A few weeks back I received from the good Dr. the "Blue Box" transfers of
"Please Please Me", thru "Sgt Pepper" (the first group of "Blue Box" issues from Dr. Ebbetts at the moment). I was reluctant to a-b these vs
the MFSL versions I have from him, as I was of the mindset, that at this point they all have to sound reasonably close in quality to the MFSL versions and their can't be much of a difference worthwhile to brag about or write about. Well, I found this mindset to be wrong on my part. Listening thru headphones and on the stereo in comparison I found much to my surprise that I do like the "Blue Box" versions better, as they have a purer sound. We all know MFSL played around with the eq on these albums and as stand alone listening experiences, they really do sound excellent. But once I compared these newer releases I found with the lack of the MFSL eq, a purer more well balanced sound. I find the vocals exceptionally clearer, and high end, especially on things like cymbals and tamborine's quiet bright, guitars have a piercing feeling, especially on songs like "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", enjoying the bass reproduction; everything jumps right at you. These versions have a bit of a kick that seems to have been topped off (imho)on the MFSL versions. Plus, I know the good Dr has upgraded his lab with better equipment since the MFSL versions were done, only adding to the better sound reproduction on the "Blue Box" issues in my hand. I didn't think at this point there could be anything else that would be my new preference as THE album versions to listen to, but now I know I have THE versions and they're from the "Blue Box" vinyl releases....and I couldn't be more suprised! (For those of you who don't know these were vinyl pressings issued
in Japan in box set form, of course the box color was blue and always prized for them having the best sound reproduction to be stamped onto vinyl)
Hope this helps in deciding whether you want to add these to your collection. For me they are THE essential discs of the legit British releases to own! I can't wait for the rest of them to be released!
Regards,
Cal
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