you for the source.
hxxps://we.tl/t-qqBZdrT8WL

Very nice!