Antsmarching.org Forums - Dave Matthews Band Discussion - View Single Post - Torrents 101: Downloading and Playing Them

ShamikRocks · 04-22-2009, 08:09 AM

Hey guys,

So there have been a lot of questions popping up about how to download shows and play them etc. I think that it's only fair that others learned the same way that I did: Guess and Check, and reading a lot of tutorials until I got it down.

Here is a little step in the right direction.

1) How to download torrents

Use google to find a torrent program suitable for you. The beginner programs are BitTorrent and BitTornado. I say they are beginner because they are simple download windows just like any other download window you would see in Windows.

The intermediate/advanced are the ones like utorrent, vuze, bitcomet. These are a little more tricky because they can download multiple torrents, can set up rss feeds, can be programmed to adjust speeds with peak traffic times etc.

Once you have your torrent program you will most likely need to forward ports on your computer to get it running and downloading and UPLOADING at its highest potential. For that go here www.portforward.com

They have all the tutorials for your individual program and router

MACS: As far as I know this information applies to you too. I have heard of a specific torrent program for Mac that is called TomatoTorrent. But I have also heard utorrent works for macs also.

2) Playing a downloaded show

Congratulations! You downloaded a gig of random files to your computer and don't know what to do with it.

Now most shows that are traded amongst DMB fans are in the file of .flac or .shn

You have two options: a) Convert the files to a more suitable format (.mp3, .m4a, .wav) b) Play the .flac and .shn files directly.

a) If you want to convert the files: for flac, go to http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html and pick one of those programs.

for .shn, go to http://etree.org/mkw.html and download the mKwconverter. As far as I know, this still works.

I highley recommend dbpoweramp music converter. Google it and go to their website and download the .flac and .shn plugins, once you have its very easy to use.

Just right click on the file and click "convert to".

*NOTE*: dbpoweramp is a 30 freeware program, but there are two ways around it. 1) you can download older versions and use those
2) You know...

b) playing the files directly

Again go to flac.sourceforge.net and towards the bottom of the downloads page you will see that you can download plugins for your favorite media players. the same can be done with .shn through getting the appropriate plugins online.

3) Now what to do after you can play the music files?

Enjoy. But wait there's one more thing you should to. Pay it forward by helping out some of the other people on this forum who may have the same problems you did.

Hope this helps.

04-22-2009, 08:09 AM	#1
ShamikRocks Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Naperville IL / Purdue U Posts: 296 Shows Seen: 0 DMB Hub Stubs: 2 My Tour Central Stats	Torrents 101: Downloading and Playing Them Hey guys, So there have been a lot of questions popping up about how to download shows and play them etc. I think that it's only fair that others learned the same way that I did: Guess and Check, and reading a lot of tutorials until I got it down. Here is a little step in the right direction. 1) How to download torrents Use google to find a torrent program suitable for you. The beginner programs are BitTorrent and BitTornado. I say they are beginner because they are simple download windows just like any other download window you would see in Windows. The intermediate/advanced are the ones like utorrent, vuze, bitcomet. These are a little more tricky because they can download multiple torrents, can set up rss feeds, can be programmed to adjust speeds with peak traffic times etc. Once you have your torrent program you will most likely need to forward ports on your computer to get it running and downloading and UPLOADING at its highest potential. For that go here www.portforward.com They have all the tutorials for your individual program and router MACS: As far as I know this information applies to you too. I have heard of a specific torrent program for Mac that is called TomatoTorrent. But I have also heard utorrent works for macs also. 2) Playing a downloaded show Congratulations! You downloaded a gig of random files to your computer and don't know what to do with it. Now most shows that are traded amongst DMB fans are in the file of .flac or .shn You have two options: a) Convert the files to a more suitable format (.mp3, .m4a, .wav) b) Play the .flac and .shn files directly. a) If you want to convert the files: for flac, go to http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html and pick one of those programs. for .shn, go to http://etree.org/mkw.html and download the mKwconverter. As far as I know, this still works. I highley recommend dbpoweramp music converter. Google it and go to their website and download the .flac and .shn plugins, once you have its very easy to use. Just right click on the file and click "convert to". NOTE: dbpoweramp is a 30 freeware program, but there are two ways around it. 1) you can download older versions and use those 2) You know... b) playing the files directly Again go to flac.sourceforge.net and towards the bottom of the downloads page you will see that you can download plugins for your favorite media players. the same can be done with .shn through getting the appropriate plugins online. 3) Now what to do after you can play the music files? Enjoy. But wait there's one more thing you should to. Pay it forward by helping out some of the other people on this forum who may have the same problems you did. Hope this helps. __________________ "One good thing about music: when it hits you, you feel no pain"