Trey Anastasio Band 2-20-11 House of Blues, Boston, MA Source Review

Third night into tour and we have 4 different sources to choose from.  The sound quality of all of them is generally good, but there are definitely some that are better than others.  I want to thank all of the tapers for taking the time to record this show.  Also, on etree some folks have been posting the Europe tour from 1997.  Let me highly, highly recommend that you download 2-23-97 from Cortemaggiore, Italy.  It is one of my all-time favorite shows and it was great to see it show up today.

Source 1 (hereafter MG200 source)
Source: Microtech Gefell M200's(DIN)>Audio Magic Hyper-Conductors>Edirol R-4(Oade T mod) @ 24/96
Location: @ sbd (DFC)
Transfer: R-4>USB>pc>Sound Forge 7(track, resample and dither to 16/44.1)> Flac Frontend 1.7.1

16 bit source

Source 2 (hereafter BSC source)
Source: BSC1 (K3 hypers) > Lunatec V3 Analog > FR-2LE [BA TMod] (24/96)
Location: a foot or so right of DFC/DIN/8' high/behind SBD
Transfer: CF Card > Audacity (fades, tracking, amplify) > r8brain (downsampling) > TLH > Flac (level 8)

16 bit source
24 bit source

Source 3 (hereafter MK 41 source)
Source: Schoeps MK41>KC5>CMC6>Sonosax SX-M2>Apogee Mini-me(aes out,24bit/96khz)>COAX>Edirol R-44
Transfer: SDHC Card>USB>Macbook Pro>Wave Editor(tracking,fades,resample(izotope)/dither(mbit+)to 16 bit/44.1k)>XAct(FLAC 8,ffp,fix sbe)

16 bit source
24 bit source

Source 4 (hereafter AKG source)
Source 1: AKG c480b/ck63(DINa,OTS) > Lunatec V3 Digital > Tascam DR-680(24/48)
Sourec 2: AKG c460b/c60m/ck22(AB,3'Split) > Tascam DR-680(24/48)
Transfer: Waves > Soundforge 9.0(Vol+,Normalize) > Vegas Pro 8.0(Mix,EQ Omni,Resample,Dither 16/44.1) > Soundforge 9.0(Fade,Track) > Flac

16 bit source

The MG200 source sounds more in front and has a bit more low-end on the guitar than the BSC or the AKG source.  The bass response is not as robust as the AKG source, however, the bass is clear and distinct.  It would be nice if the bass was had a bit more punch to it, however, on the whole, this is the best sounding of the four sources.


The BSC source is very tinny sounding, both on the acoustic and the electric portions of the show.  The bass disappears completely, though it is more distinct, as far as the notes, than the AKG source.  It's just very trebbly throughout.


The MK41 source is very good sounding, as you would expect from these mics.  However, the bass response just isn't as nice as the MG200, though again, the bass is more distinct than in the BSC or AKG sources, but in different ways.  It is more robust than the BSC, but doesn't have the muddiness of the AKG.


The AKG source sounds very good, but once Tony comes on, particularly for the full band stuff, the bass is just a muddy mess down low.  The bass response is excellent, and it really kicks my sub, but you can't make out what he's doing, just that he's doing something.  If you could combine the bass levels of the AKG's with the clarity of the MG200's or MK41's, you'd have a great tape.  As it is, I give the nod to the MG200's because when given the choice, I'll take clarity over levels.


Happy Listening!