BOC Maxima (cassette - FLAC)

[zlemflolia]

I've heard through the grapevine that these are available now through some obscure link on a russian music blog

 

Does anyone know if they're legit

[Terpentintollwut]

Possibly maybe, but wouldn't that be somewhat irrelevant as a cassette-rip can only be so good, and a CD-rip is already available and much better sounding anyway... or am I misinformed?

[kaini]

ask the elders of the internet.

 

the best time to ask is just after midnight, when stephen hawking has just finished demagnetising the worldwide wireless.

they're usually in a pretty good mood at that point, they've had a few beers, but not enough to get shitty like they do later on in the evening.

[zlemflolia]

ask the elders of the internet.

 

the best time to ask is just after midnight, when stephen hawking has just finished demagnetising the worldwide wireless.

they're usually in a pretty good mood at that point, they've had a few beers, but not enough to get shitty like they do later on in the evening.

What a helpful post

 

Thanks for your contribution

[Terpentintollwut]

Read the rulers.

[Nebraska]

ask the elders of the internet.

 

the best time to ask is just after midnight, when stephen hawking has just finished demagnetising the worldwide wireless.

they're usually in a pretty good mood at that point, they've had a few beers, but not enough to get shitty like they do later on in the evening.

 

[Terpentintollwut]

Back to the tape though - what's the story here, why is a FLAC-rip from a tape which is probably gonna sound worse than an mp3-rip from a CD so special...?

[Captain James Mission]

BOC Maxima (cassette) / (99.82% CDDA): (erased link)

 

 

Here's how this particular recording became available:

 

Boards of Canada gave this cassette to Autechre,

 

Autechre gave a CDR of a recording of the cassette to Richard Devine (Schematic),

 

Richard Devine gave a copy of the CDR to Alex Graham (Lexaunculpt),

 

Alex Graham gave a copy of the CDR to me,

 

I gave a copy of the CDR to Jonathan Canupp (Ten And Tracer),

 

Jon Cannupp gave a rip the CDR to the general public via followers of the old IDM ring.

 

 

This 16bit recording of a cassette is the best rip we have.

 

All lossy rips I've ever found are sourced from it.

 

 

We are not meant to have this music.

 

BoC has not given it to us.

 

We can only covet it.

 

It is not ours.

 

 

For years, I felt that I would pay extortion prices for a rip of the CD.

 

But I realized I could only accept it as a gift for it to become mine.

 

[joshuatxuk]

Back to the tape though - what's the story here, why is a FLAC-rip from a tape which is probably gonna sound worse than an mp3-rip from a CD so special...?

 

It really, really depends. If the CD itself was sourced from original recordings that themselves are on tape, which is likely, than the idea that the CD copy is inherently superior is false. If the FLAC is from a good tape copy (type II or type IV low-noise) being played through a decent cassette deck, than you have quality on level with a good vinyl rip. I have no idea what the quality of the mp3s are, but there's a good chance they aren't the ideal LAME 320kps format. And keep in mind those are sources from a CDR sourced from the same tape.

 

In other words, whether it's a tape or CD sourced copy is irrelevant when the source itself is in question. This was essentially a self-released album so the quality control is based on BoCs duplication methods. Only BoC really know what format the original master recording is, and if it even exists now. My bet that it is a studio quality cassette tape or a DAT tape.

[Joyrex]

BOC used DAT back then, so it's most likely sourced (the original cassette, not this rip of the cassette) from the DAT onto a C90.

 

I know my cassette copy sounded pretty good back when I played it to get decent rips off it - like a professionally-bought cassette.

[zlemflolia]

You lucky guy

John Doe acquired that redacted link above and listened to the FLACs

 

He says they sound a bit washed out and too bassy but definitely more clear than the typically distributed 320cbr mp3s

 

A much better listening experience

[Terpentintollwut]

And keep in mind those are sources from a CDR sourced from the same tape

 

 

Whoops, didn't know that. I thought BoC Maxima was available as a properly mastered CD for ridiculous prices.

 

edit: So the new FLACS is nice and all but honestly, BoC Maxima isn't even that good except for the tracks that have since appeared on other releases and are available in even higher quality ... still not rustling my Jimmies so much (do the kids still say that?), and I'm a die-hard Old Tunes fan!

[Milky]

I want the cd

 

where to bye?

[joshuatxuk]

 

And keep in mind those are sources from a CDR sourced from the same tape

 

 

Whoops, didn't know that. I thought BoC Maxima was available as a properly mastered CD for ridiculous prices.

 

edit: So the new FLACS is nice and all but honestly, BoC Maxima isn't even that good except for the tracks that have since appeared on other releases and are available in even higher quality ... still not rustling my Jimmies so much (do the kids still say that?), and I'm a die-hard Old Tunes fan!

 

 

Well I just deduced it based off the information I know, including what was posted here and the history of Music70, and Music70 basically means self-released. The CDR is probably a bit better (at the very least actually consistent) than the cassette copies, but they're all from the same source, a DAT tape as Joyrex confirmed. That said, I have no idea what kind of equipment they had in 1996 to duplicate CDRs and that format can suffer from degradation too.

 

It's a fair assumption nonetheless, especially compared to the dozens of public comments about the ebay tapes I'd see that were on the lines off "pssh, tape quality sux, there's master tapes out there" which is complete bullshit. The masses always seem to assume cassettes are inherently inferior and that every group, including early 90s BoC, somehow magically recorded everything in pristine quality at a professional studio. I swear I always seen at least one comment scoffing at cassette rips with the false hope that the original recording is a master-tape sealed in some vault at Abbey Road or some shit.

[zlemflolia]

Cassette is from what I can gather BOCs chosen format. That's how they started off, without any bs CDs.

[joshuatxuk]

Cassette is from what I can gather BOCs chosen format. That's how they started off, without any bs CDs.

 

Yeah, the core of their unpredictable "trademark" wow-and-flutter is the use of ancient non-musical reel-to-reel machines from the early 60s. There's some kind of irony that so many find themselves obsessed with the fidelity of their rare releases.

[Goiter Sanchez]

I have never seen Boc Maxima available on CD and the commonly acquired rip is from a tape. The russian FLAC version is the same source as the commonly available rip but it hasn't undergone mp3 compression and is split into 11 discrete intervals instead of the proper 20. I downloaded it and checked the spectrum and it is indeed legit. It doesn't really sound any better than the mp3 rip we are all used to hearing because the music itself doesn't make use of much frequency band above 16K. So the story goes that Autechre were the ones that made this digital rip originally and it trickled around the IDM cognoscenti of the late 1990s until 'Ten And Tracer' leaked it around 1999 or so.

[Joyrex]

Although it was advertised on the old EHX BOC website as being on CDr, I have never seen a CDr version - only cassettes.

[qnio]

yay listening to autocray's rip of the recordd

[Captain James Mission]

I downloaded it and checked the spectrum and it is indeed legit. It doesn't really sound any better than the mp3 rip we are all used to hearing because the music itself doesn't make use of much frequency band above 16K.

 

but the Tape hiss is more prominent in the FLACs.

[Goiter Sanchez]

 

I downloaded it and checked the spectrum and it is indeed legit. It doesn't really sound any better than the mp3 rip we are all used to hearing because the music itself doesn't make use of much frequency band above 16K.

 

but the Tape hiss is more prominent in the FLACs.

 

I wouldn't say it's more prominent in a way that most of us could perceive, but there is certainly more of the original hiss present above 20K because there has been no lossy compression.