The Beatles' will finally be released, in it's entirety, in just over a weeks time. As a complete Beatles nutcase, I can't help but be excited about this - but I'm also slightly nervous. I've written before about - and, in particular, the way that they worked with. So, the idea of lovingly restored re-issues of these classic albums, revealing even more detail and magic, is exciting - whereas, the thought of heavy-handed processing or fashion-led mastering (can anyone say 'scooped mids' or?!?) makes me nervous - especially when spokesmen have said the new releases sound 'louder and brighter' than the originals.

Will these re-issues reveal the original masters in a new, inspirational light? Or, will they be yet another cynical re-hash of music we already own? Here are some of my hopes, fears, and predictions for this release. Hopes • Better transfers Digital audio has come a long way since the eighties, when many of the original Beatles CDs were released. In particular, analogue to digital converters have come along in leaps and bounds.

So, there is a distinct possibility that even a flat transfer of the original tapes would sound significantly better than the original versions • Sophisticated restoration Even more than converters, restoration technology has improved immeasurably over the years. Without a doubt the tools used will be made by, who effectively wrote the book on this stuff, and they can achieve quite incredible feats - fixing problems with the original sources like hiss and distortion, without any of the undesirable side-effects that some of the older technology involves • Sensitive enhancement Make no mistake, the original CDs sound pretty good already - but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. Not massive changes, but great should be constant proof that 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts', and I hope these releases will be perfect examples of this. Fears • Heavy-handed processing The last Beatles re-issue I listened to in the mastering studio was the ' - which sounded great, and incredibly clean. So clean, in fact, that we hooked out the original CD release of Abbey Road, and compared the two.

Textbook Of Pathology 10th Edditon Pdf. Sure enough, the track we chose ('Come Together') had been de-noised - ie, the hiss had been reduced. Echo J12 Cycle Computer Manual. Which I found an odd decision. Don't get me wrong, it's not that there were any unpleasant side-effects (artefacts) from the process - it's just that it wasn't that hissy to begin with. As George Martin has observed, the original 2-inch master tapes of these albums are incredibly clean - the only noise really comes from tracks where multiple reduction passes have been carried out. • Too loud No surprises I'd be interested in! But, you may be surprised to learn that I've nothing against the idea of making them louder, necessarily - just not.

The fact is, a certain amount of EQ, compression and limiting would certainly have been used in the original vinyl cut of these albums, and the goal of modern CD mastering should be to achieve a comparable result on CD. In fact, another reason that the original CD releases are considered to sound 'cold' by some people may be because they were made from the final mixdowns rather than EQ-ed production masters. This is a common problem with early CD releases - it removes a generation of analogue tape, theoretically getting a cleaner transfer, but also risks missing out on some of the positive benefits of the vinyl pre-mastering process along the way.

Now know you know the things I think might be in store for these releases - finally I thought it might be fun to make some predictions about we will actually hear on September 9th Predictions • This will be a low-level, anti-loudness war release Despite some speculation to the contrary, I'll be amazed if the levels on these are high by today's standards. The original releases had plenty of headroom, so I'm sure they will be at a higher level than that, probably with some gentle limiting - but these CDs will sound just as dynamic as the original releases. • The sound work will be subtle & tasteful - perhaps not even going far enough EMI's mastering studios have a track record of appropriate, restrained work, and I don't expect the Beatles' remasters to be any different. In fact, if anything these may sound too close to the originals for some - for example, fans of the ' mashed-up versions may be underwhelmed.