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DVD 973; lineage: FM recording. "BBC Archives 1974" Harvested Records (HRV CDR 033)

In the spirit of our previous "BBC Archives" series (after "BBC Archives 1967-1969" and "BBC Archives 1970-1971"), Harvested is proud to finally present "BBC Archives 1974"! In 1974, the BBC taped the second set (The Dark Side On The Moon) and the encore (Echoes) of the Floyd performance at Wembley Empire Pool, on November 16. However, Echoes was never broadcast, and for many years only the DSOTM set was circulating from broadcast sources.

In recent years, recordings taken from the BBC pre-FM tapes began to circulate, some of them including the long lost soundboard version of Echoes. However, none of these RoIOs are fully sonically satisfactory in our opinion. Most of them are processed and used some kind of noise reduction, sometimes very slightly (the Sirene releases), and other times more heavily (the Winston remasters, "Time In London") The rare, unprocessed versions currently circulating, like the "FM Pre-Master" Russian bootleg, are pleasant but not without a certain amount of hiss, which reveals that the lineage was not without some generational loss. The hiss from the unprocessed versions available until now is probably one of the reasons why so much NR was used on the various remaster projects.

After much research, Harvested found a superior source, totally unprocessed, with much less hiss than the other unprocessed versions circulating until now. A spectral analysis of the audio file showed that this source was very pure and could be the result of direct transfer from the BBC masters.

However, it is well known that the BBC mastering of that concert sounds rather dry and flat, especially the DSOTM set and our source was no exception. Therefore, we felt this new source needed the "Harvested treatment," in order to make this recording really shine, with good dynamics. The remastering was done very carefully in an attempt to leave the music intact, avoiding NR, dehissing, or any other processing that would generate artifacts. The majority of the remastering work consisted of adjusting the audio levels, balancing the recording when needed, and bringing more clarity and depth by applying specific EQ settings here and there. The final result sounds great to our ears and this version boasts excellent dynamics and a well defined high end without the flaws present on most of the other sources. This CD is free from all NR artifacts, the amount of hiss is minimal, and the low frequency noise that can be clearly heard on all of the currently circulating versions of Echoes (especially during the quiet parts) is not present here.



"BBC Archives 1974" brings you this famous BBC recording in its most complete form (the lines,"I've been mad for f*cking years...," as well as the applause and tuning between Eclipse and Echoes are present), offering the best possible quality for your listening pleasure! "

For those of you who'd like to know how this Harvested version compares with other pre-FM RoIOs from the same concert, comparative analysis is detailed here after.

Enjoy!

The Harvested Team.

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