Dear Zappa.com,
I'm over the moon excited about this 'high resolution' audio release featuring not 1, not 2, not 3.... but 6 complete Frank Zappa concert performances and what a great way to experience being a rich fan at the time and seeing every show every night. Frank never performed the same show exactly the same and each concert I hear has fun surprises on top of superb improvisational solo's which make each concert unique. For those that are not aware there are already 2 High Resolution 24bit recordings available on DVD-Audio. These are Halloween 78 and Quadiophiliac both highly recommended and stunning concerts I listen to frequently. These are in 24bit/96KHz audio.
I'd like to clarify some points on this superb looking box set.
1. The USB stick is an excellent idea and I have no issue at all using this(for those that are not aware if your Bluray player has a USB socket in it, the chances are it will be able to play 24bit audio and pipe it through a HDMI output. This will save you even needing a computer to listen to these no doubt hidden treasures(although as there's a booklet in digital form on the stick, you may need a computer to view that(some players can view PDF files so perhaps you will not)). My only concern is that unlike a well looked after Record or CD, a digital USB stick can become corrupted. Would Zappa.com provide a service where you could send in your faulty stick and have it replaced with a non-corrupted one if this occured for say a postage fee indefinitely?
2. OK, the recording is 24bit, however what sample rate is it in? I'm assuming 96KHz, but perhaps you could have gone all out and are giving us a full on 192KHz WAV files to enjoy. (Fingers crossed). For those that may not be aware, there are many benefits with having high sample rate audio, especially from master tapes. Essentially this is actually the digital version of Vinyl quality without the pops and clicks and with the added benefit of full dynamic range in the recordings(CD's are certainly not capable of this and while a Vinyl's frequency range is amazing, it's dynamic range is limited. There is no limitation with a high definition digital audio recording.).
3. Could this release or future releases like it perhaps consider high definition Bluray as a possible option for the high definition audio delivery?
4. Is the 3CD version just sample tracks from the larger full blown box set collection or are there some tracks on the CD's that are not on the USB stick? (I hope not as that would force me to want both and the CD tracks will not be in the same high quality audio as the high res digital album.
5. Is it possible that the entire Frank Zappa catalogue could see a mega USB stick collection format some day, all in 24bit/192KHz releases from the master tapes? I've been trying to obtain the re-release vinyl to compliment the entire catalogue on CD as to me Vinyl is far better than CD but to have a digital version that would not wear out like Vinyl would be AMAZING!!!
Finally thank you for bringing this out, I'm certain many Zappa fans out there are going to be on clouds of joy about this and I'm really looking forward to hearing the performances. Baby Snakes is a superb concert so I look forward to seeing what other amazing things Frank did on stage in these performances. Halloween music for people who do stuff that is not normal!!!!

Sean.