The Classical Shop

Please look through all of the following pages before contacting our support desk.

If you still can not find the answers you are looking for please use the online support page:

Question 1

What is an MP3?

Answer

An MP3 (the accepted abbreviation for MPEG 1 audio layer 3) is a music file that has been compressed in a way that enables it to reproduce near-CD quality music, but with a much smaller size file. This enables high-quality music download, transfer and reproduction.

One minute of music is equivalent to about 1.5Mb of hard disk space at a bitrate of 192kbps, a size easily swallowed by an everyday modern computer. (The higher the bitrate the better the quality of the downloaded music. The Classical Shop uses this higher than normal bitrate so that the quality of our sound is transferred to you, the customer, as accurately as possible with only a slight increase in file size. zero or more alphanumeric characters

Question 2

How do I listen to an audio download?

Answer

To listen to our audio downloads you need to have either a software music Player on your PC/Mac or a portable hardware device such as an iPod.

Question 3

How do I place an order with your website?

Answer

1. Make sure you are logged in. You need to have previously registered before you can log in. You will now have a username and password, please make a note of these.

2. Navigate the website to choose the tracks you would like and click the ‘add’ button. This will add your chosen tracks to your shopping basket.

3. To continue with your purchase click the ‘Checkout Now’ button

4. Complete all of the payment details required as indicated and ‘Proceed’

5. You will be sent confirmation of your order and a download link.

For more complete details see the ‘Tutorials’ page.

Question 4

How do I register with The Classical Shop?

Answer

To register all you need is an email address, username and password. From this you can create your profile. Click 'Login/Register' on the menu bar above to sign up for a new account.

Question 5

How do I save my audio files?

Save the MP3 files to your hard disk into an MP3 folder or other folder of your choice, perhaps in a folder named after each label, e.g. ‘Chandos MP3s’ or ‘Priory MP3s’, which can be easily accessed through your MP3 player. Simply create a new folder where you can easily find and access it, name it and save your MP3s there. The file will automatically be saved with title, artist name and catalogue number. (MP3s can be downloaded again if you do mistakenly lose or wipe them.)

Once the file is downloaded it should automatically open your default media player. If it does not, open your media player and look in the library or browse to find the file in the folder in which you saved it. Your can create a playlist of MP3 tracks to enjoy

Question 6

How do I get my audio files onto my MP3 player/i-Pod?

Answer

To connect an iPod to your computer you need to use either FireWire (both PC and Mac), or USB and USB 2.0 (PCs only). Transfer the files from your computer to your portable player using the software bundled with your player, it will probably have an ‘autosync’ feature which will enable easy set-up/transfer. If the bitrate is selectable, ensure that you are using the highest bitrate.

If you have an MP3 CD player you will need to burn the tracks onto a CD-R or CD-RW disc. When you burn the disc, remember to save the files as data not as audio, otherwise the software will make WAV files of the music and they will no longer be in the compressed size. Many players allow you to group tracks in separate folders for ease of storage/access.

Question 7

How do I make an MP3 CD?

Answer

It is possible to burn your MP3s onto a CD with a regular CD-R burner, but these will still need MP3 software to play and won’t play on a normal CD player. You can use an MP3 to CD decoder to create a standard CD. Many CD Burners come with the popular ‘Nero Express’ burning software included. This can burn MP3s to a CD-R for storage (Data CD) or decode them to CD-R so that they can be played on a normal CD player (Audio CD).

Question 8

How do I burn MP3s onto a CD for use with a standard CD player using Nero Express?

Answer

To burn MP3s onto a CD for use with a standard CD player using Nero Express Launch Nero and insert a blank CD-R (or CD-RW) into your recordable drive.

Select ‘Music’ and ‘MP3 disc’. Click on ‘Add’ and drag and drop files from their saved location on to the open pane in the middle of the window. Alternatively you can select the file and click on the ‘Add’ button.

Add files until you have selected all you can or the space indicator shows the disc full. It is best not to go too close to the red ‘full’ mark to avoid errors. Click ‘Finished’’ to close the ‘Add’ window.

Click on the ‘Next’ button to go to the final burn settings at which point you need to check that the correct CD burner is selected. You can also name the disc if you wish. Select the writing speed or use the default given. A slower writing speed is better if your computer has a small memory or slower processor. This will avoid producing a bad disc, the slower the writing speed the better.

You can select the verify data box which will perform a bit by bit verification of the original file. It takes a little longer and the operation will be performed after the burn by automatically ejecting and reinserting the disc.

If the files you are burning do not fill the disc, you can add more later by checking the ‘multisession’ box, which will not write-protect the disc.

When you are happy with the selections you can select ‘Burn’. When the burn is completed the verification will take place if you selected the option. The next window will inform you hopefully that the burning process was successfully completed. You can print or save a detailed report if you wish. Click ‘Next’ to complete the process. You can now start another disc or exit the program.

Question 9

How do I burn MP3s onto a CD for use with a standard CD player using Windows Media Player 10?

Answer

Before you can burn CDs with WMP10 you need music in your library. Click on ‘Library’’ and ‘Add to Library’, select ‘By Searching Computer’. If you know where they all are, click on ‘Browse’ and go to the folder, select and add to the library.

WMP10 can monitor the music folders on your computer for changes and then automatically update the library. To do this you must specify which folder(s) to monitor by: clicking ‘Library’, ‘Add to Library’, and then click ‘By Monitoring Folders’. In the Monitor Folders dialog box click ‘Add’ or ‘Remove’ to select the folders you want to monitor.

In Windows Media Player, click the ‘Library’ tab and then, in the (blue right hand) List pane, click the blue ‘ List’ button, and then choose ‘Burn List’. If you need to clear the list before beginning, click ‘Clear List’.

Drag the music from either of the other two panes (contents or details pane) to the List pane to create a list of songs to burn. In the burn list you can rearrange the order you wish to burn them in.

Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW disc in the CD drive. In the List pane, verify that the music will all fit on the disc. If necessary, remove tracks from the list by right-clicking a track and then clicking ‘Remove from List’.

Click the ‘Start Burn’ arrow and verify that ‘Audio CD’ is selected. Click ‘Start Burn’.

As the CD is burned, you can check its progress in the burn list. Burning a CD will take some time.

You cannot burn additional files to a CD after burning is completed. If you are using a CD-RW, you can erase the entire CD before using the Player to burn files to the CD again.

Question 10

Will a firewall stop me downloading your MP3s?

Answer

If you use a firewall on your internet connection (generally recommended) ensure that it is correctly configured so that a programme can access, and download from, a URL.

Question 11

What is the copyright on the MP3s I download from you?

Answer

The copyright of these sound recordings belongs to the record label. They are intended strictly for personal use. Any unauthorised reproduction, posting or copying, commercial or otherwise, of any kind without the prior and specific permission of the owning label is prohibited by international law.

The Classical Shop does not use any Digital Rights Management (DRM) encoding to protect its music from illegal file sharing. Your agreement with Chandos Records Ltd, the Classical Shop and /or the owning or originating label on the purchase of an MP3 is that it is for personal use only and not for further distribution. DRM would allow for only one copy to be made and any further copies would be ‘digitally spoilt’, but this would not allow for copies for the car, for example, to be made. The only protection that this site wishes to use is the conscience of the purchaser.

Question 12

Can I use your MP3s for commercial use?

Answer

Please contact our copyright department on (+44)(0)1206 225200

Question 13

Why does the Audio CD I created will not play in my car stereo?

Answer

As long as the Audio CD is created without any error message from your software and as long as you are able to play it on your computer using your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, the disc is OK. If it only fails or has trouble when you try to play it in your car or home stereo, you more than likely have a compatibility issue between the media and your player. If you have used a CD label on your CD, this can also effect playback on some CD players, particularly the 'slot loading' type rather than the 'tray' type.

Question 14

None of my burnt audio CDs will play in any of my CD players, what can I do?

Answer

You can try the following:

Try a slower write speed.

Try more than one brand of CD-R media. Different brands work better with some players than others.

Upgrade the firmware of your CD burner.

Use only CD-R media and not CD-RW. Many standard CD players will not work with CD-RW discs.

Sometimes Audio CDs are not playable if they are burned in TAO mode (Track at once). Try burning all tracks at the same time and don’t create a multi session disc.

Question 15

Why does the order of MP3 tracks change when I compile an MP3 CD? It always ends up in alphabetical order, and I am unable to change it.

Answer

First of all, there is a big difference between an Audio CD and a MP3 CD. If you burn an Audio CD, all MP3s will be converted into CDA(udio), so standard CD players will be able to play this CD. An MP3 CD is really just a Data CD, using the CD-ROM (ISO) standard to which every CD-ROM (ISO) has to conform; Yellow Book specification. This specification forces all tracks to alphabetical order.

Question 16

How do I check my history of past music downloads?

Answer

After you have logged in, you can see your past downloads by selecting the ‘Download History’ tab from within your account screen

Question 17

If I lose my Internet connection or my computer crashes when I’m downloading can I return and download the track again?

Answer

After you have brought any of our MP3s, they will appear in your download history and can be downloaded again in the event of the loss of a file.

Question 18

Is there a membership fee?

Answer

No, you only pay for the tracks that you purchase.

Question 19

What is your return policy on Audio Downloads?

Answer

Due to the nature of audio downloads, The Classical Shop has had to enforce an 'all sales are final' policy. So before you click purchase on the final confirmation page, make sure that what you're about to order is correct. We have a NO REFUND POLICY.

Question 20

How do I remove the 2 second gap between tracks when I burn a CD from MP3s?

Answer

In most CD burning applications there is an option to remove the 2 second gap that is put there by default.

Unfortunately due to the large number of different CD burning applications available we cannot support all of them, but here are the basic instructions for nero and nero express:

Nero

select the tracks you wish to burn

right click on them and select ‘copy to compilation’

once all the tracks have been added, highlight all the tracks at once (hold down the shift key and click on the first and then the last track)

once highlighted right click on your selection

select properties

in the box that has ‘2’ in it, change it to read ‘0’

press ‘ok’ and burn your cd as normal

Nero Express

On the screen that you add your tracks, click the box that’s marked ‘No pause between tracks’. It is as simple as that!

Question 21

I have a problem regarding my credit card payment, what do I do?

Answer

We do not deal directly with credit cards as we use 'Worldpay' for this. Most questions can be answered from their FAQs pages which can be found here:

http://www.worldpay.com/shopper/

If not you can contact 'Worldpay' here:

https://crm.worldpay.com/cgi-bin/support_de.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Question 22

I have a question that's not answered here, what do I do?

Answer

If your question is still not answered, please submit your question to customersupport@theclassicalshop.net

AIFF

is one of the two most-used audio file formats used for Macs. The other is SDII. Most CD writers can accept AIFF or SDII files when burning a CD.

Bit Rate

the average number of bits used by one second of audio. Standard bit rate for MP3 is 128kbps, but the higher the bit rate the better the quality. The Classical Shop uses 320Kbps.

CD Burning

the process of ‘recording’ onto a CD-R.

CD-R disc

A recordable CD that you can ‘write’ or save data to only once. A CD-RW disc, on the other hand, can be ‘overwritten’ many times."

CD-RW drive

A drive in your PC that is capable of writing to CD-R and CD-RW discs, as well as reading data from CD-ROMs, and playing audio

Decoder

Software that allows MP3s to be copied to CD format, the opposite of Encoder.

Encoder

software that converts uncompressed WAV. (PC) or AIFF. (Mac) files into compressed files such as MP3.

Firewall

software or hardware that prevents unauthorised access to a computer from the internet hackers, viruses and other nuisances.

Firmware

Software that has been written on read-only memory. Firmware is a combination of software and hardware. ROMs, PROMs and EPROMs that have data or programs recorded on them.

FLAC files

See the FORMATS tab for a complete explanation

MP3

An MP3 (the accepted abbreviation for MPEG 1 audio layer 3) is a music file that has been compressed by reducing accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the hearing ability of most people.

Playlist

A list of tracks assembled in your own order that can be quickly accessed on your media player.

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a specification to establish communication between devices and a host controller, usually personal computer and peripherals. USB 2.0 is twelve times faster than the original and now obsolete USB 1.

WAV File

an audio format created by Microsoft that has become the standard sound file format for PCs. They are much bigger than MP3 files.

Wildcard search

A character that may be used in a search term to represent one or more other characters. The two most commonly used wildcards are:

1) The question mark (‘?’) may be used to represent a single alphanumeric character in a search expression.

2) An asterisk (‘*’) may be used to specify zero or more alphanumeric characters

ZIP

A file utility that zips together files and compresses file size for quicker and more convenient download.

New User? Want to buy a CD?

To get the best from the The Classical Shop site you will need to register. You can browse the site without registering, but will not be able to buy CDs, receive newsletters or take advantage of special offers. The Classical Shop will keep your to details to itself, not passing them on to anyone or any company, and ensure they are secure.

If you sign-up for the The Classical Shop Monthly Newsletter you can be sure that you will be informed of new releases as soon as they are announced, neither will you miss out on any special offers.

Registering

To register, click on the LOGIN/REGISTER button on the menu bar at the top of the Home page.

Complete the form in the format indicated. You will need an alpha-numeric password that is 8 or more characters long. You will be given a username and this, in conjunction with your password, is your login to the site. You can find your username under the ‘Your Account’ tab once you start browsing

Make sure that you remember to make a note of your username and password, although you can get a reminder if you forget them. If you need a reminder click on the ‘forgotten password’ link.

Your Account

On your ‘Account’ page, there are five tabs. The main one showing your personal details will also show your order and invoice history and if applicable available vouchers. The other four tabs show your shopping basket, and different aspects of your downloads.

Shopping

Once you have successfully registered you can complete and save your address details and begin your purchases.

To start searching, browsing or shopping, click on whichever button on the search bar that you need.

The general search button will search for anything from composer or artist, to format or label. The results will be categorised and offer the chance to refine this, or you can page through the results individually. It is possible to search for a specific title or track in this box too. It is also possible to refine categories by also checking the other boxes such as format.

Wildcard searches – A wildcard is a character that may be used in a search term to represent one or more other characters. The two most commonly used wildcards are: 1) The question mark (“?”) may be used to represent a single alphanumeric character in a search expression.

2) An asterisk (“*”) may be used to specify zero or more alphanumeric characters. Avoid using the asterisk as the first character in a search string (Please remember that The Classical Shop has over 350,000 tracks and broad searches may take longer than usual and a little patience may be necessary.)

Select the track(s) that you wish to purchase by clicking the ‘add’ or ‘add all’ button next to the price. Clicking on the ‘Buy Selected Tracks’ button will add them to your basket.

(At this point you can choose which format quality is preferred; MP3, Lossless and so on. Each one that is available will be shown above the album title by the green indicator. See the ‘Formats’ tab if you would like an explanation of each.)

Continue shopping until you have chosen all that you wish to buy. (Please note that there is a minimum purchase level of £0.70). The total cost will be shown at the foot of the ‘Basket’ page.

At this point you can empty the basket or change your order. To continue with your purchase click on ‘Checkout Now' button. The next page is the order details page, which shows you the loyalty points earned from this transaction. If you are logged in your details will be shown, you need to login.

Please ensure that your communication details are complete, including confirmation of your email address so that you are contactable. Clicking on 'Proceed' will take you to the final confirmation page. Please check all of the details are correct before going on to the next stage.

Ordering

The next stage takes you to the WorldPay website which is the third party payment processing house for The Classical Shop. This site is extremely secure and they process transactions for many major companies. Choose you method of payment and complete the details as shown. You still have the option to cancel your purchase on this page. To proceed, click on the 'Make Payment' button – only once. (Your card details will not be stored by The Classical Shop or WorldPay.)

Complete all of your card details. Again there is the opportunity to cancel or start again on this page. Do not press the ‘back’ button on your browser from here. Once the details are completed click the ‘Make Payment’ button

There may be a few seconds wait as your transaction is verified, another screen will tell you the result if your transaction has been successful and give you a merchant reference number and a transaction number. (Make a note of these for your records.) You will also get a confirmation email from WorldPay. To complete your order, click on the ‘Please click here’ button. This will take you back to The Classical Shop where you can download your tracks by clicking on the link or later via the ‘Your Downloads’ tab.

To Download

To download your track click on the ‘your latest download’ tab which will show your most recent downloads which are available for download. From the top right hand corner of that tab’s page choose which format you would like you download. (FLAC and WMA are the most common, but an explanation can be found under the formats pages from the main menu bar. If you choose WAV or AIF, these will take you to another page where the files will be converted on demand. (If another customer has already done this you will not need to wait for the conversion to take place, otherwise it may take as much as two-three minutes to convert files ready for downloading.) The file type chosen will be highlighted.

Tracks can be downloaded individually simply by clicking on the ‘download’ button. When the dialogue box appears asking to open or save, click ‘Save’. This will give you the option of where to save it on your computer. It is recommended that you create either a folder for each label, or one called ‘Classical Shop Downloads’ and put you downloads into that folder.

(Download times vary between thirty-five minutes on a 1mb internet connection to only five minutes for an 8mb connection for an average CD. The size of each file that you are downloading is shown if you hover above the green indicator next to each track.)

Instead of downloading each track individually, they can be ‘Streamed’ and downloaded one after another. Simply click the ‘Download All’ button. You will need Java installed on your computer but most people will already have this as it is used on so many other web sites already.

All of your purchases will appear in the ‘Download history’ tab. If tracks get lost due to computer or other problems, you can download them again by referring to this page. Click on the ‘download’ button and a window opens with detailed tracks. To close the window, click away from it. Everything you buy will appear on this page.

If you are experiencing some difficulties, please make sure that you are using the most up-to-date version of your browser. An update can normally be downloaded for free. The site has been optimised for FireFox v2+, Internet Explorer 8+ and Safariv v3.1+

(If you require more information on any subject, or have helpful suggestions about the site, please go to the 'Contacts' page, which will give you email addresses for various departments.)

Copyright

The copyright of these sound recordings belongs to the record label. They are intended strictly for personal use. Any unauthorised reproduction, posting or copying, commercial or otherwise, of any kind without the prior and specific permission of the owning label is prohibited by international law.

How to make Lossless FLAC files play in iTunes

Download and install Fluke - http://flukeformac.googlecode.com/files/fluke_0.11.dmg
Follow the installer steps and punch in your admin password when asked for it.
Restart iTunes.
If you've got iTunes or QuickTime running, restart them.
Listen to your FLACs!
Right-click/Ctrl+click on the FLAC files you want to add to iTunes and choose Open With > Other. Locate Fluke under your Applications and press OK. Or simply drag your FLACs onto Fluke's application icon.
Set as default.
If you would like to use Fluke for all your FLACs by default, in the Open With dialogue mark the "Always Open With" checkbox.

How to make Studio 24/96 FLAC files play in iTunes

1. Download and unzip the following shareware program called "Max" for OS X 10
website http://sbooth.org/max

2. Open Max and Set following preferences - output format to MPEG-4 Audio (Apple Lossless). This is the apple equivalent of FLAC. You can also select to export a copy of the encoded files straight into iTunes under max's iTunes preferences.

3. Download Studio 24/96 FLAC files. Leave all files on desktop.

4. Drag all the downloaded files straight into the "files to be converted" panel in Max
Select all Music files

5. Click the "Convert" button!

6. Open iTunes...all your files will be seen in your music library!

NB. Audio files with more than 24Bit and 48kHz are not supported by the iPod. If you would like to use Studio 24/96 files you must convert them. Alternatively use the free 16bit 44.1kHz files that are offered by the classicalshop.net when purchasing Studio 24/96 files.

How to play Lossless FLAC files in iTunes for PC (windows)

1. Go to http://www.xiph.org/quicktime/download.html and download XiphQT 0.1.5 (Windows).

2. Unzip the folder and extract the contents.

3. Copy XiphQT.qtx file to the 'QTComponents' sub-folder of your base QuickTime installation directory. Typically it means: C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTComponents

4. You may need to create the 'QTComponents' folder if it doesn't already exist in your QuickTime installation.

5. Restart iTunes.

6. Drag or import FLAC files into your music library

Adding content on your computer to iTunes

iTunes helps you add digital audio and video files on your computer directly to your iTunes library. You can add audio files that are in AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, or Audible.com (.aa) format. If you have unprotected WMA content, iTunes for Windows can convert these files to one of these formats. You can also add video content in QuickTime or MPEG-4 format to iTunes. To learn how to add these files to iTunes follow the steps below.

1. Open iTunes

2. From the File menu, choose one of the following choices:

· Mac

--->Add to Library

· Windows

--->Add File to Library

--->Add Folder to Library

3. Navigate to and select the file or folder that you want to add

If iTunes is set to "Copy files to the iTunes Music folder when adding to library," iTunes will copy all content that is added to the iTunes library to the iTunes Music folder. To adjust this setting or change the location of this folder, go to the Advanced tab in iTunes Preferences.