How to join What.CD

[Se7Ven]

How to join What.CD
1. Getting an invite:

Potential users should never ever look for invites from a third party, namely invite sites. ONLY get invites from members of what.cd or from passing the interview. While this may not stop what happened recently to fellow members, it may prevent you from experiencing the joy of getting in only to be banned almost immediately.


2. The interview:

To join What.CD you have to keep a good upload/download ratio or you will get banned pretty quickly. So only try to join What.CD if you are serious about keeping a good upload/download ratio and just not going to join just to download as much as possible and not upload anything.
To join follow these steps:
First you need to download an IRC client if you haven't already got one. I recommend mIRC an easy to use free IRC client, which is downloadable here mIRC: Internet Relay Chat client.
When installed and ready to go. You need to join the What.CD IRC server which is irc.what-network.net Port 6667. Once you have connected you got to join the channel #what.cd-invites
DO NOT GO TO ANOTHER CHANNEL AND ASK FOR AN INVITE, YOU WILL BE BANNED FROM THE CHANNEL OR IGNORED
When in the channel read the instructions that are given. Type !queue into the channel and you will be added to the waiting list to be interviewed for an invite. Please be patient waiting in the queue can take up to 4 hours or even longer. This is where you got to be one of them people that really want an invite as you could get an invited to the interview at anytime so you really need to stay at your computer watching to screen.
When you get invited to an interview room you will be asked a few question about yourself, how much you know about music e.g. do you know what a FLAC file is? And you might need to provide and image of your upload/download ratio of other private Bittorrent sites. So before you go to an interview room be sure to have a speedtest.net result ready.
Don't be nervous when answering the questions.
If they accept you and are willing to give you an invite they will ask for your email address and then they will send you an invite. So just go to you inbox and you will see an invite. From there on it is easy street as you just got to sign up and you're in.
Please be aware that they might not give you an invite for many reasons. So don't be too disappointed if you don't get an invite. You can try again, but the interviewers might get tired of you if you show no signs of improvement.
Good luck.
And remember to keep up a good upload/download ratio

Some important links:
what.cd intro
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index....le=Transcoding
LAME - Hydrogenaudio Knowledgebase
http://jiggafellz.isa-geek.net/jigga...ct-audio-copy/

That's pasted in from another thread. This is me speaking:

1) Using a proxy/BNC/whatever to hide your IP is NOT allowed. If found you will be banned and not be given a second chance.
2) Read the channel topic and post a Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test result. Do NOT fake this one, you will be caught, banned and not given a second chance.
3) Be polite and patient. People asking how long they have to wait repeatedly is not exactly encouraging, neither is ungrateful users. As there is a LOT of users flowing through the channel every day the tolerance is not exactly high.
4) Study up! Don't come to the interview unprepared, you will NOT pass the interview, read the guides mentioned in this thread, it is not hard.
5) Don't cheat! If we find out you're copy/pasting answers or similar you will get banned and not given a second chance.
6) Try again. If you fail the interview yet have shown some proof of knowledge you may try again no sooner than 48 hours from the end of the interview, but for the love of god, DO study. Don't just try again without reading up on the question you failed, you will not be given more chances if you're unwilling to read/improve.
7) If you DO pass the interview, make sure you read all the rules and especially the ratio requirements before you do anything at all. You're only allowed 1 account per user per lifetime, so take good care of it.
Unfortunately some users just can't follow the rules, so we've had to ban several IP-Ranges because of abuse (traders, cheaters, sellers etc.). If your IP is banned there is no way in for you via the invite-channel.


this is from the Administrator there

and i think at will be help a lot of people to be a part of this great Community

please dont CHEAT there and dont SELL invites


best regrads

[anon]

Thanks, I'm sure a lot of people will find this useful.

These two links are broken:

...
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index....le=Transcoding
...
http://jiggafellz.isa-geek.net/jigga...ct-audio-copy/

I think these are the correct ones:

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Transcoding
http://jiggafellz.isa-geek.net/jiggafellz-step-by-step-guide-to-secure-cd-ripping-with-exact-audio-copy/

Also, I have copies of three different interviews that have been done on the IRC channel, just in case someone finds them helpful. Here they are:

Spoiler 1 | click ->:

1. Why are you interested in becoming a What member?
2. How often do you plan on using the site?
3. What kind of internet connection do you have? Do a Speedtest at www.speedtest.net & paste the link here.
4. Are you a member of any other private trackers? Post your stats here.
5. How much experience do you have creating & uploading torrents? Which BT client do you use?
7. How big is your music/cd collection? What bitrates/formats? Where did you get your collection?
8. What application do you usually use to rip CDs & how many you have (estimate)?
9. What is the difference between a lossy & a lossless audio codec? Give some examples of each.
10. What are VBR & CBR? Out of following pick the highest standard LAME mp3 bitrate: 192, V0, V2, 320, V4, 512?
11. What is transcoding, in terms of audio?
12. Will these transcodes give the same result as if they were done straight from an original cd? "YES" or "NO" for each one please.
a. 320 -> 192
b. V2 -> 192
c. 256 -> 256
d. 256 -> 320
e. wma -> mp3
f. FLAC -> mp3
g. mp3 -> Audio CD -> mp3
h. mp3 -> Audio CD -> FLAC

If no more than one lossless to lossy encoding is permitted which of these transcodes are/is generally acceptable? Give only a YES or NO for each specified example.
a. CDDA->WAV->CBR
b. 320->WAV(PCM)->FLAC
c. MP3->WMA->AAC
d. AAC->MP3->ALAC
e. FLAC->APE->WAV(PCM)
f. APE->FLAC->APE
g. FLAC->WAV(PCM)->CDDA
h. WAV(PCM)->ALAC->AAC
i. MP3->APE->FLAC
j. V0->CBR->WAV(PCM)
k. CDDA->WAV(PCM)->MP3
l. V2->V1->V3
m. V0->WAV(PCM)->CDDA

Spoiler 2 | click ->:

1. How often will you use the site?
2. How long will you seed for daily, and how long in total?
3. What is the concept of maintaing a ratio?
4. Will you be able to maintain an acceptable ratio on What.cd? Can you prove to me that you have been able to do this on other private bittorrent sites?
5. Explain how lossy and lossless audio codecs are different. Give three examples of each.
6. What is CBR & VBR? How are they different? Explain.
7. What is v0?
8. What is the highest possible mp3 bitrate?
9. Give examples of methods that could be used to prove an audio file is actually the type of format/bitrate advertised.
10. Define transcoding - In terms of audio. Is it good or bad, and why? Are there good AND bad transcodes? Explain.

Spoiler 3 | click ->:

1. What is the concept of maintaining a ratio.
2. Explain how lossy and lossless audio codecs are different? Give three (3) examples of each codec type.
3. Define transcoding - in terms of audio.
4. Why are some transcodes acceptable and why are some transcodes not acceptable?
5. If given the three maximum frequency ranges of (22khz, 20khz and 19khz) and file sizes (78MB, 104MB and 299MB) match each of them to the most likely format of either (320 CBR, V0 and FLAC), ie. Type-Size-Frequency
6. If a V0 and 256 CBR album are both available, which would you prefer, and why?
7. Give examples of methods that could be used to prove an audio file is actually the type of format/bitrate that it is advertised.
8. After encoding a new audio file which of the following tag(s) is/are recommended?
a. <artist>, <album>, <track#>, <title> and <year>
b. <track#> and <title>
c. <artist>, <album>
d. leave them all blank
9. When seeding audio files, editing the id3 tags of the audio file will interfere with the complete transfer of the files? (TRUE or FALSE)
10. If transcoding and no more than one lossless to lossy encoding is permitted which of these transcodes are/is generally acceptable? Give only a YES or NO for each specified example.
a. FLAC->WAV->APE
b. V0->V1->V2
c. MP3->AAC->128
d. 320->256->192
e. VBR->ABR->CBR
f. WAV->ALAC->AAC
g. MP3->APE->FLAC
h. CDA->WAV->MP3
i. MP3->WAV->CDA
j. 320->WAV->FLAC
k. CDA->V0->V1
l. APE->FLAC->APE
m. V0->WAV->CDA

[Tekrader]

Hi,
thanks for the interviews anon. It is curious how serious people take the private trackers they help run. I ran into problems with BitMeTV staff once over my account (was out of the country and my account got disabled). It was laughable what they wanted me to do to prove that I told the truth. It also paints a really sad picture of their "real" lives.

Regards

[Manas]

Hehehe, BitmeTV is famous for its not-so-friendly staff
But with all that trades going on they really don't have a choice.

Anyway, thank you too anon for the interviews. They may be very helpful for members who want to join that way.

[anon]

@Tekrader & Manas: No problem!

And I'll take that in mind when I get inside BitMeTV, specially because my ISP randomly gives me IPs that are completely different from each other every day. Should they end up resolving to a different region/country, I'd be most likely banned like Tekrader...

[Tekrader]

@anon

The BitMeTV staff is really interesting. I know people who lost their accounts for no obvious reasons. At least none the staff wanted to share with them.

My account got not activated again BTW. No real loss for me.

Regards

[splicer]

I used the IRC method to get into What.CD; fairly straight forward and easy, but you best read up on those hydrogenaudio links.

Also, I have a feeling that What.CD bans Mac addresses, but I'm not too sure; when I first got in about two years ago I used NRPG RM to build up a decent buffer, so I had no reason to cheat for a while. Probably about 6 months ago, my ratio needed some boosting and ran NRPG RM and found I was banned within an hour! So I waited a few weeks for my IP to change, and decided to try out the IRC method. When I joined the IRC, and tried to join the channel concerning obtaining an invite, it said I was banned! So I phoned up my ISP and requested an IP change, it happened, and I was still banned! I didn't try to get back in for a long time as I wasn't too bothered; then I learned about Mac address spoofing and saw my router (a Linksys model) had that feature. I Changed my Mac address, got into the channel, did the IRC interview, and got back into What.CD.

[SealLion]

that's really interesting to know about WHat determining one's MAC address in addition to thier IP. They knowing your IP would seem obvious, but about the MAC address.....that's quite interesting.

I'm gonna remember that just in case.

I know that there are MAC address spoofing tools out there and I used to have one of them. A not too bad one either, I might add.

The one I had was called MAC Make UP.

For those of you reading this, the link is here:

Mac MakeUp - MAC Address spoofing tool

There are other sites available as well. Probably better too.

[anonftw]

OK ... I have been banned from What for about 2 weeks for a stupid cheating mistake .... one false click. It still says my account is disabled. There is nothing about IP banned on the main page. OK. Would it be safe to accept an invite with new email and activate it from public place(i.e. library) then login from home ?? Will the inviter be notified if IP is banned ?? Thanks

[anon]

OK. Would it be safe to accept an invite with new email and activate it from public place(i.e. library) then login from home ??

Yes. Just make sure you delete your home IP has changed, and your cache and cookies have been deleted.

Will the inviter be notified if IP is banned ??

As far as I know, no, but they'll see the disabled icon in your profile if your account is banned.

[nextor]

I'm really going to try to get in to what.cd. Is it true that there are no cheats that are really safe there? Hey, thanks for a great guide.

[anon]

Is it true that there are no cheats that are really safe there?

No, it isn't. You just need to use the right mod/tool, and moderate rates (<100kB/s in my opinion).

[hontoCorti]

@ splicer: i don't think they ban the mac adress...
maybe they banned an ip range and the ban was only for some minutes?
also some providers have different ip ranges for their connections...

Done some research on it, in the packets only the last computer's mac is shown the packet has just passed... So they just cannot ban your mac.

The questions on what.cd interview are not so easy. I'm not really an audio expert, i know what abr, cbr vbr is, but v0 and some other questions i would have to do some research

[splicer]

No, the IRC told me I was banned, and for a long time it said this at that. As my post says, it was only when I changed my Mac address that the IRC would allow me to join.

In my opinion, and from what my expirience would dictate to me, they do; if you want to think different then feel free.

Just read those HydrogenAudio links and you will be fine. Remember, you can take the test 3 times before you have to change you IP address again.

[alpacino]

Hey, whenever I try this interview I get instaban as soons as I enter the channel and am greeted with a msg saying that there were too many bad users from my contry LOL. I will try later to spoof my ip and enter the irc channel again. Will let you know If I succeed.

Now about the MAC detection. Is it really possible? I mean, this sound too CIA for me as it's like a serial number connect to each one's hardware right?. I am behind a router here, does a router have a MAC or only network cards have it? Thanks.