1993.XX.XX – Undertow
Recorded at Grand Master Studios in Los Angeless, CA, USA

“CD 1993-02-18 and LP 1993-02-09 Mixes (DAT)”

Source: Sound Board Studio Recording > DAT-M
Transfer: DAT-M > UXL 2496 > Tascam DA 20 MKII
Gen: CU.ORG Master
Transferred by: Galen / 2012

Notes - Items with this notation are from the personal collection of Tool Memorabilia and are not property of CU.ORG: There is a story that is not mine to tell about these unique DAT tapes as these were procured by the legendary collector known as Tool Memorabilia from his vast entanglements within the Tool community. The DAT tapes were transferred by Galen in 2012 and given back to the owner. If these exist, more than these DAT tapes exist in the wild… That said, I’m not implying one can procure what Tool Memorabilia has been able to do over a long collecting career but if you never try, you will never know. Happy hunting.

Notes: A few years ago, I was talking to my wife about these DAT tapes (in fact she has never seen Tool) and she asked to hear the CD versus LP version to see if there was an audible difference between the two because I was talking about them. I played sections and it was a complete toss-up; could not decipher between CD or LP versions of the DAT tapes. She did the same thing for me and I also could not identify one way or the other. Point? Sound the same. What I was told, many moons ago, was that the cassette version and the LP version of Undertow were the same kHz for production issues. CD was at 44.1 kHz and the LP was at 48 kHz. Not that you can tell… Now, I say that as a comparison between the DAT CD versus the DAT LP/Cassette versions. Any day of the week, you put on Undertow on vinyl (especially first pressing) compared with the CD version, hands down, the vinyl version sounds better. It’s true. I’ve done this task way more than thrice. Arguably, we are now talking about what type of record player, receiver, speakers, etc., however, hopefully the point is clear.