Just downloaded some .shn files for a friend... what the hell are they?

[Dave_7]

He's a Phish f(ph)an and this was of a live show. I'd never heard of them before... any of you?

They sound really good.

VERY clear and high-quality.






Dave.

[coleslaw]

If I remember correctly, they are Shorten files, which are compressed losslessly. MP3 is lossy compression, meaning that some audio quality is sacrificed after encoding. SHN files are able to be decompressed to WAV files which should basically be a clone of the original recording.

[Tommy Boomfiger]

what are the file sizes and lengths of the files?

[Dave_7]

Originally posted by Tommy Boomfiger
what are the file sizes and lengths of the files?


The whole show (18 songs) was 948 MB. That's right... 948 MB.

But, again, these are Phish songs :P


Dave.



http://www.lemonizer.com/uploads/Phish.bmp

[seqiro]

Originally posted by coleslaw
If I remember correctly, they are Shorten files, which are compressed losslessly. MP3 is lossy compression, meaning that some audio quality is sacrificed after encoding. SHN files are able to be decompressed to WAV files which should basically be a clone of the original recording.

Yup, that's what they are.

Information on Shorten (http://www.softsound.com/Shorten.html)

[ArkiStan]

so they're audio files? not video files?

[blueindian]

yup, they're audio. kick ass audio, as coleslaw said it is a loseless compression. hence the giant filesize. check out www.etree.org for some further information, including a large community of shn traders.

mostly it's stuff like the dead, phish, dmb, mmw, widespread,allman bros, etc. and it's all live shows.

there are some other bands too.

[gwilks98]

Lossless compression of a live show? Is it a bootleg? From all the bootlegs I have <ahem, heard>, the quality isn't 4 star to begin with. Are the files really that good, or are some people just too die hard?

[seqiro]

I have heard and made some terrific "bootlegs" of concerts when sanctioned by the band. One band in particular that I have many bootlegs from allowed us to plug right into their soundboard when the venues would allow it. Also one of my friends has very expensive microphones and dat recorders, and I've plugged into him as well and tapes shows that are nearly professional quality.

[blueindian]

yeah there are tons of good bootlegs. bands like the dead, widespread, phish, etc encourage folks to tape the shows. they have tapper tickets that you purchase so you can get in a good spot to set up your equipment. back in the day, the dead used to give out sound board patches.

i've got some butlegs that, execept for the lack of editing, sound as good as store bought shows.

[Dave_7]

Yes, this particular one was a soundboard recording... aparently authorized by the band. Afterall, I did download (and pay for) it from their official site.

And yes... very, very clear, as I've said.






Dave.

[blueindian]

Originally posted by Dave_7
Yes, this particular one was a soundboard recording... aparently authorized by the band. Afterall, I did download (and pay for) it from their official site.

And yes... very, very clear, as I've said.






Dave.

you had to pay for it?:hmm:

i'm not a phish phan by any means, so i don't always know what's up with them. but i do follow a lot of the other "jam bands" and i've NEVER heard of having to pay for a boot.

that's lame.

how much are they charging?

not that i've ever had any interest in seeing a phish show, but now i certainly won't.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by blueindian


you had to pay for it?:hmm:

i'm not a phish phan by any means, so i don't always know what's up with them. but i do follow a lot of the other "jam bands" and i've NEVER heard of having to pay for a boot.

that's lame.

how much are they charging?

not that i've ever had any interest in seeing a phish show, but now i certainly won't.
i'm not positive on this (as i'm not a phish phan either), but i believe i read somewhere that phish decided that, in order to open the live music experience to more people (beyond just the diehard tapers and traders), they were going to make soundboard/audience mic (the ideal combination for a quality boot) recordings available on their website for a small fee after each show.

basically, the fee pays for the bandwith, servers, etc.

like i said, i'm not sure, but i don't think this is really a money-making thing for the band. it's a way to put quality recordings out there on reliable, fast servers for a big audience.

edit: now that i think about it, i think the article i read was in rolling stone