AUDIIOPHILE IS WORTH THE PRICE

Ken Ward’s letter about the The Beatles reissues was typical of the rants that I have seen recently. EMI are in business to make a profit; yes, the mono box set price is extortionate and, yes, they could have combined the mono/stereo mixes. Yes, they could also have mixed it in surround sound. In fact, there are a lot of things they could have done, all of which would have aggravated some purist somewhere. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Ken’s comments are shared by a lot of people; critiques on records they do not actually own or have listened to. I pre-ordered the stereo box online for £135 and, when I played all of the discs, the sound quality exceeded my expectations. I was grinning broadly as familiar music revealed previously unheard depths, so these CDs certainly won’t be gathering dust on my shelves.

Technology has moved on since the original CD releases and we should be thankful for that. If it is just about the music and you don’t care what the sound quality is like that’s your personal choice – no one is forcing you to buy the reissues! But I like to listen to my favourite music in the best sound quality available so, even if the current CDs are further upgraded in 10 years’ time’ I will buy those too. I only wish EMI had taken as much care with the Pink Floyd catalogue.

by Karl Carpenter
<< Back to Issue 369

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk