New upgraded download service

[mad humper]

Travis,

Thank you for this service!!  Great idea.

Suggestion:
Would you please consider using a LOSSLESS format for the
files instead of MP3 (no matter what encoding level set- still compressed audio and lost frequencies)?

The price is great (!!), but I do not trade AUD recording boots in MP3 and I wouldn\'t want to buy a CD from a record store in MP3.
Truthfully, you are degrading the source files by converting your mixing board original source files to MP3 - its a shame to archive Buckethead\'s material that way.

MP3s were great 5 years ago.  Its like a VHS vs Beta (or PC vs MAC in the old days).  Beta & MACs were superior technology by FAR when they first came out.  Beta & MACs did not license their superior technology out to Third parties.  VHS and PCs let anyone make movie tapes/software (for a licensing fee).  This allowed VHS and PCs to become the winning technology EVEN though they were inferior technologies.

(i did a case study on this in college)

Anyway, MP3s came out and became what was figured as perfect compression software (for space saving).  Now it is very well known that FLAC, APE, etc... are not LOSING any frequencies upon compression while MP3 does (regardless of encoding level).

Now it is tough to find a Audio player (now commonly referred to as MP3 player - like Band-aids or Kleenex) that can play anything other than MP3s.

TEST IT YOURSELF!
Take any store bought CD.  Convert the CD and rip it to files
as FLAC.  Reconvert to wave file and burn to any CD.  Listen to it.

Now, take the same CD and encode it to MP3.  Decode it back to a wave file and burn it to CD.  Compare it to the other CD and you will definately notice the difference.



Sorry, it just seems that the mass wave of MARKETING as washed over people and they are conditioned to think that there are no differences (besides size of file) between any of the formats  - NOT TRUE.

Thanks again Travis.  Love your music/work.  Can\'t wait for the new THANATOPSIS - the other 2 are two of my favorite Jazz-fusion that exist.

[bucketbot]

Agree totally, would be great if could get the stuff in FLAC.

I downloaded some of the stuff from Buckets Live Wedges site in FLAC and burned it to a CD and the quality was fab!!

My Buckethead  related CD collection now stands at 28 CD\'s!! (much of which I have obtained thru this site) and there is not a single piece of music on any of it that I don\'t love!!!

Not many other artists I could say that about!!

Is there no end to this mans talent....And yours of course Travis.

Next stop prob day of the Robot and Disembodied.

[mad humper]

One sidenote on my above post.

The only difference in cost to have FLAC instead of MP3 is
file storage.  

Your current Download store is not really that large.  My 10 gig
hard drive could easitly hold all of those CDs in the FLAC format.
FLAC is basically a 2:1 compression of space.  (If a CD is 700 mb it  would roughly be converted to FLAC @ 350 mb).

A quick look at Best Buy shows that you can get a super nice
LARGE capacity hard drive (250 gig+) at roughly $1/per gigabyte.

This is not very expensive and would pay for itself very quickly.  PLUS you could have a lot more Audio and Video up for sale.

Just suggestions.  FLAC converters are open source and
free, by the way.

Thanks again TRAVIS, love your productiion and your instrumentation.

[Travis]

"Now it is tough to find a Audio player (now commonly referred to as MP3 player),,that can play anything other than MP3s."


You kind of asked and answered your own question.I have been recording for over 30 years and 5 years ago Producers were having this conversation about mp3\'s, just like we were about CD\'s 20 years ago in frustration, we finally gave up and gave in. By far and away the most people that download end up putting the music on ipods. People drive the market and despite the fact that there are better formats out there and some would say the best isn\'t even digital,  that millions are using mp3\'s tell you it must be workable for a lot of people. In fact it\'s quite amazing you can take a 50 meg file and reduce it to 7.5 and have it sound as good as it does. I started my download store with mp3\'s for one reason, practicality. I do have them at 192 instead of 128 but any larger and the disc space and bandwidth become a problem. The fact that hard drives are cheap is fine till you hook it up to a T3 line, then every gig is a major expense. The download service was really conceived as a service for people who were going to buy the CD and rip it to mp3 anyway or for those wanted to find out of print CD\'s and wanted to make sure the artist gets paid something for their work rather then download (low rez files I assure you) from alternative sources. I know you can find FLAC on BT\'s and some download stores offer better file formats but at a higher price and or much longer download times. Right now the best alternative to larger file delivery is still a CD and the mail, that may change soon enough as more people go high speed and high speed gets faster. I will definitely endeavor to improve and expand the download service and your suggestions are duly noted and appreciated. I have considered all the variables of the download store and I have tried to make it as useful to as many people as I can, but it\'s still very new and I\'m just getting started.

[oldfolkie]

I used it a few days ago to download Vince DiCola\'s "Pity the Rich". It worked very smoothly.

Thanks for all you do to give us access to the music, Travis. Your site just keeps getting better.  

Oh and by the way, the MP3 format is still convenient for a lot of us. We may lose a little resolution, but for most applications, like playing through the speakers on my computer, which is how I listen to a lot of stuff, it works just fine. And if it reimburses the originators, so much the better.

[bucketbot]

For all you BIg B fans I can heartily recommend "Day Of The Robot" !!

If you dont have it a real bargain at $9 or £4.50 UK.

Thanks Travis!!

  ;D

[the_fawnky_fangerz]

The store is great. I\'m sure you will add options like lossey or lossless audio format downloads when you get the chance. Nice job integrating it the store too.

[mad humper]

Thanks Travis for taking time out to read my question/suggestion
regarding FLAC vs MP3.  That is all I could ask and I appreciate
you thinking it over.

By the way, more and more FLAC compatible players are emerging
in the market.  Most audio people want the hightest quality they can
obtain and manufacturers are seeing the market in that.

Thanks again, great job at TDRS!!

(note - I saw the Praxis and the Tabla Beat Science shows
in Chicago.  I loved them.  I listened to the audiece recording
of the Praxis show numerous times now and it is an extraordinary
performance.  Could I have taken 3-4 hours of Praxis?  SURE!
But quantity does not make quality.  Great show.
The Laswell legend crew on Sunday was goose-bump inducing.)

QUESTION: will there be an opportunity to own a copy of the
Praxis 4/1/05 show in audio (sbd release) or video?
Same question for the 4/3 Tabla + opener audio or video?

That would be a great reward to all of the non-complainers who
would love to see/hear these performances again!!

[Travis]

I don\'t know about the video stuff, that would be something thats handled
on Bill Laswell"s end.

[jetzilla]

hey travis
 ever time i try download , with a creditcard or  debit card ,after typing in all the info required,the resulting screen says time ran out . very frustrating and non profitable for you and buckethead .
why?
 your bot jetzilla

[Travis]

Hmm, not sure what your dealing with. Is the time out happening with the Paypal service?

[jetzilla]

i\'ve only tried the creditcard i\'ve never needed to use paypal as your site\'s product is the only one i\'ve ever desired.
thanks for replying it\'s like my brush with greatness
your bot jetzilla

[Travis]

Well the download store only operates with Paypal. You can use a credit card through the Paypal gateway, but it\'s still Paypal. I guess what I was asking is, does this time out happen while your in the process of paying?

[jetzilla]

Well the download store only operates with Paypal. You can use a credit card through the Paypal gateway, but it\'s still Paypal. I guess what I was asking is, does this time out happen while your in the process of paying?  
 
yes
i guess i haft to get a paypal account
sorry to have bothered you

[Travis]

No you don\'t need an account to use a credit card through the Paypal gateway.
There\'s a checkbox that you check if you don\'t have a Paypal account, then you just fill in your credit card info and your card is charged through the Paypal gateway. If you have a Paypal account it\'s easier because you don\'t need to fill in any form. So any way, I\'m still not sure why you are having a problem, try it again sometime and see what happens.