The Dancing Avocado: Supreme Edition, 2005, Complete PCM Master Transfer (1969‐04‐24: Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA, USA)

This is as close as you'll ever get the high speed reel master source. AJD owns the original PCM transfer from those reels and the reels have since been destroyed by fire. This originally came from Bill Graham's vault. The original PCM is the now definitive source, but was not widely circulating until now. This is the most complete tape circulated in this quality to date.

PCM was used before DAT machines were invented and were the first means of digital recording. An A/D signal converter was used to to encode analog audio from tape reels to (Sony recommended) BETAMAX tapes in a standard BETA machine. A PCM encoder, coupled to a VCR, enables you to record digital audio as if it was an ordinary video signal. The device also extracts the digital audio message from the video signal, the other way round, for playback.

This PCM was likely made with either the PCM-1 (1977) or the PCM-F1 (1981).

What you are receiving is a direct digital transfer done by the owner of the PCM recording, AJD, a professional audio guru. The PCM machine used for the transfer is a SONY PCM-601ESD, originally sold in 1984-1985. The PCM-601ESD had the important advantages of S/PDIF digital I/O and adjustable tracking and VCR head-matching circuits and was the best digital storage technology available at the time.

These units are pretty hard to come by these days.

I took his transfer and mastered it for release, then encoded to FLAC8. Notice it it not a "remaster" since was never actually mastered, just transferred from old media to new as the technology progressed.

For those who would ask:
This is better quality than "Blues Anytime" from EVSD. The tape is more complete and the audio quality is at least a generation cleaner, if not two. The stereo separation is MUCH better on this transfer than whatever EVSD used. The first few notes on BIGLY have obviously been spliced in by EVSD from a distorted source (probably not even the same date) and do not exist on the master PCM.

This is more complete and better quality than the original "Dancing Avocado". When I put that one out, the source I was given had been through more DAT and CDR gens.

Extended Lineage info:

2 neumann mics (on stage)
master reel @ 15ips
PCM transfer
DAT transfer

Digitally transferred from original PCM to DAT by AJD
Kubola-Sosna Reference cables
(Sony PCM 601ESD > Sony DAT 2000ES)

DAT transfer and mastering to FLAC by JAMESKG
- Tape speed-up during 4.WS/BMS corrected by JAMESKG @ 06:18 - 06:25 on mastered CD only.
- The 2nd CD is RAW PCM transfer, completely untouched.
- ZERO compression or limiting used in mastering.

Art by Small Fish

Release date: 2005.07.24
"Sunday Night Special"

This show had some PA problems in a few places (Jones' bass rig, mainly) and the PA had a slight buzz all night (only noticeable between songs or very quiet passages). But hey, that's how it went down that night, so it's just like being there - except - Plant's mic seems distant - which adds credibility to the 2 neumanns on stage thing. They'd have picked up the drums and amps and Roberts voice would have been on the house PA, which was probably just forward of the mics (or in line). I kind of like it this way - as I can really hear the band!