Stereo separation differences on various releases?

[Astrogal]

Hi all, new member!

I was listening to the Rubber Soul from the BC13 box, and I found that it had a slightly narrower stereo than the original '65 stereo record.

I have also heard that there are French 70s pressings that have narrower stereo still. What gives?

Thanks!

[jpa]

Yes, I have such a narrower French pressing - soonds good!

[Lord Reith]

Yes, most Beatles vinyl is narrowed. It was mostly done I believe to get a better cut. Having drums and bass only on one channel creates problems for the cutting engineer.

Part of the reason I think the 87 stereo cds got a bad rap is because they were NOT narrowed. The narrowing actually gives the music a little bit more impact. But it isn't obvious unless you do a direct A/B comparison. I believe that if they'd narrowed the 87 cds like they did with the 2009s, people would have warmed to them a lot more.

[Astrogal]

Yes, I have such a narrower French pressing - soonds good!

Do you have a vinyl rip of this pressing?

[Kando]

Sorry, but I'm a wwwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee man myself, lol.

I've always felt I could hear more detail in the wide versions. But to each their own.

Still, interesting to see how many versions there are out there, of so many of the songs.

[Mr Bump]

Narrowing the image means mixing a bit of the left channel into the right, and the right into the left? So these are actually remixes?

[Spaniard in da Works]

Narrowing the image means mixing a bit of the left channel into the right, and the right into the left? So these are actually remixes?

Well, *in a way* they are, but you'd probably do it from the stereo remix or even the stereo master rather than the multitracks, so I would call it a rechannel or remaster.

[Davenicks]

Narrowing the image means mixing a bit of the left channel into the right, and the right into the left? So these are actually remixes?

I believe, at least for vinyl, this most often happened in the mastering stage by the cutting engineer, so not a change of the mixes in the studio. That's why they vary from pressing to pressing.

Dave in Nashville

[Spaniard in da Works]

Narrowing the image means mixing a bit of the left channel into the right, and the right into the left? So these are actually remixes?

I believe, at least for vinyl, this most often happened in the mastering stage by the cutting engineer, so not a change of the mixes in the studio. That's why they vary from pressing to pressing.

Dave in Nashville

If I'm not mistaken, what they did with twin track masters was to blend both channels with a bit of reverb. I'm curious though; did they do that (add the reverb and compression) directly during the cutting stage? So they cut it directly from the master mix and there was not a mastering to tape phase?

[Tex]

With Rubber Soul you can squeeze the stereo and not wreck the balance.

Any other 3 point stereo mixes it wrecks the balance.