2006.06.09 - Donnington Park, Ireland @ Download Festival
Source A: Unknown Samsung Recording
Dissemination: Compression > Download via various methods
Location: Back of lawn
Taper: Maggot_King
Gen: ? from Master
Notes - by Galen 2006: The best thing about this compressed, lossy & hard-to-watch video is that I am willing to place money on the fact that a non-compressed, non-lossy version would be absolutely lovely to watch. Of particular interest are the planes that fly virtually overhead; have not seen that before. Unfortunately, at this point with this ridiculously compressed version, this is extremely for collectors only. Although the video is not terrific, if a good version is released sometime then this will be a recommendation to be reckoned with. That is, if you are the type of fan who enjoys sitting far back on the lawn. The sound fluctuates & on more than one occasion goes out in either channel. MJK is hard to hear; the sound is over-saturated & swishy. It is actually really neat to see a Tool show from the perspective from the filmer. A nice European festival, a very different feel than a US performance, that is for sure. As a final note, I do believe there is at least one more video source for this performance; but time will tell.
Notes - by Galen 2024: Nope. Only source is this gem.
Maynardism: "Speaking of download. We had a new album come out. Some of you hippies bought it. New song."
Time: 50:23
Rosetta Stoned
Stinkfist
The Pot
Forty Six & 2
Jambi
Sober
Schism
Lateralus
Vicarious
Ænema
Source B: iRiver --- Core Sound Binaurals > Core Sound Battery Box (no bass roll-off - faulty unit) > iRiver H140 (Rockbox) / 44.1 kHz
Dissemination: Master > iRiver H140 (Rockbox) > USB > HDD > Adobe Audition 2.0 > Normalize > CD Wave > Tracks split > WAV > FLAC Frontend Level 8 > FLAC
Location: Front of left stack, about 15 feet back
Taper: Ben
Gen: 0 Gen from Master
Notes - by: Taper: Faulty battery box caused interference on 46 & 2, Jambi and Schism.
Notes - by: Galen: The first thing that hits you is that this is a really bassy recording. I suspect, however, that at least a portion of the reason is due to the type of recording device; the input on it is not spectacular and do little to hide the deficiencies of the CSB microphones. Especially in this type of context. However, having used CSB mics for a number of years on & off I think I can understand how the extreme bassiness (is that a word? If not it should be) occurred. Sometimes, and I have yet to fully understand why, when you are very close to the stack using CSB mics the bass will sort of have a farting sound where the bass should sort of hit. In this case, the bass rather drones. I think there is little the taper could've done to present this other than giving up his position to move farther back - hard to do that when you are at a Tool show or, hell, any crowded place isn't it? Also, the sound at first may appear to be "far away" when in fact the taper was very, very close to the speakers. Quantify the bass issue & include some instances where there are some issues (although it is hard for me to determine what, exactly, the taper is referring to as it sounds relatively stable) as per report from the taper. All in all, will this recording win a prize for being the most accurate reflection of a Tool performance ever? No. However, is this an interesting listen regardless of the issues associated with it? Definitely. Just turn down the bass a bit on your system & turn the volume up.
Time: 82:33
Source C: Hi-Mini Disc --- Core Sound Binaurals > Core Sound Battery Box (w/ bass roll-off) > Sony MZ-NH900 (Hi-SP) (mic in)
Dissemination + Editing: Master Z-NH900 > USB > wave (Sonic Stage 3.0), ades & normalising (Goldwave) > track indexes (CD Wave) > Level 8 FLAC Compression (FLAC Frontend) > tagging (foobar2000)
Taper: Rob (robkismet)
Gen: 0 Gen from Master
Notes - by: Taper: Thanks to Per for mic loan!
Notes - by: Galen: A bit bass-heavy is, in my opinion, the largest complaint one could garner about this recording. For those that are THAT anal about bass & complain that the omnidirectional microphone pick-up pattern, by default, picks up too much bass & that it completely sucks - then roll off more of the low end. That said, there are instances where the bass frequencies really flutter - imagine this show w/o bass roll off! This is by far the best recording of this show to surface as of 10/2006 & even if another source surfaces that is exciting this recording, still, will prove to be a strong, solid & enjoyable listen. The band, although not the greatest performance of all time is pretty good. All in all, definitely worth a listen if you dare...
CD 1
Time: 41:24
CD 2
Time: 41:30
Source D: DAT --- Core Sound Binaurals > Core Sound Battery Box > Sony TCD-D7
Transfer: DAT(M) > Sony 59-ES > Monster Digital Cable > SB Audigy NX 2 > Soundforge 7.0 (Capture) > CDwave (Track splits) > WAV > FLACFrontend Level 8 > FLAC
Taper: Simon
Gen: 0 Gen from Master
Notes - by: Galen: This source is arguably the most dynamic, clean, pure & enjoyable source for this particular performance. It is by no means completely flawless however it is very enjoyable to sit back, close your eyes & rock-out to. Of particular interest are the noticeable vocal effects that are strikingly clear - something that is not the case in many a recording. Standard 2006-era setlist with the band appearing to be as inspired as a dog after it eats dinner; Tool strays very little from this performance than with dozens of others. However, if you can get past that & simply enjoy a solid recording than this may work for you. It's good to see people use Sony TCD-D7 recorders still...
CD 1
Time: 54:45
CD 2
Time: 28:25