Confused about MP3s

shannon

Sorry if this sounds really stupid but here goes. When i buy a CD i always copy it my comp. I really want a MP3 player and somebody told me i would have to change all my CDs that are on my comp into MP3s. This has totally confused me because i dont really know anything about this, Any help would be great.

Darksun

How are you copying your CDs to the computer at the moment? My guess is that you're using Windows Media player or iTunes. If it's the former, then a lot of MP3 players can play the music without needing conversion (just make sure you get one that is WMA compatible), if it's the latter then if you want it on anything but an iPod you'll have to rerip the tracks from CD.

meep_2

most cds are like a *.cda file which is just what your hifi etc recognise as a file type, mp3s are a way of compressing this information down into a smaller filesize without really any loss (you will get loss but most people won't notice, this is what the "bitrate" of the mp3 is, the higher the number, 128, 192, 256 are the most popular, the more samples, the better the sound, but the bigger the file size).
So all you need to do is find a program that converts from cd to mp3, eg one file type to another typing "cd to mp3" in google i found http://www.mgshareware.com/frmmain.shtml for example. Then u can just select the cd files or cd and convert it to mp3, going from mp3 to cd is easy with something like nero as u just select the mp3s and do create audio cd.

djohn2002uk

Do a search on Google for dBPoweramp and D/L it. It will rip from CDs to whatever format you want. eg Wav, Mp3, WMA. You may need a plugin for WMA but you get it from the same site.

welshman10

If you are using Windows Media Player to get the music onto your PC and you want them ripped as .MP3s instead of .WMAs, go to Tools-->Options-->Rip Music and where the Rip Settings are, change it from Windows Media Audio to mp3.

Beware though that MP3s are bigger in file size than WMAs. You can also adjust the bitrate of the files in the same dialogue box by moving the sliding scale.

One thing to watch out for with Windows Media Player is DRM. Digital Rights Management. This is a pain and can cause problem when transporting music from one device to another. Other problems I have encountered are when I have downloaded special tracks off artist's offical websites I have been unable to burn them onto CDs or even transfer them to my MP3 player, due to the encoding (or is encryption the right word - not too sure).

I try to avoid Microsoft products when I can (Besides, er, Windows and Office lol). I have found Free CD Ripper very good for getting CDs onto the PC.
http://www.download.com/Free-CD-Ripper/3000-2140_4-10396883.html?tag=lst-0-1

There is another one called Audiograbber. I haven't used this but I am told it's very good. With this one you can connect to a database to automatically update track names. Unlike Windows Media Player, I don't think Audiograbber uses any form of DRM, though don't quote me.
http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/download.html

Cheetah Audio Converter...
http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/downloads/2128754/cheetah-audio-converter

Audio Converter...
http://www.audconv.com/

Also, as mentioned above DBPowerAmp is very good for converting. Unless you pay a fee though, you will only be able to convert one file at a time.

Finally, if you use your PC as a jukebox, creating playlists and what not, Winamp is better than Windows Media Player IMO. It's free to download too...
http://www.winamp.com/

Hope this of some help to you (or anyobody else)

wolfman

For the most accurate rips look up Exact Audio Copy. It can be a little daunting though.

I'd recommend CDex. It's simple to use and does everything you'll need. It's definitely regarded as one of the top few rippers out there.

If you're going to be encoding into the mp3 format, CDex comes with the LAME encoder included. This is generally one of the best encoders for turning your cd audio tracks into mp3's.

If you do decide to go down this route, I'd recommend a bit rate of around 192kbps or maybe even fractionally higher as that's generally the area where mp3 is at its best. Probably sounds confusing, but will become clearer when you start ripping tracks.