30 Trips Around The Sun Box & Digital USB

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September 4, 2015 - 10:38am

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admin

Joined:
March 9, 2007

"When we began discussing audio projects to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead back in 2012, we knew we wanted to do something completely unprecedented. We could think of nothing more exciting or ambitious than a career-spanning overview of the band's live legacy focused on what best tells the story: complete concerts. Our first criterion was the very best live music to represent any given year in the band’s history. We wanted to make sure that there were not only the tent-pole shows that fans have been demanding for decades but also ones that are slightly more under the radar, but equally excellent. For those who listen to the entire box straight through, chronologically, the narrative of the Grateful Dead's live legacy will be seen as second to none in the pantheon of music history." - David Lemieux

We are more than pleased to announce the Grateful Dead's most ambitious release ever: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN. Available as both an 80-disc boxed set and a custom lightning-bolt USB drive, the collection includes 30 unreleased live shows, one for each year the band was together from 1966 to 1995, along with one track from their earliest recording sessions in 1965. Packed with over 73 hours of music, both the boxed set and the USB drive will be individually numbered limited editions.

The 80-disc boxed set is individually numbered and limited to 6,500 copies, a nod to the band’s formation in 1965. Along with the CDs, it also includes a gold-colored 7-inch vinyl single which bookends the band’s career. The A-side is “Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)” from the band’s earliest recording session in 1965 with the B-side of the last song the band ever performed together live, “Box Of Rain” recorded during their final encore at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995.

The box also comes with a 288-page book that features an extensive, career-spanning essay written by Nick Meriwether, who oversees the Dead archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz, along with special remembrances of the band submitted by fans. Also included is a scroll that offers a visual representation of how the band’s live repertoire has evolved through the years.

The USB drive version* will be shaped like a gold lightning bolt with the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary logo engraved on the side. The drive includes all of the music from the collection in both FLAC (96/24) and MP3 formats and is an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies. Digital version of the book also included on USB.

Shows will NOT be sold individually on CD. This release is sure to sell out quickly so pre-order your copy today and stick around as we will be revealing a mighty fine selection of music, art, and much, much more right here.

(Looking for a smaller 50th Anniversary commemorative keepsake? September 18th will see the release of a four-CD version of the collection titled 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995. More on that here.)

ROLLINGSTONE.COM SONG PREMIERE AND EXCLUSIVE DAVID LEMIEUX INTERVIEW
Head on over to Rollingstone.com for the very first listen of "Morning Dew" 9/18/87 Madison Square Garden, David Fricke's exclusive interview with archivist David Lemieux, and the reveal of 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN's '69 and '84 shows.

*Helpful hints for using your USB:

Running the 30 Trips Player / Reader program:
On Windows – Navigate to the USB drive and double click the PCStart.exe file to run.
On MacOS – Open the GD 30 Trips drive, and double click the MacStart to run.

Viewing the digital book:
You can either view it within the program that comes on the drive, or by opening the PDF directly.

To view the PDF, open the PDF folder on the drive and the USB_bk_spreads_08-31 file within. Selecting the option within your PDF reading application to view as a “single page” might be preferable to viewing as a continuous document.

Importing music into iTunes and other library programs:
When you import the songs from the USB into your library, the information used to identify the track will likely leave them sorted incorrectly. Please use the song list found here to re-number the songs for each show so that they playback in the correct order.
PDF
Text

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October 16, 2015 - 9:03pm

#2191

Zuckfun

Joined:
March 18, 2010

Headphone Review

Here's the best headphone review I've found- a wealth of information by an expert on the subject: http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-c…
October 16, 2015 - 8:49pm

#2192

Jason Wilder

Joined:
September 21, 2011

'72 Jack Straw issue

I hear it too on mine. I didn't notice it the first time I played it (it was at low volume), but noticed it in the car and when I turned it up. It isn't just you. Though there could be a bad batch of discs. Anyone else? For the record, I'm psyched beyond belief at this point. Stub: 10/27/91 Oakland Coliseum Pass: June 8th, 1993, Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Am trying to listen is chronological order, and '72 is as far as I've gotten. I could tell from the details on the release that some shows would obviously be epic ('67 Shrine, '69 Dream Bowl, '79 Cape Cod, '87 and '91 MSG). And others just a tad less so ('85 Riverbend, for example). Well, that '67 sure didn't disappoint. Astounding! Dream bowl in '69 was fantastic too. As was the '68 show, if short. The '72 is just blistering, though it isn't a show that was in any way legendary. Can't wait to see what the rest of the box has in store. Anyone know if the planetary positions represented on the covers are correct for each date (relative to each other) or if they are just random? Edit: gaaahhh!! I forgot to wish Phil godspeed and a successful procedure and good recovery. We love you, Phil.
October 16, 2015 - 8:40pm

#2193

Anttheknee

Joined:
June 7, 2007

Speedy recovery, Phil

Phil, wishing you a speedy recovery. As to 30 Trips, I did a visual check of all the discs and found they were all there and no cracked discs. I did, however, find glue on disc 2 from Cape Cod, Yarmouth, MA, Oct 27, 1979. It appears to have come from an excess of adhesive used to glue the digipak together. I was able to get it off with Goo Gone and it plays okay. I also found some light scratches on disc 2 from Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY, March 27, 1993. They do not affect play back. I'm hoping that I'll have no other problems as I go through the listening experience.
October 16, 2015 - 8:25pm

#2194

luddlight

Joined:
October 15, 2015

#1079 checking in...

It actually got here on Monday (DFW metro-sprawl). I took a quick peek at things to check out the overall condition of the box, the scroll, the ticket/backstage pass, the colour of the felt, make sure I had 80 discs. Then reboxed it to go through in more detail when I had more time and less distractions. That time is now. Overall the box arrived in very good shape. The front left corner got dinged and the laminate or whatever is a little loose due to the substrate being kinda deformed. It bugs me but I can deal with it given the overall scope of the project. I'll admit I'm a little disappointed in the cardboard-ness of the thing vs. a true wooden box but realize that the cost involved in doing something of that magnitude would've probably doubled the price. I was also expecting the box itself to be number instead of the scroll. Oh well. Physical Details: Box# 1079, Red Felt, Ticket: 27 Oct 1991- Oakland Coliseum Arena (#5009), Backstage Pass: 09 Jun 1993 - The Palace of Auburn Hills The Music? I started streaming chronologically as soon as stuff was made available. Slight backstory: I really never got into the Dead but was obviously aware of their existence. I knew the 'popular' songs and in previous attempts to get into them I just felt overwhelmed with the vastness of what was available from their live shows and the corresponding oceans of opinions. Needless to say the Dead were just a footnote in my musical universe. Then I got wind of this box set and (after vacillating for a couple days due to initial cost) figured that this box would be an ideal way to essentially "go all in" with what should be a even-handed career overview containing what should be highly regarded/respectable shows from across the entire length of their existence. So, like I said, I started streaming as soon as they were available and by the time I hit 1975 (about three weeks later) I realized that I might be able to get on the bus after all. So far tonight I have ripped (FLAC) 1966 - 68 to my PC and am listening to the the '66 show on my stereo for the first time. Absolutely no regrets on this purchase! So.. that got me thinking... since there is literally tons of shows available, what specific shows would those who are more knowledgeable and discerning then myself choose for shows if they could put together a 30 Trips v2.0. I might actually try to assemble my personal version of this thing on the side so shows could be ones already released or just available on the Internet Archive - just has to be sorta/kinda available. Rather than fill up this message board with suggestions that'll prolly be all over the map you can just PM me what you would consider worthy shows for the given years. If I can see any general consensus I'll try to post what is ended up being suggested. I would greatly appreciate any input to what other shows besides those in the 30T box you would consider good enough to populate a sister/brother 30T box. Sorry for the long and somewhat rambling post. Gin + Tonic + music makes for some inspired posting (sometimes) on my part. PS: @jrf glad to see that you finally got your box. I was pulling for you and hoping that it would just 'show up' all out of the blue and unexpected like.
October 16, 2015 - 8:16pm

#2195

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

Headphones

I have perhaps 7 or 8 different sets of headphones around the house.. but most are cheap wireless ones that if I leave outside and they get wet.. I wont lose any sleep or hair over. I have had a medium end pair of wireless Sennheisers that are really nice for about 10 years now, but nothing special. Great entry level wireless, I think I paid about $70 but haven't seen them lately for less than $125. I like headphones because I can dial into music late night without waking the dead.. so I use mostly closed units. I just got turned on a decent pair of open, higher quality Sennheisers and love them.. but they are wired. I need to figure out a longer cable system so I have better mobility w/out pulling out the plugs and subsequently waking the neighborhood late at night. But they are awesome, especially w. betty boards and Phil stompin. Grado's are a another world all together. Top of the line. I think ZuckFun posted a good review of medium to high end earphones a month or so ago. There's a wealth of knowledge in his links, maybe he can find and repost. To be honest.. I really like my cheap wireless ones too.. I live in the mountains and they are great listening in the hot tub at sunrise. Add some fog or rain, full moon or cridders.. just getting my shit together thinking out my day or week without any distractions.. and if they get ruined.. I grab another. Love headphones, your invisible with them.
October 16, 2015 - 8:03pm

#2196

wjonjd

Joined:
January 24, 2011

Headphones

Grado's are one of the top manufacturers of top quality headphones. Not everyone likes Grados (I guess that's true of any brand), but at the lower price ranges, no one comes close. In other words, there's lots of good competition in the more expensive range (Grado's have a large price range), but at the lower price range bang for the buck, I don't think anything really compares. Their least expensive models are the SR60e, SR80e, SR125e, and SR225e. These list for $79, $99, $150, $200 and $295. Like any other headphone, it's best if you can find a dealer that has them so you can try them out. Some don't find them particularly comfortable, but they sound amazing. Again, I know that the higher end ones have stiff competition, but at the lower end I don't think the competition stands up. Edit: I LOVE Sennheisers also, but once you get below that $300 mark, I don't think what they have is up to Grado. Above that price, there really are quite a few really excellent headphones, and they are fairly different from each other, so it's best to try them.
October 16, 2015 - 7:57pm

#2197

Zuckfun

Joined:
March 18, 2010

Headphones

In terms of not sacrificing much sound quality, and a price to performance ratio that's tough to beat, Sennheiser's HD600 and HD650 are outstanding GD headphones. The main difference between the two (besides the fact the HD650 is around $100 more) is the HD600's are closer to neutral and the HD650's have a slightly increased bass response. If I had to pick one over the other, it's the HD650, because of the sweet euphony of these headphones, though there are many who prefer the HD600.
October 16, 2015 - 7:57pm

#2198

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

More Box Deliveries - Rockin' & Get Well Phil

First.. awesome to see some additional boxes get delivered today. WooHoo. Second.. and I posted this on the Daves Picks thread.. but after helping my dad through some bad health, get well Phil. In GA shows, I used to try and get where I could see and hear the band real good.. After doing this a bunch, and dialing into wherever I wanted to from show to show.. after a while I really settled into the Phil side of the stage. I just had more fun there. It was booming and you usually got a good view of Jerry and everyone else too. There was a reason for that, he was just as much the sound of the band as anyone else, and when Phil had a good night, the GD had a good night. Get well Phil. Glad I got to see you as many times as I did.. for that I am thankful.
October 16, 2015 - 7:53pm

#2199

One Man

Joined:
May 17, 2011

Deadheadphones

Long ago, I did not appreciate the spectrum of quality available in headphones. Then a friend let me hear his Sennheisers and I heard details (specifically in Bob Dylan's Desire album) that I had never heard before. So I invested in a pair of HD600s and my world changed. These are not the be-all and end-all of headphones but they have served me well for about 10 years and I use them pretty much daily. They won't break the bank (roughly $350) and are probably the best I will ever own.
October 16, 2015 - 7:53pm

#2200

ozdh

Joined:
July 14, 2008

healing beams...

from me to phil, strive boldly dear friend...

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

"When we began discussing audio projects to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead back in 2012, we knew we wanted to do something completely unprecedented. We could think of nothing more exciting or ambitious than a career-spanning overview of the band's live legacy focused on what best tells the story: complete concerts. Our first criterion was the very best live music to represent any given year in the band’s history. We wanted to make sure that there were not only the tent-pole shows that fans have been demanding for decades but also ones that are slightly more under the radar, but equally excellent. For those who listen to the entire box straight through, chronologically, the narrative of the Grateful Dead's live legacy will be seen as second to none in the pantheon of music history." - David Lemieux

We are more than pleased to announce the Grateful Dead's most ambitious release ever: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN. Available as both an 80-disc boxed set and a custom lightning-bolt USB drive, the collection includes 30 unreleased live shows, one for each year the band was together from 1966 to 1995, along with one track from their earliest recording sessions in 1965. Packed with over 73 hours of music, both the boxed set and the USB drive will be individually numbered limited editions.

The 80-disc boxed set is individually numbered and limited to 6,500 copies, a nod to the band’s formation in 1965. Along with the CDs, it also includes a gold-colored 7-inch vinyl single which bookends the band’s career. The A-side is “Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)” from the band’s earliest recording session in 1965 with the B-side of the last song the band ever performed together live, “Box Of Rain” recorded during their final encore at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995.

The box also comes with a 288-page book that features an extensive, career-spanning essay written by Nick Meriwether, who oversees the Dead archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz, along with special remembrances of the band submitted by fans. Also included is a scroll that offers a visual representation of how the band’s live repertoire has evolved through the years.

The USB drive version* will be shaped like a gold lightning bolt with the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary logo engraved on the side. The drive includes all of the music from the collection in both FLAC (96/24) and MP3 formats and is an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies. Digital version of the book also included on USB.

Shows will NOT be sold individually on CD. This release is sure to sell out quickly so pre-order your copy today and stick around as we will be revealing a mighty fine selection of music, art, and much, much more right here.

(Looking for a smaller 50th Anniversary commemorative keepsake? September 18th will see the release of a four-CD version of the collection titled 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995. More on that here.)

ROLLINGSTONE.COM SONG PREMIERE AND EXCLUSIVE DAVID LEMIEUX INTERVIEW
Head on over to Rollingstone.com for the very first listen of "Morning Dew" 9/18/87 Madison Square Garden, David Fricke's exclusive interview with archivist David Lemieux, and the reveal of 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN's '69 and '84 shows.

*Helpful hints for using your USB:

Running the 30 Trips Player / Reader program:
On Windows – Navigate to the USB drive and double click the PCStart.exe file to run.
On MacOS – Open the GD 30 Trips drive, and double click the MacStart to run.

Viewing the digital book:
You can either view it within the program that comes on the drive, or by opening the PDF directly.

To view the PDF, open the PDF folder on the drive and the USB_bk_spreads_08-31 file within. Selecting the option within your PDF reading application to view as a “single page” might be preferable to viewing as a continuous document.

Importing music into iTunes and other library programs:
When you import the songs from the USB into your library, the information used to identify the track will likely leave them sorted incorrectly. Please use the song list found here to re-number the songs for each show so that they playback in the correct order.
PDF
Text

Hi william.jasinki

Same here. No ID tagging. Right now I'm listening to 1966 on my Bluray, moving forward through the years, and importing 1995 into iTunes (Mac) moving backward through the years. I'm not getting any Disc information on my Bluray or my iTunes. These are the only 2 years I've checked so far, but it's probably the same on all the other CDs.

Still Waiting...

Hearing about the defects really makes me hope mine turns up and is "Just exactly perfect". I really thought, based on the pics, that the box was going to be flimsy. If I had bought an extra 30 Trips in order to sell the shows individually, I'd definitely send my spare, empty box to someone with these terrible issues. The misunderstood lyrics stories compel me to mention that recently when I listen to "Bertha", I always think "Birthers don't you come around here.. anymore.." :-)

Too bad....

....the cases weren't ala May '77 style. Those are perfect, and thin, and chrome.... (sorry, threw a Fury Road reference out there)....

Seriously....

....the May '77 box presentation kicks major ass....

30 Trips = MIA

I received a shipping email from dead.net last hour. Of course, I clicked the link for the tracking number, and it stated the package was delivered at 2:22 PM this afternoon. Huh...that's a surprise, as I didn't see anything when I arrived home at 5:00 PM. Of course, I check the front door, back door, side door, garage door and every possible place around the outside of my house, but no package in sight. I called UPS to find out some details about the delivery, but all they could do was confirm delivery. They asked me a bunch of questions, and opened an investivation. I then called dead.net, and they asked an additional bunch of questions. Apparently they can't/won't do anything until the investigation is over, which may take 7-10 days, but the entire "investigation process" seems rather informal. Apparently dead.net put me on the "manager's list," which apparently is a list of customers that have not received items that were ordered. Anyway, I really don't trust that this situation will work out, with these "investigations" and "manager's lists" going on. I feel extremely hopeless and 'in the dark.' Why the fuck aren't signatures required for delivery of this box? Y'all enjoy the music. At least I have access to the stream... but I'm out $750.

cd storage

I keep my discs in something like this: http://amzn.com/B006G4BW2E and I store the packaging (sleeves, boxes, etc.) sans discs.

Email notice of box set shipping

I received my email about my box set being shipped about 6 hours after I received the box set! So, I guess the lesson is don't fret about not getting the email! In examining the entire set I found my box to be in great shape and every disc present. Of course it will be a long time before I know that they all play well, but I'm confident if I find a flawed one that the Dead organization will replace it asap. BTW: I live in Michigan and my box shipped from Virginia.

No no no no noooo...

Wilfred.. I used those cd cases during my late teens and early twenties, until I started noticing cds that were pretty much brand new were already coming out scratched. Those will also totally jack up your cds eventually. I think it's because dirt and/or sand eventually gets in and scratches them.

lowspark

Where do you take yours? Off-roading? I leave mine stationary in my library. All of them are ripped and stored, used minimally. So, for me its YES, YES, YES! No, really it has been great for me.

Carry on indeed / Nice one Keithfan / dude77

I know, he's about as amusing as a hemorrhoid isn't he? I'm still wondering what rock he crawled out from under. Someone had voiced concern about the 7 inch single getting scratched because of the wood this morning, I forget who. But...there appears to be a well concealed paper sleeve on the inside of it that it slides into. g1u2i3, glad to hear you hooked up with someone in customer support who can help. I guess they must produce extra box sets in case there are damaged ones. I don't see an actual number anywhere on the box (like 59 / 6500). I thought I read they would be numbered, did I dream that? dude77 I was surprised you had a box cutter incident - I wonder if there will be others. I know Dr Rhino is aware of the last box cutter incident....

Let me get this straight....

....the boxes ship from Pennsylvania and Virginia? Ahhhh....the DaVinci code strikes again. Why not ship from California?....

So far...

I am up to the 69 show so far. Everything sounds amazing, the multitrack from 67 is excellent. I received the box last night, with that being said, I received a shipping notification a couple of minutes ago.

@MinasMorgul

The # is on the scroll. Mine was #1001 I think. I was also surprised about the box cutter. Can't believe that is still going on. Even joked about it with customer service. The other damaged case in my box looks to be either a cut or rip that goes straight down the spine for about 2 inches.

Big Box

I've got 10/30/91 Oakland ticket (only $22.50-boy those were the days) and 8/21/93 Eugene backstage pass. Went to all the '94 Eugene shows, and strangely enough don't even remember them playing there in '93 until I saw this. Saw someone has 5-15-93 Vegas, not only went to that but it was my birthday, so I would trade for that. Was also in 4th row in front of Vince on his b-day on 2-21-95 and would trade for that. The only real box set design problem I noticed is the 45 looks cool in the lid, but to take out seems hard to do without scratching it and would like to play it eventually. The sleeve is pretty much stuck in there and ain't coming out. It'll be a while before I can really have the time to listen to all this, 30 shows, jeez.

CD Storage

Wilfred, I also use a case similar to that. I bought one that holds maybe 500, but a binding ring in one of the sections broke due to putting too many CDs in the case - my lesson was you can't really put 500 in the model I bought (but I digress). I bought the case because I was inadvertently tearing up the cardboard CD cases like E72 and most other recent boxes come in, from taking the discs out and putting them back in repeatedly; and also, my CDs don't get all scratched up now, like a Road Trips special (what were those cases made out of? sandpaper?) But what is really awesome, is I am up to 3 cases now, and I decorated them with Grateful Dead stickers. They look almost as cool as the E72 trunk, although I had to use fabric glue on most of them to keep them sticking to the material of the case. Then I took the actual CD cases everything came in, and I have them lined up on my e-center shelves. Needless to say, none of this makes my wife happy, as it's all right smack in the middle of the family room, which I've commandeered as my man cave. She acted surprised when I took the shelves over, but really, what did she expect after I hung 24x18 inch pictures of each member of the Who (and various other rock memorabilia)?

10-27-91

If anyone wants to trade that ticket PM me

Thanks TheDude / The Single

I haven't opened the scroll yet. I know I won't be able to get it rolled back up correctly.... The gold record - my take on it was that the sleeve is supposed to stay inside so that the record does not get scratched when you take it out and put it back. I really like it, I think it looks awesome when you open up the box. BTW - a couple of areas on my box also have the overlay covering coming unglued a bit (Howie came unglued??? No!....) Up on the side of the lid and on one of the name tag covers. I keep pushing back in.....

My box

Seems to be moving right along. Last scanned departing from Hodgkins, IL.

wjonjd to the rescue?

Which is better - or are they the same? 1) Ripping to mp3 directly from source CD 2) Ripping to mp3 from WAV file that was ripped from source CD? I want an mp3 and WAV copy of each of my 30 Trips shows. Option #2 above is much faster - but am I losing audio quality? I use iTunes to do all of this. I Googled it, and it sounds like they should be the exact same quality, as WAV is an uncompressed lossless rendering of a store-bought CD; but I've seen you debunk a lot of logical suppositions I've had about audio quality in the past, so I thought I would run this one by you when you have a minute. Thanks!

Still nada...

The only thing I've gotten,like I mentioned earlier,was a ruse e-mail from DHL International saying it was here but there was nuttin'.Once again,crazy fingers crossed....

Hey lowspark....

....my precious is coming from Hodgkins as well. Perhaps they are strangers stopping strangers, just to shake their hands on the same truck. Lol!!!.... ....edit (duh again)....Lord, bless that truck and it's driver. You carry more special cargo in that rig than you realize....drive safe brother.... ....These are The Days Between....hell yeah!!....

Box set ticket stub history , got a good one by chance

Oakland 10/27/91.

Italy delivery ?

Not delivered yet, it should be here by Monday or Tuesday.The courier is DHL. Keeping my fingers crossed and...my wallet ready.Ouch!

O.K....

Got my shipping notice...hopefully tomorrow....definitely Monday.....enjoy folks.......

Everything looks great!

If they'd just surprised us with the tickets/passes I'd not care, but I got the Oregon '93 backstage pass, but no ticket. Everything else looks good though.

You guys saw it coming....

....not only Penn & VA, but UPS & DHL? I need some Motrin.....

0021

Number 21 arrived in Alabama today with a GA ticket for 1991/10/27. The first show is outstanding.

30 Trips Book

For those breaking up their box... I would like to purchase the book. Send a PM. NFA

Whoa!....

....I think I found my twin. ecb, you look familiar....

The last stand

Not sure I expected any less but yes - the remaining individual shows for sale are those 'classic' vince shows.... Shows: 90 - $35US 92 - $35US 93 - $35US 94 - $35US 95 - $35US Or $155 for all 5 90s shows above email me at gilmourstephen@hotmail.com Once they're gone - I'm gone - oh and One Man, Space Brother and boblopehope-ona-rope or whatever your name is - see y'all at the next limited edition ;)

Scroll

Not only did I not stream any of the music, I also didn't watch any of the seaside chats - I know the number appears on the scroll but what's the story with the "Miracle"? I'll be checking mine tomorrow.

DHL

Any other London based deadheads also getting hit with £77 duty charge? I thought it was included on shipping costs?

Marye

Please can you comment, I've just forked out another £88 duty charge, is this correct? Bummer I say if correct for UK heads. I'm moving back to Cali, F this can't afford to keep paying for extra duty. I'm happy the Dave's Pick's don't have a duty charge, although In the past my Road Trips did and i questioned that too and looks like i was paying extra, so that is why i am asking again?

Custom charges and ripping sound quality

To deal with two of the questions raised here:Customs charges are unavoidable on packages on this size and 88 quid seems about right. Nowadays small packets like the dps will slip thru the system as it is not worth the effort of recovering the various dues even though they recently changed the regulations in the uk anyway so that they could do this on such items. However, an item valued at 699 dollars and packaged in a huge box will not be "slipping thru" so we are stuck with the charges. On this international customers should check not only their mobile phones for text messages from Dhl but also their landline answering machines or message services - I got an audio message from Dhl giving details of how to pay the charges online. Don't wait for the email from dead.net to arrive. On ripping your CDs. For general use just rip to 320kps MPs. Unless you have bloody good hearing or a very good sound system you will not notice any drop in sound quality. For backup copies which can be used to burn new CDs for example or play on a high res machine ( assuming you haven't gone for the usb stick which contains actual high res files) rip to flac or wav or even just use the alac option on iTunes which will give you the same lossless quality with smaller files.

DHL and import charges

In Europe what you will pay to import this box is made up of three charges : 1. Import taxes (anywhere from 0% to 16% in my country). Fortunately these CDs are at 0% in my country. 2. Sales Tax (VAT, TVA, MwSt, BTW, MOMS etc etc) - 21% in my country. 3. DHL handling charges for dealing with 1 and 2 - € 14 in my country. It also depends on the value of the box - less than $ 25 or so and there's no charges. More than $ 25 and you get hit with 1 2 and 3. Doesn't matter whether it's a gift or not.

945 arrived!

Raining in Pittsburgh today. I was snoozing on the couch with my cat Jack snoozing on my chest. He suddenly jumped off me in fright which woke me up. I heard the sound of a truck driving away and saw it was the UPS guy. Peeked out the window and the box was sitting outside the door. Gotta thank Jack for not allowing box to get wet! I know I'm in the minority here but I've decided to listen chronologically to one show a week. Oughta keep me smiling thru another depressing Pittsburgh winter. Enjoy everybody!

@KeithFan, Steve Jones - ripping to Itunes

I don't think KeithFan was asking what quality settings to use in his mp3's, but rather, whether there is a quality difference when ripping to mp3 straight from CD, or converting wav to mp3, using iTunes. I use ITunes also, so after seeing Keithfan's comment, I did some testing with AudioInspector, and got results I was not expecting. I used the Music Never Stopped track from the '95 show in the 30 Trips box. First, just so you know what I used for testing, when ripping into ITunes to mp3 I use 256 vbr with all other settings set to highest quality - I've tested, and I cannot hear the difference between this and 320 cbr at all, and these are about 15% smaller files. Your mileage might vary. For this test I ripped directly from CD to ITunes mp3, and then used dbpoweramp to rip to wav file, then imported the file to iTunes and converted to mp3. The resulting mp3 are very similar (almost identical) in every respect except one - the total frequency range. For some reason the frequency range from low to high is 13,479hz ripping right from CD into ITunes mp3, but 15,202hz importing the wav file then having iTunes convert to mp3. The actual range analyzing the wav file ripped from CD is 16,322. It appears that having iTunes convert wav to mp3 is superior to having iTunes rip straight from CD to mp3. One other interesting thing I found. I found clipped samples in the iTunes mp3's regardless of direct from CD or from WAV, even though there are no clipped samples on the CD or in the extracted WAV file. One of the options under mp3 in iTunes that I use is the "Filter frequencies below 10Hz" option. These frequencies are completely inaudible, and the description of this option is: "Select to filter inaudible frequencies, which results in smaller, more efficient files without perceptible loss of quality." Well, it turns out that when I turn this option off, and use iTunes to rip from CD to mp3 or import the wav and convert to mp3, no more clipped samples! And, the mp3 files sizes were virtually identical with or without the 10hz option set. I will no longer be using this option. To answer your question, since you're already ripping to wav anyway, having iTunes create mp3 from the wav files is actually superior (and faster) than having iTunes rip directly from CD to mp3. I tried to determine why it was truncating frequencies (it wasn't the 10hz option which had no effect on this), but there is no option that accounts for this. It just does it. As Steve mentioned, you may as well store your lossless backup files in a lossless compressed format, like flac, shn, or apple's lossless (alac). I'm assuming you are not using the lossless files as your iTunes database or you wouldn't be doing both mp3 and lossless, so any of the above lossless formats would work fine, and make your files almost half as large. Apple products won't play any lossless compressed formats directly except alac, but several other players will play flac directly without your having to uncompress them first. Hope that helps!

DaveStrang, Richard

I sent you a PM. :-)Nice to see so many people happy to have received the magic box! Alice, like you, I'll listen chronologically to one show a week.

ID tags

It's weird, because the CD player in my car showed song information. So it's on the discs somewhere.

Passes

Haven't received boxzilla yet but would love to trade for 6/21/93 pass - my first and only show. Will update when mine arrives.

Customs charges

Steve, did you go ahead and pay the charge online? And do we have to do this before they will deliver? DHL couldn't tell me anything when I called them....

Like Xmas in October

So glad to hear about the excitement everyone has over receiving 30T. Nothing here in ATL as yet. I'll check status today. Funny, the UPS van sped past my house just as I got home from work yesterday and you should have seen the frown on my face. Thanks to Jon for the mp3 experiment outcomes. That is a lesson. And I agree, just rip them to lossless first. Storage is cheap, and you'll want those lossless files as backup to the CDs. Then you can convert if you need smaller files for portability. Although - I use my iPhone (5S) to hold ALAC files and they work great. Plugged into the car stereo with a USB cable, it's like Carnegie Hall in the cab of my Tacoma. The lying, supremely annoying bandit is asleep now, down under, dreaming his bogan dreams. But he'll be back, as promised. Get your Vince era shows at his "final" price while you still can!

@william

I deleted my response because it was incorrect. There was an update to Redbook standard that includes CD-Text to store album name, track names, and some other info. These are not ID tags. The CD-Text is not what computer software like iTunes, winamp, etc, uses - these pull info from internet databases, although some can also read CD-Text. But, stereos, cars CD players, etc., read the CD-Text information from the CD.

Why does it come from VA?

Musictoday is an entertainment marketing company located in Crozet, near Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded and run by Coran Capshaw, the manager of Dave Matthews Band. It is now owned by Live Nation. It also distributes Zappa.com, Hendrix.com, Govt Mule and many other bands web sites that offer stores. Rhino uses them for distribution for GD.net too, but don't mention it. I also suspect they are the people that "manage" this site for Rhino as all customer service phone calls are handled in VA.

The Music

Once the Box is received, the decisions begin as to what to listen to. My order thus far: 2 22 69, 4 15 70 (incredible Other One jam), 10 3 76 (1st disc), 9 28 75, 9 18 74 ... The Dijon 1st set is amazing right out of the gate, UJB Jack Straw Friend of the Devil BTW and Scarlet Begonias, epic

ID Tags & CD Text

wjonjd & william.jasinski - thanks for sharing! So, wjojnd, shouldn't my bluray read the CD Text info like a car CD player? Because it isn't. And this is the only thing I've bought from dead.net that didn't have the ID tags when I imported them into iTunes. Very odd. Lots and lots of typing and double verifying correct input ahead . . .

DHL and import charges

DHL said that would send me an SMS with details how to pay. Until you pay they won't deliver. I guess the SMS will give you a payment reference for their website for payment by Credit Card.

#4692 arrived

Ticket was 5/27/93, pretty cool to get a released show ticket, and the backstage pass was 3/22/95, which, since I'm a NC guy is awesome. The book is engrossing, only read the show notes in the .pdf, so the essay is fantastic, especially holding that awesome book. I've ripped the shows from '66-73, and will start burning them after work. I listened to '66 through my studio monitors last night, and it sounded great! Still planning to listen in order. Right now, since I'm at work for another 7 hours, I'll just start my stream back up. Almost done with 1985. :)

g1u2i3

When you imported to iTunes it didn't pull any tags because no one has uploaded them to Gracenotes yet. I will get might up there. I don't know about the bluray player reading CD-Text. I know that not all players read CD-Text. Final Edit: I've got 66-95 all uploaded to gracenotes. **Also, if you get the ones I uploaded, it will be in my slightly odd format. The albums names I use are just "67/11/10 Los Angeles, CA Shrine Auditorium" as one example. I change most "and" to "&", and I don't use any "->". Whenever a track is split, like say Dark Star, then second piece will say "Dark Star (reprise)". You can always upload your own, too!

wjonjd

I'm glad your uploading them,,, takes a while to type all that shit in,,, I know because I've type a shitload of stuff in. I'm also a nut for consistency in my labeling. I vary on "and" and "&", depends on how it looks when done. I use Samson & Delilah, but Cold Rain and Snow. "and", "for" and "the" are usually lower case (unless first word) All "album" names in folders and id tags are "YYYY-MM-DD - Venue - City, ST" I use "->" in id tag titles and just "-" in file names (wish they make ">" an acceptable character. Whenever a " " " is needed I use " ' ",,, it allows ' in file name, but not ". I almost never use "reprise". The thing about labeling is it all done the same way, people don't like my way they can change it, I done the hard work and gathered it all up. I've gotten several large collections over the years handed to me to "merge" into my collection. A very labor intense effort, you just can't "copy", you'd end up with dupes. So you really need to sort thru every file before adding to what you got. I check both copies and see who has the best and most complete. But what amazes me is most people have NO order, they have folders of copies within folders of copies. Someone handed me their collection once, said they had 200,000 songs. I started sorting thru them found two instances where they had copied their stuff to a folder inside of their stuff. Like that was a backup! The amount of times I find people just rip their stuff to audio track 1, audio track 2, audio track 3,,,etc for every album they have! I even go thru the trouble of looking up tracks. If I get a live album with track 1, track 2, track 3,,,etc. I will listen to the songs and type chunks into google to try and figure out what song it is so I can label it properly. Oh well, everyone has an obsession. But I say god bless the labelers for they shall inherit order!

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