How to listen to Archive Classics
Streaming versus Downloads
How do I stream Archive Classics?
How do I download Archive Classics?
Listening Guide
System Requirements
My Account
Security
Cancellation
Glossary

How to listen to Archive Classics
We want to ensure that listening to Archive Classics is an easy and enjoyable experience. We are aware that some of the technical terms used on this website might not be familiar to everyone and have included a basic glossary of terms below. However we would like to stress that listening to each weeks podcast should be a very simple thing to do for anyone with a broadband internet connection and a current web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari) For a further definition of podcast, please see our glossary below. For a list of compatible web browsers and recommended internet connection speed please refer to our system requirements below.

There are two ways to listen to Archive Classics, either as a stream via our audio player or as a download to your computer. For a further definition of stream and download, please see our glossary below. Either way of listening can be enjoyed either by playing the music through your computer speakers, plugging headphones into the headphone jack on your computer, or plugging in external speakers to your computer. If you require help with this please click here.

Streaming versus downloads
You can use your computer to stream Archive Classics by clicking on the streaming icon and listening to the podcast immediately in real time. You hear the podcast but you do not actually store the audio file on your computer.

You can also download the podcast you want to hear onto your computer by clicking the download icon. The podcast is now stored on your computer, from where you can play it, usually via a player such as iTunes.

How do I stream Archive Classics?

Streaming icon

The quickest way to listen to each weeks podcast is via a stream from our website. Wherever you see the streaming icon simply click on it and a separate window will open and the audio will automatically begin playing. See the image below for a screenshot of the basic controls. If you are having problems listening to the audio for any reason, please refer to our system requirements below.

How do I download Archive Classics?

Download icon

If you would prefer to download each weeks podcast you can do so in two ways. The first way is to download each podcast directly by right clicking on the download icon and saving the file to your desired location on your computer.

For a PC if you right click on the icon and then select ‘Save Target As…’ you can direct the file to wherever you would like it, e.g. the My Music folder. If you are using a Mac, hold down the control button (ctrl), click the mouse and select ‘Download Linked File As…’. You can then direct the file to wherever you would like it. The MP3 file can then be copied into iTunes or any other similar music player.

The second way is to subscribe to our weekly podcasts using a piece of podcast (RSS) software to be installed on your computer. This method of delivery ensures that each time we publish a new podcast, your computer will automatically download the file to your computer. You can click on the RSS Icon in the top menu to use our podcast RSS feed. For further information about the software required to subscribe to our podcasts, please click here.

Listening Guide
"...in the new millennium, technology has produced 'a kind of synthetic perfection...in which hundreds of digital edits create an aural product that sometimes bears little relation to music presented in the concert hall. What's often lost is the sweep and spontaneity of the original performance, not to mention the warmth that allows music to touch our souls".
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8 March, 2004

Archive Classics is devoted to showcasing great recordings from the past. Most of the recordings we feature are at least 50 years old, and we are aware that the sound quality of some of the recordings is not comparable to 21st-century digital technology, however impressive the re-mastering by our partner labels!

It is the artistry of the performances that we wish to focus on first and foremost in Archive Classics, rather than the sound quality. Having said that, we do appreciate that for those of you who might only be familiar with modern stereo recordings, at first it can be difficult to ‘get under the skin’ of an older recording. Here are a few pointers that might help you do this:

1) Give yourself some peace and quiet!

• Allow yourself the time to concentrate on the recordings. Once you are able to focus on the performances, issues of sound quality soon become less important.

2) Allow the recordings to act as time capsules.

• Many of the recordings heard in Archive Classics podcasts were made live. These recordings can allow a fascinating snap shot into key periods of history from the 20th century, for instance the bustle of 1920’s New York, or the war-torn years of the early 1940’s.

3) Remember that modern recordings are often not what they seem

• Modern technology makes it very easy to edit recordings, and most modern studio recordings are composed of many different takes stitched together to create a seamless whole. While this ensures a highly polished end product, it can often take the spontaneity out of performances, and leave the recording sounding rather anodyne. With the technology available 50 or more years ago, performers did not get the opportunity to record and re-record passages over and over again. The recordings you hear on Archive Classics are often the result of very few takes, perhaps just one. Whether or not you think this is beneficial is up to you of course, but we feel it is worth bearing in mind!

For those of you who might want to find out some further information about sound recording developments over the past decades, please click here

System Requirements
To stream our podcasts your computer setup should meet the following basic requirements:

• 500kbs + (half megabyte) broadband internet connection
  
  
• Web browser Internet Explorer 6+ , Firefox 2+, Safari 3+
  
  
• Macromedia Flash™ plugin installed version 8+

To download our podcast and/or featured work:

• 500kbs + (half megabyte) broadband internet connection
  
  
• Media player capable of playing MP3 files such as Windows Media Player ver 7+ or iTunes
  
  

  

My Account
The My Account menu located on the main menu bar allows all subscribers to access their account information. If you would like to update any information for any reason, such as change of email or postal address you can do so here. You can also cancel your subscription from this page.

See below for further information on cancellations to your subscription.

Security
Archive Classics takes the issue of security very seriously. We do not store any credit card details on our website and the pages where you enter your credit card details are secured by an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. This means that all information passing between your computer and our server is encrypted.

Cancellation
If you are unhappy with the service for any reason and wish to end your subscription, you can do so at any point. Your subscription will automatically lapse at the end of the month in which your final payment was made, and you will have full subscriber access until that point.

To cancel a subscription you can either do so via your My Account page or you can send an email to cancel@archiveclassics.com to request cancellation.

Glossary
Podcast
The term ‘podcast’ is a portmanteau of the words ‘broadcast’ and ‘iPod’, the Apple iPod being the leading brand of portable media player. For those who might want to read about podcasting in more depth, this Wikipedia link provides further detail. For a rather more basic description of a podcast, please read on.

Essentially podcasts are radio or TV programmes that are available via the internet rather than via a traditional radio receiver or TV set. These programmes can very often be listened to as streams (see below), but what sets them apart is the fact that they can automatically be downloaded via RSS (see below) to a personal computer. This can be achieved by ‘subscribing’ to a podcast, in much the same way as you would subscribe to a magazine.

In order to subscribe to a podcast you require a piece of podcast software to be installed on your computer. This software is usually free of charge and a number of suggested software applications are listed below. Once this has been set up it will check Archive Classics for new programmes and automatically download them to your computer.

Download
Downloading is the process of taking a file from a computer on the Internet and saving that file on your own computer.

To download a file, one generally clicks on a link, which automatically starts the download process. After starting the download, a dialog box will prompt the user to choose a place to download the file, e.g. the user’s hard-drive.

Streaming
Streaming is a technique for transferring data such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream. In essence it lets you listen to audio or watch video at almost the same time it is being sent to your computer. The big advantage of this is you don't have to wait for large video or audio files to download before you can listen to them or watch them.

For further information on streaming please click here.

Bit rate
On a basic level bit rate refers to the size, over time, of an audio or video stream. Therefore the higher the bit rate, the larger the amount of information is being sent. In listening or viewing terms this generally equates to higher quality audio or video.

For some points of comparison:

• A CD plays music at a bit rate of 1411.2kbit/s
  
  
• A digital radio station typically plays music somewhere between 112 and 160 kbit/s
  
  
• An MP3 file downloaded from iTunes is typically 128kbit/s
  
  
• A low quality internet radio station would play music at around 65kbit/s

For those who would like further information on bit rates - please click here.

RSS
RSS is often said to stand for Really Simple Syndication, although there are other ideas about this. If you really want to delve into techie world, the link below will help you do that!

However, all that most people are interested in is that RSS allows someone to subscribe to a web feed - such as news headlines or audio and video – and automatically download each update onto their own computer. In order for this to work the computer user needs to install some simple software on their computers. This software is often free and some of the most well known and reliable are as follows:

Windows
Newz Crawler
FeedDemon
Awasu

Mac OS X
Newsfire
NetNewsWire

For further information on RSS please click here.