Ongoing History Daily: Duophonic recordings

If you’re into collecting vinyl records and you want to get really nerdy about it, here’s something you can look for. They’re called “Duophonic” releases. These were fake stereo records. Lemme explain.

Until the late 60s, plenty of records were made and mixed in mono. But then, stereo began to catch on, and record labels wanted to exploit the new trend. They went back to the master mono recordings and “rechanneled” them into faux stereo versions. Some of these re-releases were sonic disasters, done with little attention to detail, resulting in a crappy listening experience.

Many artists, including the Beatles, had to suffer through these indignities, and the concept died out. Now, though, some collectors are looking for Duophonic vinyl because of their scarcity.