...shall we go, you and I while we can...

I'm always interested in how the band actually played it and how the sbd or aud recording of the show sounded. I still maintain that using the torrent approach not only does this, but gives you a wider range of show choices. And, if you have a high speed connection and a good internal burner, it's not too hard to get it going.Remember that folks have gone a long way to get the best possible recording of these torrented shows for distribution.

There are some real sentimental attachments to some of the cassettes. Lots of love went into making them back in the day and there is something to be said for keeping that particular version of a show that you went to the trouble of trading for. Especially in the days before all the internet and computer stuff. I would for example try to fill every possible minute of a tape with fillers and played around with painstaking fade ins and fade outs all done by hand. All that work makes the tapes that much more special and unique. While the internet has allowed for an increased availability of shows, I think people take for granted that in the old days to get shows was really something special and something to cherish. Now it is almost too easy and I believe that certain things that were unique to each show are lost by the shear numbers of what is available. That being said, all this music is truly a gift and a lifelong hobby that I've enjoyed and will keep on enjoying.

Try this unit....either phono records or tapes...right into your USB port....been using one for about a year for both records and tapes and it performs beautifully....see it here:

http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=MCMProducts&category%5Fname=3829812&product%5Fid=555%2D2717

I recorded a whole bunch of shows on a converted sony beta max, strictly audio only.( Beta was the truly better format). There were lots of folks doing this back in the day.
Problem is my converted Sony machine was stolen.
Is there any one out there or FURTHER OUT THERE that still has a Beta Audio machine that they are willing to ;give, lend or rent?
The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese.

I have been transferring my old cassettes and reels (yep, I'm THAT old!) for a couple of years now. It's a time-consuming process, to be sure, but the results are worth it. I have found that most of the programs and devices that connect from your tape deck directly to your computer result in CDs of considerably lesser quality that your original tapes. I am using an HHB 830 "Burn It" CD recorder that hooks up to my stereo system just like a tape deck. It works just like a tape deck, too, except you record to CD-Rs instead of tapes. It makes perfect copies. You can easily adjust levels and balance, and it has an adjustable fader feature for smoothing out the beginning and/or end of your recordings. Hook the HHB up to your tape jacks, and the tape deck to an AUX input, and record from the tape deck to the CD recorder just like you recorded cassettes in the old days. You can insert track indexes as you go by pushing one button. When you're done, you push 2 buttons, the disc is finalized in about 2 minutes, and you can play it on just about any CD player. This is a professional recorder, and is used by lots of musicians to make their own demo CDs. I saw a picture of Danny Elfman (composer of music for "The Simpsons" and many other movies and TV shows) in a magazine interview, and he had one of these units in his equipment rack in his own studio. I paid about $500 for mine at Sam Ash Music, and they have stores all over the country, or you can order online. It's the best 500 bucks I've spent on recording gear in a long time.