I Found a Beatles Let It Be Master Tape | Where Did It Come From & How Does It Sound?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- I recently bought a genuine EMI Beatles reel-to-reel master tape. In this video, I attempt to find out exactly what it is and where it came. I also had to find a way of playing it which led me to one of the finest reel-to-reel players ever made. I dive deep into the sound quality and find out how different this tape not only is to the original mater tape but how it compares to other formats and why reel-to-reel is a better sounding format than vinyl.
0:00 - Opener
0:42 - Collecting reel-to-reel tape.
1:44 - Pre-recorded EMI reel-to-reels.
3:39 - The 'Let It Be' master tape reel.
5:24 - Where did it come from?
6:10 - What was the source for the tape?
7:03 - Finding a machine to play it on?
8:15 - Playing the tape.
9:19 - Comparing 'Let It Be' with other formats.
11:36 - Conclusions.
12:01 - Sign off.
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A tape master of ANY Beatles/Solo Beatles material would be an absolute dream to have!! Such a freaking cool thing to find
You are awesome dude. I otherwise never cared about any of this minutiae but your presentations are so clearly elucidated and on point with all the proper context explained without unnecessary verbiage. You seriously need to write a book on the history of all these masters and release versions. Collectors would go crazy for it.
Thanks man.
I didn’t have much interest in the title at first and was even more disappointed that it wasn’t ‘THE’ master tape. But after a min of watching I was hooked.
Seriously, this guy can make anything sound like gold.
This is the reason I love 60's acetates. You never know which mix you would get. I once had an acetate of Eight miles high by the Byrds and was amazed it had a count in.
Your eyes are glowing the whole video. I know the feeling, I just got a grail today: the Capitol cassette release of Beatles Deluxe, a planned but withdrawn cassette box set. Only apparently 12 were ever made. Collecting grails like this legitimizes and completes both collection and collector. I hope to donate my 22,000 plus cassette collection to a museum one day.
I myself have 240TB of music on Hard Drives. 😁
Ohhh man…drooling again here! I would love to hear that tape!! I’ve worked with transfers of Reel to Reels over the years (usually a sub master) and Cassettes. The cassettes were a blast to work with and then transferring them to reel to reel really was a treat. Thank you for showing the wav/spectrum graphs. One reason the beginning of the tune was made louder for cassette was the hiss you mentioned, plus how soft it was following the previous tune. A bit of Wave Hammering it’s called on some software.
Anyway, you always bring a smile to my old face! Love what you do.
(One of the last reel tapes I transferred -pre Covid by a week 😅-was The Platters Greatest Hits.
I was sent two reel to reel versions. It’s on iTunes I believe). Keep up the great work. Hope you liked the Jeopardy clip I sent.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the clip!
@@Parlogram
You are welcome!
What a cool find! I agree that there is an almost magical quality to the experience of a reel tape.
I’m so curious to hear a few comparison snippets to other versions…maybe try sharing via Google drive?
That's my one gripe here, it's one thing to not include anything in the video but this guy never seems to share recordings or anything like that on drive - even snippets.
@@ThePokeMasterN12 Because it’s piracy and therefore illegal. I’m sure Andrew doesn’t want his channel not his business impacted with lawsuits…..
Wow that’s a fantastic find. Definitely a ‘holy grail’ for any collector. Very jealous! My parents used to have quite a number of reel to reel tapes but they were mainly Sinatra, Cliff & Shads. The family frequently taped radio programmes and personal messages too and sent them out to us in HK where my father was stationed. This was cutting edge in pre internet days. Happy memories.
I was influenced by tape at a very young age, (age 4, 1958) but had my first stereo open reel deck at age 13 for my birthday.
And my first pre-recorded reel purchased in November of 1967?
The Beatles, Revolver. This was a the initial Capitol run at 7.5 IPS. It lacks a lot of the final processes Capitol used to cut the lacquer, and sounds so much better than the LP. It still sounds great!
It was expensive: $7.95 compared to $2.99 at the same big box store.
At the time, coming over my small tube amps into a pair of Jensen wide range speakers, it sounded like they were in the room.
Tape is much better than LP. I made that discovery at age 10 in 1965 and made up my mind I wanted The Beatles on open reel. I never got all of them, but what I did acquire, I still have.
In the analog realm, the 7.5 IPS Ampex duplicated versions had no peer until the 2009 CD remasters and FLAC files.
But since i like to have my cake and eat it too, even though the 2009 remasters have become my default, I still listen to the reels or digital representations of same (96 kHz 24 bit wave) as the mood takes me.
My copy of Abbey Road I received for Christmas of 1969 was the best version you could have for love or money, even when compared to the MFSL LP's and 1987 CD release.
It still sounds bloody great!
Thanks for sharing this Andrew! Love seeing these rare items. Interesting to see that these tapes still have great sound. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent, Andrew. Always a joy watching your youtube-reel-to-reel-videos.
This stuff keeps me going. Having a right shit time of things at the moment. Only consistent thing in my life at the moment is stuff like this. Thankyou.
Another winner from Andrew... fascinating and complex details.. as usual. 🎶👍🎶
Absolutely fascinating. The sound quality sounds fabulous. I bought a Panasonic reel-to-reel tape in Canada in 1968 and used it there until I returned to the UK in '83. I subsequently transferred all my many hours of recordings to minidisk. (The tapes I made included off the radio and me singing and playing original song.) I subsequently converted the latter to mp3s which are very useful to have as I'm rerecording some of them with new arrangements provided by a friend. Long live reel-to-reel!
Wonderful story about your EMI tape of Let It Be! Look forward to your next video Andrew!
Phenomenal job Andrew!! So much excellent content and analysis..tapes are the best In sound
Glad it's found the right home with you as someone who can really appreciate all of its nuances. Very interesting!
When it comes to Beatles collectibles, my family owns an original NEMS 1964 Beatles record player my mom got when she was a kid, no doubt a kingly gift at the time. Not many were produced, and they were not built to last, but ours actually played records while I was growing up. Nowadays, it's simply a very pleasant (and expensive) conversation piece.
My own personal holy grail so to speak is not Beatles related, but Monty Python related. When my friend and I saw John Cleese give a chat, after the show we snuck into the VIP room, got a picture taken with the man, got my Fawlty Towers LP signed by him... Very cool so far, but the real collectible I got that night was when I managed to steal his wine glass. That's right, I have a literal grail drunk by a Python, unwashed sitting on my shelf. That is one thing nobody could ever get from a store, a personal collectible that, though I could never prove it's value, is certainly priceless to me.
That wine glass story is great. I'm a huge John Cleese fan. Maybe you would consider giving it to me if I tell you what the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is? :)
Monty Python is Beatles related at least.. George funded some of their films abs famously said in the anothology series he thought the, “the spirit of The Beatles went into Python” (in butchering the quote).. but that’s at least “related” to Los Beatles!
Cheers
My personal brush with John Cleese has a related theme, so I'll share it here. I was working the cheese counter in the Dean & DeLuca in Georgetown in Washington, DC. I can't recall what cheese he bought (maybe none), but I remember like it was yesterday him asking me where he could find a good wine store nearby. Which I told him. A good memory.
@@David_Hirsh What do you mean, an African or European swallow?
That's really really cool. My dad did a similar thing when he saw Graham Chapman perform on stage. The friend he saw the show with convinced him to go sneak into the VIP room with her, and he ended up getting his ticket signed. When my dad told Graham that he was his hero, Graham replied "I'm terribly sorry to hear that." He still has the ticket, and it was understandably a highlight of his life.
Also, if anyone's curious as to what my family's Beatles grail is, my dad has one of those nice vinyl blue box sets released in the 1980s. The one he bought has all the UK 45 singles in it, and I was only shown it once as a kid and it was basically just as a warning to not touch it haha. Not terribly exciting, but I've never seen one in the wild before, so I assume it's pretty rare like the others.
You always come up with some interesting topics relating to Beatles recorded output and this is one of your best ones to date, Andrew! I think this is mainly because the tape is such a rare item and your dectective work in establishing its provenance is second to none!
Cheers Nick!
You always put so much work and precision into your videos. I truly admire that and your expertise and passion. Those are some beautiful machines too.
Thank you!
Wow what a find. Great video, Andrew.
Love your videos. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into making these and for the incite you provide.
Thank you for watching.
Excellent video Andrew and owning an original Beatles master tape with an Australian connection is marvellous.
Growing up I used reel to tape all the time and all the time borrowing my Dad’s 4 track National Panasonic valve machine with the magic green eye and recording direct from the speaker via a cable on our old HMV “Ernest Fisk” model Radiogram top 40 songs from that last pre Beatle period of 1962. Later on I used to wait up until midnight on the eve of a new Beatles release to hear it played for the first time on Sydney radio after coming off restriction and of course taping it.
This channel is amazing. I always learn something and see some great audiophile stuff. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, Robert - will do!
Reel Love! Great video and info as always.
Wow! I have to imagine the sound is like being there. When you say you hear sounds like you have never heard before or something you never picked up on. I would have to sleep with it under my pillow. Thanks Andrew that was a great video. Beatle dreams,
Alex
Amazing video .. thank you so much (once again) Andrew. Back in the days, I was also fascinated by reel to reel tape machine : I spent hundred of hours ''playing'' with my parents' Grundig TK247 Deluxe .. I recently re-bought this machine .. 30 years after the original machine went out of service.
Anyone else watch these videos through and then watch again to 'freeze' on specific items of interest to check them out or read the info? A lot of that going on for me in this video! Great work Andrew!
Definitely, especially when there’s waveforms. This stuff is so interesting for the long-time Beatles fan.
**puts hand up** Yes me!
I'm the weirdo looking at the 8-track running orders to see if (or what) song is split.
(They were literally a dime a dozen in my teens, and the music was a LOT better than new stuff at the time!)
@@djhrecordhound4391 I’m always fascinated by the different order of songs across formats, and how that changes the experience of listening to the album. Then you’ve got some really cool 8-tracks like Lou Reed’s Berlin and Pink Floyd’s Animals that have music that is unavailable on the other formats. Cool stuff!
@@leamanc There's even a Beatles oddity on 8-track like that. Sgt. Pepper...(Reprise) has a bit repeated to extend it slightly.
I have five of the Beatles albums on Safety Masters: Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles (White Album) and Abbey Road, a total of 12 reels (2 each except four for The Beatles). The copying of all were done at Record Service, Alsdorf, West Germany. Wonderfu sonics. They were done in the late 1980's for vinyl repressings. The data sheets show the European Catalogue numbers of the vinyl albums. All have 1K, 10K and 100 Hz test tones and all are on SM911 tape, IEC EQ, 15ips 2 track, with leaders separating the test tones from the music. The data sheets are originals, with ink that smudges. A80 - DIN is written on the data sheets indicating Studer A80. They were recorded at 355 nW/m except for the Abbey Road which was recorded at 320 nW/m. I bought the tapes as part of a large collection of almost 200 reels of safety masters, mostly 1/4" tape, but about a third are on 1/2" tape. The total cost was about the same as a lower priced luxury new car. Collecting high quality 15ips 2 track tapes is not for the faint of heart. A good way to end up with a small fortune (start with a large fortune). There are some collectors who make high quality dubs of their safety and production masters available for sale. That is typically the way most other collectors get a good quality copy of a safety master of albums that are not commercially licensed. One of my practices - I never buy on ebay, I would guess that the vast majority of the tapes for sale on ebay are fake - usually dubs of digital files, like CD's. Definitely buyer beware. I only buy from trusted dealers or sometimes trade with other tape collecting buddies.
Congratulations on your collection, Larry and I agree, only buy from trusted dealers!
Great Vid Andrew. I bought the original Let It Be cassette in 1972 and still have it!
Andrew, I love analog tape. I became an apprentice audio engineer in 1966 here in the US. I worked with Ampex 440 tape decks and later the Ampex 300 series. I had my own TEAC 1/4" 2 track and Tascam 1/2" 4 track reel to reel machines. I love the format
Holy grail indeed. I am impressed.
That reel to reel is nice but I want that Sgt Pepper gatefold with all four signatures, that's MY holy grail!
As usual excellent video very informative and detailed. I’m learning lots watching your videos. Things I never knew, keep up the great work all the best. David
Thanks David, will do.
Absolutely fascinating!
That little wick of red leader that goes round and round used to mesmerise me as a child. One of my earliest memories of reel to reel machines!
Great video, as always. Once in a while I get down my Mother’s reel to reel. There is an almost complete recording of the 63 royal variety that she would have taped off the TV. I say almost complete as there is only a snippet of the Beatles. She clearly decided to sacrifice their set for the sake of capturing Steptoe and Son later in the broadcast. Oh well, it’s still very special.
Great story!
I really enjoyed watching this!
Absolutely fantastic find, man. My personal Beatles grail is a copy of The Beatles' Second Album. Bought it off eBay for 13$ just to see how the American albums sounded. It's in incredible condition. A single little visual dent and it sounds marvelous in every way, fresh off the press.
I'm just sittin here watchin the reels go round and round...
Great video!
Wonderful video Andrew! ☺️ Thank you 😊
My Holly grail till now, is John's books in 1st UK printing and in excellent condition too!
I saw this company who release reel-to-reel tapes of classic albums--just jazz, folk and classical--and they retail for about $350. It's an interesting rabbit-hole, to be sure. Really fascinating video, cheers!
let us know if anyone ever gets together a petition to apple for an unlimited music license to this channel...it's well deserved and would be a service to all
Great find and great video, as usual, my friend. I'm a full-grown adult in body and spirit, so I won't be jealous, I'll be thought fully envious. Although not Beatles-related per-se, could
I totally get where you're coming from with this. My dad was a keen tape recorder user, back in the sixties, and was a member of the London Tape Recording Club. He used to make amazing documentaries and interviewed quite a few famous and interesting people. He owned a Ferrograph and a Vortexion tape recorder, the latter of which was Abbey Road standard, and did look like something the Beatles would have used! I can still remember the smell and the sounds of the tape recorders. There's even a tape of me being born at home in June 1964 - amazing to hear your own first cries!
Thanks for sharing that, Dave. There were Tape Recording Clubs all over the country back then.It was a grand hobby for Dads.
That’s an amazing find, Andrew! Cassette masters are so insanely rare; I wonder how many more are out there, for other albums?
Great information as always. Thank you.
Oh I’d love to own another reel to reel machine. Another great video Andrew thank you Sir👍😎
Thanks for this wonderful share Andrew. I’m fascinated when you talk about new textures and frequency responses from various formats but always wonder what amplifier and speakers you can trust not to get in the way when making these subtle comparisons with you own ears. Thanks!
Thanks for the video. I'd love to get into that format as well, someday.
WOW - That's such an AWESOME find and I'm sure it sounds amazing! I also found it interesting that the audio has been compressed to normalize the volume to compensate for the high noise floor for a pre Dolby audio cassette. I'd love to hear some samples, sucks that the copyright police are so aggressive in taking down videos that could actually HELP with music sales.
Wow, very interesting! Heck of a grail. 😎
Sorry to comment on an old video, Andrew, but I can't resist. I work for the public radio in Uruguay, transferring our tape archives to digital. We have around 8500 reel-to-reel tapes, mostly containing live recordings from our Symphonic orchestra (called OSSODRE, acronym for something like Radio and Television Official Service's Symphonic Orchestra). These recordings are from 1950 to 1990. I'm using the only remaining working Revox PR 99 tape machine. Most of our tapes are 7,5 ips, but we also have a lot on 15 ips. I know exactly what you meant about the pleasure of looking a tape running on the machine. It's almost hypnotic! No need to say (but I'm going to) that I love your channel and all the information you give us. And I always wondered about how a Beatles' master tape looks like, so I enjoyed this video a lot. Thanks for it. PS: We have a lot of BBC Transcription Service's tapes, but all of them contains only classical music. As you can imagine, the first time I was allowed to check the underground archives I RAN looking for any Beatles' content. No luck!
What a great job you have, Gabriel! Thanks for watching.
So glad you mentioned the smell.
great video Andrew. I enjoyed that. 😀
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Being a blind person growing up in 1984 I was born March 12 I would love to hear a real to reel cassette tape I’ve never heard of a real to reel tape before but I love the value of cassettes and of course I have a bunch of blank cassette tapes I remember I would record beetle stuff along with carpenters music just to hear the cassette tapes.
I even had a tape recorder which would allow me to play the music forwards and backwards I remember playing I’m only sleeping by The Beatles from the revolver album, and I wanted to hear how the note sounded like when in reverse so what I did was I flipped the tape recorder button which meant that you can play the music backwards.
Then I was able to hear how the guitar notes sounded which was great and I recorded it on a blank cassette tape which is fantastic that was a great video I loved it thank you so much Andrew.
Found your channel through Techmoan's channel. Thank you for bring quality to TH-cam. 🙂👍
Thank you and welcome! 🙂
hi Andrew I have a copy of this and after watching this I went back to have a earhole at it. i got a pioneer pl-j210 so I don't know how old that is ( bought in a charity shop 6 years ago for 25 quid) but during the first lockdown got a new needle through eBay so that's a 2 year old needle so not too shabby. so anyway i think it sounds very clean as they say I like it very much but sound is a matter of taste. great vid Andrew look forward to the next take care p.s got a pressing of yellow submarine at the same time from record fair in Victoria London also Aussie Parlophone pressing.
Wish I could hear it. Whst a great find
Gawd, this is just amazing to own that tape, bloody 'ell.
Ok THIS is gonna be epic
Another great video, Andrew. Nelio.
Cheers Nelio.
Hi Andrew, this is quite a fascinating video. Your grail item is fantastic and the back story compelled me to pull out my Australian 1980's black Parlophone labelled "Let It Be" (from my Beatles Collection Gold Box) and compared it with my original 1970 Australian pressing, using the title track as you did. To my ears they sounded identical. I looked at the matrix number in the run out groove on side 1 and both my Apple original and my 1980's Parlophone, as well as my 1974 Apple pressing all carry a '3U' number.
Your videos are always informative and educational. Look forward to more. Cheers mate 👍
Thanks Peter!
Reel to reel was still apopular format when I was a child. Replaced by the audio cassette. I still have a TEAC 2340R quad player and a few reels. I too, for the same reason you give, love the format, including the very nice card boxes, later plastic, the reels came in. My dad had a number of players including a very small player, I thought it was super cute!
Thanks for this one Andrew.
No Beatles tapes I'm afraid.
But as an older sound engineer that worked on tape at the end of its life I feel I have to comment.
You mentioning the 1K slate and 'end off' took me back to things I'd not thought about in a long time.
I'm happy that your tape wasn't sticky after all that time and the splices still held. I have a PR99 but Studer were the best!
I want to mention that my Dad had a very decent (massive and heavy) Sony domestic reel to reel and a collection of pre recorded tapes. A lot of classical and jazz. All 7.5 ips. The sound was amazing. The tape was thinner than the pro tape. I found your info on the production of these very interesting.
I've just thought of a small Beatles connection. My Dad only recorded two 'chart' shows. 1973 and 1967 which has Eleanor Rigby in the Top 20. BBC Radio 1 Pick of the Pops with Alan Freeman. It sounded great, pop pickers, as you can imagine.
Always interesting and fascinating. :)
Wonderful video! Wonderful thing, to be able to listen to a tape that close to the actual master! ❤️❤️❤️ I had a pretty decent Sony reel to reel machine, back in the late ‘60s. It was my first pass at what is now called “file sharing!” I’d borrow LPs from my friends, and dub them to tape, using the highest speed I could afford, that week! 😉 All the best! Keep on keeping on! ❤️🔥
Thanks for watching, Chris.
Very interesting, very cool!
Not exactly EMI master tapes, but I got a Trident 7 inch acetate in a charity shop for 20p. I love the "Trident" logo. It's no one famous, or a demo of a classic tune, but it's cool to have, and is an interesting conversation piece.
Great find, Indigo!
@@Parlogram Thanks Andrew. Forgive my ignorance, but have you covered EMI/Apple Demo/Acetate discs? A video on the red/white "A" demo singles would be good. Or "Factory Sample" labels and their "fakery"? Just a thought! Great work as always!
Thanks Andrew. I have 2 reel to reel tapes I bought at a Beatles auction in Liverpool in 1990. One is Bob Wooler and the ranchers at the Cavern and the other is from radio Luxemburg, old jingle's. Never been able to play them. 🤔
Have a cassette" Let it be," former Yugoslavia,so it' s tape? I had that tape player when i was small child. Nowadays I have a video player for 16.mm tape,so i may watch films from ancient times. Nice video,cheers Young Master Andrew. P.S.having something " original," is still amazing.
Great find I wish you could share, maybe you can get Paul to sign off for a quick one time listen. I thought I had a good week by getting a Beatles Red 73 Holland pressing in almost mint condition. Okay you win again ANDREW! Great stuff as always.
Great video Andrew (I’m the Beatles cassette obsessive 🤣). What an amazing item to have in your possession, and so fascinating to hear about its journey over the years including the re-splice. I’d also be very curious to hear the Australian vinyl pressing taken from this cassette master…. so now you need to find the reel for Side Two… All the best from the UK.
I find it very difficult to get excited about ANY cassette. I spent years working with 2-inch, 1-inch and quarter-inch tape at speeds of 30 inches per second and 15 inches per second. Cassettes are eighth-inch tape that runs at one and seven-eighths inches per second. It's truly amazing they sound like anything at all.
Hi Andrew, great video as always. I totally agree about tape, I have a large collection myself. Always picking up lots of reels and cassettes and have found some great things over the years, I particularly look out for radio programs such as pick of the Pops, and also John Peel. Anyway, I do in fact have a couple of Beatles reel to reel tapes I’d love to find out more about. They came in a job lot of various reels, most of which were run of the mill, although some great pick of the Pops recordings amongst them from 1963. However there were two reels that very much stood out, These two reels are emitape 7 inch reels recorded at 7.5 IPS, but they contain songs from help and hard days night, but with the announcements in front of them such as RM3 etc, and also slight studio chat followed bye count ins before each track starts! So my guess is that these are copied from a master of some sort. There are some notes on the boxes, including the engineers name, D Liddle, which I tried googling but with no success. Does this mean anything to you? I can get photos of the boxes if this would help. I wondered if these may have been surreptitiously copied by someone working at EMI at the time, but really have no idea.
Hi Tim, you can send pictures to me at: andrew@parlogramauctions.com
Love this, thanks...!
There is something special about reel to reel in my heart. Through most of my childhood i wanted one and eventually got a battery portable with 3 inch spools. It was terrible as didn't even have a pinch roller so tape speed varied as tape built up on take up spool. Ok as long as played back on same machine. My dad bought a Fidelity in 1967. 3.75ips with 5.75in spools. I would record Alan Freeman doing the charts in 1967. Still got the recordings. When i grew up i bought a Revox B77 in 1979 instead of buying a decent car. Since then my collection has grown with Ferrograph series 6 stereo and mono versions and love the Truvox machines too. I tend to stick to half track machines and preferably 7.5/15ips. Got a soft spot for the high end Philips too such as the N4450. Also got plenty of domestic machines including Stella, Dansette and a very old 'Sound' tape recorder bought by my Grandfather in the 50s. There is something special listening to high quality music and watching the spools going round and round, especially NAB spools 😊
I totally agree, Howard!
Nice find. In 1984-85 while helping a friend selling audio, I bought a Beatles cd, the next day, the rep came back to pick it up but it was already in my place and nothing he could do about it. It's the in-famous Abbey Road CP35-3016 Black Triangle mfd by Toshiba EMI LTD in Japan. I still have it and still play it every few weeks. I think I paid around $15.00 for it. Not many have that one. Not a master tape but not far behind.
Take care.
That's wonderful. I can't think of anyone more deserving of such a possession than yourself. Enjoy!
Thank you, John!
As much as I love viny LPs, I have to admit there's no "finished" vinyl record that could stand up with a 15ips tape master! 7 1/2 yes or 3 1/2 absolutely, but 15 ips absolutely not!
as someone who did a lot of studio recording as a musician in my youth. I can attest to that statement. back in the day of analog, we ran the 2 inch reels at 30 ips. our mix downs on quarter inch was the same.
@@joet_swbo101 we cut 4 7s in the early 80s I'm sure we had ( I thought) 16 ips ( maybe wrong) but that's what the studio gave us to send to the mastering and cutting for pressing. Please enlighten me my memory is a bit vague, cheers,🇬🇧🍀👍🏼
That’s 15 ips, not 16. And studios did record and master at 30 inches per second! The more “real estate” over which you can spread out the signal, the better.
2 track 7.5 ips sounds awesome as well !!
And the quality of that tape is magnitudes better than cassette tape
As the former owner/engineer of a recording studio (Fast Forward Recording, Hollywood, CA 1984-87) I speak with some knowledge on this subject.
The reason the softer part of your tape has higher level than the disc version is not because it was cut at a higher level.
The cassette format is inherently very noisy (hiss, wow, cross-track talk, machine noise) and cassettes were played more in cars than in the home. The car environment is inherently full of noise and the compression would help the music to be heard above that.
The engineers, no doubt, compressed this recording to keep the level higher throughout. This would be an attempt to mask the cassette's deficiencies, and keep the music louder than traffic on the street.
This compression may also account for the nuances in the songs you had not previously noticed. It would have brought quieter parts of the music up in level.
Love your channel, keep up the good work!
That is amazing!
Hi Andrew, I am a proud owner of an Australian version of Let It Be that was pressed in 1987. My Beatles holy grail is a near mint original version of the 1964 Australian tour programme.
Whoa boy! This is fantastic and amazing. One thing that the R2R format is really subject to is how it's handled and stored. Bad storage can really do a number on audio tape. I'm sure many fans will have tales of loading up an older cassette tape and having the fidelity on it completely depleted. I even heard a tale from the mid 1980s where a particular "working" tape for the third album by the group Boston had been stored badly. When they located the exact particular tape of the take they wanted - the tape had almost oxidized to a point of not being able to play ever again. The engineers had to apply some kind of chemical to the tape before dubbing it to a better tape, or digital source. So, if your tape, of an advanced age, play well to listen to and analyze, I would say you're very lucky. How DID you come about it? Who let this go?
One particular holy grail item I have is the original Beatles programme from 1964 when my mum and dad saw them in Bristol plus the following day's newspaper cuttings about "last night's Beatles concert"! It's great to be able to read reports about what people thought at the time, rather than from today's viewpoint. Also have my mum's original mono pressings from the 60s from With The Beatles to Sgt Pepper. Wouldn't part with any of it.
Hi Andrew - Amazing video again, I have an 80s Aust press of Let it Be album the vinyl itself is rather thin, I also have an Orig 1970 Let it Be - New Zealand boxset too with a 1st N.Z 3u press and interestingly orig u.k cover but restamped by HMV N.Z Ive just done a very a quick unscientific test :) comparing the Let it be song (sorry dont have much time today) the Aust 80s press sounds a tiny bit more clearer maybe the mids and the highs might have been pushed up, or maybe because vinyl quality. The NZ 70s press does has a nice warm sound though
Incredible! 👏👏
Thank you!!
Having recently acquired a pair of reel to reel recording decks (8-track for recording, 2-track for mastering) that run at 15ips, I've seen some EMI masters for sale online here and there that were QUITE tempting. Until I saw this video I was uncertain whether it could be a worthy pursuit. Now I'm going to actually try to acquire some. Thanks for the analysis!
I'm so jealous Andrew!
Exciting.
Have you ever been in contact with Techmoan? He has a lot of reel to reel players.
I was hoping that it was Mat who had a player that Andrew could borrow from, but I think that reel to reel player is a bit out of Mat's range.
Time always well spent here.....
Brilliant find Andrew. I imagine with a decent pair of speakers it sounds awesome. I don't suppose Doc Ebbetts would know where Side 2 is.
I wonder how many of these reel to reel tapes just got dumped back in the day! Very interesting piece of history you have there Andrew 😬👍
Amazing! Imagine having one of these from Oasis though 🤯
Hi Andrew,,, Very interesting, I am in Australia and have this copy of Let It Be L.p. same as your lable,, YEX 773 Side 1. and YEX 774 Side 2. PCSO - 7096. Black Parlaphone Lable. Didn't relise it came from a cassett master. Will listen to it agin and see if I can hear any difrance now I no it came from a master tape.. My copy is pristine, very clean. Sounds as good today as when I bought it.
I have a few 1970s BBC production tapes (no Beatles, sadly!) and the quality when played on my Sony TC-766-2 at 15 ips is astounding. The wide dynamic range and low noise floor I think are the main factors.
Thanks
I love the fact that you have the real Carol type of B which is a master version of it which is fantastic. I never had any Beatles cassettes but I did have a Beatles eight track tape at one point I was gonna listen to it, but someone must’ve played a lot and I was going to play adjust to hear how it sounded but unfortunately the eight track tape made up the eight track player the eight track player was fine but it was the eight track tape that wasn’t good it was the Beatles red and the blue album. I do have a cassette box set which I never had before and that is the Smokey Robinson and the miracles called 35th anniversary from 1994 I believe and I have that on Cassett and on CD.
Interesting info...
In the US, Let It Be actually kept most of its running order on tape. I grew up with a version that differed from the LP only in that "I Me Mine" was moved to kick off side 2.