GOING FORWARD

Hey Everybody,

I have made a decision about the site going forward. I thought about it long and hard and decided that I will be doing away with MP3 and 24-bit files. The happy medium is to keep the 16-bit FLAC format because it is still lossless CD quality and can be easily converted to MP3 without taking up to much space on hostgator’s shared server. I know that this will not be popular for some but I had to do what I thought was best to keep the site open. I will also be uploading my files to a third-party host like Mega. The drawback is that there is a monthly fee of $33 for a registered account with 8TB of storage and 16 TB of transfer rate. If the 16TB of transfer is used up due to excessive downloads they will halt downloads and make you wait two weeks until more transfer rate is available. All files will still be password protected and it is up to you to read the FAQ for that information.

With this said I will have to rely more frequently on your donations to help cover the cost in addition to site hosting fees, site security fees, and equipment maintenance.

I will be working in the coming days to get all of this put in place and continue posting.

Thank you so much for your understanding, support and patience.

Regards,

-DjPaulT

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Johnny J.
Johnny J.
August 25, 2019 1:20 pm

How do you convert the flac to mp3? I have a ripper (NMP3 Ripper v0.7.0) that uses Lame encoder, but it doesn’t recognize the flac format as audio (it will rip it, but the resulting file is just static). I am on a Mac. I don’t really prefer the iTunes ripper (if that would even work) and Apple seems to be moving away from you owning your own music anyway, so iTunes is going away. Any help for a ripper that you can choose the encoder algorithm that works on Mac and can convert flac would be appreciated. DjPaulT, keep… Read more »

DJMrTim
DJMrTim
Reply to  Johnny J.
August 25, 2019 7:09 pm

Mac user here too. I use the MAX app. Pretty straightforward and works in the background with little trouble

Jay
Jay
Reply to  Johnny J.
September 14, 2019 2:23 pm

Hi Johnny,

Download Foobar2000, a free audio player that also allows you to convert files from one format to another.
It’s a wonderful little program, and easy to use.

Jay

Steven Roberts
Steven Roberts
August 16, 2019 12:42 pm

BTW, is there any way to see at a glance which items are no longer available for download. It’s VERY frustrating to click through on numerous items only to be told they aren’t downloadable any more…

Steven Roberts
Steven Roberts
August 16, 2019 12:40 pm

Hi Paul

Would it not be a workable solution to offer FLAC (or mp3’s) free-of-charge, but if people want 24-bit then make them part of a subscription (ie paid for) service to the site?

Osmar T
Osmar T
August 11, 2019 10:44 am

Hi brother, Greetings from Venezuela, I know what your work represents and it a hard to do and what costs to do it is this and a want to you help with a donation but I dont know how to do this bucause I live in Venezuela an here all is a dificult with dollars, but neither is impossible to do it. If you can tell me how to do, I wil see how to help you because your work is wonderfull with the music and I apretiate this and I like very much, please help me to help to… Read more »

Mixed Bag Productions Australia
Mixed Bag Productions Australia
August 8, 2019 12:08 am

I see a lot of back and forwarding about different formats and sample rates. There is only one undisbutable truth, lossless flac / wav / alac is the future, lossy mp3 / ogg / wma is the past, when everyone was on 56k modems. However the elephant in the room is distribution, and torrents seems to be the best way of moving forward. Not wanting to push any particular barrow, but direct download links suffer from takedown notices, deletions, bandwidth issues, and account problems. Torrents takes care of all of this, and the only thing needed is a good seedbox.… Read more »

Walt
Walt
August 7, 2019 1:08 pm

Hello DjPaulT!
I am a loyal visitor to your website from the very beginning.
The uniqueness of your great website are the 24/96 highest quality files, which are my preference.
Why must all good things come to an end?
I hope Burning The Ground will remain such a great place to visit from time to time.
Greetings Walt

John
John
August 7, 2019 8:47 am

Personally I prefer 24 bit, but to save your site and you money I think mp3 would be better, or maybe a site where you have to pay for each 24 bit flac, when you click on the download link, it would bring the buyer to paypal.
It’s not just about the music files but the lovely comments I read through which proves peoples love for this site and the work and enthusiasm you bring to each post, so Thank You Paul for a wonderful site.

Richard
Richard
August 7, 2019 3:56 am

Sadly the success of this site, its longevity along with Paul’s tireless efforts and diligence comes at a cost. My biggest regret is that Paul is essentially archiving priceless works of music and the quality of his 96/24 rips ensured that the original recording is properly captured and preserved with a decent level of quality. None of these records will ever be released again and even if the record labels decided to make the effort there’s a good chance that the original tapes either no longer exist or will have deteriorated. Look at what happened with the news that was… Read more »

nervenklempner
nervenklempner
Reply to  Richard
August 7, 2019 6:42 am

There is no difference that you can hear. Do a ABX test. And there is no audible information on a vinyl that 16/44 wouldn’t capture.

Richard
Richard
Reply to  nervenklempner
August 9, 2019 12:28 am

Well it’s kind of hard to prove what I can and cannot hear. The differences will vary depending on the recording but especially on more complex material Redbook lacks the resolving power.

i99am
i99am
August 7, 2019 3:22 am

It is a shame if you drop the 24/96 format. Maybe make it aleast available in Mega, Torrent or other?

Many of the releases you put here are already available at cd quality 16/44. The real benefit of vinyl is its higher quality. Why then settle for the lower standards conformed by an industry 40 years ago?

nervenklempner
nervenklempner
Reply to  i99am
August 7, 2019 6:44 am

Whether vinyl is of higher audio quality than CD audio is subjective. Objectively, it doesn’t provide any audible information beyond that of a CD.

i99am
i99am
Reply to  nervenklempner
August 7, 2019 3:11 pm

Vinyl can definitely hold more information than CD. Vinyl is analog so audio is continuous and not time sampled thus frequency response is limitless, way above cd’s 22.1 Khz.. The data also isn’t constrained by digital bits thus much more accurate than red book’s 16 bit. I am sure most won’t hear the difference, the same as most don’t hear the difference from mp3.

It is a shame because dropping hires versions altogether takes the edge from this marvelous music archive. Those singles and 12 inches are readily available in cd digital versions in many other places over the net.

Mastering Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Reply to  i99am
August 7, 2019 10:20 pm

You obviously don’t know what you are talking about.

i99am
i99am
Reply to  Mastering Engineer
August 8, 2019 3:43 am

Haha, a “Mastering Engineer”. Very educated response…

I think Paul is generally correct if his aim is to loose traffic by loosing users.
Why would I or others need vinyl rips at CD grade if most are available in digital form on cds anyway?
I appreciate the effort in creating this website and Making available the large music archive but its unique advantage is the HQ flac files.

Anon
Reply to  Mastering Engineer
August 11, 2019 6:38 pm

“Mastering Engineers” are the fucking reason music audio quality has been going down steadily for
the past 30 years or so. The reliance on boosting levels, normalizing the shit out of everything, and auto-tune has hurt music almost as much as the talent. Fuck you engineer.

RadioTimes
RadioTimes
August 7, 2019 12:55 am

Hi Paul!!!!!
I Agree to keep only the flac and not the MP3.

Richard
Richard
Reply to  RadioTimes
August 9, 2019 12:35 am

Even if Paul no longer uploads the higher rez files most of what he posts will be next to impossible to find on CD even if it was ever released on CD. Given that he’s ripping EPs, older material likely wasn’t released on CD.

German from Argentina
German from Argentina
August 6, 2019 6:16 pm

Hi Paul, For anyone who wants to record audio CD’s, 96 kHz sample rate requires downsampling to 44.1 kHz. Programs that do that use an interpolation algorithm which is prone to introduce errors. I think it’s better to capture at 44.1 kHz directly. Regarding quantization, I think 24-bit is better than 16-bit, because it would let us compress the Dynamic Range according to our likings. 16-bit at 44.1 kHz (CD quality) is also good, but you should capture at a volume level that is not too low and not too high -to avoid clipping. A good level is between -16… Read more »

Walter C
Walter C
Reply to  German from Argentina
August 6, 2019 9:19 pm

24-bit is better if you are recording a vocal track at Abbey Road, in the case of these vinyl rips, the extra bits are non-sense as the ADC distortion is masked under the vinyl noise floor. Out of topic question: Here there are people from all over the world, it is not relevant where you are from. So cool is living in Argentina that Argentines always have to say where they are from?

i99am
i99am
Reply to  German from Argentina
August 7, 2019 3:13 am

It is better to downsample and dither hires files into 16/44 format.
There are free converters like sox and ssrc or use foobar with the appropriate plugins.
Ofcourse there are also Izotope and Weiss Saracon, but these cost.

Johan Erikson
Johan Erikson
August 6, 2019 12:19 pm

I think this is a great decision! I agree that it’s easy to convert from flac to mp3. Will keep supporting and donating!

Jermajesty
Jermajesty
August 6, 2019 12:17 pm

Paul, I have been following the BTG problems with bated breath. I feel sorry that your host is clearly giving you the runaround, making up one problem after another. I know any other solution for hosting will be a headache for you, but am glad you have now decided. Happily for me, 16bit Flac is my favourite, my ears are too shot to hear anything better. I do worry that once the parties behind the mass downloading find your new Mega links the 16TB will be burnt through v quickly, but it’s worth a shot as the solution, and I… Read more »

Pascal
Pascal
August 6, 2019 10:06 am

Thank you Paul for not answering my e-mail about downloads and not adding me to your list

Arthur
Arthur
August 6, 2019 9:49 am

Paul! Everything we get here is thanks to your effort but most importantly: given. So whatever you feel is necessairy to make your hobby(!) easier is granted.

I can say nothing else than a huge thank you for all those years of hard work.

You rock.

nervenklempner
nervenklempner
August 6, 2019 7:34 am

“Audiophiles” with gold USB cables will be mad. But I’m glad to see most of your audience are reasonable people.

music_fan
music_fan
August 6, 2019 4:32 am

Paul’s site is fantastic however we have to be brutally honest and not kid ourselves…. This is a file sharing site and if the record labels and artists haven’t granted permission – it’s piracy. It’s no different to millions of illegal bittorrents online. File sharing is illegal without the expression permission of the copyright holder. Period. I’m surprised Paul’s site has managed to remain online for so many years. Many bittorrent sites have been forced to close due to copyright infringement and cease and notice legal action. Examples: BTJunkie – 2012 The torrent site was lost on February 6th, 2012,… Read more »

Jimmie D
Jimmie D
Reply to  music_fan
August 6, 2019 9:07 am

music_fan wrote: “This is a file sharing site and if the record labels and artists haven’t granted permission – it’s piracy. It’s no different to millions of illegal bittorrents online.”

my response: There’s a big difference. The majority of what is posted here is unobtainable out-of-print vinyl, which is offered at no cost to the consumer.

Arthur
Arthur
Reply to  Jimmie D
August 6, 2019 9:46 am

Exactly, Jimmie.

Lucio Novaes
Lucio Novaes
Reply to  Jimmie D
August 6, 2019 2:18 pm

I totally agree Jimmie D!

That was the most stupid comment of the day. If he’s not happy with the blog and think it’s illegal, just go away!!!

Mixed Bag Productions Australia
Mixed Bag Productions Australia
August 6, 2019 3:52 am

Hi Paul, very good compromise, we all can still enjoy lossless quality, mp3 is pretty crap and ancient, and definitely it needed to go, and those who want it can convert to that format themselves. 24 bit 96 hrtz did sound awesome, but remember to those complaining, bandwidth and hosting does cost money, and paul had to draw the line somewhere. The only thing I’m sorry about is seeing the back archive disappear, but this is paul’s site, and he is the one who has to make the decisions in the best interest of keeping such an awesome site alive,… Read more »

Glyn
Glyn
August 6, 2019 1:35 am

Thank you for the update Paul.

Frank
Frank
August 6, 2019 12:30 am

Hello Paul, you could nearly halfsize your 24bit/96KHz files by offering them in 16bit/96KHz without any sound compromise. As it’s the sample rate that matters for sound quality, the dynamic range 24/16bit is neglectable. To make these files standard CD quality at 16bit/44.1KHz people would have to use converter programs like Steinberg Wavelab or dbpoweramp. Maybe that’s helpful inforamtion in some way. All the best!

DJMrTim
DJMrTim
August 5, 2019 10:26 pm

I wonder if transfer rate only to downloads. I know I can transfer Mega files to my account and download at a later time. If it helps keep the downloads available for others I will gladly use that step. I’m sure others with Mega accounts would gladly do the same

Kaex
Kaex
August 5, 2019 10:07 pm

Hey Paul. Im pretty dissapointed. Hostigator has obviously profiled your site and tried to nickel and dime you. As a result you have totally changed your site and gutted your catalogue and now the quality of releases moving foward. Stop and think. There is a way to keep the site the way it was before. – Ditch Hostigator – Take up other peoples offers of private hosting the past years files – Put your 24bit back catalogue on bit-torrent and link to it (i was planning to do this anyway) – Consider Dropping the ancient depreciated MP3 320 format for… Read more »

Mickey
Mickey
August 5, 2019 8:46 pm

You do what you’ve gotta do, Paul. Regardless, I will always be grateful to you for all the wonderful music you’ve shared with us over the years.

Bellenger1981
Bellenger1981
August 5, 2019 8:09 pm

Hi, Paul. So glad that you came to a resolution. Keeping just 16-bit FLAC files for download is fair and reasonable. Thank you, again, for all your hard work!

Grant
Grant
August 5, 2019 8:04 pm

Thanks so much for this solution, DJPaul… it’s a joy to know your site will go on with this slight modification!!

Joey
Joey
August 5, 2019 6:43 pm

Well, I hope that does the trick and you are not hassled anymore. You can’t please everybody, but I think you made the right choice based upon what your options are. Thank You Paul for all that you have done here.

Maria Santos
Maria Santos
August 5, 2019 6:30 pm

best in flac 24 bits superior thanks friend paul

gnihtytterp
gnihtytterp
August 5, 2019 6:19 pm

Great choice IMHO, 16-bit FLAC is the format I always download files, many thanks

Meddows
Meddows
August 5, 2019 5:24 pm

Only 24 bits! Because it is always possible to make 16/44 bit or MP3-320 files use “foobar2000”.

Walter C
Walter C
Reply to  Meddows
August 5, 2019 8:22 pm

Oh yes Sir, so you just use a freeware to downsample 96kHz to 44.1kHz. Rubbish is what you get if you are not using a commercial “mastering” grade app. like iZotope RX… and even doing so you must to know VERY well what you are doing!

Meddows
Meddows
Reply to  Walter C
August 6, 2019 5:37 am

Of course you are right, it is better to use iZotope,
but I have enough “foobar2000” with plugins “dbpoweramp” or “sox” resampler.

i99am
i99am
Reply to  Meddows
August 7, 2019 3:30 am

Go to http://src.infinitewave.ca/
You will see that despite being free ssrc and sox , even the foobar plugins are same or higher grade then paid software.

Jimmie D
Jimmie D
August 5, 2019 4:49 pm

Good decision. It suits me just fine because I only downloaded the 16-bit files, anyway. Thanks for moving the project forward.

Trekkie313
Trekkie313
Reply to  Jimmie D
September 8, 2019 3:25 am

Terrible for me…I have limited space on my HDD and converting stuff on my end is a pain.

Kev
Kev
August 5, 2019 4:00 pm

Hi Paul,

Not a problem, 24 bit is OTT anyway..

I always convert to mp3 your FLAC.

regards

Kev

negative1ne
August 5, 2019 2:46 pm

Hi Paul, I’m very glad you made a decision to keep the 16 bit FLAC files. That is the best compromise for space and size and quality. 24 bit was overkill, and I have never once downloaded it in that format, even though I do a lot of audio mixing, and conversion. The MP3 files were just a convenience to save time. But I can easily convert FLAC -> WAV -> Mp3 which is my usual workflow. I don’t mind taking the time to do it by myself. ================================ So it sounds like you are mirroring the files to MEGA… Read more »

Fred
Fred
August 5, 2019 1:50 pm

1)YAY!!!!! 2)Without getting a lot into the weeds, I think removing MP3s is a great decision. I think a high percentage of people come here for QUALITY. The 24bit was far overkill and even for it to be enjoyed required the utmost (expensive) hardware AND ears. 3)Rather than wait for problems with mega and force you into a 2-week waiting period, it may be best to plan for that now…maybe have a friend register an account with Mega and 1 week you post to your Mega account and the next week you post to your friend’s account. Or just get… Read more »

Song And Dance
Song And Dance
August 5, 2019 11:34 am

Dearest friend, I just donated 100$ to maybe help tiding this site over. No strings attached, this is not for my personal requests. Do what you like with this money, maybe buy yourself a nice German Riesling wine haha. 100$ do not hurt me and maybe it will help us all.

As for your decision, I applaud it. Seems to be a reasonable compromise.

Love and light, dear Sir. Love and light.
s´n´d

Marcelino Arizmendi
Marcelino Arizmendi
August 5, 2019 11:28 am

Hi Paul … I must tell you that I feel sad for all this. This site was always smooth and easy and now these obstacles arise … The solution you decided is the most reasonable, although the main reason I love this site is 24-bit coding … will you put 24-bit files in Mega? Hope so. Thanks for staying online.

Kaex
Kaex
Reply to  Marcelino Arizmendi
August 5, 2019 9:33 pm

Im very sad too. The main reason I love this site is 24-bit coding.

nervenklempner
nervenklempner
Reply to  Marcelino Arizmendi
August 6, 2019 7:25 am

Don’t worry. If you’re not using the audio for production or something you won’t need 24bit. You can’t hear the difference.

Kaex
Kaex
Reply to  nervenklempner
August 7, 2019 1:05 am

Dont you ever tell me what i can and cannot hear. I have been ripping vinyl and R2R Tape in 24bit for over a decade. My Music library is over 6TB and i have now fully transitioned to DSD 5.6 Megahertz. In 2019 You can do much better than CD.

nervenklempner
nervenklempner
Reply to  Kaex
August 7, 2019 6:48 am

Subjectively you can of course hear a difference. But please do an ABX test and save yourself storage space.

Jeff
Jeff
August 5, 2019 11:22 am

I’m so excited Paul that you’ve come to a great solution. I am just so happy that you’ll keep doing what you do so well.

Jeff

Matt
Matt
Reply to  Jeff
August 5, 2019 12:47 pm

Great decision Paul. I’m glad to see that your work will continue.

Martijn van Heeringen
August 5, 2019 11:18 am

I understand your decision. It is a pity that in our times of advanced internet, the data transfer is still a cost issue. The alternative for burningtheground could be a site where you cannot download, but only request files. You would send these file requests through http://www.wetransfer.com but this would be so much work that you would need a paid secretary, and the problem would still not be solved. A torrent site would have copyright issues, probably. I agree 16 bit Flac is the best option for now. I hope you can stay in the air like this for a… Read more »

Daniel
Daniel
August 5, 2019 11:02 am

Finally very good news!! I´m so happy you decided to let Burning The Ground live on. I just can´t imagine a world without it. For me it is the best solution to keep only the 16 bit FLAC format. I only use this format to make my numerous special DJ-PaulT-CD compilations. Of course you can always count on me each time you need support by donations. Thanks a million Paul.

Ken
Ken
August 5, 2019 11:00 am

I would also suggest having some information somewhere on the site regarding how to convert flac files to mp3 as I can forsee some complaints from people not being able to play the files, although not sure what audio players don’t support flac at this point (looking at you iTunes!).

Probably the easiest program to convert them is lamexp (http://lamexp.sourceforge.net/)

Good to hear the site is continuing though.

Walter C
Walter C
Reply to  Ken
August 5, 2019 11:26 am

For Windows there’s an all-in-one freeware solution (still in my system since XP times)!
https://www.foobar2000.org/

Ken
Ken
Reply to  Walter C
August 5, 2019 6:06 pm

Oh I use that myself, just suggesting something that’s player independent

Walter C
Walter C
August 5, 2019 10:36 am

So you finally opted for what I suggested from the beginning! It’s perfect, these are recordings taken from vinyl, they will never sound like a master out of the studio, 24bit/96kHz makes no sense. In addition, they are ready to put together a CD compilation without any conversion (downsampling 96kHz for CD adds an extra degradation stage).

Kaex
Kaex
Reply to  Walter C
August 5, 2019 9:53 pm

> It’s perfect maybe for you certainly not for me >these are recordings taken from vinyl, they will never sound like a master out of the studio Credulous. Paul’s 24bit vinyl rips are far better than studio issued releases > 24bit/96kHz makes no sense Rediculous. The online vinyl ripping community pushes things much higher than that and most of my library is full native DSD 128 (5.6mhz) and it is truly next level. Sorry pal if you dont have the gear to play it. >downsampling 96kHz for CD adds an extra degradation stage) Plainly incorrect. Resampling used to be a… Read more »

nervenklempner
nervenklempner
Reply to  Kaex
August 6, 2019 7:32 am

Kaex, you are incorrect.
24bit makes no sense for audio playback since there is no music on this planet with that much dynamic range. 16bit captures >90dB which is more than necessary. More than 48 kHz also makes no sense, unless you’re a bat and have superhuman hearing, which you do not. You can’t hear a difference in a ABX-test.

Zorf
Zorf
Reply to  nervenklempner
August 9, 2019 1:23 pm

Like so many others, you’re failing to appreciate that a higher bitrate resolves the amplitude with finer detail. It’s not about dynamic range in the musical sense.

The same for sample rates. Although you’d have to be a dog to hear anything much above 20kHz, a higher sampling rate resolves frequencies lower than this i.e. those you can hear, with greater detail.

For the record, I’m fine with 16bit/44kHz.

Zorf
Zorf
Reply to  Zorf
August 9, 2019 1:44 pm

“bitrate” – I meant bit-depth when talking about amplitude

Danny
Danny
August 5, 2019 10:30 am

That seems like a very reasonable solution Paul. 🙂

Dean P.
Dean P.
Reply to  Danny
August 5, 2019 6:16 pm

Hi Paul, Glad you have come up with a solution to the recent issues you have been facing. It is a shame it has come to this, after all the hard work you put in to this truly wonderful resource, but needs must. Keeping the 16 bit FLAC seems a totally fair compromise, so those who want uncompressed audio can get their fix, and for people like me who are happy with 320kbps mp3’s, converting those is no hassle at all (I also use Audition). I have donated $10 to help also. Thanks again from a true fan in New… Read more »