Well, at least I didn't buy the $700 one: 30 trips around the sun, lots of upsampling and weirdness

[wgscott]

I should know better by now. This is the condensed "best of" version of the $700 live release box set, so it only cost me $41 on dead.net (or $50 on HDtracks). Nonetheless, it gives you one track from each year, so you get an idea of the quality control, or lack thereof, for the $700 version.

 

Here are some samples, taken at random:

 

 

[wgscott]

 

[wgscott]

 

 

[wgscott]

So of the seven I picked at random, a grand total of TWO look like the real deal.

 

The third one is especially weird.

[wgscott]

One of which I posted, but I never understood it. Thanks for the explanation.

[wgscott]

All this says is that you are better off buying the CD resolution version. It sounds fine. My quibble is with the extra money I paid for higher resolution; you aren't getting anything more in most cases.

[wgscott]

The point of the graphs is to see whether the extra content that they are charging extra for is really there or not. In most of these examples, it is not. The conclusion is that you might be better off doing what you did, which is to get the CD resolution version. This should make you feel better. You didn't miss out on anything.

 

The point of the graphs is not to determine whether it sounds good or not. The sound quality is not something that can be represented in a spectral graph (although if the recording is defective, that might show up).

[wgscott]

I wonder what they think of number 1 and number 7 (the first two I posted)?

 

Still, this is a major step forward for them.

[wgscott]

Good spot. I was trying to do it while my wife was nagging me to do something else like take the trash out.

[wgscott]

That was my point. I do not feel money always related to graphs directly. "Phoney merchandise"... this is market, and in case of Dead not just market at all. This dance band granted permission to tape their music free of charge from sound boards for decades. Now feel free to pay extra for new GD box set or not to pay, nobody pushed to do this.

 

If you purchased your CDs only to find they were stamped out from 128 kbps compressed mp3s, would you still feel the same way?

[wgscott]

I went for the redbook for all things Beck. He seems to like compression. Maybe it is a Scientology thing.

[wgscott]

In the 1970s, General Motors started putting Chevy engines in their Oldsmobiles without telling their customers.

 

Presumably only the customers who looked would care. Were they disfunctional as you describe, or was GM culpable?

 

Are people who use Audacity or similar software to look at the content of their downloads really the equivalent of animal abusers? Kind of a funny 'argument' to make.

[wgscott]

The lesson I learned from this: If there is any doubt, buy the CD (or CD-resolution download), save money, and enjoy the music.

[wgscott]

I was going to say that last time I ordered cannelloni, it turned out to be up-sampled bucatini.

 

But then I saw he wrote cannoli.

[wgscott]

1 hour ago, SrMead said:

 

Interesting!  What software are those screenshots from?  --thanks!

 

Audacity, which is free:  https://www.audacityteam.org

 

 

[wgscott]

Back on my ignore list.