Mono v Stereo

[BritishTony]

With so much varied discussion over mono / stereo versions I thought I’d share the attached correspondence I had back in 1983 with Motown UK. I already had the live album from the 60’s in mono and bought the 80’s re-release in stereo. However, even on headphones it still sounded mono. You can see the response from the UK distributor. BTW I subsequently bought it again on CD in the fabulous Hip-O Select collection of 4 live revues where everything is much less muddy but still no stereo separation to my ears. I can’t believe Mike McLean would have simply placed his mics centre stage. And they digitally rechanneled the mono Paris concert into stereo, why not this? One of life’s mysteries.

[thanxal]

Wow! Back when business cared enough to reply. That's a gem!

[BayouMotownMan]

They can call it anything they want to call it but these were mono recordings. Even the Paris live set that was "channeled" into stereo sounds like nothing more than a reverb. I have equipment where I channel mono signals into simulated stereo. Most people who have listened thought it was true stereo. LOL

[bob_olhsson]

Up until around 1968, you WANT the mono version of most popular music. That includes the Beatles. This is because the production decisions were based on monitoring in mono.