Trading Guide

Quality Ratings

Following are some general descriptions of my quality ratings. Keep in mind that I consider how much recordings can be improved by using an EQ during playback, so a good recording that's a little muffled and/or bass heavy will rate higher than one that's well balanced but fundamentally flawed in some way. Also, since live music is mixed for being loud, I listen to it at a fairly high volume. Yet another factor is how old the recording is, so an 8.0 from 1993 would be about a 7.5 if it was from 2001. Finally, my ratings can vary quite a bit depending on how I'm feeling at the time, so there's an error factor of around +/- .3 points.

Sound

10 - Clear, loud, well mixed soundboard audio, minimal crowd noise
9 - Excellent audience recording with a small amount of crowd noise, can hear every instrument and singer clearly, may have a couple minor flaws
8 - Very good, listenable recording, but may have one or two of the following: muddiness, distortion, distant sound, bad mix, heavy crowd noise, etc.
7 - Good, but has an annoying amount of one or more of the negative qualities listed above
6 - Still decent, but has an excessive amount of one or more of the negative qualities mentioned
5 - Has overwhelming flaws, collectors are the only ones who would be interested

Picture

10 - Outstanding video clarity, recorded from a commercial master tape or TV broadcast
9 - Sharp picture with vivid colors and fine details, usually 1st gen or recorded with a miniDV camera
8 - Very good picture, but shows signs of slight generation loss, high zoom, or low quality camera (some fuzziness, bending, darkness, scan lines)
7 - Good video, but it exhibits a larger amount of flaws listed above, details are blurred
6 - Heavily generated or majorly flawed in some way, not really worth it unless the video's other qualities are really good
5 - Collectors only, period.

Camerawork

10 - Professional multi-camera shots with tripod steadiness
9 - Steady picture, good panning, appropriate zooming, very few heads, and no cuts
8 - Good camerawork, but may be slightly shaky, zoom at the wrong times, focus on too few band members, have crowd obstruction, or security ducks
7 - Same as above, but to a greater extent
6 - Has one or more of the following: very shaky picture, lots of heads, frequent refocusing, irritating use of zoom, little panning, major cuts
5 - This is hardly watchable, it had better have good sound and picture quality or it's not worth your time

For those of you who use A+ through F grading, I've provided a conversion table for quick reference. I use decimals for +/- ratings and everything in between.

A+	10
A	9
B	8
C	7
D	6
F	5

Acronyms

General

GEN - Generation from master source
M - Master
SND - Sound
PIC - Picture
CWK - Camerawork
ALL - Overall video quality
FOB - Recorded in front of the soundboard
FOS - Recorded close in front of the speakers
SBD - Soundboard
DAT/# - DAT recorded at a certain frequency, i.e. M1/48
MIC/# - Microphone used with a bass roll-off at a certain frequency, i.e. SPSC/888
MICs - Two individual microphones used together
DAO - Disc-at-Once CD-R recording mode, creates seamless track transitions
TAO - Track-at-Once CD-R recording mode, creates small gaps between tracks

Media

DAT - Digital Audio Tape
MD - Minidisc
VID - Video
DV - MiniDV
ANA - Analog
DAT-Cx - DAT clone generation from master (i.e. DAT-C2 is 2nd gen, DAT-M would be the master)
MD-Cx - Minidisc copy generation from master
ANA-Cx - Analog cassette copy generation from master
VHS-Cx - VHS copy generation from master
8MM-Cx - 8mm copy generation from master
Hi8-Cx - Hi8 copy generation from master
Dig8-Cx - Digital8 copy generation from master
DV-Cx - MiniDV copy generation from master
DVD-Cx - DVD copy generation from master

Recorders

M1 - Sony PCM-M1 Professional Portable DAT Recorder
M1(Oade) - PCM-M1 with Oade Brothers mic pre-amp replacement
D100 - Sony TCD-D100 DAT Walkman
D8 - Sony TCD-D8 DAT Walkman
D7 - Sony TCD-D7 DAT Walkman
D6 - Sony WM-D6 Professional Cassette Recorder
D6C - Sony WM-D6C Crystal Sync Professional Cassette Rcorder
D3 - Sony TCD-D3 DAT Walkman
WMD3 - Sony WM-D3 Professional Cassette Recorder
580V - Sony TCS-580V Pressman Cassette Recorder
DAP1 - Tascam DA-P1 portable DAT
MZR3 - Sony MZ-R3 Minidisc
MZR30 - Sony MZ-R30 Minidisc
MZR35 - Sony MZ-R35 Minidisc
MZR37 - Sony MZ-R37 Minidisc
MZR50 - Sony MZ-R50 Minidisc
MZR70 - Sony MZ-R70 Minidisc
MZR90 - Sony MZ-R90 Minidisc
AMF70 - Aiwa AM-F70 Minidisc
MS702 - Sharp MD-MS702 Minidisc
MS722 - Sharp MD-MS722 Minidisc
MS200H - Sharp MD-MS200H Minidisc
MS721H - Sharp MD-MS721H Minidisc
MT15 - Sharp MD-MT15 Minidisc
MT50 - Sharp MD-MT50 Minidisc
MT77 - Sharp MD-MT77 Minidisc
MT821 - Sharp MD-MT821 Minidisc
MT832 - Sharp MD-MT832 Minidisc

Preamps and AD Converters

SBM1 - Sony SBM1 Super Bit Mapping Adaptor
Zefiro - Zefiro Inbox, discontinued
AD20 - Denecke AD-20 Microphone Preamp, formerly the Zefiro Inbox
SXM2 - Sonosax SX-M2 Pre-Amplifier
603 - MBHO MBC-603 preamp
603A - MBHO MBC-603A preamp
648 - MBHO MBC-648 preamp
648A - MBHO MBC-648A preamp

Microphones