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  1. In older tours not all gigs have an excerpt. The rating system makes it difficult to search on U2start.
  2. I did not know that. I stand corrected.
    I guess its preferential in the world of bootlegs. After all they are just a document.
  3. Not initially no, because there’s no fan ratings to go off. Over time, if fans consistently rate it higher then we will adjust. There is also a topic here to highlight any ratings that are drastically incorrect and we’ll adjust accordingly.
  4. Considering the amount of money we all pay for the downloads, I expect a perfect rating system!

    /sarcasm

    But seriously, no rating system is perfect. At the very least, it's a free download and you can delete if you disagree
  5. Originally posted by hoserama:Considering the amount of money we all pay for the downloads, I expect a perfect rating system!

    /sarcasm

    But seriously, no rating system is perfect. At the very least, it's a free download and you can delete if you disagree
    I agree. Don't get me wrong. But I prefer the sites, the recordings are downloaded from, like Dime and U2torrents.com. The u2start rating system is annoying for all the tapers hard work.
  6. Originally posted by Elefartion:[..]
    I agree. Don't get me wrong. But I prefer the sites, the recordings are downloaded from, like Dime and U2torrents.com. The u2start rating system is annoying for all the tapers hard work.
    U2torrents has a user rating system, and it's usually higher than deserved because people went to the show or don't want to be "mean" and gave 5 stars no matter what. How is that better from this? It's not better or worse, it's just a suggested rating. That's why we have user ratings and song excerpts. Worst case scenario: you delete it and download another show.
  7. Hi There. I am Ariel, the taper of shows in buenos aires and santiago. Sorry for not giving much technical data,
    I'm not an expert on show recordings, I just wanted to make an acceptable sound.
    Those of U2 were my first recordings of an international show and massive, soon they will come shows of Coldplay and Depeche mode that also record.
    The recordings were made with a ZOOM H1, the one of La Plata in the fence of the red zone and the one of Santiado just outside the red zone, in the fence.

    The original file was cut with "directwavmp3splitter" and increased a bit the bass and treble with Audacity, no more than that.
  8. Ratings are flawed anyway... Is an A+ or 5 stars... All subjective and truly up to the listener to decide.

    Good story :

    I was a pitcher in High School, by the time I was 14, I had a very good fastball, a change up, and a curveball.

    As I progressed I began to use these pitches as needed but I always worked on my fastball.

    One day a college scout came out when I was 16 and asked how my velocity was doing, I said my fastball is right around 90mph

    He asked how many pitches I had in my "arsenal", I said about 3-4 but I always go to my fastball during games and continue to work on other pitches during practice.

    He told me then you have about 10 pitches... He explained the fastball was the bread and butter and to only work on location.

    As time went on I mastered my fastball and it turned out I did have 6 pitches, all fastballs, up / down / low / away /in / out.

    But, I always had those nasty pitches I could go to although rare and seldom...

    The change up, the curve ball, the slider and even the knuckle ball.

    When rating a recording, think about that method, especially for audience recordings, they will all be fastballs basically.

    Some from various locations with various outcomes but mostly consistent in quality and effective for the purpose.

    Then you have the out of nowhere recordings, like Schoeps, Neumanns... a curveball for sure, still an audience recording but superior.

    That changeup gets you every time because you expect fastball but it is technology that isn't normal or expected but produced good results anyway.

    The slider is the one that fools everyone, someone with extensive knowledge, generally an IEM guy that knows how to properly mix feeds and is damn close to an official release, this pitch is the hardest to command because it takes years to master but is generally not hittable.

    Then there is the knuckle ball... it is just nasty and usually regarded as your soundboard or radio broadcast and the best thing other than an official release.... hard to see but easy to hit when you get a good look, once is it seen, anyone can get it.

    Needless to say I tore my rotator cuff at 17 and never pitched or played again, although I still get out and throw the ball around.

    I can still throw the fastball, just not as fast anymore and hard to find my location. Luckily there are guys I know that still enjoy being around the game,
    and pass on the knowledge to others.


    Exercise in analogy. Get out and work on your pitching ;-)
  9. So in the reality of things it would break down like this :

    6 (Stars) = A+ = Outstanding
    5 (Stars) = A = Excellent
    4 (Stars) = B = Great
    3 (Stars) = C = Good
    2 (Stars) = D = Fair
    1 (Star) = E = Poor

    and then the 0 = No recording = Sad

    In this day there should be a recording of every show, even with an Olympus, Tascam, Edirol with internals for every show...

    Of course again, all subjective to the listener
  10. It's 2017. We all have -at the very least- DSL connections that turn a 180MB download into a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

    Downloads are readily available for free to everyone registered in our site.

    Not to mention that we work hard on having an ever-growing number of both newer and older recordings have a representative sample - something that you can't even imagine how time consuming is.


    And you think it's not "fair"?



    You can't be seriously serious. Like, seriously?
  11. Good analogy Bishop! And the 6 point rating system has the advantage of being somewhat more "to the point,"
    but I think in practise it wouldn't be much different than the current u2start "system."

    But let me continue in an explaination in the broader scheme of this ongoing discussion. As a "for all to hear" sort of thing.

    There will always be discussion and difference of opinions on those "sub par" recordings. I mean it is much easier to
    agree on excellent recordings than on the just "good" ones. That is, those recordings that have many imperfections, but are
    still worthwhile and (too often) the only ones availlable.
    In our system it is typically the 3, 4 and 3.5 star recordings that are cause for discussion and disagreements.
    I bet in the 6 star system it would be the 2, 3 and 4 star categories (although I don't think these are the same as the 3 - 4 stars in the u2start ratings; it seems to break down a bit differently).

    I admit that the 1 and 2 star categories are rather redundant in our system, but one has to realize that it is all part of a long (9 to 10 year?) ongoing practise. To change all this for our 1800+ (?) "bootlegs," would cause a massive amount of work while it is still only a quantitative upgrade, rather than a qualitative one (cause the system as such doesn't change that much: just the numbers - or stars).


    NB: I have voiced my opinions and basic ideas about the u2start grading system on several occasions and in various context. For instance as in below in the context of the question whether or not 1 rating system could, in principle, cover both audience and so called "line" recordings - or recordings where line is involved (e.g. iem, sbd, iem-aud matrixes)

    Originally posted by BigGiRL:[..]
    The revision, in my opinion, should consist merely in removing the terms "proper" and "audience" before the word "recording." Not so much because the term "proper" is somewhat confusing - as it is not so much meant as qualification, but rather to denote line-in recordings (e.g. soundboards) - but because in practise the 4 to 5 range is used to rate (and mark) recordings with a very enjoyable soundquality.

    And because the u2start recording archive is managed by various crew members over the years, I think a practical use of rating system is far more sustainable than a theoretical - or technical - sound one. Above all u2start is about "sharing the passion" for U2. As such, the ratings for recordings can be understood best as encouragements, not as fixed categories.

    So, back to the issue of "proper" and "audience," while effectively most 4.5 and 5 star ratings fall to soundboards, iem and/or iem-aud matrixes, it shouldn't be closed for audience recordings per se - or any lower ratings for sbd and iem.

    As far as disagreements with ratings go, I think a rating is sound when various opinions are a 0.5 star off (e.g., person A rates 4.5, person B thinks 4, and person C gives a raving 5).
    (Click on the quote line and scroll a bit back and forth for more insights, opinions, and context)

  12. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    It's 2017. We all have -at the very least- DSL connections that turn a 180MB download into a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

    Downloads are readily available for free to everyone registered in our site.

    Not to mention that we work hard on having an ever-growing number of both newer and older recordings have a representative sample - something that you can't even imagine how time consuming is.


    And you think it's not "fair"?



    You can't be seriously serious. Like, seriously?
    Almost all recordings are downloaded from other sites. And only mods can vote. Do you allow feedback?