10-31-10 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ Source Review

Ah, another tour is over, but what a tour it was.  By all accounts, and to my ears, Phish hit some new heights on this tour and are going in some really interesting directions.  I can't wait until they get within 500 miles or so of me again!

I want to send out a special thanks to all the tapers who released sources from all the shows this tour.  Without their efforts, night in and night out, we wouldn't be able to listen to such excellent music.

Source 1 (hereafter MK41 source)
Source: Schoeps mk41> KC5> M222> NT222> EAA PSP-2> SD 744t (@24bit/96kHz)
Location: OTS, DFC, 9' Stand, NOS
Transfer: SD 744t> Samplitude SE 9.1.1(dither/resample)> CDWave> flac(16/44.1)

Etree Source
24 bit Etree Source

Source 2 (hereafter Busman source)
Source: Busman Bsc1 (Hypers)>HYDRA silver Shorty XLR's>Fostex FR-2LE(Busman T-mod) @24/96
Location: OTs/ROC/POs
Transfer: CF Card>Wavelab 6.0(Resample and Dithering>CD Wave(tacking>TLH(flac 16 level 8)

Etree Source

Source 3 (hereafter Neuman U89+AK40)
Source: (OTS) Neumann AK40/LC3/KM100 (DIN)> Grace Design Lunatec V3 + Neumann U89i (Hyper, xy 90 deg, -80hz)> Grace Design Lunatec V2> (Oade Concert Modified) Edirol R-44 (24/48 on a SDHC Card).
Transfer: SDHC Card> Card Reader> PC> Sampletude SE No. 9 (Fade in/out, normalize, merge two sources, resample to 44.1k, and dither to 16 bit)> CD Wav (Tracked and convered to Flac @ level 8)

Etree Source

Source 4 (hereafter Neuman KM184 source)
Source: Neumann km184's > Lunatec V3 > Canare Impedance Trans. > Apogee Wyde-EYE BNC Coaxial > Sound Devices 722t (24/96)
Transfer: CF Card -> MacBook Pro OS X 10.6.4 (Wave Editor) -> FLAC
Location: OTS, DFC, stand @ 12.5 feet

Etree Source

Source 5 (hereafter AKG source)
Source: AKG C460Bs/CK 63-ULS (DINa, OTS, JLOC, On stand ~8',70Hz roll off)->Kind Kables->Naiant LittleBox->Segue Dogstar Silver-Clad Interconnect->Edirol R-09HR (24 bit/96 kHz)
Transfer: SDHC -> PC
Processing: Fade in, fade out, dithered to 16 bit, resampled to 44.1 kHz & tracking using SoundForge 9.0.
Conversion: FLAC frontend 1.7.1 used to align on sector boundaries and for Flac16 Conversion @ level 8

Etree Source
24 bit Etree Source

Source 6 (hereafter FOB MK41 source)
Source: Schoeps mk41v (dina, fob) > kc5 > m222 > nt222 + mk5 (omni, nos, fob) kc5 > cmc6 > lunatec V3 (analog out) > SD744T (24/96); Wavelab 5 (matrix, fades, tracking)

24 bit Etree Source 

There are a few really top notch recordings this evening.  In fact, its a toss-up to my ears as far as the best source for this evening.

The MK41 source is, as always, excellent, the low-end is nicely rounded with good tone all the way into the lowest frequencies.  The levels don't seem as high as previous shows.  There is good definition across the sonic spectrum, however the highs are not as crisp as on the AKG source.  All that said, you can't go wrong with this source and it is one of my two favorites.

The Busman source is once again excellent.  However, it seems a bit boomier than either the AKG or MK41 source.  The high-end is very crisp and the levels are excellent.

The Neuman U89+AK40 source does not have the crisp highs like the Busman or Schoeps sources, or the AKG for that matter. The sound is muffled across the mids and the highs and the levels aren't as nice either.

The Neuman KM140 source has a nice mix from the top to the bottom.  The low end is very nice, however there is something missing in the definition of the mids.  This is particularly evident during Page's piano work on Boogie On.  It is buried on this source and the nuances of its aren't very discernible, however they are faint but distinct on the MK41 and the AKG source.

The AKG source is excellent.  The low-end is nice with good tone throughout, punchy, without being boomy.  The high-ends are reminiscent of the Busman source, but with much better low-end.  This is one of the two best.  I will go with this source in my personal collection, but the MK41 source is also great and you can't go wrong with either.

The FOB MK41 source has noticeably low levels, is particularly boomy, and is muffled across the mids and highs.  If you really want a Schoeps source, go with the MK41's from the OTS.

A great batch of recordings overall and I am psyched to listen to this one carefully.  Thanks a lot for checking out the blog all tour long.  Early next week I will post on the sources, and there are a lot of them, that have come out since the end of tour and throughout tour that I didn't review in my individual show reviews.  After that, I will have a tour summary up.  I plan on doing the same source reviews for Mike Gordon's upcoming tour.  I'm a big fan of his band and will be at the Bloomington, IN show later this month.

Happy listening!