This is the meail I got from them:

What is the reason for choosing MP3 files as opposed to a LOSSLESS format?
We chose MP3s because we wanted to provide you with great sound quality, without too much trouble downloading due to file size.
(LOSSLESS files take between 3-5 times longer to upload and download.) The MP3 files containing the bootlegs will be 50% higher in quality than the ones you get from popular digital stores. Also, unlike the majority of download services, we have not encoded these files with any kind of DRM (Digital Rights Management). This means that there are no restrictions on your ability to burn them to disc, transfer them to your portable music player, or listen to them from your hard drive.

For the audioheads among you, we are also looking at the possibility of making LOSSLESS files available – we’ll keep you posted on this.

Also:
We are working on a making a limited number of the bootlegs available as CDs for release through the Ten Club after the tour. We may also make some of the most popular shows available at retail. We'll keep you posted on this.

You have done well.

this is great,,, great news - they are working on it.. they are always working on it...

well lets see

the sent that email in reply to every email i sent to them about it, along with posting it on synergy. i would say that our protests and feedback did make a difference. and although its not an answer, I prefer "we're working on it" over "youre getting mp3s and thats it!"

i still think many ppl will wait now which shows will be available thru tenclub on CD and not order the digital files before that decision is made by 10c.

The online downloads should be available for quite some time if not ever to build an online archive, so no need to hurry to get those if CDs might be available soon.

Hopefully if they are going to offer lossless they will have that worked out before the end of the tour. I would hate to buy mp3's, then buy a FLAC and THEN have them release a CD. I would be super pissed.

I'm glad they're working on it.

I sent them an email as well. I bet the mp3 people at synergy are shoving their feet in they're mouth. Christ they were annoying.

Well, we had a few of them here too.

Great news.

i'm a little stunned. i have no idea what the costs are to doing this lossless situation, but it seems a little nitpicky by the audiocentric people. Is waiting a second for the track to skip to the next that big that you want 10C wasting time and money on this?

I just thought it was awesome that they are making the shows readily available hours after the show and they are doing it in a format that everyone who has a computer knows how to get.

I'm not bashing the lossless, i'm just saying i think it's money and time spent on something that could be another great pearl jam 10C innovation that they've given us over the last 8 or so years....In honesty since the ticketmaster battle subsided, pearl jam has been really good to us.

Ok, you can feel free to bash me for the rest of the post....just know that i have better posts in me.

I wont bash you, and I dont want to rekindle the war of words, but there is more to it than just the skip. th eskip between tracks is bad, it breaks up the show and is unbearable to people who have been listening to live shows for years. second, the sound quality is very poor. if you thought that you couldnt hear jeff in 2000, wait til you hear these mp3. there will be NO low end at all. third, the fact that immediate availablilty is being offered does not even appeal to me. I would much rather have a quality product a month later than have a crappy version immediately. even if they dont do the lossless, but do all shows in mp3 and CD form, with CDs coming a month later, I will wait for the CDs.

lowlight10

I just hope that they're 'timely' in making the announcement what the decision is going to be. Fortunately, I'm going to their last show, so I should know the policy by then. Like you said, I'd much rather wait a few extra weeks to actually have a pressed CD in hand, than I would to hear the show earlier with less quality. I just don't know why they had to change from the way things were before.

making lossless available is no miracle nowadays. 800MB of webspace costs basically nothing on a webserver and if they charge maybe 2-3$ more for lossless they even make extra money out of this. And once that decision is made, its maybe 30minutes more work to encode and upload the files from a decent broadband connection for each show.

yeah for sure, i hope they get the cd ideas ready cause i'll just wait to get those instead depending on the price.

I won't bash you, but I think you're missing the point of the argument for having lossless audio available. Pearl Jam is a band that cares about audio fidelity, as seen time and time again by their love of vinyl and the care that they put into releasing things like the Benaroya set on 180g vinyl.

Quite simply stated, MP3s are a step down in audio quality for the sake of convenience compared to what was offered in 2000 and 2003. It is not just about the skip between tracks, which is certainly an annoyance when listening to a live concert. Filters are applied to the audio and frequencies are cut out, compromising the quality of the recording.

In any case, I'm pleased with the fact that the 10C is aknowledging this issue instead of ignoring us and I'm confident that in the end they will offer us something that we'll all be happy with.

Don't forget the fact that the 10C isn't pioneering anything here. Other groups have done it for years. Furthermore, the superior quality 192 encoding is a load of crap. They know they are selling junk but it is 50% less crappy than what others are doing. That still doesn't make it any good. You can polish a turd but it is still a turd.

Good news about the possibility of lossless though!

thanks to given2fly23, bettatest, and owen meany, i can appreciate the arguement for the lossless. if cost isn't a factor, and mp3's are really just industry standard wihout being the best, it is cool that 10C is taking care of everyone.

for those waiting for CDs, they probably wont decide that until the tour is over. I would guess that it will be like the "ape symbol" shows from 2000, where the bands goes through and picks stand-out shows, but this time those will be the only ones that are pressed to CDs. i would guess that they will let us know about FLAC as soon as they decide, maybe even by the first show, but maybe not.

this is great news...

looks like im waiting on buying the mp3s til we get word on flac/cds.

it'll be like waiting for a tape to surface.

10c is just trying to cater to the ipods in america and make it easier and quicker to listen to the shows on them.

Sometimes after i grab torrentted a flac show i do encode to aac and listen to it on mine and that does takes quite a bit of time...I do hope CDs are available as I would like to own the show I will attend on CD (Quebec) and maybe buy some mp3s of the others to keep on the pod/HD.


Even though the quality wouldnt be top notch, it would be possible for one to make a cd of the entire tour, no, in mp3?