[jfaaz]

There are many Beatles collections that have been released in the past 25 years.  Which one is your favorite?
 
The 2009 Mono and Stereo remaster box sets sound great to me.  The USB 24 bit Remasters sound perhaps marginally better.  The Capitol album collections with their lush reverb transport me back to that special place.  I also like listening to the 24/96 needledrops the Dr. Ebbetts created of the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MSFL) vinyl masters.
 
What is your favorite?

 

[bigshot]

The original 1980s releases were a straight transfer off the master with no monkeying. That's what I want. The most recent remasters are the same with a little bit more compression so they sound louder.

 

[jfaaz]

The did increase the gain on the 2009 remasters, but they sound great anyway.  The Mono selections from the new US Box set sound very good. 
 
The Dr. Ebbetts collections sound more like the old LPs, because that's where they were mastered from.   Less gain and more warmth.

 

[bigshot]

The records were more compressed and had a rolled off high end. That isn't what the Beatles heard in the studio though. Those were the compromises that had to be made for the LP format. The great thing is that the Beatles have always been very adamant about not remixing (with the exception of Rubber Soul and Let It Be). I wish the Stones and Led Zeppelin had felt the same way.

 

[jfaaz]

In a book written by their recording engineer, Geoff Emerick, Geoff explains how they had to roll off the treble and the Beatles quite often had to sing "sh" sound rather than an s sound.  That book was an enjoyable read.

 

[bigshot]

Probably because Paul worked the mike so close.

 

[jfaaz]

The equipment at EMI was not very good and made it a chalange; furthermore, the rigid structure between management and the other crafts did not at first allow for much experimentation with mike placement and many other variables.

 

[bigshot]

Abbey Road Studios? It was one of the best studios at the time. They did a lot of classical recordings there.

 

[VeggiePopper]

My favorite Beatles would be the 2014 mono boxset. Unlike the 2009 boxset which was digitally remastered, the 2014 release is pure analog.

But since this thread is devoted to digitally available Beatles, I'd go for the 2009 remasters, both stereo (later albums) and mono (early albums).