(Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock) [MC] [BL] [24/96] Pink Floyd - Am Killesberg. Killesberghalle, Stuttgart, West Germany, 26.11.70 - 1970, (mono) FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Lineage: 5th Gen Cassette (TDK SA90 1984/85) (Dolby On) > *Technics RS-B965-M (Dolby Off) > Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 > Audacity 1.3 > Wav (24bit/88.2kHz) ----> Adjustments (32bit float/88.2kHz) > Wav (24bit/96kHz) > CDWave (1.98) > FLAC (24bit/96kHz)

*The Technics RS-B965-M is a modified deck - for details see the Tapeheads.net forum

***Neonknight's Notes***

Littlepieces and I have been taking a close look at a couple of tapes and this offering is from the first one given to me by a collector last year. Both tapes run slow and have a low frequency hum as all other sources do. A likely 1st gen that we have heard a sample from has the same issues. The second tape that we plan to work on in the coming months is a low gen version that will probably be slightly better than this 5th gen cassette but each has its merits, so we plan to upload both. Listen out in particular for a really nice version of The Embryo in this 5th gen.

***Littlepieces' Mastering Notes***

I really like this recording and around 4m into the first track, FOS, it really begins to grab you.

This is a mono recording that was dubbed as two channel stereo as is often the case. Due to the previous transfers with less than perfect head alignment, the recording has a phase shift that varies from 18-20 samples. Generally, its left channel's output is a little higher and also has a bit more high end so in this case the right channel was removed which eliminated the phasing issues and the level differences between the channels.

The speed of this recording was very slow and by transferring it at 88.2kHz and then changing the sample rate to 96kHz, we were able to avoid a resample and achieve a speed that is close to correct.

This recording was marked as Dolby encoded but it was transferred without Dolby. Transferring a Dolby encoded recording without decoding the Dolby on playback is done often when playing the tape back on a different deck than that which it was encoded. The differences in decks often results in the decoding profile varying from the original encoding creating a poor result. Since this recording did not have its Dolby decoded, portions of its high frequencies were left boosted from the original transfer. No effort was made to formulate a compensating EQ since any setting would be subjective. That being said, I did incorporate a modest noise reduction setting working almost entirely above 10kHz to reduce the Dolby boosted effect in the extended upper end where a lot of the hiss resides.

I selectively reduced two low frequency hums at ~50Hz and ~160Hz that were prominent at various times. There are a few very minor drop downs or tape pauses or damage that I chose to leave untouched. There are a number of times where it seems that the taper is either adjusting his levels or perhaps the tape recorder is utilizing auto leveling.

There seems to be good evidence that the track order on the tape is incorrect. All the shows from 10-23 thru 11-29 had AHM as the last track of the 1st set and GitC after Embryo followed by CWTAE. After AHM, you can hear a band member say, 'thank you see you soon', seemingly ending the first set as all the other shows from 10-23 to 11-29. Also, you can hear a cut/splice at the end of FOS during the applause before GitC and GitC cuts just before CWTAE would have begun. I think its likely that from this cut/splice to the cut at the end of GitC should be moved to after Embryo as part of the second set which would be consistent with the other shows from this period.

It seems possible that there may be a another inside cut/splice just before the door slams during the footstep sequence of Cymbaline at 7:14m. Also, an obvious inside cut occurs at 4:47m of AHM. When evaluating the correct track order, it may be relevant to consider 20m or 30m reels and how that would translate to cassette copies.

Neonknight Tape Transfer/ Little Pieces Production (LPP)/(April 2012)