MP3 Encoding, Digital audio extraction

[Iceman]

Alright everyone, I want to *cough* legally make some high quality, low space backups of cds I own... can everyone stick their opinions in as to the best ripper and encoders? (please specifiy if they are bundleded together, dos or windows)

Ive found audiograbber to be quite shit when you really listen

[SyK]

I dunno about ripping, I have used the plextor software that came with the drive a bit, seems pretty damn good.

LAME seems to be very popular for encoding:
http://www.mp3dev.org/mp3/
It's one of those free-source things, so there are a few progs that use it. Pretty nice quality, too.

MP3Pro seems to be the up-and-coming though, but don't really know much about it at the moment. Sounded interesting though (SUPPOSEDLY comparable quality at 1/2 bit-rate, similar cpu usage)... So I wouldn't go ripping and archiving 100s of albums just now, might be best to wait a little if you've got something big in mind.

[mpot]

I use CDex, which is open source and freeware, and can rip at upto 320 kpbs using the Lame MP3 encoder (distributed with CDex).

Cheers,
Martin.

[misza]

BeOS has all you need

[Epoch]

Originally posted by Iceman
Alright everyone, I want to *cough* legally make some high quality, low space backups of cds I own...

I don't mean to be anal here, but... you can't. Not legally, anyway. Australia has some stupid copyright laws that "prevent" you from making copies of copyrighted material unless you have permission to do so.

Not that it's going to worry you.

That said, CDEX with Blade is probably the goer, as you don't really need VBR encoding.

Edit: misza, he said Dos/Windows, not BeOS. I know you like it, but in this case, there isn't really any need for you to pimp it.

[MWP]

Originally posted by Epoch

That said, CDEX with Blade is probably the goer, as you don't really need VBR encoding.

Eeek... why is it soo many poeple are still sticking with CBR instead of VBR? VBR gives MUCH higher quality for the equiv size of say a 128kbit MP3.

I use LAME which is the best MP3 encoder by quite a long way, and it produces MP3s at sizes sometimes smaller than 128kbit with quality thats very close to the orginal.
And before people bag me for saying that, yes i do have a high quality sound system, and yes i can tell the diff between 128k and 192k mp3s quite easily.

Anyway, these are the LAME options i use under linux (should apply to the DOS version):
-v -m j -V 2 -b 64 -B 320 --add-id3v2

[Iceman]

Thanks guys, as far as encoding goes it seams LAME is rather popular..

are there any nice windows frontends? I dont mind dos that much but I like to think in the ? number of years since mp3s were out (I was dialing bbs's on my 28.8 using TERMINATE for dos back then :P) that we've advanced a bit past it

[mpot]

Try CDex

Cheers,
Martin.

[Rik]

Originally posted by Epoch


I don't mean to be anal here, but... you can't. Not legally, anyway. Australia has some stupid copyright laws that "prevent" you from making copies of copyrighted material unless you have permission to do so.

I was bored a while ago, and sent a few emails off to record companies... asking about mp3's

And they said that mp3's are ok, as long as its used in the same sense as tapes- eg you own the cd but want to listen to it/back up, so you make a copy for yourself
that response suprised me... i dont know about those laws, but knowing our anti-technology government they'd probably be stupid

[funkychild]

Rik, were those companies in the US or Australia? I know the USA has the 'Home Recording Act' which allows one to make backup copies for one's own use. What Epoch said surprised me, so I went and found this page: Copyright Law in Australia - A Short Guide.

Surprisingly enough, there is this passage:

Is there a general exception for home copying?
16.4 There is no general exception to copyright infringement for copying for private and domestic use. The copying of copyright materials onto blank video and audio cassettes is only permitted under the Copyright Act in specific circumstances, namely: the recording of broadcasts by educational institutions and those assisting persons with a visual or intellectual disability under a statutory licence (see paragraph 10.8) and the filming or recording of live broadcasts (such as a sporting match) for private and domestic use.

So it seems Epoch was correct. However I can't realistically imagine a record company suing you for making personal backups .

With regards to the original question, there is a great encoder called 'WinGoGo' (the linux version is just GoGo). It's based on LAME, but with heaps of speed tweaks (3dnow, MMX, SSE2 etc.) It absolutely screams.

[Iceman]

alright epoch, to satifiy your legal requirements, I am making mp3s of cds I burnt of myself singing

(dont ask any stupid questions like why dont I have digital copies already, to do so would force me to seek you out and beat you to death with the fluffy end of dustpan brush)

and misza.. like I tell the religious people 'uh.. yeah.. that BeOS things obviously works for *you* but I have my own devil to worship, his name is bill gates'

[funkychild]

Originally posted by El_Bambino
WinXP 2505 with media player 8."something" has its' own built in ripping extra which is OK too.

However apparently crippled to only use WMA (mp3 only at LOW bitrates).

[Samdawg]

I personally use Easy CD-DA Extractor. THe latest version kicks anal

[BurnFEST]

I like EasyMP3, its hard to find, i use a version i found on a PCUser CD, but its a good app cos it integrates itself into the right-click menus.

Burn.

[Geo]

The best encoders are ones based on the fraunhoffer codec. the one I use is a professional Mp3 encoder, it costs $200 and all it does is encode wavs into mp3s so that should give you an idea of the quailty, its a beautiful sound. If you want more details PM me.