Invariably, when a tree announcement goes up, the request for SHN's start pouring in, so that folks can get a copy that is (verifiably) identical to the original CD master, without any of the risks of click/pops/digi-static inherent in digital audio extraction. In some cases, the person who has volunteered to be tree admin has anticipated this and has already made preparations to create and tree SHNs. In other cases, the tree admin is not SHN-knowlegeable, and has to ask around for somebody else to make the SHNs.
The impression I get is that the CD masters are generally being made on "standalone" equipment, i.e., directly DAT>CD as opposed to DAT>computer>CD. This is just fine, but it does mean that SHNs are not possible before the first audio CD generation. The key would be to get those CD masters in the hands of someone with the software, hardware, and knowlege (i.e., a PC with shntool, shorten or mkwACT, and a properly configured copy of EAC) to create the SHN set for the tree. What I think is happening in many cases is that the CD masters are going through at least one more generation (often on standalone CD copiers) before they reach the tree admin. If the tree admin has someone else making the SHNs, that means a minimum of two CD copy generations before the SHNs are made. Unfortunately, even high-end CD copiers (e.g., Tascam) can sometimes introduce unnecessary digi-flaws that wind up in the distribution. Greg Hurwitt At 04:29 PM 07/27/02 -0700, you wrote: >Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 20:37:41 -0400 >From: "Randy Carman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: audio trees. > >Why are trees being offered in audio format instead of SHN format? Doesn't >that mean that everyone has to do an EAC on the discs to make their copy, >thus possibly introducing errors? If everyone got the original shn's and >md5's, they could all make identical audio copies, whether they want to make >an archive shn copy or not. Even if original shn's aren't available, >wouldn't it make sense for the top of the tree to EAC some shn's so at least >everyone could get an identical copy? -- Greg [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://houston.quik.com/phobos
