FAQ
Below follow answers to the most Frequently
Asked Questions. Check them up carefully before sending any email or ICQ messages to us.
You might find all answers you need here.
DISCLAIMER:
- All mentioned programs and samples on our CDs are
offered for evaluation purposes only.
Any copyright violation liability is rejected.
All mentioned programs are full retail versions. Their unauthorized use may result in copyright violation. That will be your full responsibility.
FAQ regarding our Club and audiowarez scene
FAQ regarding MP3 & sound processing
FAQ regarding our CD Offer
FAQ regarding our CDs tech support
***
Please be aware that Cakewalk pursues distributors of
pirated software and will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Immediate
removal of non-registered software is required to prevent litigation. Please respond and
confirm that the software offer has been removed from all sites that it has been placed
on. Failure to reply on or before 5/12/00 will cause immediate action to be taken.
Peter J. Oram
Chief Financial Officer
Cakewalk
617 441-7870 Ext. 186
PeterOram@cakewalk.com
http://www.cakewalk.com
Here is the respond and confirmation you've asked for: 'We at MP3 Pro Club do believe
that people should have right to evaluate all and every software in full before they buy
it. Especially if they're asked to pay absolutely crazy amount of money for software which
is far from perfection. Hereby we declare that we'll put all and every effort to force pro
audio software companies to reduce their prices down to affordable level. We will also
continue distribution of pro audio software on try-before-you-buy basis in order to give
all potential buyers a chance to test program in full before they waste their funds on it
and found they had been fooled.'
Enough? OK, here is some more info especially for Cakewalk representatives: If we ever again receive such bullshit threat from you, WE WILL POST ALL CAKEWALK PRODUCTS ONLINE - I promise you'll have much fun watching how 2,000-3,000 persons every day downloading all your products for absolutely free. Do not fuck up with us!
Hi Radium guys! Can you give me links to Radium or Oxygen home pages?
Sorry, we're associated neither with Radium nor Oxygen group. As well as any others.
The music you stream as background on your web site is great! How about making the song available for download?
Sure. These are sequenced songs we use as background music of our web site:
Title |
Duration |
| When The Sea Wind Blowing (Main MP3 Pro Club Theme) | 01:30 |
| The Small Golden Love Boat | 04:31 |
| Somewhere Over The Damp | 03:50 |
| Lieutenant Golitzin | 03:33 |
| Smoke Of Menthol Cigarettes | 05:40 |
| Ah What A Woman | 04:30 |
| The Lilac Mist | 03:15 |
| And I Get Into A Cabriolet | 03:48 |
| Walk Away With You | 03:59 |
| Autumn, Autumn | 04:26 |
| How Delightful Evenings Are in Russia | 03:40 |
| I've Been Deserted By You | 04:22 |
Why don't you show yourself?
No problem. Enjoy.
What do you say to encoding the sample cds into high quality mp3s and offer them in some sort of sample VIP club for 20 or 30 us$ at least a month? There are just so many damn sample cds now, its hard to pick what to get, they're all so vague.
Well, I know that real pros are very skeptical about even .wav samples
compilation CDs, not mp3. They take only copies of commercial CDs. That's why we offer
only those ones.
We provide producers urls in our CD Offer section - check them up for details on
CDs you'd like to have. Maybe we'll make Top 10 when we have time.
Some of your download files (WaveLab, Audiocatalyst etc) download in shorter length then declared. Opening them I got an error message that the archive file is corrupted. Could you check them for a correctness.
Read info on our web site about using download managers like FlashGet, GetRight, etc.
Hi, just want to inform that the links Gozilla can make are downloading so slow that it's not working after all. Other links just won't go, hope you manage to get it fix alright.
I hope you'll get yourself unlimited ADSL line and will be able to download 24 hours 7 days a week. Or you think you're the only one who wants to obtain audiowarez for FREE??? I wonder how people can claim slow download speed if they pay nothing for products...
Hi Philip, hi guys! Maybe You'll have time (and the will) to answer my question: Are You making this job, only because of making money, or is there another greater idea? For example: it's a way to fight against the western-capitalistic-system; Best regards.
Well, none of us made Ferrari helping people to get software they need for
evaluation. If you mean CDs we offer, just check up their prices and then compare with all
efforts and expenses we suffer to let you own them and to keep this web site alive.
As for the main goal - it's still the same: Buy The Product Only If It Really Suits
Your Needs. If you found it useless, just trash it without any financial loss.
Do you swap? I've got some Akai CDs I'd like to exchange. Also do you want new warez ISOs?
Yes, sure we do swapping. We exchange samples CDs as 1:1 (Giga, Akai or Audio samples CDs ONLY!!!). The same with warez ISOs. No ISOs for samples or vice versa swapping is available.
The usual samples CDs swapping procedure is as follows:
1. Go to CD Offer section of our web site and check up which AKAI/Giga/Audio
samples CDs you'd like to have.
2. Pick up the same number of your CDs not listed in our CD Offer section and send
by airmail to our P.O.Box (contact us for current address).
IMPORTANT:
- For CD duplicating use Padus DiskJuggler or similar burning software with
Write/Verify options fully enabled. That means after CD burning finished the program will
verify each sector on the burned CD to make sure it's readable and true to original.
- Sign every CD by felt pen with info about CD format and title.
- Do not use bulk no name CDs as they proved to be unreliable. Use TDK, BASF or any
other brand name media.
- Pack every CD in separate paper to prevent damage while transportation. Never use
bulk spindle or similar packing.
ATTENTION!
If we receive from you any samples CDs which do not meet the above requirements
(bulk no name, not signed with format and full title, not packed separately) we'll just
send them back at once without any notification and swap.
3. After you've shipped your samples CDs, email us their full titles ( together
with vendors homepage links - we need them for CDs description) and CD titles you'd like
to have in exchange. Do not forget to include your full shipping address.
***
Why do I need to use rippers if I can record directly from
CD-ROM drive's output to the line input of my sound card? In this case I do not need to
control sound file's quality - it will be exactly the same as the source.
No, it won't. When you record from CD-ROM drive's output to the input of your sound card, you have signal twice passed through converters: first, digital data is converted into analog on the output of the drive, then the reverse conversion on the input of the sound card. Each conversion inevitably leads to the loss of quality (furthermore absolutely all CD-ROM drives got just terrible D/A converters). If you use rippers, then you apply no D/A-A/D conversions at all, and the sound file will be practically of the same quality as its source on CD.
What do you think of alternative compression standards like MP3 Pro, VQF, AAC, AC-3 or WMA?
Most of them allows to obtain sound of rather good (VQF) or better (AAC) quality plus higher compression factor (14:1 at VQF against 11:1 at MP3). But they all have complicated encoding procedure which demands a lot of time and CPU power (except for WMA by Microsoft which is incredibly fast). Besides, some of those standards (VQF by Yamaha and AAC/AC-3 by Dolby Laboratories) would hardly become world wide accepted due to company's policy concerning copyright.
Is it true that qualitative ripping can be done only with SCSI drives?
No, it isn't. This myth was caused by the fact that some years ago SCSI drives were quite expensive, they had on that moment the most cutting edge technologies for improving reading of low quality or defective CDs and thereafter their optics and mechanics were designed more carefully than cheap IDE drives like Mitsumi. Moreover SCSI drives load CPU much less, so more power goes to the ripper (that's why nearly all rippers are basically oriented on SCSI). But when it comes to real life IDE drives give practically the same quality of ripping, and for a couple of years already they have been enjoyed different speed adapting methods for successful reading of CD's defective sectors.
You say that there is no sense in using 20 and 24 bit recording. Why such sound cards are manufactured, then?
This is a matter of professional recording for subsequent repeated editing and archiving. For these purposes nowadays is used standard offered by Pioneer: 24 bit resolution at 96 kHz sampling rate. Such approach allows to dramatically reduce loss of quality during repeated mixing, processing, applying of effects, etc. In our case, i.e. in absence of live sound source and such global tasks, this matter is not topical (furthermore the newest versions of editing programs have 24 bit inside resolution for reasons of distortion reduction during editing).
Is there any software for decoding MP3 into WAV? I would like to make my own Audio CD from .mp3 files.
You can do it if you have programs like Easy CD-DA Extractor or Sound Limit installed. They have built-in MP3 -> WAV decoders. You can also use Audioactive MP3 to WAV Decoder or the program which can make AudioCDs directly from .mp3 files like PTS.AudioCD Mp3-Studio. However you should keep in mind that sound quality at such decoding will not be restored up to the level of original. This feature of MP3 technology is similar (as the concept of encoding itself) to Sony's MiniDisk. Your AudioCD will deeply suffer from lack of musical details and sound clarity (though it will still sound much better than your reel or cassette deck).
Which sound card and CD-ROM drive are the best choice for high quality home PC sound?
At the present moment minimum requirements (comparable with expensive Hi-Fi system) can be satisfied by Turtle Beach products. Also Creative now offers top quality products in their Live! and Audigy series. As a CD-ROM drive can generally serve any SCSI or even IDE brand name device provided you made sure that the chosen model supports speed adapting to CD's surface quality, that guarantees error free reading. For comfortable operation you'd better choose a model with tray CD loading, because caddy models are quite uneasy in work with many CDs. Availability of standard RCA jacks for audio output is not essential, because connection to sound card will allow you to get disparate better results due to much more qualitative DA converter. Availability of digital SPDIF jacks is not essential as well, because it is easier to obtain sound from Audio CD in digital form with the help of ripping software.
I'm new in MP3. What software would you recommend me to start with?
I recommend you the following to start and to end with:
- if you're a Hi-Fi fan, then get SoloH mpeg Encoder. It's
the best quality ISO based stand alone encoder nowadays. You should use it in true stereo
mode at 256 or 320 kbps. Another choice is Audiograbber combined with external
Fraunhofer-Radium MP3 Codec (if you plan to encode at 128 kbps) or Lame DLL (if you plan
to encode at 256 or 320 kbps);
- if you're just a music lover, then get AudioCatalyst (a combination of
Audiograbber and Xing mp3 encoder) and use it at 128 kbps with VBR enabled.
Which encoder should I use with Diamond Rio player at 64 kbps or 96 kbps? Is Xing OK?
Try not to use Xing based encoders at all. They have complete frequency range falloff after 16 kHz (though latest versions can keep linear frequency response up to 20 kHz due to VBR encoding engine). The best choice for low bitrates are Fraunhofer based encoders, in particular, Audioactive Production Studio Professional or Fraunhofer .mp3 Producer Professional. They both have Preview option, so you can evaluate sound quality at different bitrates.
I have a question about CD Rippers. I used Audiograbber and WinDAC with a new x48 CD-Rom unit. The maximum speed I get is 0.33! That's extremely low! Is that the way it's supposed to do? Very slow like this?
- Check in ripper's Menu/Preferences if your drive is supported at all. If yes, then just
chose the desired ripping speed manually (like x1, x4, x8, etc.).
- Check what ripping mode is set. If it's 'Sector Synchronization' or similar, then you'll
probably get speed below x1.0 especially on bad quality (damaged or unbalanced) CDs.
- Check up the CD you use for ripping. If it's scratched, dusted, finger printed, attached
hand made label or in any other sort tampered, then you can have problems while reading
it.
- Your CD-Rom drive just can't focus in a proper way at high speeds. Try to use 'Jitter
Correction' mode.
- Disable Ultra DMA support for your CD-Rom drive. Sometimes it would help.
- What is the best software for copying Akai CDs?
We use DiskJuggler with fully enabled Write/Verify options for any CDs duplicating. That means after CD burning complete, the program verifies each sector on the burned CD to make sure it's readable and true to original.
***
- Is it really possible to fit all these programs into one CD?
Sure. We have excluded all video tutorials and samples. Then, most of warez is released in a sort of compressed format (similar to self-extracting archives). That actually saves plenty of space and gives you opportunity to install directly from the CD.
- Do you offer any Mac software?
No. Audiowarez scene is a place for PC users. But you can install PC emulator on your Mac and take all advantage of Windows products.
- Do you use qualitative CD-R matrix while burning your CD?
We use only top brands like Verbatim DataLifePlus or TDK
Reflex or any other makes with similar characteristics.
- In what way files are organized on your CD and in which format is the CD
itself?
All programs are sorted by directories. Each directory
carries full length program name, so if you're DOS or Windows 3.1x user, you may have
problems. The CD itself is made according to CD-ROM ISO 9660 Mode 1 standard. It's fully
compatible with Windows 95/98/2000/NT/XP.
- Do you provide crack or serial # for every program and are there any demo
versions among them? Do you have installation instructions for every program?
All programs are provided either with crack or serial #.
In each program's directory you can find .nfo or .diz file where detailed installation
instructions are given. There are no demo versions on our CDs since they are intended for
full evaluation by professionals.
- Did you really include in CD's price worldwide delivery?
Sure. We deliver from countries of Eastern Europe and
former Soviet Union. Post tariffs there are the same for delivery of the same weight
package worldwide.
- How long will it take to deliver the CD to my home?
After September 11, 2001 the approximate delivery time all over Europe is 18-20 days and 22-24 days for overseas (except for some countries like Australia or India where delivery time up to 4-5 weeks is a usual thing). But don't take any figures as our obligations because postal service and customs are out of our control.
- Do you ship C.O.D.?
I've never heard about Cash On Delivery available even from official Internet e-shops. You have to pay in advance everywhere.
- Can I pay by credit card?
We do not accept credit cards as we're dealing with warez (in case you didn't
notice it).
You have to visit your local Western Union office or call them as some offices
accept credit cards by phone. You can locate the office nearest to your location on the
same Western Union official site at http://www.westernunion.com
- What is your guarantee that I will receive my CDs? Why
should I trust you?
Good question. If you need any guarantee, you can get it at your local software shop. There's no reason to convince you in something since this is not business, but assistance.
- I am a bit sceptical of this as I have been ripped off on the net before, any
chance of a 'buy now, pay later' test period?
The basic rule of our Club is never deal with 'skeptical' persons, especially if they still ask for 'Try&Buy' or 'test' period after they had already downloaded the most up-to-date audiowarez from our web site for ABSOLUTELY FREE.
- I have a question concerning your cd offer. Some of the software listed are
outdated. Will the cd include the newer versions? Also can you offer a special rebate if I
purchase more than one cd, like 5 for example?
Are you kidding (outdated software, rebate)? Or you really think you should behave like a real customer who pays full retail price? In that case you'd better buy all you need from official dealers.
- I've sent you 4 or 5 messages and never got any reply!!! What's going
on???
We do not answer messages like 'hello' or 'are u online' (ICQ). We also
skip messages like 'I need this and that - send me this and that'. And of course we reply
only messages in English.
- I've got the following list of questions for you before I decide to order the CD...
Sorry, the tiny amount we ask for our CDs doesn't include nanny service or endless
correspondence.
I highly recommend you to read carefully our FAQ section or quit the idea of ordering our
CDs.
***
I've just received Your CD with Photoshop, But
you didn't give me the serial numbers to install the software. Could you send them to me,
please ?
I guess you're just another Too-Busy-Person who never read any info on our web
site.
OK, once again: IF YOU'VE GOT OUR WAREZ COMPILATION CD, YOU CAN FIND DETAILED
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDING SERIAL NUMBERS, ETC IN .DIZ OR .NFO FILES LOCATED IN
EACH PROGRAM'S DIRECTORY. IF YOU'VE GOT OUR ISO WAREZ CD, THEN CHECK UP OUR CD OFFER SECTION FOR SERIAL NUMBER
AND CD KEY.
I can't open .diz and .nfo files. My Windows got no association with it.
They're plain text files. Open them with any text editor (like Windows Notepad, for example).
This page was last updated on 29.09.03
