Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion

Subject: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: olddude
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 01:58 PM

Ok, I have been asked this a lot. Here is a very quick non technical way to get your CD into an MP3 for uploading to the internet.

Download the sound player (free) called real player

install it ... just a click.

you can make it your default player if you like also.

Now just pop in a CD and say play with real player. Real player will ask you if you want to add it to your library. A simple yes will convert every song on the CD to mp3 format

you can then find the mp3 files under "my music , real"
on your windows PC

Dan

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: olddude
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:06 PM

One other thing. www.soundclick.com is a beautiful way to share your original songs. They have a first class mp3 player and it is free to sign up. I am also impressed that I don't get a ton of junk emails ever from them as I do many others.

Dan

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Bernard
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:26 PM

Well, as long as you change the default from wma to mp3, Windows Media Player can be set up to automatically rip every CD you pop in your reader... couldn't be any simpler!

Mind you, it can also be very annoying!! I DON'T WANT TO RIP IT! STOPPIT AT ONCE!

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Will Fly
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:28 PM

I use iTunes to import tunes in mp3 format from CDs.

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:32 PM

dbPowerAmp Batch converter.

~S~

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Jack Campin
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:35 PM

Soundclick is impossible if you aren't registered. In theory it can sometimes work for the general public, but that happens so rarely I stopped bothering with Soundclick links years ago.

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: olddude
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:48 PM

Only need to register if you are going to download on soundclick. I had no one here or any other site not be able to access the captains music or jerry's or mine actually. I used it across all major browsers and both windows, mac and linux. Now if the owner allows for downloads, (mine do) then you need to register. Maybe years ago there was an issue don't know, wasn't on years ago ... so that is possible

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: olddude
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 02:50 PM

Any of the music players will do it for sure. I only table this for the non tech that doesn't know how to change windows media player. But sure if anyone already has Itunes or any others they do the same thing.

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 05:11 PM

"dbPowerAmp Batch converter." seconded! A classic.

RealPlayer is very powerful and clever, but it wants to control everything you do in music for the rest of eternity... *grin*....unless you refuse it permission thru a firewall, etc. I have a copy which I have tamed and clipped its claws for those VERY few times I want Real interface.

(As olddude says, there are other ways to convert stuff..)

I have this one specifically to convert Real Media to WAV or MP3

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:18 PM

I started to post earlier, but then I knew Bill would likely come in and say what I meant to say! Yes,"dbPowerAmp Batch converter." as WYSIWYG stated so simply and Bill seconded. It is second to none, I think. As for real player, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody for anything. There was a time when it was the "real" deal, but that was long ago. There are other less intrusive methods that do the job better.

Dale

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:24 PM

But what about the bitrate? You need to consider the sound quality of the mp3 files.

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:34 PM

bitrate? *shrug* It's all a compromise below full WAVs or OGG, if you encode with it to start..... I can't hear the little differences, (16,000Hz? Ha!) so I look for convenience and size.

(Thanks Dale...good to see you)

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 08:56 PM

My opinion of bitrate has changed quite a bit, pretty much in tune with my available storage and the cost of same. Way back there, I was easily content with 128, but sometimes settled for less, then I switched to 192 a couple of years ago on my own rips, and recently have been doing SOME at 256. That would be the ones with higher quality sound to start with. I figure it didn't make much sense to rip at 256 on say a Dave Macon recording, but Norah Jones? Probably worth the extra space.

When I was working at the Folk Center, we recorded our archives from WAV onto CDs, then saved the archived tracks onto our hard drives at 128 for a few years, then briefly upped that to 160, and maybe a year later to 192. I think that is what they are using now.

What you choose is up to you. How much are you prepared to pay for storage? For that matter, how low is the price of storage going to go? How good is your playback equipment? How good are your ears? What are you going to do about backup? If you are simply backing up a CD, there isn't much need for multiple copies, but let's say you are buying tracks from eMusic or some other source. You are going to want multiple copies in case of a crash.

Let's make one thing reasonably clear. The day of the CD as a storage device is nearly over in favor of some type of digital storage on computers, ipods, phones, and probably something that hasn't been thought of yet. The day of the CD as a medium in the stores is waning. The progression is speeding up at a dizzying pace. When is the last time any of us bought a cassette?

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: Bernard
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 06:23 AM

One of my studio PCs has a cassette ripper in it... a tad expensive at the time, but it has already paid for itself with all the cassettes people have brought to me for digitising.

I hasten to add that these aren't commercial cassettes (which are probably available on CD anyway), but personal recordings people made back in the 1970s which vary quite considerably in quality...! Fascinating stuff!

Subject: RE: Tech: quick and clean way for mp3 conversion
From: JohnB
Date: 05 Dec 09 - 01:20 PM

If it's a specific track I generally use Audacity.
It is a free download for Audacity, the first time you try to convert to an MP3, it guides you to the steps to download an mp3 converter file and where to put it (be polite now).
After that it is seamless.
Most stuff I just store as a .wav files, it's just things I want to email out which I convert.
JohnB