F.A.Q.s: Digitial Orders

• What format/quality are digital tracks and albums sold in?
• Do the digital tracks use Digital Rights Management (DRM)?
• What is the quality of the previews?
• How are digital tracks and albums delivered after puchase?
• Is album art delivered with purchases of digital tracks and albums?
• Other questions

What format/quality are digital tracks and albums sold in?

Digital tracks and collections of tracks (digital albums) are available in three different formats that the customer can choose prior to downloading. There are no extra costs associated with any of these formats. For example, if a song is priced at $0.99, then that is the price for the song, regardless of which format the customer chooses to download it in. Here are descriptions of each of the three formats available:

• Variable bit rate MP3: MP3 format encoded with the LAME encoder using the "--alt-standard-preset" setting. This setting results in high quality Variable Bit Rate (VBR) files with an average bit rate of approximately 192 kbps and a frequency of 44.1khz. This setting is commonly regarded as an excellent compromise between file size and sound quality and the sound quality exceeds that available from most download services such as iTunes.
• 320 Kbps MP3: MP3 format encoded with the LAME encoder using the "-b 320" setting. This setting results in the highest quality Constant Bit Rate (CBR) files possible in the MP3 format. File sizes are larger than the VBR format, but there is no compromise in quality.
• FLAC Lossless:Flac files are audio encodings that use a lossless form of compression. The final audio stream read by the software or hardware device that reads them is bit for bit identical to a CD copy of the audio. For more info on FLAC you may visit this wikipedia entry.

Do the digital tracks use Digital Rights Management (DRM)?

No. The digital tracks and albums we provide are bare audio files with no form of DRM or encryption.

What is the quality of the previews?

The previews are made available as 96 kbps, 22 khz streams. Thus, the audio quality of the purchasable tracks is much superior.

How are digital tracks and albums delivered after purchase?

Purchased digital tracks/albums are made available in a single zip file when your order is complete. Once your order is complete you will be presented with an order confirmation page. In order to download your tracks you must simply click on the highlighted "click here" link to download your purchased tracks. The download processs will start within a few moments (up to a minute or two). Depending on your web browser it will either automatically start downloading the zip file to your Desktop or your web browser will require your feedback concerning where to save the zip file. The tracks can be extracted from the zip file with any standard zip utility.

Is album art delivered with purchases of digital tracks and albums?

Yes. Each track or album purchases will come with a cover image of the album in pertains to. These will be included in the downloaded zip file. The files will be named Album_Cover_[release number].jpg. These files will have a resolution of 600 pixels wide. Additionally, the album cover art is embedded in the metadata of each of the audio files, so that it will be viewable when played by your software or hardware player, e.g. within iTunes or an iPod interface.

Other questions

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to email alien8 [the 'at' symbol] alien8recordings.com