December 28, 2011 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY Sources Review

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I want to thank all of you who have waited patiently for the return of the Phish Listening Room.  Like many of you, I eagerly awaited these shows, and at least for this night, was not disappointed.  The Holiday Run, particularly at MSG, is one of fabled lore.  Unfortunately, this run did not live up to the hype.  However, there are some great nuggets from each night and if you only download one concert in its entirety from this run, this is the night to grab.  There are seven sources available for this show.  I want to thank the tapers who recorded this and all of the other nights of the run.  I know how much fun a holiday show is, and I know how challenging it is to get a good recording when people are jazzed out of their minds, screaming, and throwing things.  Given all that, there are some remarkably good recordings here! Thanks again guys!

Source 1 (hereafter SP C4 source)
Source: Studio Projects C4s (hypers) > Segue Dogstar XLRs > Fostex FR-2LE(24bit/44.1khz)
Location: Sec 2, Row 4, Seat 13, 8' high; PAS, 20cm @ 60*
Transfer: CF Card > .bwf > Audacity (gain/fades/dither) > CDWav > .wav > .flac

16 bit source
24 bit source

Source 2 (hereafter CCM4v source)
Source: Schoeps CCM4V'S(din)>Lunatec V2>Benchmark AD2K>
Sound Devices 722 (24/48)
Location: OTS/BOB/DFC/KFC/ZFC/AARP Section 2, Row 4, Seat 13, 8' High
Transfer: Sound Devices 722>Sound Forge 9.0>CD Wave>flac(16)

16 bit source

Source 3 (hereafter TLM170 source)
Source: Neumann TLM-170  -> Sound Devices 722 (@24/96)
Location:  hypercardoids, 5th row of tapers' section, about 7 seats left of center
Transfer: FLAC file processing in SoundForge 10.0C (some volume leveling; resample to 44.1 with iZotope 64-Bit SRC set higher than "Highest Quality" setting w/anti-alias filter; 24->16 bit dither using iZotope MBIT+ Dither with Ultra noise shaping, High dither settings; clap removal); Tracked in CDWav

16 bit source

Source 4 (hereafter MK41>PSP2 source)
Source: Schoeps MK41'S>PSP 2>Tascam DP2(24/44)
Location: OTS/BOB/DFC Section 2, Row 4, Seat 13, 8' High
Transfer: Sound Devices 722>Sound Forge 9.0>CD Wave>flac(16)

16 bit source

 Source 5 (hereafter MK41>KC5 source) ***Encore Is Patched from MK41>KCY source***
Source: Schoeps MK41>KC5>CMC6>Sonosax SX-M2>Apogee Mini-me(aes out,24bit/96khz)>COAX>Edirol R-44
Location: OTS DIN
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 6 (hereafter KM184 source)
Source: Neumann km184 > Sound Devices MP-2 > Edirol R-09HR (16/44)
Transfer: WAV > PC > CDWav > FLAC

16 bit source

Source 7 (hereafter MK41>KCY source) ***24 bit source only***
Source: Schoeps MK41 (DINa) > Schoeps KCY > Schoeps VMS-5u > Mytek 192 > Marantz PMD-661 @ 06 kHz 24 bits
Location: OTS: Slightly LoC, on stand approx. 10' -
Transfer: SDHC 16 GB Card > Card Reader Slot on Dell XPS m1730 > Sony Sound Forge 10.0

24 bit source


Phish - "Contact" > "Sample In A Jar" 12/28/11 from Phish on Vimeo.

The SPC4 source is probably the second best source available.  Like all the sources, the low-end isn't as well defined as it was on the best tapes from the summer.  Given that all the recordings suffered from this, I must presume that the room didn't have the best bass definition.  The low-end is quite punchy, it is just a tad less defined than the MK41>KC5 source.  Given that the encore of the KC5 source is patched from the KCY source, you might want to grab the encores from this source for the best possible source.

The CCM4v source gets the bronze medal from me for this evening.  The low-end has a nice kick, but is not quite as defined as the SPC4 or the MK41>KC5 source.  Notice about 18 seconds in on Carini, when Mike is playing the up and down lick.  The notes aren't as well defined as on the two superior sources.  Overall, though, nice levels and good recording.

The TLM170 source has kind of a hollow sound on the high-end and the bass isn't as well defined and only seems to really kick at the lowest frequencies.

The MK41>PSP2 source has relatively low levels, decent separation, but again lacks great definition down low and doesn't kick the sub very well at all.

The MK41>KC5 source is my pick for the best of the evening.  While it doesn't have the great definition of some of best sources from the summer tour, it has the best of this evening.  It was definitely close and I had to check between this one, the CCM4's and the SPC4's repeatedly.  Because this source uses a patch for the encores, I would suggest downloading the encores from the SPC4 source to get the best possible combination.

The KM184 source is almost devoid of bass response.  Definitely pass on this source.

The MK41>KCY source has relatively low bass response and sounds kind of thin.

Happy listening!