The Beatles in Stereo Box Set

For many years people have been waiting for The Beatles legendary albums to be made available as mp3s to download so that their albums could easily be put onto iPods (and other mp3 players such as the Zune). As of early 2010, the Fab Four are still not available for download at the iTunes Store or AmazonMP3 however there is something known as The Beatles USB which contains all of the new 2009 Beatles remastered stereo albums in the mp3 format.

This USB flash drive contains everything that is in The Beatles Stereo Box Set except in a much smaller format! With this tiny memory stick you can carry The Beatles complete stereo discography around with you wherever you go in your pocket.

When I write that the USB memory stick contains everything in that box set, I absolutely do mean everything. Yes, it even includes the previously unpublished photographs and liner notes. And yes, it contains the short documentaries on the making of each album that are on the DVD.

But there’s more, this USB flash drive also includes FLAC files in 24bit which are actually higher quality sound files than the files on the CDs. CDs are in 16bit quality, while these FLAC files are 24bit. This truly makes this flash drive a “must own” for any audiophile Beatles fan who needs to have these legendary albums in the best possible quality currently available.

On the negative side this memory stick does not include the original mono mixes that are in The Beatles Mono CD Box Set. If you really want to listen to the classic mono mixes then you’ll have to buy the CD box set (at least for now.)

Personally I bought both of the box and the USB stick because I’m a completest, but I realize not everyone has the money to spend on music (even music as great as this.) If you’re on a tight budget then you’ll have to consider how you most commonly listen to tunes. Do you play CDs or do you play music on your computer and on your mp3 player? If it is the latter then the USB memory stick is probably what you really want.