Led Zeppelin: 1970-03-11 Hamburg, Germany (FLAC_AUD 1st Gen_2 CD)

Today is the 46th anniversary of this Hamburg, Germany show I've never uploaded any copies of before (yet).  I've listened to this show a number of times through the years, but today, and as I make this post, I'm listening to it again for the first time in a few years.  And I love the energy of these early shows when Led Zeppelin was still a new band but already superstars too.

LINEAGE:
Cassette (1) > DAT > CD-R (1) > remastered > aligned sector boundaries > FLAC > me > TLH > WAV (to test for lossiness) > Audacity (to view waveform, embed metadata/track titles & info, and then to re-encode) > FLAC 8 > TLH (to check for SBE's and create and verify new ffp & md5 files) > you

DETAILS:
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Date: March 11th, 1970
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Venue: Musikhalle
Title: Zeppelin Digital Vol. 5
Label: Zeppelin Digital
Source: AUD (1st Gen)
Format: FLAC
CD's: 2
Artwork: Yes
Size: 459 MB
Length: 115:01:22

SETLIST:
CD 1:
101. We're Gonna Groove
102. I Can't Quit You Baby
103. Dazed And Confused
104. Heartbreaker
105. White Summer ~ Black Mountain Side
106. Since I've Been Loving You
107. John Paul Jones (organ solo intro)
108. Thank You

CD 2:
201. Moby Dick
202. How Many More Times
203. Whole Lotta Love

LINKS:
(1) 1970-03-11 Hamburg, Germany (AUD 1st Gen/ZD)

I went ahead and decided to upload the Zeppelin Digital (ZD) copy of this show for two reasons.  Once reason is that it is a first generation tape transfer and the other is it has the higher frequencies present.  I cannot say for sure that no processing has been done on the show.  Actually, I can say it has been processed now.  I see in the lineage it was EQ'ed.  The TLH CDA test makes it look like it may have had some processing done (with false MPEG results) but originally I had thought it also could have been the recorder used as well or some other factors giving the results that TLH (not exactly reliable for testing for lossiness) shows.  But this is a lossless recording and I have no doubts about that.

The show is a good sounding show but it suffers from over-driven bass and distortion throughout much of the heavy parts of the show.  I'm listening via my headphones and PC and I have EQ'ed it to sound much better right now.  So I may have a skewed opinion from this point on.

There definitely are issues in the recording but it also is a super show and it is not hard to listen too.  In fact, as most of you know it becomes easier to listen to a recording after your ears adjust to the sound anyhow.  "White Summer" and "Black Mountain Side", which I just finished, sounded super to me.  And the start of "Since I've Been Loving You" is just the same since I've lowered the bass (and there is no bass in the first two tracks I just mentioned) frequencies as I listen.  I'm really enjoying this gem as I listen and make this upload right now!

The waveform has no clipping and it is nowhere near clipping either.  Disc 1 looks to have a lower volume applied than disc 2.  When "Moby Dick", the first track on disc 2, starts you can see more amplification in the waveform.

The tapers do a little talking in the show but it is not the type that is annoying or interfering and they sound as if they are trying to whisper to not be recorded.  They are really enjoying the show too but they do not ruin it at all.  They sound as if they are close to the stage too.  They also do not stop and start the tape between songs like many other tapers have done and this is a big plus to me!  Otherwise, there really is not any crowd noise during the music and it is even pretty quiet other than hand clapping during the parts in between songs.  The noise level from the crowd is really good (or the lack of it).

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page can be hear very well and cleanest.  Of course John Paul Jones and John Bonham are also heard but the bass is what causes distortion in the recording.  It's much more enjoyable listening if you can EQ the show to bring down the bass frequencies a little.  Keep in mind, this was taped on a 1960's to 1970's era recorder with a 1960's to 1970's era microphone.  Not to say we don't have some superb recordings of Led Zeppelin and other bands from recorders in this era; but this was likely a cheaper tape recorder I am guessing.  But the higher frequencies come through loud and clear and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (if you couldn't hear anyone else) make this show great on their own.

A special thanks goes to "BK" who in the original text file seems to have made this copy available for us collectors!

I hope you enjoy the show...

Bootradr

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL!!!

THESE DOWNLOADS ARE FOR FREE ONLY!  NEVER BUY OR SELL ANY LEGALLY RECORDED BUT ILLEGAL TO SELL SHOWS LIKE THIS ONE.  THIS IS FOR FANS AND FUTURE FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR THE ARTIST'S MUSIC RAW & LIVE BUT NOT OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE OR RELEASED.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS BY BUYING THEIR OFFICIALLY RELEASED MATERIAL TOO.

KEEP IT FREE, KEEP IT AVAILABLE, AND MOST OF ALL; KEEP IT LEGAL!!!