To preface: I own all of the official Beatles cd releases.

I've seen a number of "MFSL" releases on the internet. Just wondering what the opinions were on those? And what about this "Japanese red set"?

MFSL means it's a high quality remaster, similar to the Steve Hoffnam remasters. It should sound better than usual remasters, where record companies compress old albums to compete in the loudness war.

You should also look out for the Dr. Ebbets masters. Some people prefer those to MFSL.

i second the dr ebbets stuff

and so will jan

These are all taken from vinyl, correct? Can't really comment as to their legality.

Yes, they're needle drops of the MFSL vinyl set.

I don't think the MFSL vinyl set sounds very good, actually. Kind of unnatural sounding.

actually, I prefer them to the official cd releases.

Well, most of the official CD's aren't so hot either, so it's not a good comparison IMO. The MFSL ones are smiley face EQ'd...so if you like that sound, then the MFSL's are the way to go. (side note: I have a friend and whenever I go to his house I have to set his EQ flat because he prefers a big bass and treble boost, which I can't stand. I can accept that people have different standards for EQ)

The only EMI Beatles CD's I ever listen to are Sgt. Pepper's, MMT, and Let it Be. Otherwise it's needledrops (e.g. White Album DMM) or alternate CD's (e.g. Abbey Road BT).

Erm... what's a needledrop?

audiophile slang for an analog to digital recording from a vinyl source