Underdogs rarity

[PlasticSoldier]

Got this in the mail today!

Interesting track order and spelling errors.
I get shortending titles, but Seasons of Change sounds strange haha

I was trying to digitize it, but was getting a weird latency between my stereo and what the computer was recording. I'll have to look into it later. Might be my stereo finally kicking the bucket after all these years.

WIth the issues I didn't get far into listening to it yet. Invasion 1 seemed less polished at the starting. Also was weird starting with that song...

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by PlasticSoldier

[Chris85]

Something like a cassette to USB may do the trick. These devices start at $30 and go up.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07MM8NSFB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_73NG13MN1SR3C51VGPHG

[PlasticSoldier]

i got one a month ago and it was TERRIBLE. returned immediately.

Had to crank the volume on the volume scroll wheel to get any volume on the usb output, and that was still very quiet.
if you touched it, that transferred to the recording.
it was sooooo noisy and squealy while running.

i'm going to play with my mic inputs and see if maybe that was it

[daniel_v]

Dude, that is pretty cool. 

How did you find this? Ebay or Kijiji? 

I was wondering about the existence of it for a couple years because back in 2020 I remember talking to someone on Youtube saying they found a demo copy of Underdogs when he used to work in the same building where Bruce Allen (a well known Canadian music manager) had his office. I asked him if the songs sounded any different from the CD versions but never got a reply back.

Are there any major differences you can notice in song structures, lyrics, or instrumental parts (E.G- solo's or vocal takes)? 

If you can find a way to get these uploaded that would be super interesting to listen to. 

Either way thanks for sharing that you found this. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by daniel_v

[Stwlegend]

What an awesome find. Would be appreciated if you can get it transferred and it would be so cool if it does sound different. A new way to hear something we have all listened to one way for so long if so! 

[PlasticSoldier]

Have a new capture card/cable and cables coming tomorrow, so hopefully this weekend i will have time to get a decent digitization done. 

Found part of my issue was the capture device wasn't acting as a proper USB mic and the build in mic was overriding and making it all terrible haha so hopefully that was the full issue

[PlasticSoldier]

So, most of the vocals levels seem to not be as in for the forfront.
Some parts, when listening to the tape sounded like they weren't balanced between left and right but not jarring, and the digital track seems worse to my ears and is jarring.

Invasion 1 has a longer feedback fadeout and i kind of like it more.
Wasn't a lot of other things i noticed with my untrained ear.
On side 2, after the first track "Out Of Style" there is a long weird staticy gap, not sure if that was to be something or was just padding out the side of the tape.

Recording from the tape adds a lot of static, so i've been playing around with noise reduction to see what works nicely.
I also might change some recording settings and see how/if that changes any captured sound.

I've given Adam an unedited capture to listen to and see what kind of noise reduction he can do too

[invasion1]

Wow Chad, thanks for all the details - never knew any such thing existed. I've been hoping for a deluxe edition of Underdogs, BM or any of his records to arrive for over a decade (emailed twice to try), so this would definitely be CD2. I wish there was a lossless soundboard recording from the tour to complete the set (no real luck finding anything aside from so-so sounding snowjob '99 mp3s). 

It sure would be great to hear it, if that is a possibility.

If anyone's interested, I have a decent collection of freely-traded live recordings in FLAC (almost all "audience"); many tapers state that they can not be converted to mp3s -  can't see why you would want to, but pls keep that in mind. Many of them are probably from ppl here.

 

[foats]

On 3/23/2022 at 9:09 PM, invasion1 said:

Wow Chad, thanks for all the details - never knew any such thing existed. I've been hoping for a deluxe edition of Underdogs, BM or any of his records to arrive for over a decade (emailed twice to try), so this would definitely be CD2. I wish there was a lossless soundboard recording from the tour to complete the set (no real luck finding anything aside from so-so sounding snowjob '99 mp3s). 

It sure would be great to hear it, if that is a possibility.

If anyone's interested, I have a decent collection of freely-traded live recordings in FLAC (almost all "audience"); many tapers state that they can not be converted to mp3s -  can't see why you would want to, but pls keep that in mind. Many of them are probably from ppl here.

 

there is a great video recording of the Coquitlam show on the Underdogs tour. If you haven't seen it I recommend it. There are also free video to audio converters to transfer any Youtube video to MP3.  

[invasion1]

On 3/26/2022 at 6:47 PM, foats said:

there is a great video recording of the Coquitlam show on the Underdogs tour. If you haven't seen it I recommend it. There are also free video to audio converters to transfer any Youtube video to MP3.  

Thanks a lot Foats, I saw that one a few months ago and thought it was amazing. I just wish the original audio "pre-upload" .wavs were available somewhere  

[PlasticSoldier]

Okay, so we've probably forgotten I was trying to do something with this haha

I had hooked up my stereo to the computer and tried to record this, but it still had a lot of noise and I think was mono. And then I kind of gave up and forgot to see about other approaches.

A few of our libraries here have a digital conversion station that you can book time at. So I am going to try that on Saturday and see if it sounds way better.

If it does I may try my Rodchester Kings cassette too just to get a better quality digital copy in the future.

[d_hambly]

That sounds awesome, would love to hear it if you have any success!

[PlasticSoldier]

We have success!

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Aijk4Cg1Aq1h9Fv38tFrWFnUnC6z

I split it up, but also left the full unsplit Side One and Side Two in the folder.

 

[invasion1]

That's very kind of you, thanks so much! 

[Jessafur]

Oh my god, those cleaned up so well!! I guess you'll be doing the Rodchester Kings cassette too then eh? 

[Stwlegend]

Sounds great, thanks for taking the time to do it!

[sharon]

Thanks for sharing and going out of your way to do that, Chad. I look forward to listening to it when I have time.
I plan on sharing a little something in October too, if all goes well. It's nothing big though (not a concert recording).

[russic]

Awesome stuff, thanks for all the work and for sharing!