FAQ
Will my CDs be safe?
We know your CD collection has been built up over a long period of time and is personal. This is why we have designed the packaging to ensure your CD collection is transported in the safest way possible.
Are my payments secure?
Payments are made using the Worldpay payment service. This is one of the world’s leading online payment processors. To find out more visit: www.worldpay.com
How do I load music onto my player?
Online guides on how to sync different players
Please consult the manual for your player to find out how to sync your player. The above links are supplied only as a quick reference.
How long will it take?
Please allow two days for your CD collection to be processed, although most orders are returned the next day. You will be notified if your collection will take longer than two days such as if you have a large volume order. This does not include time taken for delivery and delay if our online checking service is used.
How much does it cost?
It is £1 per CD plus costs for delivery and any extra options selected with the service.
Is there a minimum number of CDs?
The minimum number of CDs is 50. Unless you are an existing client and have an update pack.
Are my CDs insured?
Your CD collection is insured from when it is collected until when it is safely delivered back to you. The level of cover is upto £15 per CD and up to £400 for your MP3 Player.
How are my CDs transported?
We will send you some transport boxes for you to put your CDs into.These boxes contain lots of padding so that your CDs do not get damaged. You do not need to take the CDs out of their cases.
How are my CDs encoded?
We have developed a custom process that ensures the highest quality encoding of your music. We check for errors on your CDs and will not produce an encoding of the music unless we think that it is going to be a perfect copy.
What is bitrate and how does this affect the quality and size?
Bitrate is the number of samples per second that are made when converting the music. The more samples, the higher the quality but the bigger the size of the file. Please refer to the technical section .
What if my CDs are scratched?
Our software will alert us if a CD is not perfect. If you have selected the repair CD option, we will attempt to resurface the CD so that we can get a better encoding. We cannot repair a badly scratched CD. You will still be charged for the processing of this CD and it will be marked on your report that we were unable to make a perfect encoding of it.
How is the music delivered to me once compressed?
Most orders will be sent out on DVD-R discs and your MP3 player (if included). You can also request your collection to be sent on CD or on an external hard dive although there is an extra cost associated with these options.
What format is my DVD drive?
We handle the two main DVD format standards. As standard we supply DVD-R discs as these are supported by most drives. A quick guide to which companies support which formats is below with links to sites with more information
- DVD-R and DVD-RW: Supported by Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp.
- DVD+R and DVD+RW: Supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha.
Can my music be provided on CD?
Your music collection can be provided to you on CD instead of DVD. This incurs an extra cost as a DVD holds eight times more information than a CD so eight times more CDs would be needed. This option is popular for people who have CD players that can play MP3 files.
How much do extra hard drives cost?
We can supply an 80Gb external USB hard drive for £100. This is usable by most modern computers and is a good option if you do not have enough hard drive space to contain your MP3 collection.
Can my MP3 player be loaded for me?
Loading your player with the music that we have encoded for you is a free service that is offered when converting your music collection.
Can my MP3 jukebox be loaded for me?
We have the expertise to load many MP3 jukeboxes. Please enquire at info@shrinkdigital.com for more details and extra costs such as delivery that will be involved.
Can you send me a printed list of my CD collection?
If you select the option to confirm the contents of your CD collection before it is delivered a link will be emailed to you. Your order will then only be sent once you have confirmed it is correct. We currently do not print out the cover art catalogue for people although this option will be available in the future. If you need this option now please contact us at: info@shrinkdigital.com
Can a copy-protected CD be encoded?
Unfortunately we cannot encode a copy-protected CD as this would break the terms of the copyright for that CD. If we cannot encode a CD then it is likely that it cannot be encoded unless illegal software is used.
Can a custom made CD or CD copy be encoded?
We cannot encode a custom made CD or CD copy as we cannot guarantee the ownership of the content on the CD.
Is a copy of my collection kept?
Your collection is only stored on our computers until your collection is sent back to you, then it is deleted from our systems.
Cancellation Policy?
Orders can be cancelled at any point up until the processing of your CD collection has been finished. You will be liable for all costs incurred up to this point including the cost of any CDs that have been processed and outstanding delivery of the CDs back to yourself.
How do I load my music onto my computer?
Insert the CDs or DVDs that we have supplied and copy the files over to your hard drive. Although you can use the files directly from the CD or DVD this can often create problems when trying to sync the music to your MP3 Player so we recommend copying all files onto your computer's hard drive. Please see section on ‘How do I load music onto my player?’ for more information.
How will my music library be organized?
The CDs or DVDs that you receive will contain folders relating to each artist’s name and below that will be a folder with the particular album name that will contain the files for that CD. Each music file is named with the track number and name or track number, artist and name for compilations. Most of the information on the music is stored inside the music file and contains information such as artist, album, genre and year.
How do I load CDs I purchase after Shrink Digital converts my collection?
Adding single CDs into your collection does not take much time compared with converting your entire collection. Many software programs that come with MP3 players will be able to do this for you. Please see the instruction manual for your MP3 Player for further details.
We will in the future be offering an update pack to people who have had their entire collection converted using our service and would like to add a few more CDs. This service will only be offered to existing customers.
Is the music Shrink Digital returns to me CD quality?
Please see section on different audio codecs
Is my library copyright protected?
Yes. We encode your music directly from every CD that we are sent as we do not store copies of any music that is converted. We also encode a unique identifying code into every file to show that it belongs to you. We also strongly recommend to our users not to add their files to file-sharing communities, sharing your music in this manner is illegal.
What benefit does the hard drive option provide?
This allows you to plug the hard drive into your computer and have your collection available to manage straight away. Also if you do not currently have enough room to store the music on your computer this is a quick and convenient way to add the extra space without having to open up your computer
Does Shrink Digital offer bulk discounts?
Yes. Please contact us for orders over 1000 CDs at sales@shrinkdigital.com
Does Shrink Digital handle custom audio conversion requests?
Yes. We can handle most custom conversion requests. Please contact us at info@shrinkdigital.com for more information.
What audio file formats does Shrink Digital offer?
We currently offer files encoded to the following formats
- MP3
- AAC
- Apple Lossless
- FLAC
- Windows Media Lossless (WMA Lossless)
- Ogg Vorbis
We can also do other formats upon request. Please contact us at info@shrinkdigital.com for more information.
What are Shrink Digital’s default configuration settings?
The default setting is to convert your music to the MP3 format at a bitrate of 224kbps. MP3 is the mostly widely used digital audio compression format and can be played on substantially more devices than any other format.
Does Shrink Digital convert to custom bitrates?
Yes. If the custom order route is followed then the bitrate that the music is encoded at can be changed. This will also allow you to specify CBR (Constant Bit Rate) or VBR (Variable Bit Rate) and different codecs.
Does Shrink Digital convert to lossless codecs?
Yes. We support all major lossless codecs. This includes Apple Lossless, FLAC and Windows Media Lossless (WMA Lossless). If you have a specific codec you require then please contact us at info@shrinkdigital.com as we can support most available.
Does Shrink Digital serve markets outside of the United Kingdom?
Yes. Please contact us at info@shrinkdigital.com to discuss the options available. The online validation option is compulsory where orders contain non-english CDs.
Does Shrink Digital accept drop-off orders?
Yes, but this must be pre-arranged and paid for in advance.
How many albums fit on each DVD?
At the standard quality (MP3 @ 224kbps) a DVD will hold approximately 40-50 albums worth of music.
What is the “unique identifying mark” written to each track?
This is stored in the audio file in the same way that the track name and genre are stored. It clearly identifies the file as belonging to you. This does not degrade the sound quality at all.
FAQ