windows media player or .....

[slimcan]

I use windows media player to make music cd's. What I don't like is , if I take music off a cd I had made it will only say track 1 or track 2 ect. And it will also be changed to a wma file. The music was taken from kazaa as a mp3. This file changing confusses me. So I am kind of new at this so can someone tell me if there is better soft ware to use? I have windows XP as my OS.

[originel]

yes actually there is MUCH better software.

I would recommend using two pieces of software in conjunction with each other...it's a little harder to use, but it's well worth it as you get really good quality rips.

EAC will rip the songs from an audio cd.

Razorlame will then take the ripped wav files and convert them to mp3's. (note that razorlame is actually a gui frontend for lame which you will also need to download and install).

You can also configure EAC to work directly with LAME so that you only need one program, although it's not setup that way by default if i remember right. Personally i prefer using razorlame serparately because you have more control over the encoding process and you can get better rips that way.

EDIT: the file-changing that you're talking about is one of the reasons i don't like microsoft. they didn't like the mp3 file format for whatever reason so they decided to make their own (kinda like the difference between a bitmap image and a jpeg image). Also with the track naming there isn't much you can do about that...there isn't any data (usually) on a cd that has a track name associated it with...so the program doesn't have anywhere to get the name from

[slimcan]

So I learned something. I dont like what windows does. Now I have the files as wma (windows way of doing files) not wav. So can I change wma files to mp3. Or maybe just never mess with widows again and just start over ripping music as wav. This can be confuseing as to many file types are in my folder. And if I buy a small portable mp3 player I will need to have all my music stored as mp3 files, True. Just another reason not to use windows. I think Iam getting this stuff.

[slimcan]

If I understand EAC is software that will be used to copy the songs only. Basicly it does what real player,music match and Roxio does. But EAC copies better.

[John Prophet]

.mp3 is a compressed (made smaller) file format...it is cool cuz it allows more somgs to fit on a cd...BUT it wont play on regular cd players like in your car or regular home stereo..you need a computer or, like you said, an mp3 player.

.wav is also a computer only type file but it is not compressed..so it is much larger but should have (theoretically) better quality. Personally mp3 quality is fine for my ears.

.wma is just a windows media player file...just microsofts way of being irritating I guess.

and .cda is "cd audio"..thats what comes on store bought cd's. Of course it'll play in comps, home stereos etc.

This is a cool program that allows you to transform from one file type to others http://www.cdex.n3.net/

If you use something like Nero or Roxio burning software and you want to record mp3's..then you choose "data" project or data cd....that will leave the mp3's as they are and the cd will hold a LOT of songs.

If you want to play it in a home stereo or car stereo etc you would select "audio" cd...that will make it .wav files or .cda files and usually it "closes" the cd to where you cant add any more songs..so you need to get all the songs together before you start and put em all on at that one time.

JP

[John Prophet]

EAC is a "ripper"...thats a program that takes the .cda from an audio cd and changes it to a .wav computer file.

Someone correct me if Im wrong, lol...I dont always rememebr that stuff exactly.

If I am not mistaken, you cant just take an audio cd and copy it to a hard drive..you need to "rip" it.

[slimcan]

Thanks , I feel like a much better novice now. Let me practice what I know, im sure I'll run into another problem soon.

[originel]

yep...exactly right John. Basically the way cd audio works (if i remember correctly) is it doesn't have a single file allocation table, like any computer media, it instead has several that simply indicate the beginning of a track (which is what the .cda files are). The actual audio files can't be browsed with a computer, it's kinda like a dumb burn.

also i didn't know cdex could convert file formats like that, that's pretty cool john. cdex is also a really good program...i used to use it for ripping before i moved on to eac and lame.

[John Prophet]

I used cdex a lot when was in a "fit" of taking my guitar music...from a Digital 8 track recorder to trying somehow to get it online, lol.

So it got to be a long process.

Go from the analog outs (it has dig out but I dont have dig in) to the analog ins of my turtle beach card.

Use some recording software to record it to the computer in wav file.

Use cdex to convert to mp3

upload to webpage.

But it seems like I am missing a step, lol....that seems to easy, hehe.