I am a sucker Options

[mattdm11]

Ay, thanks for the high quality rip, about time!

I'm surprised all the people with the cassette haven't listened to it and said how bad the rips we had were.

[enro]

@mattdm11

Thanks for this.

[Bremang]

I'm surprised all the people with the cassette haven't listened to it and said how bad the rips we had were.

Surely the range of frequency and loudness is better in your rip.

It is curious how we don't hear feedback from those who have a copy of the tape. In general, I'm not sure most people recognize these differences in the audio. Such a small group of people out there would be inclined to have the old downloads, a tape, could tell the difference, and post about it.

I have three copies. An old mp3 rip. The media 5 rip. And your rip. Each have different track lengths for every song. For sure your copy is slower and lower than the previous 2.

Interestingly, Media Five uses professional gear, and have uploaded hundreds of tapes into their digital archive. The Media Five copy of the Throwing Copper tape has recordings that do not sound sped up or slowed down from the official album. I don't see them screwing up their DOAD upload. It's possible that the media five tape was not the final edit of the album. Could it be in the realm of possibility that there were two recordings of the official album put out, two different pressings? Probably not. But then why would the first upload sound like the Media Five upload more than your copy? It's a mystery.

Finally got the cassette ripped on my vacation and picked it up an hour ago....I can easily say this is the best rip of the cassette that exists (or at least that I've heard). When compared to what I thought were the best rips out there, this blows them away. No longer does it sound like (Z)ed(d) is a high and whiny teenage singer.....this sounds so much more like the band. At first I thought the company who transferred the audio screwed it up, but I think the copies out there were done by someone who sped up the transfer. This was well worth the $20 to convert, as I feel this is a significant change to my ears.

I am trying to get it uploaded so it can be shared - so do me a favor, DON'T PM me! As soon as I can get shared here, I will do so.

This post has been edited by Bremang: May 2 2023, 12:07 am

[dangum]

Here is a list of all the versions of The Death of a Dictionary that I've seen.

[Audio] Public Affection Demos (DOAD + bonus), Lancaster 1992, BBC 1994 and MTV Music Awards 1995 (Bootleg CD)

[Audio] Paper Flowers (Bootleg) [FLAC] (Bootleg CD)

Public Affection - The Death of a Dictionary, That's Live bootleg (FLAC format) (Bootleg CD)

Death of a Dictionary, New Clean Sourced MP3's (MediaFive MP3s)

The Death of a Dictionary (Live archive mp3s maintained by J.Sax)
https://www.mediafire.com/live or https://www.mediafire.com/folder/qfjb58oquf...of_a_Dictionary

and then we have mattdm11's rip.

mattdm11, do you have a cassette player? When you play your tape does the speed match the existing bootlegs or the one done by the transfer company?

[mattdm11]

Here is a list of all the versions of The Death of a Dictionary that I've seen.

[Audio] Public Affection Demos (DOAD + bonus), Lancaster 1992, BBC 1994 and MTV Music Awards 1995 (Bootleg CD)

[Audio] Paper Flowers (Bootleg) [FLAC] (Bootleg CD)

Public Affection - The Death of a Dictionary, That's Live bootleg (FLAC format) (Bootleg CD)

Death of a Dictionary, New Clean Sourced MP3's (MediaFive MP3s)

The Death of a Dictionary (Live archive mp3s maintained by J.Sax)
https://www.mediafire.com/live or https://www.mediafire.com/folder/qfjb58oquf...of_a_Dictionary

and then we have mattdm11's rip.

mattdm11, do you have a cassette player? When you play your tape does the speed match the existing bootlegs or the one done by the transfer company?

So I found one I bought when I tried to convert from years ago. A $20 one or so. I can confirm that when I match up the songs and just let it go, the cassette is slightly (slightly) quicker. Yet as I type this.....the tape was faster....now it's back in synch. lol. It's no more than a fraction of a second off one way or another, and I'd bet it's because my cassette player is a POS. I just listened to Who Put The Fear In Here and it never got out of synch. Therefore I believe I can confirm that my copy is not slowed down, considering the fact I just played it on a completely different player.

I can also say these guys did a hell of a job mastering it, because it sounds better with the FLAC files, I don't hear tape hiss (I hear a bit on the cassette).... they really did a nice job. They are legitimate enough that when I brought it in they told me it was copyrighted and I explained how I only bought it because it's not available on CD, and how I buy all my music. They almost didn't convert it for me.

And I'm halfway though Good Pain, and still in synch. All the versions out there are 4-5 seconds different than mine. No way I'm off that much. Maybe .04 or .05 seconds. It's been pretty much perfect for two songs now.

I know I am biased, but it (to my ears) sounds like the most reasonable version, it's not the "chipmunk" Ed. I'm of the belief the old transfers were done more by fans than by "professionals" and they didn't use as good of equipment.

But I guess it adds to the mystery of it all! I'm just happy to contribute something to the group for once instead of leeching....of course it comes at a time where Live fans aren't what they once were, number wise. I'd get a kick out of it if this became the popular version online, although the days of underground music trading isn't what it once was.

Now I'm on the lookout for the Divided Mind, Divided Planet cassette, which seems to be infinitely more rare. Listening to the MP3s of that now, it's more Chipmunk Ed.....!

[mattdm11]

This cassette went for $460 bucks on ebay - wow! I guess I got a steal.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285333381247