Frequently Asked Questions

About Christ Church Cambridge Ministry Of Sound

Hot Topic: How long will the media from a service/event be available?

We currently have most sermons dating all the way back to 2005. There are no plans to remove audio from the site unless specifically requested by the preacher.

What is the Ministry of Sound?

The Christ Church Cambridge Ministry Of Sound is here to provide you with media from past Christ Church Cambridge events (services, special talks, etc.). Please see the front page for a full description of these services.

How can I contact the Ministry of Sound?

Fill in our contact form.

Is there a web site or contact information for Christ Church Cambridge?

Yes. Please visit christchurchcambridge.org.uk.

About MOS Pricing

We need to charge for consumables to cover the costs of the materials. Orders are priced up based on the nature of the request and what is requested.

About media available on this site

What media is available on this site?

The site serves audio files of sermons and talks held at Christ Church Cambridge, as MP3 or WMA.

At some time in the future, it may also be possible to get videos from this site or as DVD (e.g. nativity plays).

We reserve the right to restrict access to media based on registration with the web site and/or church, and to charge for some services to cover costs incurred by providing those services. Full details will be supplied where this applies to particular media.

Do I need any special programs to play this media?

Audio comes as MP3 or WMA audio files which most standard PCs will recognize.

• WMA (Windows Media Audio) files usually require Microsoft Windows and Windows Media Player^* (some third party programs may also be able to play this media)
• MP3 audio will require an audio player, such as Windows Media Player, or WinAMP^*
• MP3 audio files will also work on MP3 players

^* Some operating systems already have these programs, or other programs ready-installed to play this media.

We aim to provide the media in a format that will be universally viewable across operating systems - if you want to make a special request for a particular file format or you're not sure what you need, please contact us.

What is the difference between the quality levels available for media?

In order to allow people using computers on slower (e.g. Modem) connections or those wanting to listen on a portable device with not much memory, we have encoded the media at different quality levels:

^*Download times are based on a 30 minute talk over a reasonable modem connection (43000 bits per second)

WMA bit rates are lower as WMA provides a good voice-only encoding, where MP3 does not have such an encoding. Therefore WMA files will sound clearer at lower bit rates, but have the disadvantage that there are fewer programs/portable players that can handle this format.

With lower quality files, you may notice some distortion of the audio - this is a normal side effect of reducing the file size.

I'm using a modem - how long should I expect a media download to take?

This depends on the length of the media, and whether you are accessing anything else over the internet at the same time.

• Run the connection speed test, which will tell you how fast your internet connection is.
• After running the speed test, the event download pages will automatically show you the estimated time to download each quality, allowing you to pick the most suitable file

Technical Questions

What is the "bit rate"?

The bit rate of the media is how many bits each second of the recording is encoded in. The values above are in Kilobits (Kbits) per second. One Kilobit is 1024 bits.

A 1 second sound encoded at 8 Kbits/second will be 8 Kilobits in size (1 Kilobyte).

How do I find out what my connection speed is?

Run the connection speed tester

After running this speed tester, the media download pages will automatically show you the estimated time to download each file.