Best Version of The Beatles' swan song "Abbey Road"

[Taverner]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

1. McCartney made a comment RE: the 2009 remaster of "The White Album"...

...it was along the lines of "Oh, yeah...I WAS at that session."

If you listen to "Dear Prudence"...my litmus test for the remaster of the entire album...his playing is distinct, clear, vibrant.

I've owned the Beatles' vinyl albums and MFSL vinyl remasters of The White Album and Abbey Road.

But I have to defer to the preference of an actual Beatle...the 2009 remasters are indeed "definitive."

:toast:

[Taverner]

2. Perhaps my selection is clouded by my love of vinyl

But there is something about the warm sound on MFSL's release

Granted, I have not played the 2009 remaster on proper equipment, but CDs have never "done it for me" like vinyl. In fact, I would rather hear a vinyl, with all the pops and scratches over CD

[hifiguy]

5. +1000

Vinyl forever here, at least when the music is available in that format.

I have a very exotic analogue front end (SOTA Cosmos III 'table/Graham 2.2 arm/Dynavector XV-1S cartridge) but any decent and well-set-up LP rig gives a palpability and "realness" that only the very finest digital on the planet (Esoteric, mbl, Zanden, Wadia, dcs) comes close to.

But then I listen mostly to tubed audio gear too....

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. In the past decade, my listening of music has ben limited to...

1). Car stereo speakers (the "stock" speakers in my Honda Pilot, not "audiophile" level, but also not the worst)

2). My iPods, which means earbuds, the "bottom feeders" of the headphone world

3). My computer speakers...Altec Lansing, good quality with a seprate woofer...

In the last gasps of vinyl (prior to its resurgence), I tired of warped records, pops, scratches, and the rest.

I know people like Neil Young talk at length about analog / vinyl's "warmth."

But I do most of my listening in the car, or on my computer, or on my iPod, where digital versions of the music I love sound OK to me.

Some day that may change. For now, it's good enough.

:toast:

[Taverner]

8. In a car CDs are best, since you have to overcome road noise

Without sounding or being overly loud

I do not have a vinyl player, and haven't for quite some time

But I used to, and back when it worked with its huge speakers, the sound was sublime

I have since been to my parent's house which has an awesome 80's era surround sound setup with a turntable

My parents do have this album, and it has been taken care of

Only one scratch noise - and that's before "Here Comes the Sun"

Otherwise a flawless disk

And yes, it does sound awesome

Just by chance I compared the sound of the vinyl to the CD (my copy of the 2009 remaster)

They are just a little different

For example, on the MFSL version, "Octopus' Garden" sounds like there is a fish tank in the room with the 'bubble noises'

On the remaster, it just sounds like background noise

[hifiguy]

3. The MoFi is excellent

but I've never heard a better Abbey Road than is in my "The Beatles Collection" set. That was EMI/Parlophone's last analogue remastering of the Beatles LP catalogue to vinyl, done back around 1984. Flawless UK pressings and that AR beats my MoFi. What I've heard of the Beatles remastered CDs is very good and VASTLY better than any US pressed LPs ever.

On the Floyd front, the MoFi "Meddle" is pretty much definitive; I own US, UK, German and Japanese pressings and the MoFi is the best by a cat's whisker, with the Japanese and UK pressings next best.

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. I prefer the version done by Wing.

[mulsh]

7. seconds after I slit the plastic wrap and put the record on the turntable

nothing was better than a brand new Beatle album back in the day.