Information Page
Why DigitalMinistries.us ?
DigitalMinistries.us exists not to compete with TheNarrowPath.com, rather to compliment TNP.com.
My name is Tom Curran and I first met Steve Gregg here in Idaho during March, 2000. I was very impressed with Steve's teaching and as no one was recording his lectures, I began to record them. This I continued for about one and a half years. As of this writing, July 2006, much of what you find on DM.us are lectures I personally digitally recorded and edited.
Now, I and a friend have taken on the task of editing Steve's older lectures on cassette tapes. Due to the inherent limitations and quality problems of cassette tapes along with recording difficulties, editing for clarity seemed necessary if those lectures mastered on tapes were to be offered in a more listenable form.
Recently I obtained many VHS video cassette tapes that were made during some of Steve's GCS lectures. The advantage of these video tapes over audio tapes is that there are no gaps in recording. When recording on audio tape, and the tape is turned over to record on the second side, there is loss of some speech during that process. And, when the tape runs out on the second side, any further speech is not recorded. Recording on video tape eliminated that problem due to the much longer recording time available. Audio from those video tapes will be digitized, edited and uploaded to DM.us as well as offered on disc in higher quality audio than would be available from web downloads.
Cassette tapes vs. CD's
Some years ago, CD's began to take the place of cassette tapes in the audio fields of music and spoken word. As you may know, CD's offer many advantages over older technology cassette tapes such as no tape hiss, higher quality audio and longer life.
What is MP3?
MP3 audio is special computer formatting of normal audio to allow more music or speech to fit on a CD or DVD disc. Audio recordings with excellent quality up to 12 hours can be stored on the same disc as normal CD audio. Up to 70 hours can be stored on a DVD disc.
Using even more MP3 compression formatting can allow many more hours to be stored on a standard CD disc, but the audio quality suffers due to introduction of computer artifacts produced by the excessive compression rates. Such high compression is normally used only for timely downloading of files from websites such as TNP.com and DM.us. As high speed internet use increases, I expect such highly compressed files to be abandoned in favor of higher quality audio using less MP3 compression rates.
The industry standard formatting parameters for MP3 are 128 kbps bit rate and 44.1 kHz sampling rate and audio quality is excellent. The typical highly compressed MP3 formatting parameters for website downloading are 24 kbps and 22 kHz and are what you will find on TNP.com and DM.us.
By the way, MP3 audio is not found only on websites and CD's. MP3 files can be stored on DVD discs and iPods and other MP3 players.
MP3 CD discs can be played with computers, MP3 CD players and some newer DVD players that play your DVD videos.
MP3 DVD discs can be played with computers and some newer DVD players.
MP3 players can be purchased to replace the normal CD player in your vehicle. You can also use a portable MP3 CD player, iPod or other MP3 player, along with a FM transmitter, to listen to MP3 audio with your car FM radio. Newer vehicles now come with MP3 players so those MP3 discs will easily play in your car.
What are ID3 Tags?
ID3 tags are small pieces of information manually imbedded in MP3 files that identify the Album Title, Author and Track Title. Those three just mentioned are the normal tags but other tags of information can also be included in the MP3 file. The Date, Genre, Comments, and Formatting Information could be included.
To read those other tags usually requires a computer. If you use a PC, viewing the file with Windows Explorer software, included with Windows, will allow all the ID3 Tags to be seen. You may have to pull down the View Menu in Windows Explorer and Choose Details to see all the tags. My MP3 file ID3 Tags include File Name, Size, Duration, Artist (Author), Year, Genre, Title (Track), Comments, Bit Rate, Audio Sample rate, Date Created and Date Modified. Some computer CD/DVD drives will not allow you to see the ID3 Tags. You should be able to view the tags if you transfer the files on disc to your computer.
ID3 Tags will give you information that may be helpful. When choosing a MP3 CD player, it should allow ID3 Tag readout on the LCD screen.
Choosing a MP3 CD player
There are a number of features you should look for in a MP3 CD player such as the above mentioned ID3 tag readout.
Another important feature is a Resume Feature. This will allow you to resume play at the same point you stopped listening when you stopped the player; a bookmark feature. There are two types of resume used. One is resuming at the beginning of track and the other is resuming within track. The latter is what you want because if you resume at the beginning of a track and the track is 90 minutes long, you may have a problem! Most of the MP3 discs I offer of Steve's teachings are in tracks about 5 minutes in length. Not only will the 5 minute track feature help with a player with resume at beginning of track, but you can also move backward and forward in 5 minute increments.
Rewinding and fast forwarding within track is also an important feature your chosen MP3 CD player should have. That will allow you to quickly move backward to repeat what you just listened to. Moving forward to just the exact time you want is also useful.
Many MP3 CD players add a pause between tracks that can be annoying when listening to an audio book or a Steve Gregg lecture. Playing music CD's with an added pause between tracks is not a problem.
Downloading files
To download any file from DM.us, right click on the file link and left click on 'Save Link As' in Mozilla's Firefox browser or 'Save Target As' in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Choose a suitable location on your hard drive where the file should be saved.
Making audio CD's from downloaded MP3 files
If you want to burn normal audio CD's of any of Steve's lectures, the MP3 file must be formatted at 44.1 kHz sampling rate. Therefore, audio CD's can't be made from files downloaded from TNP.com or DM.us. However, the MP3 files on discs I offer are formatted at 44.1 kHz and you can make audio discs from those files. Keep in mind the 80 minute space limitation of normal audio CD's.
Why are the same lectures on DM.us?
If you see the same lecture on DM.us as TNP.com, the reason is probably because the lecture on DM.us has been clarity edited. Clarity editing can include the following:
DigitalMinistries.us exists not to compete with TheNarrowPath.com, rather to compliment TNP.com.
My name is Tom Curran and I first met Steve Gregg here in Idaho during March, 2000. I was very impressed with Steve's teaching and as no one was recording his lectures, I began to record them. This I continued for about one and a half years. As of this writing, July 2006, much of what you find on DM.us are lectures I personally digitally recorded and edited.
Now, I and a friend have taken on the task of editing Steve's older lectures on cassette tapes. Due to the inherent limitations and quality problems of cassette tapes along with recording difficulties, editing for clarity seemed necessary if those lectures mastered on tapes were to be offered in a more listenable form.
Recently I obtained many VHS video cassette tapes that were made during some of Steve's GCS lectures. The advantage of these video tapes over audio tapes is that there are no gaps in recording. When recording on audio tape, and the tape is turned over to record on the second side, there is loss of some speech during that process. And, when the tape runs out on the second side, any further speech is not recorded. Recording on video tape eliminated that problem due to the much longer recording time available. Audio from those video tapes will be digitized, edited and uploaded to DM.us as well as offered on disc in higher quality audio than would be available from web downloads.
Cassette tapes vs. CD's
Some years ago, CD's began to take the place of cassette tapes in the audio fields of music and spoken word. As you may know, CD's offer many advantages over older technology cassette tapes such as no tape hiss, higher quality audio and longer life.
What is MP3?
MP3 audio is special computer formatting of normal audio to allow more music or speech to fit on a CD or DVD disc. Audio recordings with excellent quality up to 12 hours can be stored on the same disc as normal CD audio. Up to 70 hours can be stored on a DVD disc.
Using even more MP3 compression formatting can allow many more hours to be stored on a standard CD disc, but the audio quality suffers due to introduction of computer artifacts produced by the excessive compression rates. Such high compression is normally used only for timely downloading of files from websites such as TNP.com and DM.us. As high speed internet use increases, I expect such highly compressed files to be abandoned in favor of higher quality audio using less MP3 compression rates.
The industry standard formatting parameters for MP3 are 128 kbps bit rate and 44.1 kHz sampling rate and audio quality is excellent. The typical highly compressed MP3 formatting parameters for website downloading are 24 kbps and 22 kHz and are what you will find on TNP.com and DM.us.
By the way, MP3 audio is not found only on websites and CD's. MP3 files can be stored on DVD discs and iPods and other MP3 players.
MP3 CD discs can be played with computers, MP3 CD players and some newer DVD players that play your DVD videos.
MP3 DVD discs can be played with computers and some newer DVD players.
MP3 players can be purchased to replace the normal CD player in your vehicle. You can also use a portable MP3 CD player, iPod or other MP3 player, along with a FM transmitter, to listen to MP3 audio with your car FM radio. Newer vehicles now come with MP3 players so those MP3 discs will easily play in your car.
What are ID3 Tags?
ID3 tags are small pieces of information manually imbedded in MP3 files that identify the Album Title, Author and Track Title. Those three just mentioned are the normal tags but other tags of information can also be included in the MP3 file. The Date, Genre, Comments, and Formatting Information could be included.
To read those other tags usually requires a computer. If you use a PC, viewing the file with Windows Explorer software, included with Windows, will allow all the ID3 Tags to be seen. You may have to pull down the View Menu in Windows Explorer and Choose Details to see all the tags. My MP3 file ID3 Tags include File Name, Size, Duration, Artist (Author), Year, Genre, Title (Track), Comments, Bit Rate, Audio Sample rate, Date Created and Date Modified. Some computer CD/DVD drives will not allow you to see the ID3 Tags. You should be able to view the tags if you transfer the files on disc to your computer.
ID3 Tags will give you information that may be helpful. When choosing a MP3 CD player, it should allow ID3 Tag readout on the LCD screen.
Choosing a MP3 CD player
There are a number of features you should look for in a MP3 CD player such as the above mentioned ID3 tag readout.
Another important feature is a Resume Feature. This will allow you to resume play at the same point you stopped listening when you stopped the player; a bookmark feature. There are two types of resume used. One is resuming at the beginning of track and the other is resuming within track. The latter is what you want because if you resume at the beginning of a track and the track is 90 minutes long, you may have a problem! Most of the MP3 discs I offer of Steve's teachings are in tracks about 5 minutes in length. Not only will the 5 minute track feature help with a player with resume at beginning of track, but you can also move backward and forward in 5 minute increments.
Rewinding and fast forwarding within track is also an important feature your chosen MP3 CD player should have. That will allow you to quickly move backward to repeat what you just listened to. Moving forward to just the exact time you want is also useful.
Many MP3 CD players add a pause between tracks that can be annoying when listening to an audio book or a Steve Gregg lecture. Playing music CD's with an added pause between tracks is not a problem.
Downloading files
To download any file from DM.us, right click on the file link and left click on 'Save Link As' in Mozilla's Firefox browser or 'Save Target As' in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Choose a suitable location on your hard drive where the file should be saved.
Making audio CD's from downloaded MP3 files
If you want to burn normal audio CD's of any of Steve's lectures, the MP3 file must be formatted at 44.1 kHz sampling rate. Therefore, audio CD's can't be made from files downloaded from TNP.com or DM.us. However, the MP3 files on discs I offer are formatted at 44.1 kHz and you can make audio discs from those files. Keep in mind the 80 minute space limitation of normal audio CD's.
Why are the same lectures on DM.us?
If you see the same lecture on DM.us as TNP.com, the reason is probably because the lecture on DM.us has been clarity edited. Clarity editing can include the following:
- Noise Reduction
- Volume Equalization
- Frequency Equalization
- Removal of extraneous noises
- Voice Pitch adjustment
- Voice Tempo adjustment
- 5 minute tracks
- ID3 tags
- A short tone added to denote a gap in recording
- Continuous audio from video tape audio
Summary
- All the lectures on DM.us have been clarity edited.
- All the lectures on DM.us are available on CD or DVD discs formatted to the industry standard of 128 kbps 44.1 kHz (MP3 DVD discs are MP3 audio, not video). Contact
- All the discs offered have labels directly printed on the discs (no stick-on labels) and look professional.
- A few lectures will be available in standard plastic hinged DVD video type cases with printed case labels, suitable for gift giving.
Financial Considerations
DigitalMinistries.us is a ministry utilizing gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 10:8b says "freely it has been given to you, freely give." Therefore, there is no charge for any materials I offer from my website. If you want to give a free-will donation, that donation will be gratefully received and appreciated. (Luke 10:7, 1Timothy 5:18b)
