General Comments:

We recommend you use Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape, 7.0, Opera 7.0 to view our web site with best results. All of these browsers are free.

Internet Explorer 6.0 can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp
Netcape 7.0 can be downloaded from http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp
Opera 7.0 can be downloaded from http://www.opera.com/download/

You will need an MP3 player in order to listen to the shiurim. We recommend Winamp, which can be downloaded from http://www.winamp.com.

You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view the seforim. It can be downloaded for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

Technical Questions:

1) What format do you distribute the audio shiurim in?

All of our audio shiurim are distributed in the MP3 format recorded at 44.1 kbps bit rate for higher audio quality. These are conversions from the original tapes on which these shiurim were orginally recorded.

2) How do I listen to the MP3 files on your web site?

You need to download an MP3 player in order to listen to the shiurim. We recommend Winamp, which can be downloaded from http://www.winamp.com.

3) How do I download MP3 files?

You can Right-Click on the small icon that appears next to the title of each sefer and select Save Target As… A prompt will come up and ask you to save the file on your hard drive.

4) How long does it take to download these files?

The download time depends on the size of the file, you internet connection, how busy our server is and overall traffic on the internet. In general our files vary from 1 MB to 50 MB in size. The times below are average. The specific download time for your connection may be slower or faster.

5) Why are your audio files so large? Other web sites with audio speech recordings have them much smaller.

There are a few very good reasons why our files are large.
a) Our audio shiurim are recorded at 48 kbps to ensure that all MP3 players can play them. There are many MP3 players that will only play MP3 files that are have the bit rate of 32 or 48 kbps, because they were primarily designed for music and music is almost never recorded at such low bit rates, because of poor quality.
b) Our shiurim are recorded (or redubbed from original tapes) in Stereo and not Mono, like many others because it's very annoying to listen to Mono when one is driving in the car or using head phones, because the sound is directed straight into one ear and not the other. Especially in cars most Mono recording come out of the right speaker and the driver sits on the left side and it sounds to him like the sound is very far away.
c) All MP3 players rewind and fast forward the MP3 files using a sbit rate skipping routine. So if the file is recorded at a low bit rate such as 8 or 16 kbps the MP3 player will skip minutes of recording as it rewinds or fast forwards, and it's very difficult to get to the spot that you want without trial and error, which again is very annoying.

For these very improtant reasons our files may be twice or even four times as large as many other speech recording files which are typically recorded at 8 or 16 kbps and Mono. Stereo doubles the file size from Mono and as bit rate doubles so does the file size since the file must have twice as many bits in it.

Keep in mind that many web sites that have speech recordings have been started many years before MP3 were popular or even available and therefore did not consider these issues.

We are planning in the future to create a second set o fthse files at a poorer quality either inthe MP3 or RealAudio formats for the users whohave difficulty downloading large files.

6) This is taking too long. How can I play the file directly without downloading it?

Yes. You can double click on the link and the MP3 file will begin playing in you default MP3 player.

7) How do I set my browser that when I click on a link with a MP3 file instead of the file opening it would ask me if I want to open it or save it?

This setting varies depending on which browser you use:

Internet Explorer:

This setting is set directly in Windows. You can change it by going to your Windows Explorer and selecting from the menu Tools --> Folder Options. The click on the File Types tab and select MP3 from the list. Then click on the Advanced button and check the check box that says Confirm Open after Download. This way the browser will be notified by Windows that before it opens the file it should ask you what you want to do with it.

Netscape:

The same setting as described above called File Types is located in the Netscape Preferences window located in the Edit menu.

Opera: The same setting as described above called File Types is located in the Opera Preferences window located in the File menu.

8) How do I view the seforim?

All seforim are in the Adobe PDF format. You can download the Adobe Acrobat Reader from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

9) When I try to print the PDF files the pages come out either backwards or not in the proper order. Some pages don't get printed at all. Why?

You need to set the click box called "Print as Image" on the right upper side of the Print dialog of Adobe Acrobat Viewer . This should fix the problem.

General Questions

1) So why do you do this? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?

We do this for mitzva of Learning Torah.

2) Are all of the audio shiurim on your website free?

Yes, all of the audio shiurim are free.

3) Can I distribute these audio shiurim to others?

Yes, you can distribute the seforim and audio shiurim to others for free.

4) Can I sell these audio shiurim to others?

No, you may not sell these seforim or audio shiurim .

5) Do you distribute these shiurim on CD-ROM?

Yes. Please see the Purchase DVDs and CDs page.