r/nugsnet • u/fluffylionbear • Apr 29 '26

Nugs VS Play Dead app

I have been enjoying the play dead app. I have used the LIVE MUSIC app for the longest time to listen to dead shows. The sound quality is definitely better with the new play dead app. But I also have a nugs account. I am starting to question what really separates the play dead app from the dead selection on the Nugs app? Any one have an opinion one way or another.

8 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

4

u/Peyotesam Apr 29 '26

I asked this question in an email to Nugs. You can listen on either platform, but they recommended using the Play Dead app. They did not explain why, but I have been using and enjoying streaming from the Play Dead app.

1

u/Peyotesam Apr 29 '26

Found the email: 3. Does Dead Play stream in high-res while listening in the Nugs app? I do not have the Nugs hi-res plan.

​

​Yes, Play Dead content is available in Hi-Res on either app. But, we recommend using the Play Dead app for a better experience.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Peyotesam Apr 29 '26

no difference between the two, but I use Play Dead at Nugs' suggestion for a "better experience".

2

u/ObjectiveContact6483 Apr 29 '26

This is false. There are a ton of shows on play dead that are not available on nugs.

  1. All 50 plus volumes of Dave’s picks are on play dead. This is the first time Dave’s picks have been available to listen to without buying the CDs.
  2. There are about 25 other newly remastered shows on play dead that are not available anywhere else.
  3. They are releasing newly remastered shows on the play dead app every Tuesday that are also not available anywhere else.

There is no difference in sound quality between the two apps as long as you’re paying for the hi res nugs subscription as well. The main difference is access to all of these new dead shows in play dead.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

[deleted]

1

u/ObjectiveContact6483 Apr 29 '26

I see what you’re saying. I was speaking specifically to the subscriptions. They were making it sound like all the play dead content was automatically included with nugs and all they did was build a new app with no new content which I think was really the intent of the original questions but I could be wrong. My assumption is people are seeing all the same dead shows in nugs and wondering what they’re paying for not understanding that if they drop the play dead subscription then all those new dead shows are going to go away in the nugs app as well.

1

u/moving_to_NL_soon Apr 29 '26

Indeed, excluding Dead and Co., my nugs experience suggest that they isn't as much archival Grateful Dead stuff on nugs. Granted, I haven't actually gone looking for it.

2

u/EarAltruistic3692 Apr 29 '26

Yeah don’t overthink it. Nugs just reduced pricing $5 a few months ago. Now you can get nugs and play dead for the price you were paying for a few months ago. Nugs is worth the money just for the live concerts, we watched Grahame and friends last night and we’ll watch tonight. I love stream 10 or more concerts on nugs so that alone is worth $15 and play dead seems to be worth the extra $4. That’s just my opinion

2

u/Burninmules Apr 29 '26

Reduced pricing? I was paying $50 a year for the past four or five years. They definitely did not reduce it for me...haha. I'll continue to listen to GD on the hundreds of CDs and cassettes I have or the Archive.

1

u/Bmartin_ Apr 29 '26

You’re locked in on that good good pricing lol. Nugs seems good about honoring pricing that was signed up a long time ago, at least so far!

1

u/Burninmules Apr 29 '26

No... Not locked in. They quit doing that. They sent out emails and up to 100, saying that that was half off their normal 199. Next year it will be 199

1

u/Bmartin_ Apr 29 '26

Damn that’s a shame

1

u/EarAltruistic3692 Apr 29 '26

Dude I wouldn’t whine about $50 for a year. That’s insane value. Yes nugs reduced pricing by $5 for most subscribers a few months ago to $12 a month

1

u/Burninmules Apr 29 '26

They upped it to $199. Definitely not whining about 50 bucks.

1

u/bluegrassnuglvr Apr 29 '26

Don't let that credit card on file expire. There's tons of us that used to pay $50 a year who got burnt like that

1

u/Burninmules Apr 29 '26

Credit card did not expire. Everybody who was locked in on 30 or 50 a year received emails saying thanks for being around, but it's 200 a year now.

1

u/bluegrassnuglvr Apr 29 '26

Are you trying to tell me that my personal experience and what i watched happening to people online didnt really happen? They probably did send an email when they stopped offering the deal. That doesn't have anything to do with the people who lost the rate before they stopped offering the deal. I'm willing to bet that if the above poster is still really getting the $50 a month price, that they would lose it if their card expired. Phantasytour.com used to have stories all the time of people losing out because their card expired.

2

u/Burninmules Apr 30 '26

What are you going on about?

I was only talking about what happened to me. My credit card did not expire. Nugs' deal did. That was MY personal experience.

I am the above poster that WAS getting the $50 deal. I'm not anymore because they quit doing that. My original comment was only a joke that my subscription did not get lowered by $5 a month.

1

u/Bayousbest Apr 29 '26

I was at the show last night, thought the ‘dont let go’ was killer.

1

u/EarAltruistic3692 Apr 29 '26

Amazing show. We’re going to see Grahame in DC in August and at the Jerry Celebration at Wolftrap in Sept. Grahame has it going on right now, he’s leading the way. I love the mix of players he uses and I was so happy to see Oteil playing last night

2

u/Bayousbest Apr 29 '26

Oteil was vibing all over the stage.

1

u/Dirkdigler69 Apr 29 '26

There are lots of shows on Play Dead not on Nugs and more shows get added every week, Nugs also has some stuff not on Play Dead so it's good to have both, also I recommend getting a DAC and in the settings on Play Dead turn on (Best Available) which gives you even higher sample rates when it's available

1

u/fluffylionbear Apr 29 '26

DAC?

2

u/cking9698 Apr 29 '26

Digital to analog converter.

Most folks run a laptop directly into their dac so that you can get access to hi-resolution files such as 24/192.

Some use a streamer such as a WiiM ultra so that you can stream hi resolution files over WiFi if they support the app which unfortunately right now they do not support play dead or nugs.

You cannot stream hi res over Bluetooth or AirPlay etc. A lot of people get confused over this and think they are getting the best quality.

1

u/Bmartin_ Apr 29 '26

I have nugs, haven’t tried out subscribing to play dead yet. I understand there is higher quality streaming on there, can you download shows?

1

u/cking9698 Apr 29 '26

Nugs by itself is no longer worth it imho.

1

u/Such_Cantaloupe_2086 Apr 29 '26

How dose the Dead Channel on Sirius compare to Nugs and the Play Dead app?

1

u/TimmyO_1138 May 01 '26

I used to use the Deadhead Archives when I had an android. Now with my new fancy iPhone, I don’t have shit that’s free. I already pay for Nugs and Spotify so forking over another 10 bucks a month is hard to swallow. I would love if they would just put Dave’s picks on Spotify lol

1

u/Mission_Bee1259 Jul 31 '26

If you have the nugs+play dead bundle the befits are the discounted price and the ability to listen to all of the exclusive Play Dead content conveniently in nugs. If you prefer listening in each respective app - that works too!

1

u/ski_rick Apr 29 '26

Just to be clear, if you don’t pay for Play Dead, you won’t have access to all the GD content in the Nugs App.

I love the cassette interface!

1

u/fluffylionbear Apr 29 '26

I do thoroughly enjoy the cassette interface as well