Dick's / Dave's picks

Lucky you, boxer12. You got to see them -and the scene- before the influx. My first show was spring ‘88...then I didn’t stop much, when not in school —and while in school ;) 
But at this stage in the game, IMO, a ‘late bloomer’ is one that did not get to see Jerry live. There are many of those now.

jafant,
I just finished that show yesterday on my start to finish Europe ‘72... sorry I can’t help ya but all those shows are on nugs.net if yer ok with paying for it. 

Hello Jafant.....take a listen to it and let me know what you think.  

Garebear I 100% agree with your take on this one.  

If I had to pick one show that I really enjoy and have since my college days in the 
80's with a horrible bootleg cassette in the vw cassette deck it would be the Cornell show in 77. I have a lot of dicks picks that I really enjoy as well. I never could get into any of the studio/non live stuff, just doesn't do it for me. I'll admit I like Dead Set and Without a net (looks like Rain does it for me every time) but I prefer the Dicks picks, a good edit of the available shows to choose from. Nice to see some heads on Audiogon!

Currently listening to Robert Hunter's Tiger Rose album. What a great album, very well recorded too. 

I just got around to listening to DP 27, I would agree that it's not very good. But, in all fairness, I'm I don't really like many of the 80s shows.

I am looking forward to the Pacific Northwest box set, though.

Feel free to comment on the PNW 19-cd set or download released last week.

I will be receiving my Pacific Northwest box tomorrow and I have heard that the Portland show is really good.  

Hey Now- garebear

Looking forward in reading about your thoughts, impressions, on this set.

Happy Listening!

My copy is arriving tomorrow as well.

I have MP3 versions of these shows, some of which are audience recordings (which don't sound great). I’m looking forward to better sound quality from the box set.

jayrossi13

Looking forward in reading your review as well.

Happy Listening!

Guys-
how are you liking the PNW boxed set?

Hey jafant,
The new box set is very good! I took this summer to go back through all 22 Europe ‘72 shows in order. Obviously, and as we all know, some ‘top of the heap’ shows and playing on that tour...
BUT these ‘73 and ‘74 PNW shows sound better sonicly; better separation, better clarity (obviously due to the Prototype Wall of Sound and then the actual WOS) and better soundstaging.
Also something seems just a lil different with Jeffry Norman’s mixing here but I’m not far enough into the box to comment further. 
Goood stuff here. 

I think these are great shows, but there's something about the vocal mix that's a bit off. 

I have a soundboard recording of the  5/19/74 show and I definitely like that version better than the new Pacific North West mix. This is most evident on Black Throated Wind and Weather Report Suite. 

Maybe it's just me, but Bob sounds more distant on the new mix. 

Wondering if there is any difference in the sound quality of the original Dicks and Vaults when compared to the rereleased copies that came out.. Have most of the originals.

@jayrossi13 and @johnto 
Comparing the official releases to the raw 2ch SBD’s...
Here’s how I see it: 
The official releases, at least speaking about the newest Dave’s Picks series, as well as the most recent boxsets over the last few years or so, they do have a higher sonic fidelity than the raw 2 channel soundboard recordings. They have better tone, better detail, better extension, as well as better clarity and separation between individual instruments. They have more of a ‘front row’ feel sometimes in my system (recording dependent). But in making them into a clearer more detailed modern hi-fi recording some magic is lost...  
 The raw soundboards may sound a lil more distant and smeared by comparison, they have more of the feeling and energy of the actual live event. The living breathing dynamic swells of energy, a cohesive/interconnected organic musical flow that the official releases lack. I can’t explain why pulling all that great clarity and detail out of the recordings causes them to loose a cohesiveness and ultimate musical flow.  I sure do wish Jeffrey Norman could do some sort of mix between the nice clarity, tone and detail that he pulls out of these old recordings but keeping that musical flow and energy that the original performances are capable of showing. 
 But these statements are not true for every moment of every release, as there are moments where everything disappears and musical bliss occurs that is simply not the same or as possible with its raw sbd equivalent.  
 Also... we are mainly talking about digital here and digital systems are sometimes harder to get ‘right’, so ones system is at play here, too... Personally —apart from trying to get good digital playback— I tuned my system for the Dead and everything else is secondary ;)

@jriggy

You’ve stated--more eloquently--what I was trying to get at.

For pure energy and enjoyment, I'd take the original recordings over the new remixes. 

Before the Dead put an end t it, I downloaded hundreds and hundreds of soundboard shows from archive.org.

Sadly, I didn’t have enough storage space and got rid of the original lossless files and now only have the shows in MP3 format. Still better than nothing and the shows sound good on portable audio devices and in the car.

jriggy
Did you have scratched discs in your PNW boxed set?  There are many that have defective discs.

Just now listening to Dave's Picks 28, which came in the mail a few days ago.  It is superb.  Sound quality is amazing and the performance is killer too.  After DP27 I wasn't feeling it but this one is great!

@jafant I fell off on the PNW box and need to get back on it. I didn’t know about disc issues so I just checked the final shows I have not gotten to yet and all look ok, except for one that had a big sticky rubbery boogery thing on it, as well as one small scratch. 

@snackeyp is right! Dave’s 28 is one of the best sounding in a long time! So delicate and detailed.  One of the news clippings in the liner notes talks about realistic non-ear-splitting volume levels at these shows, maybe that’s why; the sound system is not being overdriven... Excelent SQ Betty mix! 
Another one with excelent sq is the Hawaii ‘71, as far as being nice and clear and revealing.  

jriggy

Thank You for the update.  Happy Listening!

I agree you guys on DP 28; it's one of the better sounding shows the band has released in a while. 

Which show is featured on DP 28-

Happy Listening!

@jafant  Mostly 6/17/76 with two tracks from later in the month. 

I like the laid back groove of the 76' shows and the sound quality is excellent. 

I believe 76' is also the only year the Grateful Dead played Mission In the Rain.

jayrossi13
Thank You.  Happy Thanksgiving!