NOTE TO INTERVIEWER:
- Do NOT give out answers!!
- If failing, link to http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php and tell them to come back in 48hours+ (your call on how bad they did).
- Want questions added? PM blueboybob!
- Don't be afraid to do the questions out of order, so every interview is not the same.
INTRODUCTION TEXT
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Hey there. A quick note before the interview begins. The first series of questions will be "general". Just answer them truthfuly, you can't get them wrong.
After this, the technical questions commence. These questions are important, and you need to get them right. If you fail to answer most important questions, you will not receive an invite.
If you fail the interview, you can always "study" up, and come back later to try again.
Also: questions must be answered fairly quick, and as detailed as possible. We do not give you time to look the answers up, or ask a friend.
GENERAL
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- Are you at this moment, a member at any other private bittorrent trackers? If so, which ones?
- Link me to your profiles
- What ratio do you have on these trackers?
- Take a speedtest on http://www.speedtest.net/ and link me to the result.
- Does your ISP impose any limitations? (upload/download limit, throttling, ...)
- Why do you wish to become a member of What.CD?
- Do you own any CDs / vinyls? If so, how much? (estimate)
- What's the size of your current music collection on your hard drive?
- Have you ever ripped a CD? If so, what did you use?
- Have you ever ripped Vinyl records? If so, what is your setup?
- What is EAC?
- What is LAME?
- what is FLAC?
BITRATES
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- Can you tell me the difference between VBR and CBR? How are they different? Explain.
- Which is better, VBR or CBR? Why?
- What's "V0"?
- Select the best possible bitrate, for an MP3 encoded by LAME: 256kbps, 128kbps, 512kbps, 320kbps (All CBR)?
- Take your time for the next one, and when you're done answering, just say "ok".
Which of the following bitrates / encode options are non-existant or impossible:
320kbps CBR, 320kbps VBR, 32kbps CBR, 512kbps CBR, APD, APS, APX, V0, V1, V12, V5, V8
LOSSLESS & LOSSY
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- What's the difference between a lossless and a lossy file? Be as specific as possible.
- Give me two examples of lossless formats, and two examples of lossy formats.
TRANSCODES
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- What can you tell me about a transcode?
- Are transcodes good or bad? Or are there good AND bad transcodes? Explain.
- Are the following conversions acceptable? (YES or NO) Acceptable means the end result in [the first scenario] produces the same quality as the end result in [the second scenario].
a. [CD to FLAC to MP3] versus [CD to MP3]
b. [CD to MP3 to FLAC] versus [CD to FLAC]
c. [CD to 320kbit MP3 to 192kbit MP3] versus [CD to 192kbit MP3]
d. [CD to WAV to FLAC] versus [CD to FLAC]
e. [CD to 192kbit MP3 to 320kbit mp3] versus [CD to 320kbit MP3]
f. [CD to MP3 to AAC] versus [CD to AAC]
g. [CD to APE (Monkey's Audio) to FLAC] versus [CD to FLAC]
h. [CD to FLAC to WAV] versus [CD to WAV]
i. [CD to Ogg Vorbis to MP3] versus [CD to MP3]
j. [CD to MP3 to CD to MP3] versus [CD to MP3]
k. [CD to MP3 to CD to FLAC] versus [CD to FLAC]
l. [CD to 256kbit MP3 to 256kbit MP3] versus [CD to 256kbit MP3]
m. [CD to WAV to APE (Monkey's Audio) to FLAC to MP3] versus [CD to MP3]
- Which of the two is acceptable: Lossless to lossy - Lossy to lossless? Or are both okay? Explain.
- Give me the name of a program with which you can check music for transcodes.
Hard questions:
- Let's say, we have a file encoded by LAME, 320kbps CBR, MP3. I made a spectrum analysis of the track in Adobe Audition:
http://www.blowfish.be/trans006.PNG
Is the spectrum analysis correct for the given encode, or not? Is it a transcode? Explain.
- This is a spectrum analysis of a random track: http://www.blowfish.be/trans005.PNG
Can you tell me, if this track should be allowed on What.CD? Is it encoded properly? Is it a transcode?
Anything you can tell me about this track, is welcome. Be specific in your answers, and motivate them.
- This is a spectrum analysis of a random track: http://www.blowfish.be/trans004.PNG
Is this a transcode or not? Why, how can you see? Would it be allowed on What.CD? Explain.