The Smiley Smile Message Board

Today, the iTunes Store completely revamped The Beach Boys page, introducing a new splash page better organizing their material, and are having a sale on some of their albums for $6.99.  In addition, many of their albums are now labelled as Mastered for iTunes, which basically means that the files are encoded from 24 bit sources, instead of the CDs.  The idea is that by using a better source, in addition to improvements with Apple's encoder, the files that result should avoid some of the common pitfalls of MP3s (distortion), and hopefully sound as close to the source files as possible. 

Anyways, none of that is really a big deal under most circumstances, particularly when I assumed that most of the albums labelled Mastered for iTunes would be the 12 that were remastered in 2012, but I'm noticing some albums, namely "Wild Honey", "Friends", and "20/20" all have 2015 copyrights and, based on the samples I'm hearing, sound remastered, at least the latter two.  Definitely different than the 2000 remasters that I own.  There's also a Capitol Albums Collection now available in the store.

I'm curious if my ears are deceiving me, or if there was some news about this that I missed, or something in-between?

Just hope they come out on CD. After hearing Made In California, I'm especially drooling over a remastered Friends!

Almost positive these were released MFiT in 2012 at the same time the physical releases happened for the other titles through Capitol.  I think HOLLAND and SMILEY SMILE were also in that bunch.

It's nice to know iTunes revamped the Beach Boys section, too. 

Wild Honey sounds exactly the same, sadly.

The way I remember the iTunes page is that, up until this week, the only MFiT releases for The Beach Boys were "That's Why God Made the Radio", "Greatest Hits", "Made in California", "Pet Sounds", and the 2009 remasters of "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up".  The 2012 remasters were available, but those were not MFiT until a few days ago.  Also, the remaining twofers that weren't part of the 2012 program seemed to just get split up (sans the bonus tracks), with the same remastering as the 2000 releases.

So what I'm curious about are where some of the sources are coming from.  For instance:

1.  "Surfin' Safari" is now "Mastered for iTunes" and sounds much quieter (and, frankly, a lot better) than my 2000 issue.  This was not part of the 2012 program.  I'm assuming this is the Kevin Gray/AP release?

2.  The same goes for "Surfin' USA".  There's both a stereo and a mono/stereo version, but unlike the 2012 reissue, the white strip on the left with the Capitol logo is gone on the artwork.  I'm led to believe that this is also another Kevin Gray/AP release?

3.  Finally, this leaves us with the "Wild Honey", "Friends", and "20/20" MFiT releases.  "Wild Honey", as Shady says, does sound quite similar to the 2000 remaster, so it's possible that this is just a quieter version of that.  But "Friends" and "20/20" are definitely markedly different.  To my knowledge, however, neither releases have been part of any recent remastering program, so I'm not sure where these sources are coming from.

4.  One other note: there's also now a mono/stereo, MFiT version of "The Beach Boys' Christmas Album" now up.

The whole "mastered for iTunes" thing seems like a gimmick.  A compressed file is a compressed file; there are still frequencies lost.

Friends and 20/20 were remastered last year by Ron McMaster for the vinyl release on Capitol/UMe so maybe that's why they sound remastered.

They should consider a "mastered for torrent" version.

This is true, for now. I know Apple's eventual plan is to start releasing much of their online catalog as lossless. When this happens (and perhaps the recent acquisition of Beats is laying the groundwork for this) we'll be able to reap the benefits, so it's good that the labels are falling in line with this practice-- these tracks can be re-encoded when the time comes.


Thank you! I bought what I believe is this mastering of Friends on RSD and haven't been able to find out any information about where it came from. The artwork is identical to the original Cap release, without the "From the Capitol Vaults" disclaimer I've seen on most BB reissues. Incidentally, the fidelity is SUPERB. Easily the best I've ever heard this album sound. Hopefully we'll get lossless digital at some point. Cool to know they did 20/20 as well.

Balls - I just shelled out for the 80s Capitol green label pressing thinking that was the best sounding one ...

You are welcome Jason!  Here's a link to the start of the discussion about Friends, 20/20 and some others in the Capitol/UMe reissue series.  The ones I have opened so far have all sounded good.  I loved 20/20.  They have done a great job with these. Good heavy, flat vinyl and nice reproductions of the original artwork.  All without very much fanfare.

Tip: You can get a free 3-month trial of “Apple Music” starting today and you can check out these iTunes versions for free (that is… if you turn off auto-renewal of course).

I think the remastered Friends & 20/20 sound horrible. There's a loud hissing noise, that drives me crazy.

According to Steve Hoffman, hissing is a good thing. ;)

Let's all hiss at Hoffman, then!

Most of the MfiT files sound fine, but there's a huge problem with one track in particular - on the Deluxe Edition of All Summer Long, "Don't Back Down" (Mono) is a mess. The first 00:54 sounds muffled, along with a few crackling noises (almost as if it was a needle drop), then after that the remaining section is fine. Not sure who prepared these files (Mark Linett?), but that's a major gaffe.

The way they do this mastering gimmick is awesome.  They redo the album every couple years (any album) and get the same exact people to buy the same exact music again because some of the levels have been tweaked slightly differently.   


it's kind of like how in the 80's Nintendo released the gameboy... then the gameboy with a different colored case... then the gameboy pocket which was smaller... then the gameboy pocket with a different colored case... then the gameboy color... then the gameboy color with a different colored case... then the gameboy advance... then the gameboy advance with a different colored case... then the gameboy advance SP.... then the gameboy advance SP with a different colored case....


I'm not saying they shouldn't do it... i'm just saying I marvel that it works. 

I made an attempt at remastering the Wild Honey album but since I didn't own the master mixdown tapes coupled with the fact that I couldn't resist adding many farts to it, the project quickly fell apart.

Edit: I must admit that the farts really made "A Thing Or Two" almost bearable to me.

Agreed.  It's frustrating.  That's why I was excited that Kevin Gray was mastering much of the catalog in hi-res for SACD.  That would have been my "tap out" time.  Clean, not loud, hi-res -- just like the master tape, masters.  Unfortunately it's not all the albums, leaving out many of those great 70s albums.

We're still debating tape hiss in 2015? That's what the tapes sound like; that's what "tape" sounds like in general, obviously to varying degrees. If you remove the hiss to any excessive degree, you suck the life out of everything an it sounds like a pillow is over the speakers. If you don't like the hiss, get an EQ unit or just roll bunch of treble off.

Early CD era stuff including, according to Mark Linett, the 1990 PS CD and the 1990 two-fer album reissues, were mastered using No-Noise, which rolled off a bunch of the hiss but made everything sound muffled, which seemingly everybody acknowledged within only a few years was something that could be improved upon.

As early as the 1993 GV boxed set, No-Noise was not used. When the 2001 two-fer reissues occurred, whadaya know? Lots of hiss! It's a compromise, more hiss but much more dynamic range and clarity. It's much easier to leave the hiss and let listeners EQ it than to roll off all the high end before we hear it.

Hiss is fine... whatever's on the tape is what we should generally want.  What I don't like is "jacked" EQ, and loud.  Can't do the loud.  Hate compressed loud crap.

Yes, a lot of stuff (most modern stuff) is mastered too loudly. More modern BB stuff hasn't been heinously over-done in this regard, but definitely has been mastered more loudly.

I'm relatively okay with the EQ decisions on modern remasterings of original BB mixes.

It's the remixes that have often been rather disappointing for me. WAAAAAY too much reverb.

For some reason some folks here have a thing against Steve Hoffman (and/or his work), but the BB stuff he's mastered is the go-to mastering for me in many cases. I'm still planning on getting the Kevin Gray SACDs of BB albums (VERY surprised they haven't been discussed here more; but then again I haven't gotten around to buying them yet so I can't complain too much!), and I suspect they'll be go-to masterings as well.

I haven't picked up the Kevin Gray SACDs yet either.  Still waiting on Amazon to get them... and frankly, I have been buying tons of other great stuff until they do.  No hurry/no worry.

Gotta admit... as much as I want to seal the deal and get them -- I'm really not losing any sleep by not re-buying all my Beach Boys albums for the 4th or 5th time at the moment.  I've got plenty of versions to hold me over until I get that lump sum of extra cash to plop down on the whole lot -- whenever they all get released.

I like Steve Hoffman's work that he has done on the Beach Boys, but I just don't think that they are end-all, be-all that some make them out to be. They serve a purpose if you are looking for a certain sound. I happen to refer the 2000-2001 re-issues. They may be a bit bright, but the Beach Boys vocals just shine on them and that makes them a winner for me.

I'm not much of an audiophile, most of the stuff people complain about I poo poo.  However, even I hear the compression crap in modern mastering.


It's particularly strange to do that to a Brian Wilson song because he was always so into dynamics. 

That's a good point Ron.  Brian Wilson, more than any pop composer, used dynamics as properly as did he.  It's a part of his production genius that goes missing if squashed via compression or heavy limiting.  I've always felt there was Bach in the melodies / Beethoven in the orchestration.

It's worth noting Wild Honey is now on HDtracks, haven't had a chance to check Friends or 20/20. HiRes awaits!

Basically the entire Capitol Records catalog is on HDTracks now.  Not sure if I'm going to shell out even more $$ for albums I own a dozen times over in a format that won't play on my iPod unless I compress them down (which negates the purpose of downloading them in the first place). 

Still waiting on a proper digital release of Brian's mono mix of the Christmas Album and the Concert album.

Correct me if I'm mistaken in believing that these mixes have never seen CD or other digital official release.

I could swear there was a mono CD release of Christmas Album not too many years ago, but that could be completely in my imaginary world.

I was just at Acousic Sounds and a digital download of the Mono/Stereo Christmas Album is there http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/108817/The_Beach_Boys-The_Beach_Boys_Christmas_Album-FLAC_96kHz24bit_Download (http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/108817/The_Beach_Boys-The_Beach_Boys_Christmas_Album-FLAC_96kHz24bit_Download)

Is this the first appearance of the mono Christmas album!?   :o  Tempted.  These weren't slated to be released on SACD, so this could be a good option.  Anybody get any of these downloads?

Digitally, yes. The mono LP was released on vinyl last year, I believe. This is not slated for SACD release, so get this or the vinyl LP.

Yep - from my lips to Gods ears and back to my hard disk!!

The distinction I was at pains to draw was between Brian's mono mix and some lazy fold-down. And yes, analog release had taken place. Note the difference in timing of the mono and stereo Merry Christmas Baby and compare to the previous CD ie. fold-down versions.

So now Concert holds the unhappy trophy of being the last Brian mono mix LP to remain unreleased digitally! Hopefully it won't be long.

Interesting - I personally *don't* think recent releases of the BB stuff has suffered from too much compression, I know what over-zealous limiting sounds like and no way has the BB catalogue been exposed to that.

In terms of EQ, actually I do find on some occasions that Mark Linett's mixes have a *little* too much top end, just *too* trebley sometimes.

And as regards there being too much reverb, unless we here otherwise from the people who actually made the new mixes, I believe that the amount of reverb on new mixes is no different from the old ones, but is just a lot more audible because it is allowed to bounce about in a less-cluttered stereo image rather than being folded into the density of a mono mix.

FYI, all the Brother Records albums are now Mastered for iTunes.

And Holland has "We Got Love".....

Nah, a lot of that digital reverb on some of the latter-day stereo mixes is not printed onto those multi-track tapes. Listen to mono versus stereo on things like "You're So Good To Me" and "Please Let Me Wonder." There's no way all of that reverb is on the multi-tracks and the mono mixes just folded all that reverb in. The mono mixes of those songs may not be 100% bone dry, but they're extensively more dry than the new remixes. The difference on tracks like that is night and day. "Please Let Me Wonder", as I've often said, sounds like someone hit "opera house" on a digital receiver. If you fold down those stereo mixes into mono, you don't all of a sudden get rid of that reverb.

Thanks for pointing this out!  It is nice to have a good sounding version of this studio track!

Well, what about on When I Grow Up? You really think Mark intentionally killed that track with all the echo and reverb. I cannot believe that was intentional. And, it is mainly just on the first verse. Very odd choice to be intentional.

I don't think anyone was trying to kill anything. I think it was just an artistic decision (it very well may be Brian that likes more reverb on these mixes) that some like and some don't. I can't speak specifically to the first verse of "When I Grow Up" without giving it a fresh listen. There may be anomalies on the multi-tracks as well. But on the whole, a lot of those remixes, like those found on the "Warmth of the Sun" compilation, have more reverb across the board. It's a clear style/artistic decision, that's all. I just find it excessive in some cases, and for me it negates the benefit of doing a stereo remix to spread everything out and give things more clarity.

I didn't realize quite how relatively dry some of Brian's "Today" and "Summer Days" era mono mixes were until I went back to them after hearing some of the stereo remixes.

I think a tasteful balance can be had; the 1996 PS stereo remix is great. The "Endless Harmony Soundtrack" stereo remixes are great as well (both versions; though I prefer the 1998 stereo remixes of CG and "Kiss Me Baby").

So, Mark Linett has no taste preparing stereo mixes is what I am getting from all this? I do wish he someone else in the know would address the issue. I figured it had to be on the tapes and a reason why Chuck Britz was never allowed to do a stereo mix.

Mark Linett has done some stereo remixes. His taste and preference and possibly instructions (e.g. Brian having input) are some of the factors at play, as they would be for any mixing engineer on any project. Some of the more recent stereo remixes aren’t to my taste, having mostly to do with the amount of reverb. That’s all.

I’m not saying anybody lacks “taste.” Specifically, I mentioned that Linett’s stereo remix of “Pet Sounds” is excellent, and I enjoy plenty of his other work as well. His and Alan Boyd’s work on “The Smile Sessions” is monumental, and sonically I think that stuff came across great. A few things on “Made in California” were mixed contrary to my taste (e.g. “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’”), but for the most part those new mixes sounded great as well.

on MIC the new (2012) true stereo WILD HONEY mix pretty much suppresses the sharply up-front tambourine shakes/slaps from the original mono 45

Chuck did do stereo mixes!  ;). There was also Mark's Lexicon reverb unit and how do you explain the overuse of reverb on things like Loving Feeling", "Wild Honey" live mix and "It's A Beautiful Day"?

We were talking about the 1965 albums that Britz wasn't given to a prepare a stereo mix and Linett made stereo remixes, specifically Today and Summer Days.

"We Got Love" should be placed between "Calfornia Saga" and "The Trader" which is where it was originally,instead of at the end of Mt. Vernon and Fairway but that's a minor complaint.  It's good to have it available either way.

Sorry,  I took it to me stereo mixes per se. But yes that seems a plausible reason.  Maybe they tried stereo mixes but they didn't sound right.  Steve Hoffman said in the past that a stereo "Today" had been prepared.

It's a bonus track and they are always placed at the end. It wasn't put on this release to be in the original track order. If that was the case, then what would you do with Sail On Sailor, which wasn't a track on the original version? I am thankful just to now have a clean mix.  My playlist with the original track order gives Holland a different feel, for sure.

I think the reverb level itself is about the same, but the character and EQ of the reverb is different. On the original mixes, the echo is darker ... And yeh the stereo itself will make the reverb seem louder. I personally don't think there's been a digital reverb created that sounds "right".

Wondering if these albums have been newly remastered...

I'm just saying it works better in the middle, rather than as a closing track.  "We Got Love" didn't replace "Sail On, Sailor" in the track order, you can still fit it into its original spot without taking anything out and keep "Sail On, Sailor" as the opening track.

Then put it there in your playlist. Seriously, be thankful it was released. Out of all the new 2015 reissues it is the only bonus track released.