BEATLES - les 1ères critiques apparaissent!

Ça y est! 
Certains chanceux ont déjà les coffrets des remasterings des Beatles entre les mains.

Et une première critique, de ToneAudio, s'avère fortement positive. Un extrait:

For the majority of listeners, however, any temptation to spend hundreds of dollars on rare vinyl pressings should erode as they become acclimated to what often resembles hearing familiar records for the very first time. Such are the near-miraculous improvements in the key areas of information retrieval, hidden details, palpable physicality, expanded midrange, transient presence, and frequency response. (...)

What does matter, of course, is the sound. And it’s largely excellent, improving in accordance with time, parallel to advances in recording technology and the band’s groundbreaking studio techniques. As previously mentioned, every Beatles album through The White Album was mixed with the purpose of being heard in mono. (...)

Without diminishing the value and impact of the stereo editions, which blow away their 1987 digital predecessors in every imaginable facet, the mono discs are where it’s at for experiencing the Beatles in the most “authentic” manner. (Officially, no compression or de-noising was used on the mono mixes; a sum total of less than five minutes of de-noising graces the stereo editions.) Specifically, the group’s early records tend to sound unnatural in stereo, as the hard panning seems forced and artificial—which, in actuality, it is. In mono, the Beatles’ music thrives from ultra-dynamic front-to-back layering that, intentionally or not, often gives the impression of a stereo mix. The changes wrought by the remasters are dramatic.(...)

it sounds so good, it’s almost difficult to believe this is the Beatles, which, unless one had unlimited funds for collectable LPs, have never sounded great. Depending on one’s perspective, such a conclusion is the ultimate sign that the folks at Capitol and Abbey Road Studios not only succeeded but surpassed most expectations. For if the Beatles remasters signify the last great hurrah of the compact disc, at least the format is going out in style.

Bob Gendron, ToneAudio

 For if the Beatles remasters signify the last great hurrah of the compact disc, at least the format is going out in style. J'adore!


Un post particulièrement intéressant d'un membre de l'équipe des ingénieurs qui ont eu la périlleuse tâche de préparer les éditions définitives des Beatles sur CD: cliquer ici.