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I read in a paper that recently a book has been published about the technical side of the way the Beatles produced their records. The article said that the custom (tube)amps made by EMI engineers in those days are today still top of the bill.
Has anybody access to more information about those tube-amps. It would be nice to see a schematic for instance. Those engineers are not all dead I hope ? Does anybody know one of them ?
Follow Ups:
Most of the sound quality of these preamps and amps were due to the unique sound signature of the tubes and transformers used at the 1st input and output. But you have to consider the whole chain from microphone to tape and from tape to final release product. Most mics used were Neumann ((then Telefunken) U47 and the sound signature of the telefunken VF14 tube and output transformer in that microphone. Because it is the first in the chain and does much to establish the sound quality. Once you get the signal up out of the noise then you can work with it. Starting with REVOLVER the tape machine was a 1", 4 track Studer J37. Two of them were locked in sync with 8 total tracks. Ray Hughes
"I take you as you are
And make of you what I will,
Skunk-bear, carcajou, bloodthirsty
Non-survivor.
Lord, let me die but not die out." THE LAST WOLVERINE by James Dickey
That those tube Mic's were German, and the tube amps were made in England... doesn't make them BAD either. Actually they were among the best ever made.Almost of the recordings made in the 1960's were done on simple, minimalist tube equipment, like those EMI studio (tube) Preamps and Amps, and Ampex 300 Tube type Tape decks, etc., which often accounts for the incredibly detailed and astonishingly clear master tapes, and even the 3rd, 4th, or 5th generation Reel to Reel pre-recorded consumer tapes, still beat the hell out of the LP's and Modern day CD's...
While RTR Tapes often got at best 50 dB of dynamics, or 60 dB with Dolby B... above the noise floor; CD's with their potential of 100+ dB of dynamic range are often are highly unlistenable, highly distorted, and very highly compressed; having between 5 dB and 10 dB of dynamic range, and I am sorry that ain't music..
I never realized how "clear" the Beatles' master tapes were until the soundtrack to "Love", the Cirque du Soleil show, was released recently. It was made from the masters by George Martin from the masters, and the sound quality is great. Now I wish they would release these w/out all the editing and mixing for the show.
Interesting topic, but as a side note, those old Beatles tapes have undoubtedly deteriorated over the years. I've frequently compared near mint condition, original late-'60s LPs to newly-released CDs of the same album. It's common to discover that the CD exhibits a poorer S/N and increased levels of distortion compared to the earlier vinyl. I'm convinced this is the result of deteriorated master tapes; if one listens closely, dropout is also evident.
The Telefunken/Neumann U47 microphone virtually ushered in HI-FI more so than any other single piece of equipment. It and the Ampex 300. The source is the most important piece in the chain. Ray Hughes
"I take you as you are
And make of you what I will,
Skunk-bear, carcajou, bloodthirsty
Non-survivor.
Lord, let me die but not die out." THE LAST WOLVERINE by James Dickey
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