Zappa.com

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.

Everything on the three CD version will be on the stick. It appears to be the full Halloween show (10/31/77) with select bonus tracks from the previous show (10/30/77).



Good questions regarding the USB stick becoming corrupted. This has always been my hesitation to purchase USB stick audio releases.

Well that's great news about the 3CD version being simply parts of the full collection. My question came about as the version of King Kong on CD 3 for example goes for 8:17, while the version on the stick goes for 8:45. It must be that the track is cut short to fit on the CD, while the version in the collection will have some extra sounds from the crowd cheering or something like that.

Pre-ordered the 6-disc box today.

I'm pretty sure you didn't, but if you say so!

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Don't Be Stupid Unless You Want To

Oh - it's the stick. Hmmmm - cancel that order, I'll wait until later.

That t-shirt looks worth a hundred bucks, alone.

The costume artwork design sort of has a "Ren and Stimpy" vibe to it. The shirt looks like Ren's peck implants.

For those that may not be aware I offer this advice to ensure the longevity of your High Resolution USB Stick audio recording.

If you are using the stick with a Bluray or DVD player or other HiFi USB stick socket I recommend the following:
To safely unplug the stick.
1. Stop the playback.
2. Switch off your device.
3. Unplug your stick.
(Some higher quality HiFi devices have a safe remove button, so you can use that to safely unplug the stick, the above tips are for the more common cheaper hardware.)

If using with a computer.
To safely unplug the stick.
1. Ensure you use the 'Safely remove Device' icon in the lower right of your task bar which will un-mount the stick and declare it is now safe to remove it.

Following these methods will ensure you don't end up with errors caused by incorrectly removing the stick.

While many folks have declared that hot pluggable and ripping them out willy nilly has never affected them, it is definately recorded that data corruption has resulted on a number of sticks by not following these simple precautions. So why take the risk? Keep your shiny stick data perfect and you'll be singing 'Oh Punky.' to it for years to come.

Dear Zappa.com,
Could please look into the HiFi247's postage costs. I went to place a pre-order on this awesome box set only to discover at checkout that there most cost effective shipping method would be $71.15USD to my address in Australia????

Sure postage is not as cheap as it once was but 1 T-shirt, a plastic mask, USB stick and a cardboard box will most definately not weigh that much, in fact it should work out much lighter than if the concert was shipping on 14 CD's that's for sure.

While I'm keen to pre-order this box set, I'm sure you can understand my slight hesitation when the postage will be almost the same price as the actual set!!!!!

Thank you,
Sean.

Well the podcast on ZappaCast Episode 34 has answered my 2nd question. Question 4 is also answered in this podcast and it's verified that you will not be missing anything if your not purchasing the USB stick for the CD's instead. The USB stick is the way to go because you get EVERYTHING they transferred(a full 6 concerts.) Joe Travers mentions he left it as raw as possible to capture exactly what was captured. Full on process, they had to bake the tapes before they could use them. Hopefully with the Zappa Vault Restoration we will be seeing a lot more of this material surfacing.

The details of the recordings are: 24bit at 44.1KHz sampled audio. A touch cheesed it's not at least 96KHz but hey it will still be great to hear these concerts for the very first time.

I guess the reckoning for this might be to ensure maximum playability on multiple devices. Any incite would be appreciated Zappa.com

Oh and guys as I didn't receive a response in time for my excited trigger happy (and mega keen to get these recordings) purchase finger, so I checked out Amazon which also features a pre-order locked in guaranteed price point.

The postage from Amazon was set at $9.60USD, saving me a whopping $61.55 USD (This is almost $90 Australian.)

So fellow fans I have to say, avoid the zappa.com store which sends you to HiFi24/7 and go to Amazon instead because there more in tune with postage costs.

PRE-ORDERED and looking forward to hearing the recordings. I'll give a full review when it arrives and I can listen to it.

Joe Travers mentions another similar release will be coming out in December. Anyone care to guess what it could be????

I've never transferred music from a flash drive to iTunes on an iMac before. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!

Get rid of itunes. Transfer your music into a new folder. Get a portable media player that plays lossless files.

MusicBee is the best i've seen and used. Great for large libraries.

https://www.getmusicbee.com/

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"Welcome to the Frank Zappa Memorial Country Club & BBQ" at wgt.com 75 members and counting.

For those that are umming and arring, check out this low-fi clip from this concert featuring Frank's legendary instrumental solo 'Black Napkins.'!!!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99TEFsL-S4o

Still waiting for the damn thing to ship.

Arrived yesterday!

in iTunes go to File > Add to Library. Then, navigate to the files you want to import on the usb. Click Open.

My friend got his today. Mask and all. I'll have it on my iPod tonight!

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But is he going to let you borrow his mask?

I held the mask. Did not borrow it, though.
We listened to two shows and started a third, but I left around 10.30pm with one full show in the iPod. You can hear when it's a song used in Baby Snakes. Sometimes the solo sections are different.

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Got mine yesterday. The tagging for the files is a bitch. Converted the files to Flac (lossless), hoping the tags would be automatic....but noooooo!

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"Welcome to the Frank Zappa Memorial Country Club & BBQ" at wgt.com 75 members and counting.

This couldn't be easier. Insert the flash drive and wait for it to mount. Open iTunes and select Add to Library... in the File menu. Navigate to the flash drive, select the first folder then click open. It will import all the contained files as wavs intact. The files will all be named correctly and imported in the correct order. You can then select all those tracks together, and Command I brings up the info dialog so you can put Halloween 1977 in the album name, Frank Zappa as the composer, disc 1 of 6 and so on - it's up to you at this point.

Repeat with the other five folders.

Now, if you want ACC versions or mp3 versions or whatever, select Preferences... from the iTunes menu and click on the General icon. In the bottom right hand corner above the OK button is the Import Settings... button. Here you can set all your import preferences exactly the way you like them. Then you can select the imported wav files and use the Create ... Version in the Convert sub menu of the File menu (the ... will be whichever type you set in the Import Settings), to create copies that you can then load onto an iPhone or iPod or whatever.

It doesn't do FLAC.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Any suggestions for disc splits? I'd rather burn them to play in my car?

I saw or read somewhere that the Box Set Halloween mask wavkey was a limited edition release. If so, how many are we talking about? Or did my mind just do gravity vortex again?

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"Welcome to the Frank Zappa Memorial Country Club & BBQ" at wgt.com 75 members and counting.