[Five]

Originally Posted by e6003

Only just discovered this site but it looks great. I would like to post here for the community effect which is far less prevalent at EZT, however I have some questions/points to clarify/suggestions for the FAQ:

- Lossy audio is totally forbidden - I assume this includes Digital Audio Broadcasts (DAB) too as it's normally mp2 format? Would it be worth updating the FAQ to specifically mention this (as you do for internet streams)? Would this policy ever be reviewed if, say, DAB completely replaces conventional FM broadcasting? (I ask partly because we have a good DAB station here in .uk called Planet Rock who often broadcast complete shows - but the stream would be lossy and EZT's guidelines would permit it if there was so alternate lossless source; then again I understand that this site isn't EZT!).

Yes, all lossy and lossy-sourced stuff is forbidden with the one exception of MiniDisc... but MD is not allowed if it's in the middle of the lineage. EZT and TOTM have a rule that makes an exception for non-MD lossy if it's "best possible source" but we don't do that here.

Originally Posted by e6003

- Is it permitted to attach short MP3 samples to a post, to demonstrate the sound quality of a boot to prospective downloaders?

It's not official at the moment, but I'd say "yes" to this.

Originally Posted by e6003

- Video seeding is DVDs only; no VCDs or SVCDs right? Is it permitted to seed a DVD upconverted from a VCD source - even though the quality won't be any better? Seeds must be of the VIDEO_TS directory and files; an ISO image created from a DVD is not allowed, correct? Also, is "Trade DVD-Rx > VIDEO_TS files" a permitted lineage here?

Video isn't my strong suit, but I can answer some of this:
-No VCDs or SVCDs
-No DVDs "upconverted" from a VCD source.
-Video_TS only, no ISO images please
-"Trade DVD-Rx > VIDEO_TS files" lineage... sorry, I'm not sure about this. RainDawg will post here with an answer soon.

Originally Posted by e6003

- I have a vinyl-sourced boot I would like to get round to seeding. I've got good raw copies of each side but haven't yet split the files into tracks. I heard mention of using CDWav to ensure the track splits are correctly aligned with CD sectors - is the use of the etree shntool/shnfix tool also permitted to do this? Also, is declicking mandatory - the vinyl was in good condition and I only recall one real problem area. I understand a prospective seeder of a vinyl-sourced show is expected to listen through the LP rip but are we required to remove every last little click?

Yes, you can use SHNtool, FLAC frontend, GoldWave, CEP/Audition, CDWave... just please make sure there's no SBEs. If anybody needs help with cutting on sector boundaries using these progs, just ask us.
No, you don't have to declick your vinyl. Noise reduction is tricky business and it's easy to spoil a recording so please only do what you're 100% comfortable with. We strongly advise you not to run a "de-clicker" on the entire record. If there's vinyl in the lineage people will understand some snap-crackle-pop.

Originally Posted by e6003

- I have some shows received on trade CD-R that I have never seen before in the trading community. I'm a bit confused as to the status of "trade CDRx > WAV (using EAC or cdparanoia) > FLAC" as a permitted lineage here - sorry if I'm missing something but are there specific guidelines as to when this is allowed and when not, apart from if it's a simple re-rip of a CD-R created from downloaded lossless files in the first place (which I know is forbidden and understand why)? I'm particularly interested in the case of a show that has been released on a silver CD by one of the well-known bootleggers like Bondage Music or Swinging Pig, but the version I have is not derived from such a release because the tracklisting doesn't match, or if the silver release was edited to squeeze on one CD, that sort of thing.

-CDR(x) is allowed so long as you make an effort to see if there's a better source circulating, rip with EAC, check for SBEs, and listen carefully to the whole show for diginoise, skips and errors. Come to think of it, we would like everyone to give a quiet listen to any new rip because even a silver can have a skip.
-Something like Mics>Portable DAT>CEP2.1>FLAC>CDR>SHN is not allowed. Once the files are converted to lossless they should only be burned to audio cdr for personal use, not for trading. Re-SHNing just creates multiple filesets with different checksums and adds the potential for errors creeping in. If you like Audio CDRs for your car or whatever that's cool, just please keep a backup of the data files in case you want to share an exact copy of the same show later down the road.

Originally Posted by e6003

Thanks in advance for the time anyone can take to answer my questions.

You're welcome, I hope this helps.