May 27, 2011 Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, Bethel, NY Sources Review

Alrighty, thanks for your patience.  Not only have I been waiting for some more sources to become available (I will be reviewing 4 today), but I've been on vacation all week with my 4 year old and that has left precious little time to sit down and listen to music at bone-jarring volumes.  As you know, this is the first show of tour and frankly, it, along with the 2nd night, have been the best so far.  This mirrors what happened last year at Toyota and Blossom which offered some of the best shows of the first half of summer tour.  Seeing as how I am going to Blossom and Riverbend this weekend, I am hoping that Bethel is not the best of this half of tour, if only for selfish reasons. Once again, I want to thank all the tapers for the work they do.  It really is a challenge and a gift that they give to the community.

Source 1 (hereafter MK4v source)
Source: Schoeps mk4v> KC5> M222> NT222> Aeta PSP-3> SD 744t (@24bit/96kHz)
Location: Section 100, Row H, Seat 16, DFC, DIN, 7' Stand
Transfer: SD 744t> Samplitude SE 9.1.1(dither/resample)> CDWave> flac(16/44.1)

16 bit source
24 bit source

Source 2 (hereafter Nak300 source)
Source: Nakamichi 300 Mics W/CP1 Cardioids>Edirol UA-5>Edirol R-09 HR(24/44.1 KHZ)
Location:  Mics At X/Y Position On Mic Stand At 9'
Transfer: CD Wav Editor>Traders Little Helper>Flac Level 8.Sector Boundaries Aligned using Traders Little Helper

16 bit source

Source 3 (hereafter KM150 source)
Source: Neumann KM150's>Sound Devices Mixpre-D>AES OUT> Sound Devices 744t (@24/48), 2nd Set analog out of Mixpre-D>Sony PCM-M10 due to 744t battery issues.
Location: OTS Section 100 Row G Seat 15
Transfer: SD744t>Sound Forge Pro 10 (,fades, iZotope 64 BIT Sample Rate Conversion /iZotope MBIT+ Bit depth conversion to 16 Bit/44.1khz)>CDWAV>FLAC

16 bit source

Source 4 (hereafter MK41 source)
Source: Schoeps MK41's>Schoeps KCY 250/05I>Schoeps VST62iu> Sound Devices 744t (@24/48).. due to 744t battery issues, Possum is patched with Neumann KM150's>SD Mixpre-D>Sony PCM-M10
Location: OTS Section 100 Row G Seat 15
Transfer: SD744t>Sound Forge Pro 10 (,fades, iZotope 64 BIT Sample Rate Conversion /iZotope MBIT+ Bit depth conversion to 16 Bit/44.1khz)>CDWAV>FLAC

16 bit source

 There are several excellent sources here, but I think one is definitely better.

The MK4v source has nice and clear highs and the bass response is just fantastic.  When you hear it, it just kind of punches you in the gut, which, if you've read much of this blog, you know is how I like it.  On top of that, the bass has pretty good definition.  However, the bass definition is not as good as on the KM150 source.  On the whole though, it is good enough to make this source my choice.  This source has been available from soon after the show, so many already have it.  However, if you downloaded it immediately and didn't check back, you may want to re-download it.  The original posted source (now labeled DO NOT DOWNLOAD) had one channel out of phase with the other (kind of technical, upshot is it does not sound as good).  This has been fixed and if you use my links, you will bypass this problem.

The Nak300 source has a serious lack of bass.  It sounds tinny and, given the clarity of the KM150 source and the punch of the MK4v source, this one just doesn't cut it.

The KM150 source is very, very good.  The frequency response is very good from low to high.  The bass is very well defined tonally, however, it lacks the punch of the MK4v source.  As a result, it is sometimes buried underneath both Trey and Page.  As a result, I would rate this the second best source.

The MK41 source has a bit more bass response than the KM150 source, though less than the MK4v source.  However, the overall effect is muddier than either of those sources.

For myself, the MK4v 24 bit source will be on my hard drive, though the KM150 source might be preferred by those that don't want as heavy a bass response.

Happy listening!