Abbey Rd Studio's mastering engineer Miles Showell talks The Beatles, 1/2 speed mastering and more!

[@mazzysmusic]

Audiophiles and analogphiles are two different people with some cross over. I don't feel everything has to be pure analog if done correctly. Great discussion Steve.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much Mazzy. Good points made.

[@analoguecity3454]

Hi resolution digital sounds really good on PVC these days!

[@russricker]

Miles…Stan was my hero as well. My father. I never was able to follow in his footsteps. He did all his work solo. He was VERY dedicated to to his craft. When the vinyl industry started to fall due to the cd, he started to cut out of his garage. And he turned the garage into his own sound studio! After growing up around it, it was just normal for me. Now I look back at how in depth he was with his work. He was an amazing man. Keep cutting that half speed Miles.

[@russricker]

Steve. Thank you for all of this!! I’m very thankful that my father has been such an influence in the music world. Keep it up

[@stevewestman7774]

Your father mastered some great albums over the years and he definitely was a pioneer in the industry. I’m glad to kept his legacy going. Well deserved. ❤️

[@paulperigo721]

I’m definitely not an audiophile but found this conversation endlessly fascinating. Thank you 🙏

[@ColdWarWarriors]

The Roxy Music half speed masters are really something else, some of the best sounding vinyl I have ever heard, Miles did a great job on these.

[@stevewestman7774]

Yes. I agree. He knocked Avalon out of the park. Sounds incredible.

[@jasonarsenault3791]

Just a great relaxed conversation. Loved Miles’ praise for the studio. Well done Steve.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much Jason. This was a fun one.

[@latheofheaven]

That was absolutely one of *THE* best interviews ever Bro! 👍 I'm not one to care for these kind of 'Audiophile' interviews because many times the people are either so opinionated or salesmen-like or whatever. THIS guy though was a *TOTAL* sweetheart, truly lovely to listen to. I don't think I've ever heard such a pleasant, enjoyable, relaxing, and truly interesting interview as this one. Well done Steve!

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it. Yes. Miles is a real gentleman. I had a lot of fun chatting with him. So informative.

[@kevinturchin]

Great interview. I learned a lot. Interesting to hear his defense of digitally sourced vinyl.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thank you. It was fun.

[@jonthurston8275]

Lovely interview! Big thank-you to Steve and Miles!

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated. Thank you.

[@bwithrow011]

Excellent interview. Miles is cool and a great mastering engineer

[@Chunksville]

Probably one the best interviews I have watched Steve, sort of puts all the myths and suspicions of this craft in perspective, thanks for making it happen

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@LifelongMusicJunkie]

Fantastic interview and conversation Steve! Miles Showell was so open and refreshing and honest. Great video!

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated Dean. He was a lot of fun to chat with.

[@continentalgin]

A wonderful interview, Steve! Thanks so much for getting this lined up. A wealth of information.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thank you so much.

[@robo3174]

Steve, excellent interview! I think too many people get so hung up on AAA. I love great sounding music and I’m not an audiophile. There have been some excellent sounding releases with a digital step and some all digital. Joe Jackson- Body and Soul and Donald Fagen- The Nightfly are two that come to mind. Steve, you’ve come a long way from when you started your channel and now you’re having some high profile guests! Wow, keep up the great work! 👍

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks Rob. Yes. I am enjoying myself. I appreciate the compliments. Stay tuned Friday afternoon. I will be having Kevin Gray on my weekly roundtable discussion. Should be good.

[@rachelsghost]

This was very informative and refreshingly lacking in any overt hyperbole. Genealogy Alert: The studio at Abbey Road was purchased by Captain Lawrence Trevor Greaves Osmond "Dubbie" Williams 1895-1930 a year before his death in 1929. He was sent on a mission by his uncle, Edmund Trevor Lloyd Wynne Williams 1859-1946 co-founder and Chairman of the Board for The British Gramaphone Company. I am distantly related to both gentlemen (My 2x great grandfather was a paternal uncle to Edmund). 😎👍

[@stevewestman7774]

That is very interesting wow. Glad you enjoyed it Rachel.

[@rachelsghost]

You did great Steve. You asked a lot of the questions people wanted answers to. 👍

[@mercuryscat2703]

That’s one of the most interesting interviews I’ve ever watched on anyones channel.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your kind words. It was a blast to chat with Miles.

[@davidlawrence79]

Steve that interview was fantastic! I learned several things about half speed mastering that I didn’t know. Miles is a wealth of information and a great speaker. Can’t wait to view your next interview with him. Thank you Miles and Steve for taking the time out of your day to do this interview.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks David. Yes it was a lot of fun and very informative. I had a blast.

[@sharonevans6864]

Great interview Steve and Miles! Great questions and informative answers. Thank you for this interview.

[@analoguecity3454]

Why am I so late catching these videos?! I love "half-speed" , and I'm an audiophile! Guess I'm not the typical "audiophile"!

[@daytripper9222]

Hey Steve, new to the channel and have subbed. I was just watching one of Rachel's videos and I saw that she was talking about you and she was leaving a link to your channel so that's how I found out about you. I just watched this interview all the way through what is it now it's about 12:15 at night here in Phoenix and that was a great interview I enjoyed that a lot and I sure can't wait for that box set to get here that I ordered (REVOLVER). I'm 66 now 67 in January and I always say that time goes by way too fast but waiting on this box said it seems to have slowed down so I need it to speed up a bit hahaha. Again what a great interview that was. Take Care

[@stevewestman7774]

Hey there. Thanks so much for subbing and watching. Glad you are enjoying. I can’t wait for Revolver to be released.

[@doravidan9261]

Really like his Dusty in Memphis cut. I compared it to the Run Out Groove version and it was much warmer with a more satisfying low end. I think he’s right about matching digital files with half speed cutting, it increases definition and gives you a nice low end as long as you know how to manipulate the file correctly. Great interview and not an easy one when the channel’s viewer are AAA oriented.

[@thecaptain4650]

Great interview!

[@lmontanaable]

Hey Steve, what a great interview . Thanks for organizing. Learned a lot. Much respect for Miles now. And you too.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks Lou. Yes Miles is awesome. I really enjoyed my chat with him. Learnt a lot.

[@carlthewave2602]

Fascinating interview. I would be interested in an interview that would be pro-DSD and why they choose that verses Miles PCM method. Either way, I’m very happy with Miles’ mastering and MFSL DSD method too.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks for watching. Miles was a lot of fun to chat with.

[@fhuetter]

Another great video, Steve. And what an amazing guest! He reinforces that "digital" isn't necessarily a negative when it's done with care and the right equipment.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much Fred. Miles is just packed with such a wealth of info. I’m going back and taking notes.

[@NickP333]

Thanks very much, Steve and Miles. I was impressed with the questions you asked, Steve, and how open and forthcoming Miles was with his answers and explanations. Bravo to the two of you. 🔊👍🎶😊🎵

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much Nick. There is a lot of good information Miles treated us too in this interview. I am watching again and taking notes.

[@NickP333]

@@stevewestman7774 Ha! Nice… I’ve honestly already watched this interview twice, Steve! lol

[@stevewestman7774]

Awesome. ❤️

[@petermoule8196]

Simply a brilliant interview,so much stuff I understand better now. Thanks guy's 😊

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated Peter. Thanks for watching.

[@johns126]

Really enjoyable and informative discussion. One of your best. Miles was terrific with his well though out responses and how he interacted generally. Thank you!

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated. Miles is a real gem. It was a lot of fun.

[@TommyT6219]

Great interview, Steve! Very interesting to hear what Miles had to say. Really good conversation.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much Tommy. It was a lot of fun and super informative. Miles is a real gentleman.

[@67Pepper]

I hope this video gets lots of views, well done interview Steve.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much. Miles is awesome.

[@SafeAndSoundTXAudioExcursion]

Very informative! Thanks for pursuing these awesome interviews and literally losing sleep over it :)

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks David.

[@74gwh]

Great interview Steve, well done for staying up late. I’ve walked across Abbey Road too

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much Gordon. Did u walk across bare foot?

[@74gwh]

@@stevewestman7774 I’m afraid not 😂

[@winstonoreggae6332]

GREAT interview, thanks a lot for upload this. Regards from the far out country of Chile

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks for watching. Hello from Vancouver Canada.

[@happyhippythevinylguy]

Great video my friend!!

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated. Thanks so much Rod.

[@David_Hirsh]

Hi Steve - new to the channel. Just watched the entire interview and it was excellent. Thanks for posting. Really well-done. I'm also a Canadian and have most of those original LPs you mentioned. That original Canadian Abbey Road is excellent. I have the original UK -2/-1 cut as well and although the mastering choices are much different, the Canadian pressing stands up to it in terms of being an equally enjoyable listen.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks David and welcome. Yes. I own a lot of the OG CDN pressings and I really like how they sound. Check out my Bernie Grundman and Kevin Gray vids as well when you have a chance.

[@David_Hirsh]

@@stevewestman7774 I definitely will - I'm a huge fan of both of them. Thanks for the welcome!

[@andresypaolaguzman202]

Miles is right. I've seen video from many years ago and he always was talking about the digital transfer for the half speed. I have Ghost in the machine - Police and sounds fantastic.

[@xentakis]

Very interesting interview. Steve, the discussion of digital reminded me of something: have you ever looked into interviewing the great mastering engineer Alan Yoshida? I thought I read that he's in California, but I have no idea of his situation or whether he's approachable. However, he has done some amazing work but is barely talked about by the current audiophile community because I think he works mainly in digital and his best work has been on CD (the JVC XRCDs and Audio Wave XRCDs, for example). You'd be a good person to do an interview like this because you seem less biased against CDs than other VC people. Just an idea!

[@tugga511]

Some of the 75th anniversary Blue Notes were done by Alan Yoshida. Played the 75th anniversary Blue Train 2 days ago and I recall seeing his name there!

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed the chat.

[@xentakis]

​@@tugga511 Correct he did some of those too. I actually don't have any of the 75th anniversary titles, but I feel like the bad rep those records have gotten has contributed to Alan Yoshida being less known than he should be. All I can say is that many of the XRCDs he mastered are among my favorites albums in my collection, moreso than my many of my vinyl albums.

[@DarkSideOfThePepper]

Another awesome video interview

[@stevewestman7774]

Thank you.

[@casperdowlen625]

The Stan Ricker albums Miles talks about are Telarc's 1812 overture recorded on digital Soundstream pressed on vinyl about 1979. and I would say the other one is Virgil Fox direct to disc on the The Mastering Lab label Shefiield probably or Crystal Clear. For the record, some of the A&M half speeds were from second generation tapes. For instance Crime of the Century. By the way. Brilliant interview. Lots of information, knowledge, wisdom that would be lost if it was not conveyed here today. Thanks to you both!!

[@stevewestman7774]

Yes. Thank you Casper.

[@stevewestman7774]

Much appreciated.

[@mazzysmusic]

Virgil Fox Organist!!! Live in Winterland 1972

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks Mazzy.

[@derosa1989]

With regard to DSD - Mofi are only using it to archive the tape transfer. For mastering, they're playing back the file raw DSD file, sending it through the digital analog converter, and then using conventional analog gear to do the mastering, with eq's etc. Miles appears to do his mastering to the digital signal, and then outputs that to the lathe to cut the lacquer.

[@stevewestman7774]

Yes. That is correct.

[@automatedelectronics6062]

Thank you for the great video! I know that Miles pretty much doesn't have much say in it, but I'd want to ask him why they keep having the Beatles albums pressed at Optimal Media. I know that Analogue Productions really screwed up having their QRP press the "White Album" and that may be why they UMe doesn't use QRP anymore. The currently available pressings of the "White Album" were pressed at Precision Records in Canada and they are even worse than the QRP pressings. But there are so many better pressing plants around than Optimal Media like Pallas, RTI and Record Industry. The inferior vinyl which Optimal uses, because of the surface noise and hum, detracts from the listening experience. When UMe did the Beatles' "Stereo Box", both Optimal Media and Rainbo Records pressed it. Both pressing plants used the same Abbey Road-sourced masters, yet because of the higher quality of vinyl, the Rainbo set sounds so much better. I have both sets and have confirmed of a graph that the Optimal Media pressings are so much noisier. I heard directly from people at Rainbo Records that UMe wanted them to do the Beatles' "Mono Box", but because the "Stereo Box" occupied so much of Rainbo's pressing schedule, they said no to UMe. So many other pressing projects got put on the back burner that it was unfair to Rainbo's other clients. Eventhough Rainbo Records added a 2nd shift and was considering a 3rd shift. They were almost as busy pressing records as when Elvis died. It's hard to believe that Rainbo Records decided to shut down. They had been in business since the 1940's and the people running the company were all around or past retirement age. Being forced to relocate would be like going into business all over again. URP bought all of Rainbo's equipment for 2 reasons, they didn't want the presses to be used to create more competition for themselves and Rainbo Records had all the tooling and dies to repair and build new record presses.

[@FleagleSangria]

Enjoyed the interview. Although Im not rhe biggest fan of the 1/2 Speed sound, Miles made some great points. Interesing why they use PCM instead of DSD. Really it sounds like the limitations of the 1/2 Speed method limits them from being able to use DSD. At first blush it would seem a knock to DSD as far as being a transparent transfer method. But due to the problems introduced by using 1/2 Speed it then forces one into using PCM.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much for watching.

[@jfm0830]

Super interview!! I have really enjoyed all of your interviews with the movers and shakers in the audiophile vinyl world. This has been such a great period for releases, this one month period we are in. I got my Miles KOB 45 RPM UHQR about 2 weeks ago, a week ago I got the mono and stereo Blue Train pressings, this past Friday my Bill Evens Riverside box arrived and in a month or so we have Revolver to look forward to. Wow! I was confused by something today. It sounds like you pretty much need to go into digital today to do a good half speed mastering. OK, but what does this mean for the mono Revolver? They are saying it is analog from the analogue master tapes. Does this mean it is not getting half speed remastered, because that would mean a digital step at the end? Another thing that I have heard discussed and this is the Peter Jackson system for separating the various instrument and vocals that share a single track on the 4 track master tape. I am ASSuming this has to be happening in the digital domain. I have never heard this specifically discussed. Do you know any more about this?

[@David_Hirsh]

From what I understand, the mono LP was a straight flat transfer. No digital or half speed.

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks so much. Yes the mono album is AAA and not cut from a digital file.

[@ronmartin4212]

The Capiphone project is the Capitol box sets,taken as a replacement set for those,with so much more content involved,too.

[@מיכלמרגלית-מ7ד]

Wow this abby road guy is a charmer

[@sugarbone-cage8497]

This was super interesting, Steve ! I need to listen again, so much information 👍. I mean let‘s face it. Digital will be the future, either DSD or PCM. Maybe in the near future we will have this audio plug in (by Waves or Izotope) emulating the vinyl cutting process and reproducing this vinyl magic. Tape emulation plugins are already available since many years. But as a tape head, I must say, that tape is still unbeatable and will be always superior to any high end one steps or half speed mastering vinyl.

[@stevewestman7774]

Yes. I am going back and taking notes. Miles packed a lot of great info into this one. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@kyles7087]

I love RX Advanced Audio Editor, it’s very useful.

[@tugga511]

Steve, MoFi doing DSD is different. They master in analog so that is very different from the way Miles does it. Miles’ point was that in the digital domain the tools to do the necessary manipulation exist only for PCM; that’s obviously not applicable to analog mastering.

[@davidpetersen7091]

Great interview. Thanks!! Mr. Pete--------> aging hippie

[@stevewestman7774]

Thanks.

[@therealbushboy6440]

Yes the Virgil Fox lp is on the Crystal Clear record label

[@Derfunkmeister]

It's got nothing to do with the ritual which is a drag but simply the vinyl material that makes the difference and the whole ritual worthwhile.

[@martinmelucci4383]

The Nimbus Sgt. Peppers is really good. I don't have the actual LP, but there is an excellent transfer out there. Some people rave about that Australian special release, but in an excellent transfer I also found, I don't see what the fuss is about...I don't think it's that great. The Nimbus is much nicer...if anything, it's almost a little soft sounding, but it is very nice.

[@stevewestman7774]

The Nimbus was mastered by Jack Hunt. He also mastered MOFIs non UHQR Sgt Pepper as well. Stan Ricker mastered MOFI’s UHQR cut or Pepper.

[@ronmartin4212]

Then Miles should be the go to guy,with Giles,on the Capiphone project ,still in production, that is being worked on for next year,being Giles needs some time away from Beatles projects,now,til mid next year.Awesome project.Everything in mono and stereo.Soans the entire catalog.Mix differences issued in the '60's up to newly issued project-based mixes!!Film mixes not issued yet on official audio,Later fades on certain tracks!!!The most interesting series ever attempted on the Fabs!!!Ever hear the ballad mix of PS I Love You?!???Only issued on the red Parlophone and Canadian Capitol 45's and nowhere else!!! How about the Canadian only issue of Don't Bother Me with an extra Don't that shows up?!!!?Hihat All My Loving issued only in Germany and Denmark???All included in the project!!!

[@michaelmcclelland2896]

I wonder if it saves the life of the “mother “ by running it slower.

[@TheRollingStoness]

Wonder how he did the stones half speed masters 11 LP box set, sounded way muddier , Ludwig remasters sounded way better to my ears only. ( Could be my system and aging ears)

[@aviulus2526]

VIRGIL FOX TOUCH

[@Yeastextract]

Half-speed mastering is overrated, and you need digital to do it properly? A waste of time.

[@froidd758]

Abbey Road is a good label but not great IMHO. I have lots of their releases and its a hit and miss.

[@GhostFace_OG]

blows my mind he would rather make a half speed cut from digital rather than an all analog cut from the tape at regular speed. Miles - this isn't what people want. Put your opinions and taste aside sometimes.

[@Darrin.Crawford]

You should as well. You don't represent everyone.