The Beatles Original Studio Recordings Box Set 16 LP Vinyl New S/S Sealed

$

240

This is the LP by The Beatles "Original Studio Recordings 16 LP Box Set"  Capitol Records 2012.

Jacket (M-)  Some torn shrink wrap, and very light storage wear only. No real issues with this.  The jacket is factory sealed and has never been opened.  Comes with protective plastic sleeve.

Inner Sleeve/LP (M) Never opened, never played.

Of Interest:  Manufactured on 180-gram, audiophile quality vinyl with replicated artwork, the 14 albums return to their original glory with details including the poster in The Beatles (The White Album), the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band's cut-outs, and special inner bags for some of the titles. The albums are accompanied by a stunning, elegantly designed 252-page hardbound book in a lavish boxed edition which is being in limited quantities worldwide.

The book, exclusive to the boxed edition, is authored by award-winning radio producer Kevin Howlett and features a dedicated chapter for each of the albums, as well as insight into the creation of the remasters and how the vinyl albums were prepared. The 12"x12" book showcases a wealth of photographs spanning The Beatles' recording career, including many images which were not included in the 2009 CD booklets.

The titles include The Beatles' 12 original UK albums, first released between 1963 and 1970, the US-originated Magical Mystery Tour, now part of the group's core catalogue, and Past Masters, Volumes One & Two, first released individually in 1988, featuring non-album A-sides and B-sides, EP tracks and rarities. With this release, The Beatles' first four albums make their North American stereo vinyl debuts.

There has always been demand for The Beatles' albums on vinyl. Indeed, 2011's best-selling vinyl LP in the United States was Abbey Road. Following the success of The Beatles' acclaimed, GRAMMY Award-winning 2009 CD remasters, it was decided that the sound experts at EMI's Abbey Road Studios should create new versions of The Beatles' vinyl LPs. The project demanded the same meticulous approach taken for the CD releases, and the brief was a simple one: cut the digital remasters to vinyl with an absolute minimum of compromise to the sound. However, the process involved to do that was far from simple.

The first stage in transferring the sound of a master recording to vinyl is the creation of a disc to be used during vinyl manufacture. There were two options to consider. A Direct Metal Master (DMM), developed in the late seventies, allows sound to be cut directly into a stainless steel disc coated with a hard copper alloy. The older, alternative method is to cut the sound into the soft lacquer coating on a nickel disc - the first of several steps leading to the production of a stamper to press the vinyl.

A 'blind' listening test was arranged to choose between a 'lacquer' or 'copper' cut. Using both methods, A Hard Day's Night was pressed with ten seconds of silence at the beginning and end of each side. This allowed not only the reproduction of the music to be assessed, but also the noise made by the vinyl itself. After much discussion, two factors swung the decision towards using the lacquer process. First, it was judged to create a warmer sound than a DMM. Secondly, there was a practical advantage of having 'blank' discs of a consistent quality when cutting lacquers.

The next step was to use the Neumann VMS80 cutting lathe at Abbey Road. Following thorough mechanical and electrical tests to ensure it was operating in peak condition, engineer Sean Magee cut the LPs in chronological release order. He used the original 24-bit remasters rather than the 16-bit versions that were required for CD production. It was also decided to use the remasters that had not undergone 'limiting' - a procedure to increase the sound level, which is deemed necessary for most current pop CDs.

Having made initial test cuts, Magee pinpointed any sound problems that can occur during playback of vinyl records. To rectify them, changes were made to the remasters with a Digital Audio Workstation. For example, each vinyl album was listened to for any 'sibilant episodes' - vocal distortion that can occur on consonant sounds such as S and T. These were corrected by reducing the level in the very small portion of sound causing the undesired effect. Similarly, any likelihood of 'inner-groove distortion' was addressed. As the stylus approaches the centre of the record, it is liable to track the groove less accurately. This can affect the high-middle frequencies, producing a 'mushy' sound particularly noticeable on vocals. Using what Magee has described as 'surgical EQ,' problem frequencies were identified and reduced in level to compensate for this.

The last phase of the vinyl mastering process began with the arrival of the first batches of test pressings made from master lacquers that had been sent to the two pressing plant factories. Stringent quality tests identified any noise or click appearing on more than one test pressing in the same place. If this happened, it was clear that the undesired sounds had been introduced either during the cutting or the pressing stage and so the test records were rejected. In the quest to achieve the highest quality possible, the Abbey Road team worked closely with the pressing factories and the manufacturers of the lacquer and cutting styli.

An additional and unusual challenge was to ensure the proper playback of the sounds embedded in the 'lock-groove' at the end of side two of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Requiring a combination of good timing and luck, it had always been a lengthy and costly process to make it work properly. In fact, it was so tricky, it had never been attempted for American pressings of the LP. Naturally, Sean Magee and the team perfected this and the garbled message is heard as originally intended on the remastered Sgt. Pepper LP. (wiki)

****SALEM ATTIC NOTES**** All records are inspected beforehand.  If they need a cleaning I do so. I use a spin clean system, that does a good job. Sometimes it does not get out the real tough stuff, so I do that by hand if need be. I check the vinyl for scratches, blemishes, warps, sleeve rash etc..  If the condition of the record is anything but new I will give it a full listen with a pretty decent pair of Pioneer headphones.  I will give you the details of what I find in the Product Information part. I give all the jackets a dusting regardless. If the jacket is dirty or stained and can be cleaned without damaging it, I will do that as well. When I am done the LP & jacket go into a 2 mil protective clear plastic sleeve. The standard way I store and ship is with the LP & sleeve behind the jacket to prevent spine split, ring wear etc...to the jacket.  During mailing each LP is put between two cardboard record pads and then inside the record mailer. Everything is stamped fragile but if your local PO/Mail Carrier is not the gentlest, let me know and I take that into account when packing. 

My record grading system.  This is a BASELINE.  I will put the specifics of each jacket and vinyl into the product description itself. 

Mint (M) 

(Jacket) There will be no flaws. The jacket will be factory sealed with perfect or close to perfect corners. 

(LP) The vinyl itself should be without flaws since the jacket surrounding it has never been opened. 

Mint Minus (M-) 

(Jacket) The jacket will most likely be sealed in original shrink, but there may be some shrink missing. There may be slight wear from storage at the corners.

(LP) The vinyl itself should be without flaws since the jacket surrounding it has never been opened. 

Near Mint (NM) 

(Jacket) If the jacket is sealed there may be some minor corner damage from storage, it may have some torn shrink-wrap. The corners may show some storage wear. If not sealed the cover will show no more than very minor corner wear.  Creasing will also be minute at most.  There will be no visible ring wear. No writing, rips or tears on the cover or seams. No bubbling, water/mold stains or peeling of the cover in any way. The inside of the gate-fold will be in the same condition.  Cutout bin punches, price stickers, staples would start being listed at the NM category and would be noted accordingly as they affect the jacket itself.

(LP) You should not hear any surface noise (snaps,crackles, pops) when you play the record. There will not be any skips or repeats. The LP will retain that just opened appearance. There may be some light sleeve abrasions but they will not have any affect on the sound. There will be no warping. There will be no major surface blemishes, light or deep scratches. The label will be free of writing and stains. There should be no stand out spindle marks. 

Near Mint Minus (NM-) 

(Jacket) May or may not have shrink-wrap but the jacket itself will still be in beautiful condition. The corners will have minimal wear (no fraying). There may be minor dents and creases. Light scratches could be on the jacket, but nothing severe that defaces the artwork. Depending on age some discolor/yellowing may show, but will not be overbearing.  Ring wear should be minimal ( at the top and bottom pressure points) or non-existent...no dark, full, half, or quarter rings. No writing rips or tears. No bubbling, water stains or peeling of the cover . All inner gate-folds will be in similar condition. 

(LP) You should not hear any sustained surface noise (snaps,crackles, pops) when you play the record. There will not be any skips or repeats. There may be a few surface blemishes, or a stray light scratch that may cause a moment of crackling, but nothing prolonged, and instances of this will be few. Often this will mostly occur only at the beginning of the groove on each side where the needle dropped. There will not be any significant warping. There will be no deep scratches. There may be minor spotting or fog (bag rash), but it will not affect the sound. The label will be free of writing and stains. Minimal spindle marks only. 

Very Good Plus (VG+) 

(Jacket) May or may not have shrink wrap.  In this category it will be easier to see imperfections with the naked eye. though nothing that will detract from the overall appearance in a major way. The corners will have some wear and there may be the beginnings of fraying but not full on.  Some dents/creases or scratches may be noticeable, but nothing overly pronounced. There could be SOME noticeable discolor/yellowing on lighter parts of cover.  There may be some minor ring wear at the top and bottom, a bit more pronounced than NM-  but no full or half rings. There could be some pen marks but it would be minimal. Possibly some light bubbling.  No water/mold stains or tearing of the cover in any way. 

(LP) There may be some blemishes, maybe a few light scratches. It will not cause the record to skip or repeat. There will be no prolonged crackling or surface noise. There may be some minor warping but it will have no affect on the listening experience at all (and it will be noted in that instance). Chances are there will be some lighter spindle marks. A VG+ record will show some signs that it was played and handled by the previous owner BUT he or she took care of it. 

Very Good (VG/VG-) 

(Jacket) This jacket will have easily noticeable imperfections. The corners could show heavier wear and some fraying.  The jacket may have seam splits that may or may not have been taped. Ring wear will be noticeable to the naked eye, and may travel the length of the jacket.  There could be some writing (names, initials, notations next to songs) but no out an out defacing of the images on the cover. There could be some bubbling, some small tears on the top paper layer (again no destruction of main images)   

(LP) There will be surface blemishes, and most likely some scratches. The scratches could be feel-able as well. There could be a skip or repeat, but only one or two at most. More often the deeper scratches will cause more frequent and prolonged surface noise. Crackling may be noticed on more than just quiet parts of the play-back. There may be some warping but it will not cause the needle to jump (and will be noted if present). Chances are there will be spindle marks. A VG/VG- record will obviously have been played a good amount and possibly handled roughly by the original owner. 

(Fair/Poor) 

(Jacket) This jacket will have easily noticeable imperfections. The corners could show heavy wear and fraying.  The jacket may have seam splits on multiple sides that may or may not have been taped. Ring wear will be noticeable to the naked eye, and may travel the length of the jacket.  The vinyl may not be able to stay in the jacket without falling out.  The jacket may be severely water or mold stained. There could be dents, large scratches or rips on the cover. It could have severe, blister-like bubbling.  Sometimes it may have full cover writing with doodles and artwork defacing. The corners may be completely worn. 

(LP) A record in Fair condition can be put onto a turntable and should be playable. There will be multiple deeper and feel-able scratches that will make for significant surface noise (snaps and crackles & pops) and also cause skips and/or repeats.  Spindle marks will be present. Heavy groove wear may also be visible. Simply put a POOR condition record would have MANY issues and would be sold mostly for it's 'rare status'.

Note****If posters, booklets and other inserts are included with any of the records,  their condition will be noted if less than the overall grade of the jacket itself.

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If your not happy for whatever reason and want to return the record just let me know, returning it is not a problem. Two things to mention if you do ......

1.) Please ship all returns back to us via US Postal service NOT UPS or FED EX as we use a PO box.

2.) Return address is as follows.....Salem Attic  P.O. Box 522 Peabody, Ma. 01960