1. First select the album or tracks that you want to purchase. Once you have done this and payment has been cleared you will be directed to a download page. This page will look like this;
2. Then select the album you wish to download. When you do this you will be presented with a window that looks like this;
Each individual track of the album is listed along with its file size. Under the picture of the album cover you will see a link to the album cover artwork. Clicking this will download the cover artwork.
3. Click on each file to start the download sequence. You need to select every file individually. When the download begins you will be presented with a download window like this;
We have used the Firefox browser and other browsers may present the download information in a different format.
4. Once all the individual files are downloaded they will look like this. We have saved all the files to one folder;
Note the artwork file listed at the end of the track list.
5. In order that you can import the files into iTunes you now need to convert the files to a format that iTunes recognises. The WMA Lossless files you have downloaded are of equal audio performance to a regular "red book" CD so it is best that the initial conversion is at the same quality. This ensures that no data is lost. There are many conversion programs available and we are showing how to convert the audio using "Switch". Switch can be downloaded from http://www.nch.com.au/switch/plus.html Linn makes no claim about the quality or performance of Switch; it was chosen to show an example of the type of programs available. Open switch then select the tracks or album that you wish to convert. At the bottom of the window you can then select the conversion file format and the output folder. The window will look like this.
You will see here that we have chosen aiff as the desired out put file type. Aiff and wav are both suitable for full data conversion and both are recognised by iTunes.
Aiff means; Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data on personal computers. The format was co-developed by Apple Computer based on Electronic Arts Interchange File Format (IFF) and is most commonly used on Apple Macintosh computer systems.
Wav means; WAV (or WAVE), short for Waveform audio format, is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing audio on PCs. It is a variant of the RIFF bitstream format method for storing data in "chunks", and thus also close to the IFF and the AIFF format used on Amiga and Macintosh computers. Both WAVs and AIFFs are compatible with Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
You are now almost ready to convert.
6. When you try to convert a file from WMA in Switch for the first time you may be presented with the following dialogue;
This is because WMA files are not supported on a Mac and the flip4mac plugin is required. Click the yes button and you will be taken to the Microsoft download page. Download and install flip4mac and you can then convert the files. Once installed this dialogue will show;
Hitting the OK will take you back to Switch.
7. Hit "convert" and conversion will begin. There are progress bars for each track and the program will work its way through all selected tracks.
8. Open iTunes and create a new Playlist.
You are now ready to import your converted audio. Open the folder that contains the converted files. It will look like this;
Note the file sizes are much larger now that they are uncompressed and are detailed as being AIFF Audio Files. "select all" then drag and drop them into the iTunes playlist.
9. The import dialogue will look like this;
10. Once imported you can then add the artwork. This is done using "select all" under the "edit" tab. Drag and drop the artwork on to the box indicated by the mouse pointer.
11. You finally have your music in iTunes! We apologise for this somewhat convoluted method but unfortunately Apple will not make the Apple Lossless codec available for us to use. The method we explain here keeps download file size as small as possible whilst maintaining audio quality. If you have any comments regarding this or any other information we provide please contact info@linnrecords.co.uk. Your album should now look like this;
Happy listening.