Soundrangers Frequently Ask Questions - Sound Effects, Royalty Free Music Downloads, Video Game, Flash, Podcast Sounds and Wav Files

1.
Q: When can I download my sounds?

A: Immediately after your credit card is verified, you'll be given a link that takes you to a download window. From there follow the instructions to download.

2.
Q: I purchased a sound but I can't download it?

A: Make sure you don't have any popup blocking software running. Sometimes security software or firewalls may not allow certain downloads. Also, make sure you use one of the major browsers (IE, Safari, Firefox, Netscape), AOL and other browser variations don't always work properly.
You can also login to your account to re-download your order. Just login, select re-download and choose the order you want to download. Once in the download window, try both ftp and http download methods. If ftp is giving you problems, your system may prefer the http method, or visa-versa.

3.
Q: Can I re-download my sounds?

A: Yes. Simply login to your account and select the 're-download' link.

4.
Q: Why should I use your site or sounds?

A: Well we're glad you asked... we have the highest quality, most unique content and safest licensing in the known universe. What this means to you is three-fold. Because we own the rights to all of our content, you don't need to worry about copyright infringement, third party negotiations or other legal hassles commonly associated with free sound and file sharing sites. This also guarantees you a high quality bar and continuity of sound across our entire library. We are not a distribution portal for 3rd party or public content which enables us to keep tight control of what goes into our library. Lastly, our sound effects and music are designed by working professionals who've been designing sounds for years. If you have a professional product, you want professionals designing sound and music for it. If you're looking for the sound of someone blowing into a mic to create an explosion sound, or a Simpsons clip, there are plenty of other free sound sites on the web. Checkout what some real people have to say: Testimonials

5.
Q: Do you sell sounds in packages, or are they only sold separately?

A: You can chose our 'build your own CD' and put together your own 'package', and at a considerable discount.

6.
Q: I'm having trouble getting your SFX's to completely download. It got to 80% and the download froze??

A: If you're behind a firewall, it's possible your admin settings are causing interference with the FTP protocol. Try the “alt” (http) download method to get your order.

7.
Q: My browser/connection timed out or quit in the middle of downloading my order. What do I do?

A: Simply login to your account and select re-download If the problem persists, please let us know.

8.
Q: Is there a way to send your demo sounds to someone? I would like to give my client choices of sound for a project without having them go to your site and without having to purchase the sounds; like comps on photo sites.

A: You can use the 'save cart' function. Add the sounds to your cart, then select view cart. From there you will click 'save cart' from either the upper navigation or button at bottom of the page and create a cart ID and password. You can then email the cart to your client for preview. You can also click the 'comp file' link on the music pages to download a lo-res test file.

9.
Q: Is there a 'download all sound effects' option or package deal for all sfx?

A: You can purchase our Sound Effects Collection on DVD for $1295.00.

10.
Q: There is a lot of background noise in the samples on your site. Is that noise also in the downloaded versions?

A: The demo files are lo-fi to speed page loading. We've also added a small amount of noise to each file as a watermark to deter theft which is removed on the master sound files.
All downloaded files are of the finest quality available in audio industry. The sounds are created or recorded using the latest digital technology by graduates of the Soundrangers Institute of Audio Wellness. We are sworn to uphold the strictest audio standards in the known universe.

11.
Q: I have a pre-paid account and lost my PIN number, how can I get my PIN again?

A: Login to your account and select "View Pre-Paid Account Balance/PIN"

Sound File / Format Questions

1.
Q: Why do the demo files sound different than what I download?

A: The demo files are low resolution versions of the original file. This is done to expedite page load and to deter theft of our content. Because they are low resolution, the sound quality won't be as good as the CD quality file you'll download. The demos are meant to give you an idea of what the file sounds like without being exact replicas of the original. If this were the case you'd never be able to demo anything because the file sizes would be huge.

2.
Q: How long are the downloaded files?

A: The demo files are the exact length of the files you'll download. You can also view the length in the 'file length' column.

3.
Q: What file formats and sound quality do you offer?

A: We offer wav and aif file formats. In the download window, you can choose the format plus the sample rate, bit rate and number of channels. The options are: 48k, 44.1k, 22k, 11k. 16bit/8bit, stereo/mono.
We do not offer MP3's- you can use any number of free or commercial audio apps to convert to mp3: iTunes, Real Player, Flash.

4.
Q: Can I download these sound files as MP3's?

A: We only offer wav or aif sound file formats. MP3 is a 'compressed' sound file format, so the quality is not as good as wav or aiff files. You can convert your files using any number of quality, free MP3 converters, including iTunes, Real Audio, Windows Media, etc.
There are dozens of variations available when converting to MP3. Each variation will give you different sound quality and different sound file sizes. It's best to start out with uncompressed, high quality sound files. Then convert them to MP3 yourself. That way if want a different variation, you can always return to the original files and re-convert. This allows you to experiment, making you own decision of file size vs. sound quality. The higher the quality, the bigger the file.
Not to mention, us selling you MP3's instead of wav or aiff files is like an art dealer selling photo copies of art instead of the original.

5.
Q: What format should I use?

A: If you're using Windows, choose the wav format. Macs work with aif or wav.

6.
Q: I'm on a Mac and after I downloaded your sounds, they showed up as QuickTime files. Now, I cannot seem to get them to open in Garage Band or any other sound editing software, not even iTunes. Can you help me get these in a format I can use?

A: The files you downloaded are not QuickTime files, but aiff files. QuickTime grabs the file format associations and changes the icon into a QuickTime icon. To use with other applications, select the file from within the application. First, open the application you wish to use the sound in, then choose 'import' or 'open' (depending on the application) and select the sound file. Just double-clicking the file on your desktop will always open QuickTime (or whatever application that sound file type is 'associated' with). Once our sound files are open 'within' an application, you can convert the sounds to mp3 using iTunes, or any comparable program.

7.
Q: I just bought some sound effects for a Final Cut Pro video project and the only thing I'm getting is an FTP file which Final Cut doesn't recognize, I need an aiff file. How can I get that format?

A: When you go to the download window, you should select the aif format and most likely the 48k sample rate option (best for video). Be sure to drag the files out of the FTP window into a folder on your computer. You can also login to your account at any time to re-download your orders.

8.
Q: My Windows Media Player and QuickTime won't play the button sounds I just purchased?

A: Our user-interface sounds have been edited with extreme precision so many of them are just too short for Windows Media Player to be able to play properly. They will work fine in whatever authoring application you are using.

9.
Q: Your loops won't loop correctly in the latest version of WiMP??

A: WiMP doesn't loop sounds correctly. If you need it to, you'll need to use the old school version of WiMP (v6.4) located in the Windows Media install directory.

10.
Q: Is there anyway to know the file size before I make a purchase?

A: There isn't unfortunately. If you plan on compressing the files (MP3, etc.) it's best to start with a full quality file and then compress it to the file size/quality you need.

11.
Q: What format are the files before conversion? Can I get them again without conversion? I noticed that prior to download, there was a message stating that the files were being converted.

A: The files are unconverted if you download them with the DEFAULT (16bit/44.1k) setting. You can also login to your account to re-download and choose different file settings whenever you want.

12.
Q: Just downloaded the sound files and there's a hiss on some of them. Is there a way to get rid of the hiss?

A: You can return to the site and re-download the files to see if the problem was a download glitch. Try the new download with the default file settings, this is the highest quality setting. If you originally selected a lower quality format, it will affect the quality of the sound, making it noisy. Also, some of the natural ambience files contain wind in trees or grass, or other background sounds found in nature which can sometimes sound like hiss, depending on the playback system and/or volume.

13.
Q: I was wondering if you have any continuous sound loops that have no beginning or end and can play continuously, with no interruption until stopped?

A: Most of our longer sounds and nature sounds loop continuously. If the loop box next to the sound is checked, that's exactly what it will do. Play seamlessly until the end of time as we know it, or until told to stop, whichever comes first.

14.
Q: Just bought the sound 'heartbeat_01' but there is no sound. I can hear the other sounds I got, but not this one?

A: By chance are you listening on a laptop or something else with tiny speakers? Most laptops can't reproduce low frequencies. Any sound that is mostly low frequencies will almost, and sometimes even completely, disappear when listening through a laptop. Check the sound on a full range system (medium to large speakers) and see (hear) if it's there.

Purchasing / Credit Card Questions

1.
Q: What forms of payment do you accept?

A: We accept VISA, Mastercard, American Express. If you need to use PayPal, *see below.

2.
Q: Why did you decline my credit card?

A: Credit card declines come straight from your bank. We just send the bank the information you give us, they determine whether to let the transaction go through or not. It could be something as simple as a mismatch in your address. You'll need to contact your bank if you think this info is correct. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do until your bank gives us the OK.

3.
Q: I received a message from you saying my credit card was declined, yet I noticed a transaction pending at my bank. How could there be a transaction pending when I was unable to complete the purchase?

A: Your card issuing bank 'holds' the transactions until they settle. This usually 24 to 48 hours. You should see the transaction removed after a few days; your card was not charged. This is standard credit card issuing bank procedure and is both confusing and annoying!

4.
Q: Can I use PayPal to buy my sounds?

A: Yes, click here and follow the instructions.

5:
Q:Can I set up an account and get sounds without using a credit card each time?

A: Yes. We have a Pre-Paid Account option that let's you pay once then grab sounds as you need them, debiting your account as you go. Here's more info on the Pre-Paid Account page.

Licensing Questions

1.
Q: Could you verify that you own all rights to the material on your website and can legally license us rights to air on all forms of television, in synchronization with our programming? Does it also include online & wireless rights? I want to make sure we wouldn't be using the material in any unauthorized way.

A: We do indeed own all of the rights, 100%, of all of our content; both sound effects and music. The sound effects purchase price/license does give you complete rights to air on ALL forms of broadcast, in synchronization with programming without any hidden fees or third party negotiations. Please see next question.

2.
Q: If I license some sounds from you, how do I know I won't be burned with hidden fees or licensing terms down the road?

A: Because we create our own content, we own the rights to our library which guarantees you the right to use them according to our licensing terms without any hidden fees, copyright infringement or third party haggling commonly associated with free sound, public file sharing sites, movie clip sites etc. Our licensing terms are exactly as stated, no skeletons in the closet or murky multi-party licensing to worry about.
see: Licensing and our EULA for more info.

3.
Q: I want to use your music in a webcast. Does that count as a broadcast in terms of filling out the cue sheet or is that considered a podcast that requires no additional licensing forms?

A: The cue sheets are for TV and radio broadcast only. They are not needed for webcasts or podcasts.

4.
Q: I want to use your music in podcast. Do I need to purchase a license? Do I have to submit a cue sheet?

A: All you need to do is select the 'Podcast' license from our pulldown and you are covered. Cue sheets are only for TV and radio broadcast, not webcasts or podcasts.

5.
Q: If I use the clip will I have to pay the composer of the music clip? Am I considered the broadcaster?

A: Broadcasters are the TV stations, Radio stations, etc. They are the ones responsible for paying performance fees to the performing rights societies (PRS). Then the PRS pay the composers. Broadcasters always pay a regular fee to the PRS. You just need to report what music was used, so the composers can get their slice of that fee.
The music license purchaser (you) are never responsible for making any payments to PRS.

6.
Q: I'm confused by this statement. 'The broadcaster is responsible for paying performance fees to the performing rights societies when a PRS administered piece of music is broadcast- these fees are then payable to the composer and publisher and cannot be processed accurately without the composer and publisher information correctly being logged alongside your air date information.'

A: The phrase quoted means: The broadcaster (TV stations, Radio stations, etc.) are responsible for paying performance fees to the performing rights societies (PRS). Broadcasters always pay a regular fee to the PRS. You just need to report what music was used, so the composers can get their slice of that fee.
The music license purchaser (you) are never responsible for making any payments to PRS.

7.
Q: Do I have to fill out a cue sheet to use the sound effects too?

A: Nope, only for music.

8.
Q: I wish to purchase sound effects for someone else. They want to download these sounds but do not have a credit card, is that an infringement upon the license agreement?

A: It isn't an infringement; the rights transfer to your end user.

9.
Q: Do you offer educational discounts?

A: Our best discounts come in the form of our CDs and DVD available here.

10.
Q: Do you have Annual Blanket License agreements that allow you to download a certain amount of tracks per year?

A: We don't currently offer an annual blanket license.

11.
Q: If I were to download an entire CD, would that come with an unlimited use license agreement?

A: With the CD's and DVD's, you're granted the license to use the sounds for as long as you need and in as many applications as you need.

Using Our Sounds

1.
Q: Is it possible to include the sounds offered at your site on a 'regular' web page, made in Microsoft Front Page, or is special software required in order to incorporate your sounds in a web site? I don't know how to use Flash.

A: Our music is built specifically for web designers and websites, so you can definitely use our tracks on your website. You'll want to purchase the 'general' license. FrontPage does offer a ways to loop background music, check the help docs. With FrontPage you won't have the capabilities of Flash in terms of controlling the file size. If you purchase our music and find that the wav file is too big, you can always log back into your account and download your order again using a smaller sample and bit rate.

2.
Q: I cannot get a music loop to loop seamlessly in PowerPoint. It seems as though the beginning and the end of the music loop do not match. I have tried to edit it with my PowerPoint recording/editing tools but can't get it to sound right. Is there something wrong with this loop? Can you offer me some help or exchange loops?

A: Unfortunately exchanging loops won't solve your problem. If you can't get one of our music loops to loop seamlessly, you will have the same problem with all loops, whether it's from Soundrangers or not. All of our loops have been thoroughly tested and do indeed loop seamlessly; but you must use software capable of correctly playing audio loops. There are many software programs capable of playing audio, and even looping audio; but seamlessly looping audio so there is no hick-up at the loop point is not nearly as common. The problem could be any number of PowerPoint related things; the audio settings, playback computer speed, embedding the audio, the way the presentation was assembled.. We're not familiar enough with all the versions of PowerPoint, and the tricks to loop audio, to be more specific.
Another solution is to create an edit of the music loop (cut and paste, end to end), using audio editing software. Then save the file, at the length needed, as a new file. This way the loop will play seamlessly for as long as needed.

3.
Q: How do I burn your sound effects or music to a CD?

A:First of all make sure that the sounds you want to burn to a CD are actually on your compute. Meaning don't try to burn sounds to CD from our download window. Once the sounds are copied to your computer they will behave like any other sound file and can be burned to CD, imported into applications, opened in iTunes... whatever you can do with audio files.
How you actually burn them to CD depends on the hardware and software you are using. Generally you just drop the files into a CD burning application, put a blank disc into your computer and tell it to make a CD. We recommend using something other than Window's Media Player to burn CD's, it always seems a bit troublesome. If you do need to to use Window's Media Player you may need to "unblock" each sound file by right-clicking it.

4.
Q: How do I open your sounds in iTunes or any application?

A:First follow the instructions in our download window making sure the files are actually on your computer, then open the application you wish to use and either import the sounds or simply lick open; sometimes you can even just drop the sounds into the open application. The key is to make sure the sounds are on your computer first, don't try to drag them from our download window into an application.

Ringtones Questions

1.
Q: Can you tell me how I could purchase your sounds and use them on my cell?

A: You must download the sounds to your computer first. We do not offer over the air transmission to your phone. Your phone must also be audio file compatible.

2.
Q: Can you sounds be made into ringtones?

A: They can be made into ringtones and used on your personal phone. With 'Smartphones' or any phone that uses wav files, it's usually just a matter of just copying the files to the right directory, but we leave it up to the individual to figure out. There are so many phones out there that we don't try to have all the answers.

3.
Q: How do I get the ringtones from my computer to my Pocket PC?

A: You'll need to consult the user guide for your PDA in regards to moving sounds onto it. Click on 'My Windows Mobile Based Device' if that is what is appearing when you hook up your PDA. From there you should be able to just drag the sounds onto your PDA or Pocket PC.