Friends, I must reveal a secret. I check Sharingthegroove.org every day. I’ve discovered the SHN audio format, which is spectrally identical to 44kHz, 16bit WAV files. That is, there is no audio compression or hinting, and yet the files are smaller. I’ve discovered people who post entire live concerts for other people to download using a peer-to-peer program called Bit Torrent.
My collection of Pink Floyd “RoIOs” (Recordings of Illegitimate Origin, ie. bootlegs) has increased two-fold (I already had a lot), and now I have added to my collection concerts of other performers, such as Norah Jones. If you like R.E.M., Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Grateful Dead, Genesis, and so many others, this is the best way to get your concert audio. Many of them are soundboard recordings, so the quality is very good.
You’ll need Bit Torrent to download the concerts. To listen, you can get a plug-in for WinAmp or a plug-in for your CD-writer software if you just want to burn them directly onto compact discs. Here are the tools: mkw will convert audio between WAV, MP3 and SHN; ShnAmp is a plug-in for WinAmp 2 or 3; Plug-in for Nero. There might be plug-ins for other CD writers to write SHNs directly, but if not, you can convert them to WAV files first using mkw.
Also, you may notice I redesigned. Of course this will stir up controversy as usual, mostly complaints, but some people might be happy to see the orange no longer present. Leave your comments here if you so desire. Or don’t.
Oh yeah. I like this one. I was never a big fan of the orange, myself. 🙂