PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
I decided to gradually *upgrade* (most of) the older posts.
The main reasons are as follows:
1. Maintain some *Quality Standards*
■ File Format issues:
Due to file-hosting limitations (maximum allowed size), lossless rips (FLAC) were NOT an option.
Moreover, some of the mp3 rips weren’t even mine (meaning that at that time I didn’t own the respective CDs)
I intend to re-rip in FLAC all those CDs currently available in mp3 (or other lossy compression audio).
■ Artwork scans:
All uploads PRIOR TO June 2008, lack proper artwork scans. Up to that point I had to rely on whatever was available on relative sites, e.g. Cover-Paradise.to.
Most of the galleries found there were (and still are I guess) sloppy or worse; and on top of that, they didn’t always match the specific edition of the CD I had in my collection…
The idea had started growing on me for some time and ultimately I bought the necessary equipment (Canon CanoScan LiDE 90).
From that point onwards, each CD-rip is accompanied with *meticulously scanned AND edited* album cover art.
2. Simplicity
■ Split archives
One of my main concerns regarding this blog is to ensure it’s trouble-free for EVERY reader, in other words *idiot-proof*.
Perhaps you find the above term a bit harsh (incidentally, it’s NOT an insult) or think I’m exaggerating.
Better have a look at this screenshot then: 1½ years old mp3-rip Statistics
HAVE A LOOK I said, it won’t hurt you!
Notice anything strange?
The 1st part of the RAR has been downloaded 772 times, 146 more than the 2nd!
(It goes without saying that unless you download both “volumes”, you CANNOT extract all the contents)
This can’t merely be a coincidence; it exceeds the possibility of random mistake.
It means a considerable amount of visitors are UNABLE to put 2 and 2 together.
The only positive aspect is that it only applies to a fraction of uploads, mostly old ones.
In order to make things simpler, (most of) the multi-volume RARs will be replaced by SINGLE archives.
It’s bound to take some time to re-upload everything…
■ File-Hosting Servers:
Over these 3 years I’m running this blog, I’ve used a variety of such services.
Unless something extraordinary happens, I’m sticking with Megaupload (FLAC rip storage strictly) and Rapidshare/Filefactory/iFile.it (for mp3 rips)
You don’t need to be an experienced user to figure out how to get the so-called *download ticket*; The whole process is pretty straight-forward.
Bandwidth limits issues aside, you shouldn’t encounter any difficulties.
As expected some have more relaxed restrictions compared to others. Megaupload for instance, supports pausing/stopping downloads, an extremely handy feature especially when one’s connection is slow/unstable etc.
As a general advice, it would be wise to use a Download Manager even if the hosting server doesn’t allow resuming downloads.
They provide detailed monitoring, are less susceptible to internet traffic interruptions and -depending on the server used- may accelerate downloading.
(Bear in mind that most -if not all- links can be intercepted)
That’s about it.
Before closing I’d like to remind you that “appearances can be deceiving”.
The blog may seem *inactive* for a certain period of time, but rest assured I DO read EVERY comment/request left on a daily basis.
It’s just a matter of priorities.
Speaking of which, here’s a rough list of (some of the) Re-rips in FLAC that you should expect;
In alphabetical order:
7for4 (3) Al Di Meola Angra Babylon AD Bob Katsionis Cobra Def Leppard Dreamtide (2) Eclipse (2) Ed-Alleyne Johnson Elf Fair Warning (2) House Of Spirits (2) Hurricane Gabriel Yared Icon (2) Jan Cyrca Martone Mechanix Michael Lee Firkins Millenium Neil Zaza Paul Gilbert (2) Reingold Roulette Rodrigo Y Gabriela Roger Glover Snake Charmer Styx Synesthesia Steve Morse (2) Tamas (2) Ten (2) Tesla The Outlaws TMG UDO Uli Jon Roth (2)
Thanks very much for your blog!
I’m waiting for the Dreamtide albums – very good band.
Like you, I saw House Of Lords in a very small club , it was fabulous.
Great band too.
If you need help you know where you can find me! Flo.
I think your reasoning as to why people do not download the second rar file is somewhat off the mark. My reason 1: Many times I download the first part, listen to a few songs, then decide that music is not my cup of tea and skip the second rar file. My reason 2: They found the link using a search engine, downloaded the file, and didn’t have the password to unrar it, so skipped the second rar download.
I find it hard to believe that someone with the knowledge to read your blog, locate the download links, and download the first rar file is unable to comprehend the error code winrar spits out when it asks for the second file.
Keep up the great job. This site is one of my favorites.
I’ve already mentioned them in comment #3 (scroll up a bit and you’ll spot them)
There are approximately 50 re-rips that have to be done.
I’ll post the first batch on December the 1st.
It includes, but is not limited to, the following: 1. Hurricane – “Over the edge” 2. Hurricane – “Slave to the the thrill” [2008 EU remaster] 3. Impellitteri – “Wicked maiden” [EU edition] 4. Ten – “The Robe” 5. Ten – “Babylon” 6. Ten – “Ten” 7. Ten – “In the name of the rose” 8. Ten – “Far beyond the world”
More than half have already been uploaded. Some are new additions, I don’t want to post 10 (or more) re-rips consecutively; I’ll try to keep an even ratio…
I think what he was asking was will there be a new notification or will the original post ten pages ago be updated with new information. It was my question also. Looks like you just answered it to my satisfaction. Thanks for putting Ten forward in your queue by the way. Awesome job you are doing.
Google is your friend people. It isn’t that difficult to do a little homework on your own. The internet is ripe with “how-to’s” and such on everything from download managers to squid flavored ice cream….please, help out by helping yourself out a bit. By doing so you allow uploaders to do what they do best…..share great music with you without putting a monetary price tag on it.
HUGE THANKS for your blog….found it by accident…check it every week.
For -21grams – Sharing the folder may in fact be a risk as it looks like it allows others to edit the content of the folder? I can see an option which seems to allow me to upload files to the same folder.
For -21grams – I don’t think you need to share the folder. The folder shows a separate link for each file to right where it says download. You can copy the links from there. It looks like there are no limitations on download.
akira
-21gramns
ppstone
John Doe
John Doe
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:
I decided to gradually *upgrade* (most of) the older posts.
The main reasons are as follows:
1. Maintain some *Quality Standards*
■ File Format issues:
Due to file-hosting limitations (maximum allowed size), lossless rips (FLAC) were NOT an option.
Moreover, some of the mp3 rips weren’t even mine (meaning that at that time I didn’t own the respective CDs)
I intend to re-rip in FLAC all those CDs currently available in mp3 (or other lossy compression audio).
■ Artwork scans:
All uploads PRIOR TO June 2008, lack proper artwork scans. Up to that point I had to rely on whatever was available on relative sites, e.g. Cover-Paradise.to.
Most of the galleries found there were (and still are I guess) sloppy or worse; and on top of that, they didn’t always match the specific edition of the CD I had in my collection…
The idea had started growing on me for some time and ultimately I bought the necessary equipment (Canon CanoScan LiDE 90).
From that point onwards, each CD-rip is accompanied with *meticulously scanned AND edited* album cover art.
2. Simplicity
■ Split archives
One of my main concerns regarding this blog is to ensure it’s trouble-free for EVERY reader, in other words *idiot-proof*.
Perhaps you find the above term a bit harsh (incidentally, it’s NOT an insult) or think I’m exaggerating.
Better have a look at this screenshot then:
1½ years old mp3-rip Statistics
HAVE A LOOK I said, it won’t hurt you!
Notice anything strange?
The 1st part of the RAR has been downloaded 772 times, 146 more than the 2nd!
(It goes without saying that unless you download both “volumes”, you CANNOT extract all the contents)
This can’t merely be a coincidence; it exceeds the possibility of random mistake.
It means a considerable amount of visitors are UNABLE to put 2 and 2 together.
The only positive aspect is that it only applies to a fraction of uploads, mostly old ones.
In order to make things simpler, (most of) the multi-volume RARs will be replaced by SINGLE archives.
It’s bound to take some time to re-upload everything…
■ File-Hosting Servers:
Over these 3 years I’m running this blog, I’ve used a variety of such services.
Unless something extraordinary happens, I’m sticking with Megaupload (FLAC rip storage strictly) and Rapidshare/Filefactory/iFile.it (for mp3 rips)
You don’t need to be an experienced user to figure out how to get the so-called *download ticket*; The whole process is pretty straight-forward.
Bandwidth limits issues aside, you shouldn’t encounter any difficulties.
As expected some have more relaxed restrictions compared to others.
Megaupload for instance, supports pausing/stopping downloads, an extremely handy feature especially when one’s connection is slow/unstable etc.
As a general advice, it would be wise to use a Download Manager even if the hosting server doesn’t allow resuming downloads.
They provide detailed monitoring, are less susceptible to internet traffic interruptions and -depending on the server used- may accelerate downloading.
(Bear in mind that most -if not all- links can be intercepted)
That’s about it.
Before closing I’d like to remind you that “appearances can be deceiving”.
The blog may seem *inactive* for a certain period of time, but rest assured I DO read EVERY comment/request left on a daily basis.
It’s just a matter of priorities.
Speaking of which, here’s a rough list of (some of the) Re-rips in FLAC that you should expect;
In alphabetical order:
7for4 (3)
Al Di Meola
Angra
Babylon AD
Bob Katsionis
Cobra
Def Leppard
Dreamtide (2)
Eclipse (2)
Ed-Alleyne Johnson
Elf
Fair Warning (2)
House Of Spirits (2)
Hurricane
Gabriel Yared
Icon (2)
Jan Cyrca
Martone
Mechanix
Michael Lee Firkins
Millenium
Neil Zaza
Paul Gilbert (2)
Reingold
Roulette
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Roger Glover
Snake Charmer
Styx
Synesthesia
Steve Morse (2)
Tamas (2)
Ten (2)
Tesla
The Outlaws
TMG
UDO
Uli Jon Roth (2)
Your generosity is amazing,
jjp
Thanks buddy for all your hard work and effort in sharing some great music.
Your work in this blog is awesome, words cannot express how great is my gratitude for the music you let us know, thanks.
All you hard work is greatly appreciated. You are THE man!
YES, your effort is GREATLY appreciated, sir!
Thanks very much for your blog!
I’m waiting for the Dreamtide albums – very good band.
Like you, I saw House Of Lords in a very small club , it was fabulous.
Great band too.
If you need help you know where you can find me!
Flo.
Thank you for some excellent albums in FLAC format.
Thanks, i find many band i never heard of before and some that i cant buy on cd, keep up that good work.
Oh .. bro!! tnx a lot… you`re so good! NIce work… keep it up!
Thank you for all your hard work.
Many thanks for all the hard work!
I never doubted your motivation for a second. Thanks for all the past and future tunes.
Keep on flacing my friend
FLAC is the way to go. If users can’t get the second part, that is their problem. Props for you
I think your reasoning as to why people do not download the second rar file is somewhat off the mark.
My reason 1:
Many times I download the first part, listen to a few songs, then decide that music is not my cup of tea and skip the second rar file.
My reason 2:
They found the link using a search engine, downloaded the file, and didn’t have the password to unrar it, so skipped the second rar download.
I find it hard to believe that someone with the knowledge to read your blog, locate the download links, and download the first rar file is unable to comprehend the error code winrar spits out when it asks for the second file.
Keep up the great job. This site is one of my favorites.
This means I’ll finally get a FLAC version of Ten – Babylon, one of my favorite cds.
Will you let us know when which albums are upgraded, please?
I’ve already mentioned them in comment #3 (scroll up a bit and you’ll spot them)
There are approximately 50 re-rips that have to be done.
I’ll post the first batch on December the 1st.
It includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. Hurricane – “Over the edge”
2. Hurricane – “Slave to the the thrill” [2008 EU remaster]
3. Impellitteri – “Wicked maiden” [EU edition]
4. Ten – “The Robe”
5. Ten – “Babylon”
6. Ten – “Ten”
7. Ten – “In the name of the rose”
8. Ten – “Far beyond the world”
More than half have already been uploaded. Some are new additions, I don’t want to post 10 (or more) re-rips consecutively; I’ll try to keep an even ratio…
I think what he was asking was will there be a new notification or will the original post ten pages ago be updated with new information.
It was my question also. Looks like you just answered it to my satisfaction.
Thanks for putting Ten forward in your queue by the way. Awesome job you are doing.
Visit all the time from chicago-
I can’t thank you enough, especially on those days when cash is low and really needing something new to listen to!
Please know how much your efforts are appreciated!
thank you from Croatia
Hi, are there any download managers for Megaupload, if you are a free user?
Google is your friend people. It isn’t that difficult to do a little homework on your own. The internet is ripe with “how-to’s” and such on everything from download managers to squid flavored ice cream….please, help out by helping yourself out a bit. By doing so you allow uploaders to do what they do best…..share great music with you without putting a monetary price tag on it.
HUGE THANKS for your blog….found it by accident…check it every week.
What you do IS appreciated.
🙂