The Grateful Dead Dark Star

[Matthew]

Since I think I'm going spend a lot my musical time in the months to come on the Dead, I want to ask the collectors here two questions:

1. How do you store your cds of shows? I bought a pack of 50 slim cd cases and I can already tell that's going to take up a lot of space. Thinking of just using cd envelopes, and then putting each show in a plain brown envelope for storage. What works best?

2. Do people get an extra hard-drive for their downloads? Or some portable hard-drives so your computer memory isn't taken over by Dead files?

What do other do about these two issues? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[kenny weir]

Still waiting for my new Road Series relase - hopefully with bonus disc.

In the meantime, I am unable to get DP29 out of my player. That's the one of six discs for $33, based on two 1977 shows. It's fantastic!

[Matthew]

Still waiting for my new Road Series relase - hopefully with bonus disc.

In the meantime, I am unable to get DP29 out of my player. That's the one of six discs for $33, based on two 1977 shows. It's fantastic!

Just got mine yesterday with the bonus cd. I'm listening to Franklin's Tower, Wharf Rat>I Need a Miracle>Bertha>Good Lovin' that ends disk one. Not too bad, though at times Mydland keyboard sounds like a $2.00 Casio -- really bad. I hope Road Trips do get around to whole shows, maybe some of the '72 European shows not out yet.

[jazzbo]

Matthew, at one point in 2006 I had an external drive full of Dead files (up through 1971 mostly) and then burned them all onto cdr in maxislim cases (was a lot of fun to find or make artwork) and then stopped downloading for most of 2007 so I haven't needed the drive . . . .I ran out of time to do all that as life got more taxing.

I find I like listening to them via cdr more than anything, the cdrs on my main stereo sound great! Some of the auds are fascinating to listen to, sounds as if you are in the middle of the crowd.

Edited November 20, 2007 by jazzbo

[Quincy]

I have an excellent copy of 11-11-73 but downloaded the new version as this is a must have show. I need to listen to the whole thing to see if it's an improvement.

I'm still stubbornly refusing to do so. One, because I've trade for that show 3 times already. Two, I'm still hoping for an official-ized box. If they ever do it may be that the fans may end up having a better sounding copy through unofficial means. Still, the main reason I want the box is to get rid of some cruel cuts on 11-9 & 11-10.

[Quincy]

Since I think I'm going spend a lot my musical time in the months to come on the Dead, I want to ask the collectors here two questions:

1. How do you store your cds of shows? I bought a pack of 50 slim cd cases and I can already tell that's going to take up a lot of space. Thinking of just using cd envelopes, and then putting each show in a plain brown envelope for storage. What works best?

Best kind of depends how your brain works.

Were it not for the fact that I made & downloaded artwork for so many shows I would go with a space spacing option. Maybe. I have 3 disc shows in normal sized 2 disc cases, 4 disc shows in the fat quads. In rare instances, such as the Hofeinz '72 shows I fit 5 discs into a quad case using a double tray inside. To save some room I've started using the "bags" that allow you to display the cd artwork (including the all important spine) for shows by other bands along with a few 1 disc Dead shows (mostly partials), while keeping the prime Dead in jewel cases.

I have one binder for discs but it has no real theme to it. I find that binders aren't much different than discs in Tyvek sleeves in shoeboxes for me (where some "naked" Dead show & many other shows live), in that I'm more likely to look for music that's easier for me to go through. I'm also not sure I trust Case Logic sleeves for anything crucial.

2. Do people get an extra hard-drive for their downloads? Or some portable hard-drives so your computer memory isn't taken over by Dead files?

I now have a 300 GB external that has been relieved of computer back up duty for music. So far though I'm using it backup for shows (& dvds) I don't want to lose (I loan out a lot of stuff, and discs come back scratched sometimes), but not the primary copy of music.

If I was starting over I would tempted to keep all my Dead shows on a drive in FLAC form. Tag the songs with name & date, and play them with (in my case) MacAmp using a line out from the computer to the stereo. I do listen to some music that way, but mainly to check whether the stuff I want off of the Dime & elsewhere is worth saving, or just a "catch & release." I do a lot of the latter nowadays (listen to once or twice, then delete after getting the share ratio up.)

I am a firm believer that hard drives will fail, and I'm not ready to commit to having a huge music collection that exists only a hard drive and having to back up that hard drive. I've thought about keeping "lesser" shows on the hard drive, but then I start to wonder why I should devote resources to lesser shows. But hard drives are fairly cheap, and you can sock away a lot of stuff on them. It's up to you to decide how much protection & redundancy you need.

Sorry, a lot rambling, probably not much help.

[Matthew]

That helps a lot. I'm still thinking about how I'm going to do all of this.

[Spontooneous]

An external HD full of Dead here, and even more archived on DVD-ROMs.

As for CDs, I started out with slim cases, but now I'm moving over to the envelope method.

[Quincy]

An external HD full of Dead here, and even more archived on DVD-ROMs.

As for CDs, I started out with slim cases, but now I'm moving over to the envelope method.

I just noticed you've gone on a diet and lard free! (Talking avatars here.)

I have lots of Tyvek sleeves with window & flap that I bought for trading & storage. I like how they don't scratch discs, and if you spill water (or booze) on them they hold up. You can also make a 4.75 x 4.75 inch setlist, and if you do it right most if not all can be seen through the window.

Edited November 21, 2007 by Quincy

[Matthew]

An external HD full of Dead here, and even more archived on DVD-ROMs.

As for CDs, I started out with slim cases, but now I'm moving over to the envelope method.

I just noticed you've gone on a diet and lard free! (Talking avatars here.)

I have lots of Tyvek sleeves with window & flap that I bought for trading & storage. I like how they don't scratch discs, and if you spill water (or booze) on them they hold up. You can also make a 4.75 x 4.75 inch setlist, and if you do it right most if not all can be seen through the window.

After buying a box of slim cd cases, I'm now leaning to the Tyvek sleeves for my next purchase. Like the idea of a small set list in the window, less room being taken for storage, and rubber banding a set together. I might start pricing an external HD, and see if there's any sales going on.

[Matthew]

Still waiting for my new Road Series relase - hopefully with bonus disc.

In the meantime, I am unable to get DP29 out of my player. That's the one of six discs for $33, based on two 1977 shows. It's fantastic!

Just got mine yesterday with the bonus cd. I'm listening to Franklin's Tower, Wharf Rat>I Need a Miracle>Bertha>Good Lovin' that ends disk one. Not too bad, though at times Mydland keyboard sounds like a $2.00 Casio -- really bad. I hope Road Trips do get around to whole shows, maybe some of the '72 European shows not out yet.

After listening to both cds and the bonus cd, I would rate Road Trips as a below average Dead cd. That's the bad news, the good news is that Road Trips can only get better, right? I can't say I've been too impressed with what Rhino has done since they've taken over the Dead catalog.

[Quincy]

After listening to both cds and the bonus cd, I would rate Road Trips as a below average Dead cd. That's the bad news, the good news is that Road Trips can only get better, right? I can't say I've been too impressed with what Rhino has done since they've taken over the Dead catalog.

I'm not opposed to compilation sets, in fact I think it will help out the latter years especially. But I agree this set doesn't have the "ooph" that I thought it would as fall '79 does have some powerful moments. I think '79 would have been better represented by releasing 12/28/79 or 10/27/79. 12/28/79 fits on just 2 discs so cost considerations are met, and it's one heck of a show. The nearness of the date to DP 5 (12/26/79) shouldn't be a concern, as the DP series smartly mined mid-to-late Sept. '72 3 times. (And if Road Trips wants to release more from that month, please do! Complete or "best of Waterbury" without cuts, and all of 9/28/72. Chu-ching go their registers!)

As the "concept" is so open-ended I'm going to be optimistic. Hey, you gotta be about something right?

[vajerzy]

After years of dial-up internet, DSL is now available where I live!! I'm deep in the country in Central VA. I'm getting it next week. With DSL this opens up a world of possibilities for downloading Dead shows. What are your experiences using DSL with downloading purchased shows from Dead.net and from other sites? How much time does DSL take? I've never downloaded shows before so I'll have to bone up on the different types of file types, etc. Any imput would be appreciated!

Mike

[Matthew]

After years of dial-up internet, DSL is now available where I live!! I'm deep in the country in Central VA. I'm getting it next week. With DSL this opens up a world of possibilities for downloading Dead shows. What are your experiences using DSL with downloading purchased shows from Dead.net and from other sites? How much time does DSL take? I've never downloaded shows before so I'll have to bone up on the different types of file types, etc. Any imput would be appreciated!

Mike

I've been downloading concerts off of various web-sites, and sometimes it takes awhile to download. I've downloaded for more than twelve hours to get a show. You're going to have to get a Bit torrent program, I use BitTorrent, I find that it's easy to use, and the new 6.0 program is very good. ABC BitTorrent is another program that's good. I haven't download off Dead.net, but Lon has, so maybe he'll pipe in with his thoughts. I'm really enjoying downloading the various concerts, there are some outstanding quality d.l.s out there, so buy yourself a couple of hundred blank cds, and have fun.

Edited December 1, 2007 by Matthew

[Spontooneous]

I'd recommend uTorrent over BitTorrent any day. Just as reliable, but doesn't hog your computer's resources.

[Dave Garrett]

I'd recommend uTorrent over BitTorrent any day. Just as reliable, but doesn't hog your computer's resources.

I like uTorrent too, but anyone contemplating using it should be sure to read the FAQ, particularly sections 1.7 and 1.11, to make sure they have a compatible router or modem. If your router is on this list and you try to run uTorrent, you can expect your net connection to drop every few minutes as the router gets overloaded. This happened to me when my old router died and I unknowingly replaced it with a model that didn't play nice with uTorrent. The constant connection drops were driving me crazy until I figured out what had happened, upgraded to a Linksys WRT54GL, and flashed it with the DD-WRT third-party firmware mentioned in the FAQ. If you have everything properly configured, uTorrent flat out screams.

[jazzbo]

After years of dial-up internet, DSL is now available where I live!! I'm deep in the country in Central VA. I'm getting it next week. With DSL this opens up a world of possibilities for downloading Dead shows. What are your experiences using DSL with downloading purchased shows from Dead.net and from other sites? How much time does DSL take? I've never downloaded shows before so I'll have to bone up on the different types of file types, etc. Any imput would be appreciated!

Mike

I've been downloading concerts off of various web-sites, and sometimes it takes awhile to download. I've downloaded for more than twelve hours to get a show. You're going to have to get a Bit torrent program, I use BitTorrent, I find that it's easy to use, and the new 6.0 program is very good. ABC BitTorrent is another program that's good. I haven't download off Dead.net, but Lon has, so maybe he'll pipe in with his thoughts. I'm really enjoying downloading the various concerts, there are some outstanding quality d.l.s out there, so buy yourself a couple of hundred blank cds, and have fun.

Actually, to my knowledge, I haven't downloaded flac from dead.net nor have I ever done flac; when I had the time I didn't have enough highspeed and never mastered the process.

I have purchased all the "Digital" Dead official releases featuring the band through the Godchau years, but from iTunes.

[Matthew]

While we are on the topic of downloading: Does anyone know of a good, free, Shn file > Wav. converter program? I've tried mkwACT, but I can't figure out all the extra steps for XP setup.

PS: Never mind, I finally figured the stupid thing out this morning.

Edited December 2, 2007 by Matthew

[Chalupa]

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?pa...mp;select=24510

[Matthew]

I'm finally listening to the Dead's run at Winterland of June 7, 8 & 9 1977, and enjoying it very much. Garcia is in very good form, and the SDBs are in great shape -- this is definitely a candidate for a full-blown box set treatment, if Rhino is into the kind of stuff anymore. Almost tore my hair out trying to convert the June 8 show from a Shn. file to Wav. Flac I can do, but that Shn. stuff had me stumped there for a couple of days.

[Chalupa]

I'm finally listening to the Dead's run at Winterland of June 7, 8 & 9 1977, and enjoying it very much. Garcia is in very good form, and the SDBs are in great shape -- this is definitely a candidate for a full-blown box set treatment, if Rhino is into the kind of stuff anymore. Almost tore my hair out trying to convert the June 8 show from a Shn. file to Wav. Flac I can do, but that Shn. stuff had me stumped there for a couple of days.

IIRC, the master reels have "cuts of death" that would prohibit this getting the box treatment.

[kenny weir]

I'm finally listening to the Dead's run at Winterland of June 7, 8 & 9 1977, and enjoying it very much. Garcia is in very good form, and the SDBs are in great shape -- this is definitely a candidate for a full-blown box set treatment, if Rhino is into the kind of stuff anymore. Almost tore my hair out trying to convert the June 8 show from a Shn. file to Wav. Flac I can do, but that Shn. stuff had me stumped there for a couple of days.

Hey hey June 8 '77 - that's "MY show" - the onliest time I saw the GD live!

[Matthew]

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?pa...mp;select=24510

I'll just say that I have my doubts that someone born in 1971 was able to see 153 Dead concerts... though he kind of looks like a Deadhead.

[Quincy]

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?pa...mp;select=24510

Fooled me. I thought that golfer Weir or Garcia won.

*edited to add - The younger ones saw lots of shows, as things were well mapped out for them by then. Skip college, go on tour through the '90s. (Insert old-timer comment of quality vs. quanity. )

Edited December 3, 2007 by Quincy

[John L]

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?pa...mp;select=24510

I'll just say that I have my doubts that someone born in 1971 was able to see 153 Dead concerts... though he kind of looks like a Deadhead.

Very possible, when you consider how many shows the Dead played from the late 80s to 1995, and the fact that a lot of hard core Deadheads with cash in their pockets traveled to almost all of the shows.