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"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
1974 Vocals
OK, fair enough. But why pick that concert if the vocals are poor ?
@drsox
The powers that be have a few criteria they have to weigh for releasing shows, overall sound quality, completeness, quality of the playing, flaws. Remember, these recordings were never made for release, so they are working with limitations.
I haven't made it to this show yet, but the setlist looks stellar and is one that stood out from the rest, to me. I will go out on a limb and assume the playing in the rest of the show justified looking past the technical limitations.
@drsox pt 2
I will commiserate with you, though. Damn shame to have lost the vocals to those tunes. Wish it could have been a "Looks Like Rain" or MAMU.
@matchewy
Yes, you must be right, but I'm half way through CD3 now and nothing so far makes up for the poor vocals. The listing is a good one, but I've heard better versions on earlier years' CDs.
Main mic seems to be on the bass, so "all" the tracks are distorted, some more than others.
@drsox again
The other issue is some shows that are really great to some are not really great to others, in regards to the playing. It is very subjective. I've heard Heads rave on here about DaP's that I found "meh". But, it's music, and we have a lot to listen to with the Grateful Dead. I think a lot probably goes into our subjective experiences of what we like and what we can live without.
Decisions decisions 10/27/79 or 10/27/90
One of my initial attractions to this 30 Trips box is that it included 10/27/79 AND 10/27/90. I'm familiar with the 79 show quite well, the last time I played it was this past May and I thought to myself that this would make a great Dave's Pick someday. Well in June of this year I wish came true. The 1990 Paris show, I am not familiar at all, but in my humble opinion, it's up there with the Spring 1990 boxes. With 10/27 being my birthday, I still haven't made up my mind on which one to play (first)
Should I go with 1979 1st or 1990 1st? Any ideas?
Probably I will have just have enough time for one show.
SQ issues and other complaints - we need to make up our minds
Many of us would like certain box sets as possibilities. Some of us look forward to particular shows to be released as affordable stand-alones. Either way, most of us have said that, for really hot shows, please release them eve if they have some issues.
But, as soon as they do, people complain about it. In this case two short songs have almost inaudible vocals.
Many have called for the complete April 71 Fillmore East run that Ladies and Gents was culled from. Do we really? Shortly after release of such a wonderbox will be complaints, because you can be sure there is a technical anomaly or two during the run. So, let's speak up now: should they hold back a show from that box? How about delete those tracks from the box?
In the recent case, the 74 show from the latest box, we have a box set treatment, and complaints because this show has a fairly short glitch. BUT, how about if they used this show as a stand alone Dave's Picks? Don't you think we would hear the same complaint? Why not pick a different show?
And by that logic EVERY unreleased show that has some technical glitches would be excluded in favor of ones that don't. I'm guessing there are FAR more that have glitches than don't.
You want them to release shows based on how great they are deemed (and someone(s) will always be deciding which are great, and some folks won't agree - nothing can change that), or do you want them disqualified for a few glitches, waiting until all technically flawless shows are released (years down the road).
We need to make up our minds. Because every time they release a show with glitches, there follows not just questions regarding whether the glitch appears on everyone's copies (a natural question), but questions about releasing the show at all.
I don't want to upset anyone, but we can't have it both ways. We can't keep posting our wish lists, discussing how great it would be to get a hot unreleased show from such and such season of such and such year, or salivate over returned tape stashes with previously unheard goodies, and then complain about some technical glitches. If a show is truly unusable (loud buzz throughout for example), I get it. But vocals on two short tracks? Sorry, I don't get that. Should this show wait for 20 more years to come out?
Others may feel differently. I don't see how TPTB can satisfy both those who won't tolerate these glitches AND those who want Dave et al to pick the shows they think most worthy. They can't do both.
hbob1995 - TC and Hornsby
I really don't think anyone dropped the ball, and no one should feel ashamed, at least not over the names on the box, for a very simple reason.
TC was an official member of the Grateful Dead for a time. Even if Bruce played more shows (I never checked), by mutual consent, he and the band decided he would be a guest at all times. Even during his main stint from fall of 90 thru sometime in 92, there were periods that this left him free to decide NOT to travel with the band so he could pursue something else even though they had scheduled shows to do.
Those names around the base of the box are the band. The Grateful Dead. One can argue they should have used other criteria, but the criterion was who was in the band.
Should they really feel ashamed? Those names on the bottom are all those who chose to be in the band. I don't think they screwed up.
The '74 Show From 30 Trips
For my part, I don't mind the vocal drop-out, considering how much better the overall sound quality of this show is. For example, if I had to pick between the '74 show from 30 Trips, and either DaP 2 or DP 31, I would go with this 30 Trips show. The overall sound quality of this Dijon show is so good for a '74 release, that I can actually enjoy it. I guess it's all relative. If I was sitting on half a dozen other '74 shows that sounded as good as Dijon, I would probably wonder why a show with vocal dropouts was chosen...but I'm willing to trade those vocal dropouts for the stellar sound of the rest of the show, given the relative unavailability of good sounding '74 shows.
74 Dijon
Yeah, it helps that I loved this show. Even though there's no Dark Star (only a few did in 74), and no Other One, the jams in Playin', and Eyes are predictably (or is that unpredictably?) unique and transportive. And I love the rare for the time Caution Jam, and just the fact that they're playing really well all night (imho). And I love the sound quality of this show.
Edit: I don't think I would pick it over DP31, though. I'd rather full shows of that run, but that's some magic stuff. DaP2 I think is on par with the Dijon show, and contains some juicy goods. Shit, I'm no good at at picking one show over another except in rare cases.
30 Trips overall
I'm on my second trip around the box, and I can't believe how excellent this set is overall. Great job by all responsible, and a big thank you.
'74 Dijon
I would have to agree with a few of you guys... I think the two songs with missing vocals is a pretty minor inconvenience. The playing on those songs is great, and we've heard these songs so many times that our brains pretty much just fill in the vocals anyway. In the spirit of what wjonjd said, it's all live recordings that weren't necessarily ever intended for commercial release. Sometimes the warts and pimples add to the ambiance of a show. Helps you to remember what you're listening to. And yeah, a few such issues in a box of 80 cds covering 30 concerts is a pretty small thing in the grand scheme of the release. Of course I'd like a flawless show, but I'd rather have the imperfections than to never get to hear it at all.
i have a question
I have a friend, who was wondering and I realized I have no clue as to the answer. Any help would be appreciated.
Can you play the Lightning Bolt in Itunes?
Can you play it on an Ipod?
More generally how do you get Itunes to play flac files.
I know there is a codec to get Windows mediaplayer to play flac files, is there a similar codec for Itunes or an Ipod?
Thanks in advance for the help.
30 Trips Emergency!
hey folks,I don't post much here but I read sometimes. I've bought most of these cd's without problem over the years... until now.
The biggest most expensive set is missing 1 cd!
These things for me are family heirlooms. It's a great set.
I have received a response from customer service (not super reassuring).
The question is, have any of you had luck getting a replacement disc from one of these limited deals?
Should I remain calm or start freaking out? MaryE?
thanks
Ben
Re: Emergency
Relax, Garcia.. I have had a couple discs replaced over the years and I am sure you are in good hands.
PM MaryE or if you go down this thread a page or two you will find Dr. Rhino's email.
You will get a replacement.
Re: Kayak Guy - Flac and ITunes
Damn Apple!
They are not currently supporting Flac files, favoring their own ALAC format.
If you have a Mac, you can trick ITunes to play Flac's, but its involved and a bit complicated. A google or two should get you there.
If you use a PC w/ Windows, people are either converting to .wav's or ALAC's and then playing from ITunes or throwing their computers out the window and forming drum circles.
I have done both in the past I finally broke down and bought a Fiio player to listen to my high def files. For what its worth, the Fiio sounds better and plays louder although the software is not as user friendly. Apple should be worried a bit about this.
What a pain in the arse. Come on Apple!! Open it up a bit.
Alright.. back to the music.
flac files
Thanks Jim, that was what I thought but wanted to make sure.
I use a Sansa player for portable music and it plays Wav or Flacs.
My only experience with ALAC files had mircogaps at the track markers and caused pops when listening to multiple track jams.
1983 Truckin
"ever since she went and got her frontal lobes changed, all a friend can say is aint it a shame". Gotta love those lyrical variants.
ITunes - Gaps Between Songs
There is a setting somewhere, gap between songs. You set it to no gap once and transitions are as seamless at a Tetzeli master thereafter.
(hope you found some humor in that).
Re: ALAC vs. flac
Thanks for this info, it is good to know and I enjoy the collaborations.
JimInMD, I'll donate my old desktop to that drum circle.
Riverbend Cincinnati Ohio 6/24/85
First off, this Boxset is amazing. Unreal. So far, my favorite is 1974-France.
My question is on the 6/24/85 show. Please note I'm not making any claims that 80s suck and any of that. Frankly the band sounds way better than I expected.
My question is does Bobby's vocals sound like it's in a reverb echo like tunnel? Jerry doesn't and the band as a whole sounds great. The vocals for Bobby seem off. Check out Brother Esau as an example. Is your copy have this? Is this a typical complaint of 80's recordings much like Wall of Sound "ssssss" because they had to kiss the mics? In any event, great stuff all around.
Lastly, I am selling a few of the shows that I'll never listen too. PM me with a want list and maybe I can hook you up.
Thanks,
Diggey
Diggitey Diggity - Bobby's Sound
Healy was known to play with Bobby's vocals a good bit during these years.
Not sure if that's the case on this show.. but its pretty well documented that Healy used to play with effects on Bobby's vocals for probably a host of reasons. Its likely one of the factors that contributed to his ultimate departure from the band.
30 trips progress report
I took the '75 trip today. There is X-factor permeating all throughout this show. Was anyone on this board there? What a blast everyone seems to be having, you can hear the band just beaming. It really comes through on the recording. It's so wonderful to hear the band in such fine, happy form (especially Jerry). TLEO really stands out for me. Before BIODTL, Bob promises to bring out all the old chestnuts they can remember and then he says 'You all would not be cheering if you know what that means.' What a fantastic concert, an event. Truckin'>Jam>Stronger Than Dirt is tight. Keith isn't as much of a presence, at least I cannot bring to mind his playing. I need to listen back, I think it is just the mix. But, this one is an all-timer and well worth many returns.
So far, I've hit the '76, '83, and '75 and I've embarked on the '77 set. I've made it through Looks Like Rain, and it sounds like Donna is on her game. The Mama Tried is fantastic. I already am familiar with set II of this show and its quintessential 1977 big jam, but it's fun to discover this first set. I don't know where I'm going yet after '77 (maybe back to '80's?), but I sure am enjoying the trips so far!
Born Cross-Eyed
You needn't place such trivial limitations, why not '72, '73, '79 and '90?http://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1972/10/27
http://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1973/10/27
I know what forensicdoceleven would say...
http://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1971/10/27
Happy b-day btw...
Silver Lining
So I was the beneficiary of a tonsillectomy last Thursday and the only good thing I have to say about it is I have had some substantial alone down time with my new box set! I have gone in order and just finished 86' which I really liked. Funny because I was at Cal Expo the next year and remember people talking about the weird no encore the previous year.
My initial thoughts so far is I love 71, 73 and 79. Just having one listen through, but there seem to be some real classics in pretty much each show. My daughter was laughing at me when I was so amazed during a Eyes jam one night.
Thank you Dead for the amazing music! You have made my recovery much more tolerable.
Play FLAC in iTunes?
Hi Kayak Guy. I'm on the Mac side, and I use a program called XLD to convert FLAC files to AIFF, which can play in iTunes.http://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html
I'm not completely up-to-date, but I'm pretty sure this is still accurate information:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2493126?start=0&tstart=0
I hope that helps, and enjoy your music!
re Play FLAC in iTunes?
Kayak Guy - GratefulDoug has the right idea, XLD is the way to go on the Mac.
A couple of additional points, especially for the Lightning Bolt. In the preferences, where it says "Output format" you can set it for "Apple Lossless" and do a straight transcode from FLAC ending up with files the same size (roughly) as the FLAC original with identical file quality. Or you can set for WAV or AIFF based on your personal preferences, the files will be larger, but with very slightly better sound, depending on your audio set up (WAV is less robust for metadata, but probably better for the low end of the audio spectrum).
Which ever output format selected, it is necessary to click the "option" button and be sure that it is set "Same as original" for both sample rate and bit depth. Otherwise you might end up with converted 44.1/16 bit files.
The other significant preference that I set is "Maximum # Threads" - I set it for "1" Priority "Normal". Nothing to do with playback quality, it is to minimize disc fragmentation and improve long term file integrity at the expense of somewhat slower transcode time.
Re: WillfredJones / Rare Bird
I like Bruce's accordion playing as well.. but I love his piano playing.
@ziffle
I think that was a very helpful and informative post to answer the conversion question.
I would just like to make one correction about a frequently misunderstood element of lossless encoding, like flac, alac, etc.
The playback software and/or hardware decodes(decompresses) these files BEFORE sending the data stream to the digital-analog converter (DAC). In other words, the stream of 1's and 0's sent to the DAC is identical whether you use wav, flac, apple lossless, aiff, etc. it is therefore impossible for there to be differences in things like the low-end response, or even slight differences in audio quality, Some people think that because the decrompession requires processing power, that this could affect sound quality. This is also basically incorrect. If the processing couldnt keep up with sending a constant stream, there wouldnt be a loss in what most people usually think of as sound quality; rather it would be a series of audible pauses, highly and immediately noticeable. No one notices these because it doesnt happen due to modern processors, buffering, etc. It is possible you could purposely set a pc/mac to do so much processing by loading multiple other processor intensive tasks (like solving multiple numerical analysis approximations simultaneously) to force this type of result, but i dont think this is what most people are thinking about when discussing relative sound quality of lossless compressed vs uncompressed formats.
So, it is a myth that these sound different. If you were to put a program that captures the data stream being sent to the DAC, and compared the streams from wav, aiff, alac, flac, they would all be identical as they are sent to the DAC. This is why it is silly to think they can sound different. Identical data streams means identical sound information. The entire point of lossless compression is that they decode to the original exactly, in the same way that a zip file decodes to the original data. If a zip file didnt decode absolutely exactly every single time, all programs zipped then unzipped would be corrupted. The decompression of a lossless audio file is the same concept. It recreates the original before being sent to the converter to be converted to an analog signal.
1972-09-24 Jack Straw
At about the 3:40 mark there is a heinous sound that starts. Is everyone else hearing this or is it just my copy?
72 Jack Straw sound
Yes, its in the recording. It actually stars before the 3:40 mark, but gets louder and more noticeable as it goes forward. Kind of a high pitched airy squeal, right? Its gone on the next track.
Re: Bruce
I didn't mean to imply that i dont think of Bruce as part of the GD family. I think of him as a member of the band.
I was just explaining why it was silly for anyone to be ashamed he was left off the names on the bottom of the box. The name Grateful Dead has a legal meaning at any given point in time, and they included everyone who was ever an actual member of the band in those terms. I believe they've stated that they asked him to become a member and he declined, preferring a kind of continual guest status until he felt like moving on.
@Ziffle wjonjd (decoding - transcoding)
wjonjd,
Yes, after decoding the streams are supposed to be identical. The devil is in the details, in this case, the decoding and intent of the original format.
Is AIF decoded the same as WAV? Does decoding ALAC or FLAC result in identical data? There is endless (and acrimonious!) debate on various audio boards on this topic. Aside from debate, there are also endlessly unlimited configurations of audio gear, room interactions, not to mention loudspeakers.
I leave it this way - as your ears/mind prefer. I have a preference for WAV. Is it imaginary? I don't know, but I don't think so. Do these various file formats sound the same? I do not believe that they sound the same, but perhaps I am mistaken. Can it be determined objectively? I do not see any possible way to determine this objectively. The measurements will always depend upon the instruments used (meaning, decoding software, DACs etc). Speaking of DACs, there are also differences. A 24 bit DAC resolves differently from a 32 bit DAC. Can anyone hear the difference? Don't know, but they are different.
Live and let live! If you find no difference in formats, viva la no difference and stay with FLAC or ALAC. If you have a preference for WAV (or AIF), go for it!
It is my understanding that the encoding protocols for FLAC favor file storage, not playback; that AIF was originally intended for analog FM radio use and decodes with the low end slightly rolled off, and that WAV will provide a better low end. Of course I could be wrong, but I always let my personal perceptions be my guide, whether they are real, imaginary, or some combination.
Cheers, Zif.
Hi Zif
Thanks for taking my post in the spirit intended.
Yes, there is much debate, but it is silly as is much of the "controversy" in audiophile circles. Fortunately, this is one of the easiest to clearly lay to rest.
You can get many binary file comparison programs that just show you any and all differences in the 1's and 0's between any two files. So, you can take a wav, convert it to flac, then convert that back to wav (or capture the data beint output by media player for example to the dac), and compare the original wav to the wav you get after going back and forth from flac (as just one example).
This can be done quickly. The devil is in the details, and in this case the details will be identical each and every time.
Fc /b
On a pc you can use "fc /b". Fc stands for file compare. To see some samples of what you would get if two files were different, make some text document, copy it to another file, change a letter in it, resave it, and do an fc /b on the two files
If you do this same experiment with different formats of lossless audio, convert them (as many times as like) from one to another, finally ending on wav, then do it again starting with the original file, convert it as many times as you like from one lossless format to another, ending on wav, then file compare (fc /b) the resultant two wav files, it will tell you "no differences encountered." This as actually down the binary level. No differences.
Edit: the /b stands for binary. Without the /b it assumes you are doing a text comparison.
Edit2: You are mistaken about flac being anything other lossless. Lossless is literal. It means that when it decompresses there is zero loss of the original binary data. Anything that favors storage space over quality is "lossy". None of the formats being discussed are lossy.
Edit3!!!! Sorry :). In this case, unlike so many other audio debates, you actually can very easily objectively prove this.
Tech talk by wjonjd and ziffle....
....you two lost me a loooong time ago. I'm a simple man, who, when he wants to listen to music, pops a cd in his player and hits that arrow button. Easy peasy....
@wjonjd epistemologically speaking
Hey wjonjd - I think we are veering into epistemological and metaphysical territory. I imagine that we would have had great raging and productive arguments over many [name your poison] back in the days.
I was going to suggest, let's consider the potential application of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle on your example of "objectively" determining the contents of a stream, but I guess I'm going to have to go with the person that suggested, just let the CD play (I'd say, file from USB, but apparently my enjoyment of 30 Trips is going to be vicarious for the indeterminate future :).
One last tech talk for tonight
I just took a wav converted to flac then back to wav and did a file compare. I had forgotten that different converters can put some info into the header or footer of the files. These are areas that are not used for audio production at all, but can store information like name of audio track, etc.
So the built in fc /b will find differences.
However, i used vBinDiff, a free download, that highlights all differences at a binary level between two files, and you can see that the only differences were in the header and footer info. No differences whatsoever in the body of the audio file.
I used Pete Seeger's Where Have All The Flowers Gone :)
Edit: i just saw your epistemological suggestion. It sounds much more enjoyable then this tech crap.
I forgot you didnt get your 30 trips yet did you? Ouch!!!
I can no longer think of Heisenberg without thinking of crystal meth - you know the show:)
One more tech tip....
....if your disc has a scratch, use paste type toothpaste (not gel), and rub from the inside out. Rinse off from the tap. There ya go....now excuse me, St. Stephen just reached orbit....
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