A1 Cd Audio Download | Alter Ego

The downside? It is sterile. The dialogues sound like they were recorded in a padded room in 2007. There is zero background ambiance, and the acting is stiff. Real French people speak with pauses, interjections ("euh"), and background noise. This audio gives you a sanitized, "studio French" that will leave you shocked the first time you hear a real Parisian cashier mumble.

The production quality is what you would expect from a major publisher (Hachette): clear, crisp, and intelligible. The voices are a mix of standard Parisian French and a few regional accents, which is good for training your ear. The content aligns perfectly with the textbook: dialogues from the four main characters (Alice, Mehdi, etc.), phonetic exercises, and the dreaded "compréhension orale" tests.

Once downloaded, import the MP3s into a dedicated player app (e.g., Evermusic on iOS or VLC on Android) so you can slow down the fast dialogues to 0.8x speed. Your ears will thank you. alter ego a1 cd audio download

However, the user interface is bare-bones. Unlike language apps such as Duolingo or Babbel, there is no integrated player, speed control, or looping function. You are left to your own device’s music player. For a beginner, manually navigating to track 42 for a listening comprehension can be tedious.

For self-learners and students using the popular Alter Ego A1 méthode de français, the accompanying audio CD has long been a necessary evil. While the physical disc is fading into obsolescence, the move to a digital download format is a welcome, if overdue, evolution. The downside

A Solid, If Uninspired, Audio Crutch for the Absolute Beginner

Purchasing the audio as a download (typically via Hachette FLE’s platform or authorized resellers like Espace Langues) is a mixed bag. On the positive side, you are finally freed from hunting for a laptop with a disc drive. The files come as standard 192kbps MP3s, zipped into lesson-specific folders. The download process is straightforward but requires creating an account and often entering an access code found inside the physical book’s cover. There is zero background ambiance, and the acting is stiff

3.5/5

Comments

4 responses to “Waves Horizon Bundle Review 2024”

  1. Erik Hedin Avatar

    Thanks for a great review Ilpo. It was interesting for me to see what you found useful in the Horizon bundle.

    I bought some Waves plugins and liked them. But got upset by the WUP when I found out about it. I totally buy your argument about that the workers at Waves need to get payed. I think Waves undercommunicate what the WUP is.
    I do love that Waves are supporting their old plugins and keep develop them! As a comparison I bought a plug-in from another company and a few months later that company disappeared from internet and newer came back!
    So Waves are definitely a reliable partner if you like to build a long term professional buissenes.

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Appreciate the thoughtful comment Erik. I agree they could do a better job at communicating what WUP is. I edited the article to include that thought. Thanks!

  2. David G Brown Avatar
    David G Brown

    I appreciate your points as well Ilpo about maintaining stability in the company and paying employees fairly. I would prefer a different approach however. I have no issue paying an upgrade fee for new or improved features, or for Waves having to adapt their plugins to work in a new OS.
    I don’t like paying an annual fee for no apparent changes or improvements however. I bought a bunch of Waves plugins on sale in 2020 and, when the 1 year purchase date occurred all these plugins stopped working in my DAW. I felt like I was being held hostage to have to renew licenses for no real benefit. Had I known this I probably wouldn’t have bought them.
    I know there are lots of products that provide user access on a monthly or annual leasing arrangement. I have paid for upgrades for DAW improvements, added features in other products etc. on numerous occasions but I don’t want to pay an annual licensing fee for a product that I have already bought unless there is substantive improvement.

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Thanks for sharing your experience David. I completely agree that is not how it should be.

      You are aware that the WUP is not an annual licensing fee though, right? Something has obviously gone wrong for you there, because that is not how it’s supposed to work.

      In which case you should contact Waves support.

      You’re not forced to upgrade ever, unless your system specs have changed so that the version you own doesn’t work with your system anymore.

      I was working quite happily with Waves V9 plugins for many years, until I decided to upgrade to V13.

      So please do get in touch with Waves support, if your system specs haven’t changed there must be something wrong there, and I’m sure they’ll help you out with that.

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