A Damn Good Site


	"I'm not American, I'm a European bastard..." I live in Finland. If you have a problem with trading overseas... so be it. However, I haven't had any problems when trading with people from literally otherside of the world, so don't let this frighten you away...

	I won't accept material sourced from mp3's. If your recordings are from mp3's or have clicks/gaps/pops/diginoise between the tracks, please let me know in advance!
	I strongly recommend use of Exact Audio Copy when ripping audio data to ensure the quality of copies. Use EAC - it's free software!!
	Burning with ISO 9660 standard ensures the compatibility with maximum number of CD-players - home stereo, in car, portable players. Use disc-at-once method for all live recordings.
	I'm not that picky for the media brands, but please avoid use of no-name discs.
	Before mailing me a copy please test it in normal CD-player. I'll do the same.
	I will send the Cd's without the cases just to save in postage costs. Be sure to use care in packaging to ensure the media arrives intact.

	David Lee Roth Shows
	Van Halen Recordings
	Faith No More + More
	My References
	Grading System
	My Equipment
	Site Legend
	Email Me at...

	This page is still under construction - I'm constantly working on it. If you had problems or found dead links, email me.


	Why do I collect? These artists are generally known for their instrumental talent and their ability to carry out a great rock show on stage. It's like every night's a saturday night with them! Often the songs played are even better than the same songs on the original albums. In my opinion the worldwide live audio -trading hobby improves the sales of commercially released recordings and other licensed products. Trading will increase the number of new fans, and deepens the enthusiasm for our favorite artists. I strongly encourage you to show your support to the artists you enjoy by purchasing all the commercial recordings released by them. Do not support the piracy! In general, well supported artists are most likely to produce a fantastic live performance, which is a win-win situation for both of us; fans and artists themselves. Share the music!

A short indication on what I want can be summarized this way :

Any

Faith No More
Mr. Bungle
David Lee Roth
Van Halen

I'm especially searching for Van Halen shows (pre 1986) and David Lee Roth solo stuff. Also, if you have good quality live audio tapes or even master tapes from the artists mentioned above, I'm able to transfer them on to CDR in best quality! Contact me and we'll work out some kind of solution. During my trading career I've continuously received inferior (usually mp3'd) recordings in trades. I'm intending to upgrade those bad copies as well, so if you have a decent copy of shows marked with a

red dot on my list, I might want to obtain it... =)

==> Remember that these are mostly amateur recordings made on whatever analog equipment was available at the time the performance occurred. An audience recording can never be perfect, so even the best recordings may have some imperfections. An awesome audience recording is about as good as a great sound board. If a Sbd recording has been given less than A -, that usually means the recording suffers from tape hiss or some other fault.
In general, all recordings I've given B+ or better grade are very listenable regardless of source.

Aud=audience Sbd=soundboard Fm=radio TV=television broadcast Pro=professional recording Pri=hand-held video

Key To My Sound Grading

Note that I only refer to sound quality, compared to the rest of my collection.
These ratings are of course subjective, but they should be at least somewhat accurate. This scale I'm using is my combination of several grading systems I've seen other traders using.

A+ ~ A ==> Perfect
Like it's said above! These are most frequently from soundboard, TV / FM broadcasts, etc. Also the few absolutely perfect audience recordings.

A- ~ B+ ==> Great
Some minor flaws can't ruin the listening pleasure. A good source, but there could be a few minor problems, such as slightly intrusive audience noise or occasional minor tape faults/slight hiss and microphone movements, etc. Nothing really disturbing.

B ~ B- ==> OK
Tolerable recording. Possibly a reasonable source, but with a few more problems. These may include a much narrower dynamic range, more intrusive audience noise, repetitive tape faults/hiss and microphone movements, etc.

C+ ==> Fair
Major problems, but still a listenable recording for the properly motivated. These sources could possibly have some major faults and be several generations down. Problems may include severe tape distortion / tape hiss, excessive audience noise, and other such problems.

C ==> Poor
Only for die-hards, or for those with a personal interest in the date and place! Recorded with poor device, weak signal, there's huge amount of tape hiss (very generated copy) or something like that. Blatant occurrences of many of the problems detailed above.

This evil dot means that the recording suffers from some annoying faults, such as gaps between songs, cut/skipping tracks or digi-noise. My copy may probably be burned from MP3's - has those slight annoying clicks between every track - Not recommended, replacement needed!

Ma = Master OR Digital copy of analog master OR Copy of original silver boot.
MCo = Copy from analog master copy.
1st ==> CDR = Digital copy from first generation analog copy.
2nd ==> CDR = Digital copy from second generation analog copy...and so on....
No Info given = Generation is unknown to me.


	Extracting Audio Data I strongly recommend use of Exact Audio Copy (EAC) to extracting data from CD's to ensure the perfect quality of copies. EAC is currently the only software that compares the read data to original, and reads it again if there's any errors. This way may be a tad slower than normal reading speed but it's well worth it. There's no excuse for bad discs - EAC is free software, and by far the best audio extracting tool. Expect others to provide you 100% error-free discs, listen to the discs you get and discard / replace bad discs. Don't forward bad copies to others. Such procedure diminishes the number of bad copies in circulation and stops the digital generation loss.


	Editing Audio Data Although it's possible to improve the sound quality with numerous amount of programs, please use appropriate software to split tracks to avoid introducing clicks and pops at index points. If you're using any noise reduction procedures to reduce tape hiss or likes, you should be very careful because it's possible to cut out the whole high-end frequences of the recording. Not recommended for beginners.


	Burning Discs Although I'm not that picky for the media brands, using well known products, if possible, and avoiding no-name discs is a good guideline. Please use the disc-at-once method for all live recordings. If you don't know what recording "disc at once" means, please ask before burning & and mailing my copy!! It's recommended to always record using the ISO 9660 standard, so the CD-R's will be playable in the maximum number of CD-players (home stereo, portable player, car stereos, at work, and so on). Before mailing me a copy, please test it on a normal CD player! I'll do the same.


	Sending Packages 1) I will send the CDs without jewel cases, just to save in postage costs. Be sure to use care in packaging to ensure the media arrives intact. 2) If you're from outside the European Union, always fill the green customs sticker, label it as a gift and value under $10, otherwise I'll have to go to the customs office and show the contents to them officials before I get the package on my hands...thanks to EU's "rational" customs policy. Also, Don`t use any company logo on the sender stick...write your name only + address etc.... 3) The customs like to charge you whenever they can...be careful ! ;-)


	E-mail : vh_trader@yahoo.com Alternate E-mail : hide_your_sheep@yahoo.com
	Main Page : http://www.vhvault.com/~damngood/