Problem 1: I can't see the audio files I was expecting to see on the web site!
- If the web site has been changing recently and you've been to the page before, then the problem is probably that your web browser has cached the old web page and is displaying the old page from the cache on your computer rather than the new page from the internet. This is typical if we're uploading new audio to our web site over a few days and you've been checking the progress each day. Try refreshing your web browser. Here's how...
Problem 2: I can see the audio files (typically mp3 files) that I expected on the web site, but when I click on it to play, it takes forever to download before it plays the song!
- You're probably using a dial up internet connection instead of a high speed internet connection like cable modem or DSL. Try upgrading your connection to high speed or going to the office or friends house (with high speed) and trying it.
- Try saving the mp3 audio file to your hard drive and then playing the song from your hard drive. You'll still have to wait the time required to download the file once. Then after that, you should be able to play instantly from your hard drive. Typically, you'll save by right-clicking the song with your mouse and selecting save as...
Problem 3: I don't have a player on my computer that can play the song!
- Most new computers have audio players installed on the computer from Microsoft or Apple etc. Consider getting a new computer.
- Real Player is downloadable for free from Real Player.
- Windows Media Player is downloadable for free from Microsoft.
Problem 4: I can download the song to my Real Player or Windows Media Player but the song does not play!
- Try playing the song from the office or a friends computer who has a new computer with a recent operating system. If the audio plays on your office or friends computer, then our web site is OK and the issue is with your computer. Otherwise, please report the issue to studio@anthonywalkermusic.com.
- If the audio plays at the office or at a friends house, then the problem is probably that the mp3 format is not supported on your Real Player or Windows Media Player. In that case, update the version of your player with a newer version from Real Player or Microsoft etc.
- Newer mp3 audio generated by Perspective Music Recording Studio and Anthony Walker Music is 24 bit 320kBits/sec (48kHz). However, the older ones are 128kBits/sec. In some cases, the higher resolution mp3 cannot be played by older players. In that case, upgrade to a newer player. To help determine if this is your problem, try playing the following 128kBits/sec recording of Clarinet Candy. Also note that most modern media players will display the bits/sec specification in the mp3 file.
- Windows 2000, Windows XP and newer does not tend to exhibit problems. If you're using Windows 98, do yourself a favor and purchase a new computer.
CD Digital Audio: Audio CDs (compact discs) contain 16 bit stereo audio sampled at 44.1 kHz. This means that 44,100 times per second a 16 bit number is provided for the left audio and a 16 bit number is provided to the right audio which is converted to an equivalent analog signal for your amplifier and speakers. A 16 bit number or sample provides a signal to noise ratio of over 100dbs with a frequency response of over 20kHz.
The format of the digital audio on your CD is .cda which is very close to the .wav format. There is no compression of any kind. If you do the math, you'll find that in order to provide this high quality audio, a typical song will require a 40 megaByte file. This is too big to email and is very slow to download from the web.
Compressed Audio: In order to make it practical to send digital audio as an email attachment or download it from a web site, clever methods were engineered to reduce the size of the typical audio file from 40megaBytes/song to around 4 megaBytes/song. This is called "Lossy Compression" which means we lose something when we convert a .wav or .cda file to .mp3 or .wma and so the quality of the audio diminishes a bit. That said, in many cases you cannot hear the loss of quality when you're using high Bits/Second rate. Here are some typical compression ratios:
cda 1:1 Compression Ratio. Sounds perfect.
wav 1:1 Compression Ration. Sounds perfect.
mp3 10:1 Compression Ratio My experience is it sounds better than wma.
wma 20:1 Compression Ratio In theory this is better than mp3 for the same bits/sec rate.
Multi-Track Digital Audio: In the Perspective Music Recording Studio we're using Apogee digital-to-analog converters to convert the analog microphone output to 24 bit digital audio at sample rates of 48kHz (typically) before delivering the signal to ProTools. If higher resolution is required, we can also sample at 96kHz or 192kHz. Either way the quality is far superior to CDs and far-far superior to mp3 and wma formats. This super quality is useful when mixing multiple tracks together to ensure that when gain, EQ and other effects are applied there is no degradation in the audio.
When we publish final mixes to our web site, we try to use high Bits/Sec rates so we can preserve as much of the quality as possible. Therefore, we try to use 320kBits/Sec which closely matches the 24bit/48kHz studio sampling depth/rate. This extra quality will typically push the file size up to 10megaBytes per song.
For More Information: See one of the following links...
