The Beatles

The Beatles recorded and distributed their albums on analogue formats, they were made before the advent of digital recording. In 1986 George Martin digitised the original tape recordings for the first CD releases. The master tapes were revisited for a 2009 reissue where they were restored and digitised again in 24bit/192kHz high resolution PCM over the course of 4 years. These new digital masters have been the source for subsequent reissues.

The most faithful way to listen to the recordings of The Beatles music are from releases made from the original analogue masters. The only exceptions are “Free as a Bird” (1988) a track which was transferred and edited digitally for the “Past Masters” compilation, and the “Let It Be… Naked” (2003) album.