New Sound Effects: German Cars, Japanese Trains, Rocky Mountain Ambiences, And Much More!

Posted December 19, 2017 by Adriane Kuzminski in New sound effects libraries

This week on A Sound Effect, we have sounds that will make you feel relaxed, anxious, powerful, and more! We have a commanding BMW X5 M, peaceful ambiences from the Northern Rockies, creepy drones that swirl and transform, and pristine, reassuring UI sounds. We also have more sounds of transportation with Tokyo trains and a diesel smart car, as well as office sounds, buttons and switches, and intriguing contact mic discoveries. Happy listening!

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TRAIN

Train Sound Effects TRAIN Play Track 105+ sounds included, 319 mins total $49

A wide selection of local trains and subways from Japan, featuring recordings such as pass-bys, departing and arriving, interiors, rail chimes which really distinguish from other and many many more. Train and subway stations from Japan are also included to complete the railway atmosphere. A total of more than 5 hours of recordings are included.

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'TRAIN' by Anti-Node Design is a large collection of the famous local trains and subways in Japan. You'll hear sounds from within the stations, including announcements and notifications, as well as impossibly clean pass-bys and ambiences from within the train cars, stations, and outside on the railway. All together you get 5 hours of recordings, so whether you need generals sound of metros or the distinct qualities Japanese transportation, this one is for you!

Smart Fortwo, 2005

Car Sound Effects Smart Fortwo, 2005 Play Track 60+ sounds included, 37 mins total $49

The Smart Fortwo is a unique everyday car. Under the hood, or rather under the trunk (it’s a rear mounted engine) this hatchback sports a tiny 41hp diesel engine. Normally covered for obvious reasons, we opened it up to expose the engine and get some super clean onboard recordings from inside the car.

Also, because the Fortwo has a quasi-manual transmission, we were able to perform the gear changes with dramatic sequences in mind. So they are more pronounced, adding some character that is sometimes lost in a fully automatic transmission.

Included are a full set of exterior and onboard (engine/tailpipe) recordings at varying speeds as well as all the doors and a couple dashboard chimes.

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'Smart Fortwo, 2005' by Big Room Sound Inc. shows off the surprisingly diesel engine from this tiny 12-year-old car. The library captures the vehicle from the inside out with sounds of the rear-mounted engine, tailpipe, pass-bys, door sounds, alerts, and more. It also has sounds of changing gears in various ways, offering some dramatic takes that might inspire a tiny car chase scene. If you're looking for the indisputable sounds of a car that is definitely only "for two", give this library a listen.

Multichannel Buttons and Switches

Mechanical Sound Effects Multichannel Buttons and Switches Play Track 2000+ sounds included $45

This collection contains a wide variety of buttons and switches. We pushed, flicked, turned and twisted all the buttons, knobs and switches we could find to make sure you have everything for your sound design needs. To give you as many options as possible, we recorded everything at a high sample rate with several microphones. Every sound was recorded with at least a contact microphone, a large diaphragm microphone and a small diaphragm microphone. In addition, most of the sounds were recorded with two small diaphragm microphones with different pickup patterns (omni and cardioid).

The high sample rate and multiple microphone setup makes this collection excellent for sound design and heavy processing. We have also included all sounds in 96 kHz and 48 kHz in case 196 kHz is not required for your projects.

The following microphones were used:

1x Barcus Berry (contact microphone)
1x Neumann U87 A1 or Brauner Phantom Classic (large diaphragm)
1x Sanken CU31 (small diaphragm, cardioid)
1x DPA 4041 (small diaphragm, omni)

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'Multichannel Buttons and Switches' by Norsonant is a one-stop shop for all those little clicks, flicks, and ticks from just what the title says. With over 2,000 sounds of buttons, knobs, and switches, you'll get an input sound for every need. Plus, each sound was recorded at 192kHz with the ever-popular Barcus Berry contact mic, Neumann U87, and either a Sanken CU31 or DPA 4041, and they even include the 96kHz and 48kHz versions for quick implementation in your audio middleware. If you have devices that need sounds of confirmation, this is all you need!

G4F SFX11 – ExoInterface

User Interface (UI) Sound Effects G4F SFX11 – ExoInterface Play Track 517 sounds included, 24 mins total $40

The G4F SFX11 – ExoInterface soundbank is dedicated to futuristic interfaces.

The library contains high-quality sounds recorded or synthesized at 96 kHz/24 bit. This soundbank is ideal for science-fiction and futuristic worlds and environments.

The SFX are grouped into several categories:

Action confirmed – Action refused – Cursor click – Misc – Process – Close screen – Open screen.

Number of files: 517 wav files (517 SFX)

Size: 804 Mo (zip archive of 529 Mo)

UCS Naming and Classification

Sound Designers: Benjamin Michenaud & Alexandre Bobe

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'G4F SFX11 – ExoInterface' by G4F SFX has futuristic bleeps and bloops to make your audience feel like they're living in a hi-tech world. This library has over 500 sounds that notify confirmed and denied actions, data processing, cursor clicks, opened and closed program windows, alarms, and miscellaneous commands. These sounds are also delivered at 96kHz, giving you even more flexibility in their utility! If you need that recognizable sound of clean, sophisticated technology, check this one out.

BMW X5 M

Car Sound Effects BMW X5 M Play Track 328 sounds included, 772 mins total $179

BMW X5M’ by Flysound is a comprehensive sound catalogue for this highly-tuned performance champion. The suite of 328 recordings is a systematic compilation authored by a dedicated full service post-production team, deploying Neumann U87s, Neumann USM69, Sonosax, Sound Devices 788Ts, Aaton Cantar-X2s, and further top quality recording equipment.

The subject of the suite is a 750 horsepower high-performance road dominator, while also remaining the dream car for suburban soccer moms. Our BMW X5M and its professional driver have been tracked from a myriad of angles and distances, both external and onboard, from the moment the doors close and a seatbelt fastens, right down the gamut of revs, take-offs, turns, passes-by, skids, pedal slams, handbraking, gearshifting, and panel buttoning galore with all the corresponding actions as the BMW’s fabled “M” division SUV variant peels away fast, chugs along slow, or just cruises an everyday commute. In short: Everything you’ll need, all the maneuvers manifested by the immensely powerful and versatile 4.4 litre bi-turbo gasoline engine, here in this suite.

The symphonic grace of this German masterpiece in motion is captured with orchestra-grade studio equipment and field kit, by professionals, for professionals, ready to be used as authentic sound, ready to be arranged into seamless edits and proper 5.1 post-production. The 96kHz/24bit synced and multi-channel recordings have comprehensive metadata tags giving full position, microphone, and action detail. This catalogue constitutes the canon of sound for BMW X5M (M for motorsport), whether you seek the sound of a high-octane road ruckus, or an everyday trip to the supermarket. The suite is parked here, ready to give you the exact audio you need.

A lite and mixed version of this suite is also included, comprising 18 authentic stereo files, designed, mixed, and studio packaged on best-of-breed equipment for simpler tasks which would have a preference for a package of ready made stock sounds of BMW X5M.

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'BMW X5 M' by Flysound gets you the deep grows of this efficient motorsport vehicle (that would set you back over $100K USD if you bought one new). With 328 recordings from multiple microphones, you'll hear revving, pass-bys, pedal slams, turns, peeling away, hand-braking, gear-shifting, and more from a professional driver who knows how to handle this 750 hp beast. Plus, you get some low-key driving in case your character just needs to ship the kids around but couldn't settle with a minivan. Check out the demo and try not to drool!

Northern Rockies: Quiet Nature

Nature & Countryside Ambiences Northern Rockies: Quiet Nature Play Track 49+ sounds included, 202 mins total $75

• In Northern Rockies: Quiet Nature, get a collection of the most serene ambiences from the mountains of Montana. Hear the massive sparseness of glacial valleys and still water. Hear majestic swaying of old growth forest and naked trunks left by wildfire. Hear Lodgepole pines creaking and Douglas fir slamming to the forest floor. This library is packed full of “quiet nature” tracks from the continental divide of North America, the crown of the continent where glacial meltwaters flow all the way to the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and to the Hudson Bay. Perfect for use as the foundation of your designed environment, some stretches of rare natural silence are up to 35 minutes!
• Only 26 glaciers (of the 150 in 1850) remain in Glacier National Park and all are predicted to melt within 30 years. Hear the sounds of this stunning natural cathedral while the glaciers remain. The ecosystem won’t sound the same when they’re gone.

2% FOR THE ENVIRONMENT & CARBON NEUTRAL:
• Two percent of the price of this library is donated to an environmental cause. I view it as an “artist royalty” for the planet!
• Carbon offset credits were purchased for the Northern Rockies Series. Field Recording travel for this library was carbon neutral!

KEY FEATURES:
• Quiet Nature recordings from the coniferous forests of the northern Rocky Mountains.
• If you need more “active” or “quiet” nature sounds check out: NR: Common Loons and NR: miNiATURE
• Desolate ambiences with no wildlife.
• Serene ambiences with minimal or distant flora and fauna.
• Large glacial and small shallow lakes
• Ruffed grouse “drumming” can be heard as distant bass thumps. Read more about how males create this sound by beating their wings on hollow logs – here.
• Close perspective meltwater was not the focus of this library, but water is unavoidable during summertime in the Rockies. Water was always recorded at a distant as, for example, “distant soothing river” as part of flora and fauna ambiences.

TEXT MARKERS:
• Named markers are included in each file to help find interesting events in an otherwise uniform waveform!
• Marker text included in the Soundminer description and BWAV description fields.

FILE LIST & METADATA:
• View in Browser or Download CSV
• Flora (plants) and Fauna (animals) are described in these terms:
• stillness – close to absolute silence
• fauna sparse
• fauna constant
• flora sparse
• flora constant
• flora and fauna sparse
• flora and fauna constant
• Included wildlife: Swainson’s Thrush, Wilson’s Snipe, Common Raven, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Townsend’s Solitaire, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-naped Sapsucker, Western Tanager, Warbling Vireo, Tree Swallows, territorial beaver tail slaps, angry Chipmunks, and bats up to 90 kHz.

GEAR USED:
• Sennheiser MKH 8040 Matched Pair in ORTF
• Sound Devices 702
• Rycote ORTF Blimp

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'Northern Rockies: Quiet Nature' is the newest library by Thomas Rex Beverly, and it perfectly captures the romantic essence of Montana. These enviously serene soundscapes introduce you to the foliage and wildlife of glacial valleys, featuring sparse ravens, grouse, chipmunks, and beaver (tails), as well as rolling wind, creaking pines and firs, and much more. These recording capture space and depth rather than boisterous wildlife, giving you over 200 minutes that are also great for base ambiences. Plus, with smart, detailed metadata, you will quickly find what you need, though you might find yourself listening to relax!

Outward Inversion

Creature Sound Effects Outward Inversion Play Track 593+ sounds included, 151 mins total $28

From creating the breath of a behemoth, to the palpable aura of an ambiance, this is a plethora of contact mic goodness providing you with frequency-deep content for layering, embellishing, bolstering, and new sound creation.

Contact mics are delicate creatures. They can give you insights into the most excitable yet unheard facets of a soundscape, and then almost immediately get destroyed by the slightest of impacts. We’re just going to forget about how many incredible captures were thrown out of the running for this library due to such slight disruptions, and instead focus on the positive: this is a huge collection of super flexible, totally malleable sounds. One of our favorite libraries to make because it satisfied the inner tinkerer’s ear, Outward Inversion is our microscope applied to the aural world.

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'Outward Inversion' comes from the out-of-the-box thinking of Eiravaein Works. You can hear nearly 600 contact mic sounds capturing the mechanical sounds of car sunroofs, blow dryers, garage doors, drill presses, air conditioners, and more. You'll also receive textured sounds from carpet, vinyl records, Chinese vases, fabric, paper, and more! If you need sounds that will make you look at objects in a different way, check this one out.

Aberrant Drones

Drones & Mood Sound Effects Aberrant Drones Play Track 79 sounds included, 409 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$50

Discover nearly 7 hours of individually flavoured, hauntingly musical and ever-evolving drones, packaged neatly into 79 of the kind of audio files that you can never have enough of.

In many ways, Aberrant Drones is the sister library of the Augmentation Elements library, as it provides you with the creative tools required to augment your sound design.

Whilst the Augmentation Elements library arms you with tools such as whooshes, risers and stings, allowing you to sweeten specific elements of your sound design, the Aberrant Drones library allows you to augment the mood of an entire scene. Each audio file is populated with richly descriptive SoundMiner metadata, making it easier than ever before to sift through hours of abstract drones.

This is why the metadata is usually described in terms of feeling and mood, like so:

Drone,Sci-Fi,Abstract,Cacophonous,Glowing,Impending Doom
Drone,Sci-Fi,Abstract,Textured,Vibrating,Oscillating,Anxiety

Augment your creative tool-box with Aberrant Drones, and transform your sound design work!

For really in-depth reviews, check out the articles on 344audio.com and strongmocha.com

If you have any questions about this library, feel free to quickly send me an e-mail. I tend to reply within minutes.

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'Aberrant Drones' by SKYES Audio has nearly 7 hours of highly-emotive drones that will give your soundscapes eery tones, creepy textures, and swirling warbles. These 79 sounds last from 1 minute to over 14 minutes, and range from busy and evolving to rich and melodic. Plus, they have detailed metadata to help you find the right "ghostly", "dissonant", "glowing", and "abrasive" atmospheres for your project. If you're looking for an element of unease, these drones have it!

Small Office Foley & FX

Foley Sound Effects Small Office Foley & FX Play Track 579 sounds included $14

This library is all about the small insignificant sounds that occur everyday in any small office along with some very special sounds made from those items. All sounds are recorded cleanly with many variations to choose from and named meticulously. They´ve also been noise treated and edited carefully to make the use a seamless experience.
Since a lot of the sounds very recorded very closely, they open up new possibilities to sound designer. Some of the sounds could easily be used for weapon or impact and other kinds of sound design.

Some of the categories used in this library are: paperclips, hole punchers, staplers, fax-machine, printers, shredders, lots and lots of paper variations, drawers, file cabinets, ringbinders, post-its, books, keyboards and more.

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'Small Office Foley & FX' by Max Christensen Audio gets you all the busy elements from a typical office environment. Rather than having ambiences that are unpredictable and hard to control, this library has clean, multiple takes of the equipment one would interact with as an administrative employee. It has sounds of scissors, hole punchers, fax machines, filing cabinet drawers, shredders, staplers, tape, books and paper, keyboards, trashcans, and more! All together you get over 600 sounds for a small price, so it's definitely worth checking out!

Need more sound effects? See all the latest SFX releases here

Popular sound effects this week:

Car Sound Effects Extreme Drift Play Track 360 sounds included, 220 mins total $49

The Extreme Drift SFX library includes 360 HQ (24bit/96kHz) close and distant range perspective, auto racing recordings. Audio material of vehicles, drifting and maneuvering around race tracks at various speeds and densities taking corners and speeding on long straightaways.

You will find idle engine sounds, powerful engine revs, slow and fast starts, crazy accelerations and wild breaking, roaring overtakings, tandem battles, tire screeches and skids echoing beautifully in the air. The audio found in our library is not limited to startups, shutdowns and gear shifts, but also offers ambiences of pit lane and working team crews.

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Mechanical Sound Effects Old Engines Grab Bag Play Track 486 sounds included, 265 mins total $129

“Old Engines Grab Bag” is a pack of numerous old, unique and characterful engines from early 1900s. It’s a massive collection of 56GB multitrack 192kHz recordings of old tractors and stationary engines, both diesel and gasoline fueled.

The intention wasn’t to cover vehicles driving, but to get isolated and very closely recorded mechanical elements of engines and exhaust pipes as a source material for sound design. There are many starts, idles, revs, offs, RPMs variations, backfires etc. Some are heavy and large sounding, some are small and funny. Tractors were captured EXT and most of stationary engines INT, but since they are very closely recorded there is just a little amount of reverb on most of them.

Most of engines are 1 or 2 cylinders and low horse power and their RPMs are also low. Thanks to this, many of those sounds aren’t tonal and can easily be used as additional layer with other design elements. They work great for adding vintage character, designing junky or funny vehicles, crazy huge steampunk machines or engines malfunction.

Sounds were recorded using multi-mic setup: Sanken CO-100k (most of the time pointing mechanical parts), Sennheiser MKH-8060 (mainly for isolated exhaust pipe), Schoeps CMC6XT mk41/mk8 (general image) and part also with Trance Audio Inducer contact mics (adding unique mechanical perspective).

The library is delivered as multitrack 192kHz files, as well as stereo mix of all microphones. Thanks to using microphones with extended frequency range, drastic pitch changes can be applied.
All files have extensive metadata created in Soundminer, including leg picker with microphone labels.

Demo files include pitched sounds, which are not delivered with library.

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Cloth and Fabric Sound Effects Movement Foley Sound FX Play Track 704 sounds included $19.95

COMPATIBLE WITH ANY VIDEO SOFTWARE

CRAFTED BY INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

INSTANT DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
100% ROYALTY FREE

Introducing “Movement Foley,” your ultimate sound library for immersive audio experiences. With 176 meticulously crafted recordings captured at 96kHz and 24-bit resolution, every sound is delivered in crystal-clear quality.

From the thunderous applause of a crowd to the subtle rustle of cloth, the collection features a diverse range of objects and human movements. Hear the precise cadence of military gear, bags and clothes swaying as you walk, the rustle of clothes being put on and off, and the unique sounds of belts, sunglasses, zippers, umbrellas, hats, and more. This pack also includes sounds of body touches, claps, handshakes, chair movements, and a variety of cloth-related actions with multiple variations for each sound.

Each sound was expertly recorded in a professional studio environment by renowned foley artist Hugo Milt. With a portfolio spanning major film productions, Hugo’s attention to detail ensures every sound in “Movement Foley” is authentic and captivating.

Enhance your projects with lifelike audio that transports listeners into the heart of the action. Elevate your storytelling, gaming experiences, and multimedia projects with the unparalleled realism of “Movement Foley.” Whether you’re creating a blockbuster film, a video game, a virtual reality experience, or an immersive audio project, “Movement Foley” provides the perfect sonic palette to bring your vision to life.

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Updated in real-time, so it always shows 3 of the most popular SFX libraries from the past week

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THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:

A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

Foley Sound Effects Antique Hotel Reception Call Bell Play Track 20 sounds included, 2 mins total $2

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Creature Sound Effects Monsters Play Track 789 sounds included $59

Ever wondered how to get the creatures, beasts and monsters in your project as badass and nasty as possible?

This collection is filled with high-quality sound effects that let your clients tremble in their seats. The curated package comes with everything you need: Vocals like attacks, breaths, threats, alerts, idle sounds, die screams and foley sounds such as bodyfalls, steps and movement.

With this set of handpicked sounds you have the world of cinematic creature sound design at your fingertips.

The Library includes:

Beast, Coloss, Dwarf, Fishman, Gnome, Golem, Hellhound, Imp, Insect, Kraken, Minotaur, Ogre, Orc, Reptile, Witch, Wraith, Yeti, Zombie, Attack, Breath, Death, Idle, Step, Threaten, Voice, Foley

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Human Sound Effects Baby BOOM Play Track 150+ sounds included $65

Looking for baby sounds? So were we, and here's roughly how long it took to capture them: It took a very, very long time and lots of patience to gather this precious collection of laughing, dreaming, grouching, coughing, crying, shouting, talking, weeping, whining, burping and babbling bundles of joy.

We invited a lot of babies at the age from 3 to 24 months – boys and girls – to our studio.

They followed our call, brought their parents and the funny and often loud recordings started. We also equipped every new parent in our office with our best microphones and recorders and instructed them on how to record their own babies at home. You'll just love the multicolored, sweet and piercing high-quality recordings.

The library comes with 152 files in 96kHz/24bit High Definition Audio and has a size of more than 500MB. All sounds are royalty free, guaranteeing you best quality as always.

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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:

Creature Sound Effects Sci-Fi Essentials – Sound Effects & Music Play Track 119 sounds included $19.99

This collection features an assortment of high quality sci-fi game sounds, from mechs to laser guns and interface sounds. It also includes a selection of original retro synth music, composed to suit a variety of moods.

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Destruction & Impact Sounds RPG Weapons Vol.1 Play Track 67 sounds included $25

Immerse your audience in the heart of fantasy battles with RPG Weapons Vol.1, the premier sound effects pack designed specifically for game developers, animators, and audiobook producers. This meticulously curated collection is your ultimate resource for bringing to life epic encounters and immersive fantasy worlds.

Featuring a diverse array of designed weapon sound effects, RPG Weapons Vol.1 includes everything from the clashing of swords to the twang of bows, the stealthy swoosh of throwing knives, the devastating impact of a meteor hammer, and the bone-crushing force of a club. Each sound has been crafted with precision, ensuring the highest quality and versatility for your projects.

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Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Death Space Vol.1 Play Track 100 sounds included $20

“Death Space” is a sound album about science fiction space horror. These cool sounds can be used in movie trailers, games, and online videos. The album is inspired by an old science fiction movie “Event Horizon” , “Dead Space” contains 100 sounds, 96K, 24bit high-quality WAV files, with a total duration of 11 minutes and 19 seconds. Hope you like it!

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Universal Category System (UCS) Hurricane Nicole Play Track 40 sounds included, 179 mins total $20

The Hurricane Nicole sound effects library from Eric Berzins captures the raw power of Hurricane Nicole as it made landfall in Florida in November 2022. You will hear strong and forceful gusts, moaning and whistling winds, and intense pouring rain. With 40 meticulously edited audio files, including three bonus recordings from Hurricane Ian in September 2022, you will have a large palette of hurricane sounds at your fingertips.

Delivered in 24-bit 48 kHz format, and accompanied by full UCS-compliant Soundminer Metadata, integrating these sounds into your workflow is seamless. With a total runtime of 179 minutes, “Hurricane Nicole” provides a wide variety of wind and rain textures, allowing you to easily evoke the visceral experience of a major hurricane. Add Hurricane Nicole to your sound effects collection today!

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Fabric Sound Effects Inventory Play Track 44 sounds included $10

The Inventory SFX Pack contains 44 sounds for Inventory/Backpack interactions, including Rummaging, Zip/Unzip, and general Inventory access sounds. Ideal for video game developers and animators.

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