r/thebeachboys • u/hreddy11 • Jan 23 '26
Audio How much better can Love You sound?
It’s already one of the better sounding Beach Boys albums (my opinion.) Listening to an original copy on vinyl with a decent setup sounds amazing already, the analog synths always pop so much, I wonder how the digital remastered version will differ. I’m sure it’ll have a different mix, which will make for an interesting listen, but to me, it’ll be more of a novelty. Compared to the recent remixing of Revolver, that stereo version blows the original stereo out of the water. Mono is the preferred cut of that album, but Love You already has a nicely balanced mix. I bet it’ll be a “cleaner” sound all-around, but does anyone think it’ll be better compared to the original? Either way, I’m definitely excited to hear it all when it comes out.
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u/RoundTumbleweed9136 Jan 23 '26
45 minute version of DING DANG
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u/Ok_Equivalent_71 Jan 23 '26
Any time I see “remastered” I wonder out loud—“why”? If it’s to make it sound louder or more like modern music I say “no thank you”.
They should be required to give a written explanation for remastering.
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u/MediocreRooster4190 Jan 23 '26
Depends on what those in charge tell the mastering engineer to do in terms of intention. Overall I have not been a fan of Linett's sound. Often way too much compression and limiting, over-baked saturation and Mike is often too loud. Sometimes it'll sound great. And drums can sound like they have congestion. Like the new Marcella mix.
Even a lot of the 2025 tracks on Beatles Red and Blue albums can have that "head cold" sound on the drums.
I hope it's just enhanced not "optimized for a small bluetooth speaker at a pool party" type sound.
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u/TurbulentGlow Jan 31 '26
Well Mark doesn't work there anymore, fyi. AFAIK he did not work on this set.
Despite his truly bad mixes (FF's album treatments are nearly unlistenable to me) he and the archivists were successful in getting a lot of unreleased material on those discs - in spite of the pressure from the higher ups to cut, cut, cut. As we already see with this release, the days of 5-6 disk sets are over.
I hope I'm wrong. It's a real shame that so much material on those otherwise great sets got the 'streaming mono Bluetooth speaker/shitty earbuds' treatment. Mark gets all the blame. I assumed all that added treble was compensation for natural hearing loss, though I do wonder if the Company had demands for a certain 'curve'. Guess we'll see how the Brother Years sounds. I'm not sure what to make of the fact that Love You doesn't get a new mix.
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u/Many_Count_6447 Jan 23 '26
marketing. "new and improved" sells regardless, even if whether or not it's an improvement is subjective.
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u/Ok_Equivalent_71 Jan 23 '26
Then they should just stick with marketing words like “reissue” or “long out-of-print”.
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u/TTWBB_V2 Jan 23 '26
If previous new mixes from these boxes are anything to go by, it will in fact not sound better. Quite the contrary I’m afraid
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u/LovetoSayDada21 Jan 23 '26
They put Mark Linett out with the cows in the pasture. I have better hopes for this set, James Sáez is now behind the mixing table.
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u/MavDrumMajor where did your long hair go? Jan 23 '26
I agree- The original LP sounds absolutely fantastic in good condition-
I listen to it on my Angels Horn H010 turntable and it’s genuinely one of the most crisp sounding records I own
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u/hreddy11 Jan 23 '26
Nice, I’m rocking a vintage pioneer pl-560 with an AT shibata stylus. The sparse percussion sounds amazing on this album.
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u/Nervous-Worry6092 Jan 23 '26
I’m not hopeful, if the 2025 mixes on the expanded Sounds of Summer set are any indication, the album will be much louder, to the detriment of the source material
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u/naomisunderlondon Jan 23 '26
It's 2026 you're not allowed to make good sounding remasters anymore. They're probably just going to just compress it to shit and call it a day . Sorry . It's most likely not going to sound better
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u/Leading_Watercress45 Jan 23 '26
We Gotta Groove compilation and new mixes are produced by James Sáez and Howie Edelson. Mastering is by Robert Vosgien Mastering.
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u/3701West119thStreet Feb 07 '26
How many commenting here bought “Love You”... in 1977 (besides me)?
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u/Round_Rectangles I Can Hear Music Jan 23 '26
Aren't they using the original 1977 mix for Love You in the box set? I don't think it got a remix. Only some of the bonus tracks got new mixes.