Norway's NRK Offers Orchestral Works in Dolby Digital

Norwegian radio and TV broadcaster NRK is pushing the boundaries of broadcasting and the Internet with its new test website promoting music downloads available in Dolby® Digital format.

The site features downloads of several orchestral pieces, such as Concerto for Voice (Moods III) by Maja Ratkje, a young contemporary Norwegian composer, which was performed for the first time at the Présence festival in Paris in 2005.

More award-winning content is available in various languages on the NRK download page. There is a documentary about Norwegian folk singer Mari Boine and a radio play about Norwegian artist Lars Hertervig, both in Norwegian. For Spanish speakers there are two shorts pieces about the work of artist Edvard Munch.

Visit the download page on NRK's website for a comprehensive list of the pieces currently available in Dolby Digital.

Download Instructions

NRK's multichannel productions can be downloaded in 448 or 640 kbps Dolby Digital audio (referenced on the NRK site as “DD”). Please refer any questions or feedback regarding the downloads directly to NRK via email or through their feedback page.

Playback Options

You can play the file in a number of ways. The first option is to burn it to CD or DVD and play it back through a DVD or CD player that is digitally connected to a home theater system via a receiver that decodes Dolby Digital. Alternatively you can play the file back using a PC with Dolby Digital capability or a PC with a soundcard which is digitally connected to a receiver capable of decoding Dolby Digital.

Download the File

Select the piece you would like to hear and click through to the download page for that specific piece. The file you will download is a zip file which can be opened by WinZip or similar archive reader software. The unzipped file is a WAV file which contains no sound, just digital data to be decoded by the Dolby Digital decoder inside your receiver.

Warning:

Do not play the file with your standard CD player or your standard PC sound system as it will produce noise at a high level and may damage your speakers or ears if played at high volume.

Playing the File

CD or DVD Player

To play the file you must burn an audio CD as a conventional audio CD and play it back on your Dolby Digital capable home theater system. Note that some CD players do not play CD-R discs.

PCs

If you are using a soundcard it must be digitally connected to a Dolby Digital enabled receiver or decoder and set to allow digital signals through. When playing the WAV file, you must set the output volume on the software application and the PC system to maximum. Failure to do this will cause signal attenuation resulting in the receiver failing to recognize the signal as a Dolby Digital signal.

PCs with Dolby Digital technology

If your PC has built-in Dolby Digital capabilities you simply need to connect it with an optical or coaxial lead to an audio receiver connected to a multichannel home theater system.