[RainDawg]

Let me answer these questions, one at a time.

- 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!).

By DAB are you referring specicially to XM or Siruius? These are pay services with specific user-agreements, and we've decided to not violate those here. We have decided also to disallow mp2 sourced broadcasts of any type right now, as it's very difficult to exact any kind of quality controls on it. I know there are some that sound great, but until we can come up with a good system for regulating the quality of these broadcasts, they are not permitted for seeding here.

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

Absolutely, but we have a pretty restictive maximum attachment size to help keep everything running smoothly. It would be best to upload the sample to your own personal external webspace, and link users to it so they can get a sample if they choose.

- 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?

Absolutely not. VCD > DVD actually decreases the quality, not increases it. ISO images are more confusion that they are worth...some users have difficulty with them, and they really don't offer any better compression. Only fully authored, DVD quality VIDEO_TS folders are permitted for seeding.

Also, is "Trade DVD-Rx > VIDEO_TS files" a permitted lineage here?

Yes

- 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?

The major stipulation here is that you must list what hardware and methods you used to capture the audio. That is very important to us. CDWav and shntool are fantastic programs, and not only permitted but encouraged here.

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?

No, declicking is not mandatory. If you do it, we request that you let us know what your method was and what software was used. As long as you make a good, high quality rip from the vinyl, there shouldn't be any need go through the labor of declicking avery spot unless you really want to go to that extra length.

- 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.

The rules about CDRx are really pretty simple. First, you must make sure that if it is an unknown gen trade CDR, you include the "x". Second, you must make sure it is digitally clean (IE no diginoise, clicks between tracks, no lossy source, no TAO). If your CDRx is derived from an original silver, then we require rips from that silver. If what you have is a different source of the same show, especially in the case where the audio is better or more complete than the silver release, please seed. Really, the only stipulation on CDR stuff is that we want people to give it a good listen and make sure it's clean before spreading a flawed version.
Yes, lossless > CDR > lossless is indeed prohibited because it's easy for people to screw up, and it forces people to get in the habit of storing the lossless data files instead of relying on the much less stable audio CD format.

I hope this covers everything.