Information for our
samples and downloads



We use the Liquid Audio system for our music downloads. To hear free samples of the songs you need either the Liquid Audio Player or the G2 Real Player. They're both free, they both sound good, if you don't have them try them out!

   


To listen to samples...
Both players will tell our server what you have set your connect speed at and send you a sample which will "stream" at the best quality for your speed (hopefully without interruption). (If you think you should be getting a better sounding sample, check your player's preferences to see if the "connection" speed is set properly for your Internet access.) If you have high speed access you will get "near CD quality." On the album web pages you can choose to listen to one sample at a time or you can choose to stream all the samples (one after another without you having to click anything)... just choose what and which format you want to try. Note: When using the Real Player G2 with a Liquid Audio file for the first time you will be asked to allow a download of a small plug-in that enables your Real Player to play the file. Also note that the Real Player 5.0 or before won't play Liquid Audio Files... you need to update (it's free!)

Download higher quality samples...
If you use a slower speed connection, you still can hear the "CD quality" sample by clicking the "free Download" button in the Liquid Audio Player. The sample will download as a file and then play through the player. (This feature is not offered via the Real Player.) The file will stay on your hard drive until you delete it.

Purchase the CD...
With both players, you can choose to purchase the CD (if it is available) Just click on the "Buy CD" button. A new web window will come up and place you at an on-line store, if the title isn't available you will get a page from our site reminding you that it's not.

Purchase Downloads...
When you click "Buy Download" you will go to a new web window with a "shopping basket," you can then go back and find more songs to purchase or you can check out. The shopping basket page has a search engine to search all of the Liquid Audio offerings (not just our selections).. if you click "continue shopping" you will also go to the Liquid Audio search engine. Note: You will need the Liquid Audio Player to purchase and play the file, (once you have the player, you can continue to purchase and preview via the Real Player)

Burn your own CD-Rs...
For this one you need the Liquid Audio Player... it contains the software nessasary to sequence and burn a CD-R from the files you have downloaded. (The Real Player will only let you sample a song, link you to an on line store, or purchase a download)


On some of the sites, you will find links which will stream  a number of song samples via just one click.  Some links allow you to download the songs for free, some restrict the file from being burned on to a CD.  Some of the pages here contain both MP3 and  Liquid Audio tracks... At our site we use "AAC" compression for our Liquid Audio files.  AAC compression is a couple of years newer than MP3 and sounds better and  it's files are smaller in size. (When we encode a song we can choose which compression codec we want to use.)
 

The future of the music industry is in electronic delivery... during the next few years as bandwidth and computer power continues to grow, we will see the decline of retail stores selling CDs. 

I have written a couple of "Diatribes" which go into much more detail if you are interested.... Paul


Allied Chemical - Music Division
Liquid Audio
Real Networks
webmaster