Copying CDs, Ripping as MP3 etc

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legend99

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Lads,
Anyone know a nice simple guide or even good freeware software to do stuff like copy a CD so that the copy can be played in an old style CD player?What format do you copy songs as so that a 10 year old player can play back the disks?
How to find out how to rip and then burn songs as MP3 etc?
 
Many 10 year old players may experience problems with playing CD-Rs/CD-RWs so it may not be possible to guarantee compatibility.

You seem to have two questions: (a) how to copy CDs and (b) how to rip CD tracks to MP3. There are lots of free and commercial software packages available to do both. You should be able to find lots through Google.

One simple CD to MP3 ripper is CDex (which uses LAME under the hood) but there are lots of others with lots of additional features (e.g. including ways of sorting/selecting tracks etc). You might already have Windows Media Player or iTunes installed. I think CDex also facilitates CD duplication and not just ripping to digital audio formats. I can't remember offhand.

Don't forget that certain duplication/copying of CDs may not be legal or allowed under the relevant license agreement.
 
ClubMan's programmes are very useful although I don't think any of them do an ''image'' of a CD. This is what u would need to burn them to a CD so a 10 yo player would be able to use them. An ''image'' is an exact copy of a CD, similarly as u would ''scan'' a picture or page in a book to yure PC.
Copy the disk, and burn it to a new disk with a good disk burner, i.e. NeroBurningRom, Intervideo DiskMaster, or whatever you fancy.



Go to the above site and download the CloneCD programe (2nd from bottom).
It's only a demo but it'll work.
It's extremely easy to use.

As far as ripping music to MP3,AAC,MP4 etc..is concerned, the above post of CDex fits the bill. :) I personally use BeSweet or BeLite.
Besweet comes in a package and is suited for a more advanced user but resulting in much higher audio quality. It's part of a GordianKnot/AutoGK package which is cutting edge in DVD backups compressing, editing etc..
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gordianknot
BeLite would suit the learner better but it's a bit harder to find on the web, try google if you're interested.

If using lame through cdex, make sure u have the latest version of lame as to ensure HQ audio think lame v3.96 is latest.
Simply replace the ''lame.dll'' file in the directory withe the new one.

PS- as ClubMan mentioned, ''It may not be legal.''---My undestanding is: none of the above is illegal as long as the backups,mp3s etc. are all for your personal use and not been handed around friends, shared via the internet etc.:D
 
I think that Burnatonce can copy audio CDs although I've only ever used it for data CD copying/mastering. Nice small simple program.
 
HI Legend 99. I've tried a few of the popular programmes but I think windows media player is as good as any. When you open the programme select the lower section on the rip tab button(the buttons across the top row) The first option(format) then choose windows media audio,the second option(bit rate) you should leave at 128 kbs.When you have set up the player like this then load your CD and press the rip tab. This stores the CD in your computer hard drive(library) I've used this format on many CD players without any trouble. If you want to burn in mp3 format just change the format on the rip button before you rip the CD into the library. Is this any help?
 
caff said:
HI Legend 99. I've tried a few of the popular programmes but I think windows media player is as good as any. When you open the programme select the lower section on the rip tab button(the buttons across the top row) The first option(format) then choose windows media audio,the second option(bit rate) you should leave at 128 kbs.When you have set up the player like this then load your CD and press the rip tab. This stores the CD in your computer hard drive(library) I've used this format on many CD players without any trouble. If you want to burn in mp3 format just change the format on the rip button before you rip the CD into the library. Is this any help?
Click to expand...

Hi caff,
yep this will do. However, as I think I mentioned programmes like Win media are for beginners and only give little options. You should try to use a more professional program than this, as it will result in much higher quality.
128k is good but 192k is CD quality MP3.
I dont know if your program allows you to select the bitrate, the higher the better but dont go OTT.lol
 
ClubMan said:
Surely that's subjective? Ultimately MP3 uses a lossy compression scheme so to say that any MP3 is "CD quality" is fallacious.
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absolutely agree-I know what my ears tell me:)I have never seen a claim that MP3 is CD quality-but always NEAR CD quality-its a compromize-maybe if you are used to high bitrate MP3 you think thats as good as it gets.
Ive recently become interested in SACD and DVD Audio-havnt heard any yet-anyone tried them?
 
ClubMan said:
Surely that's subjective? Ultimately MP3 uses a lossy compression scheme so to say that any MP3 is "CD quality" is fallacious.
Click to expand...

Yep you're right (if you wish to nit pick). However the human brain cannot distinguish between a CD and an MP3,quality wise. so I merely said that 192k is the most common bitrate as it is concidered standard.:)

Thanks for the info pnh, it's okay if you have nothing better to do. lol :D
 
"My undestanding is: none of the above is illegal as long as the backups,mp3s etc. are all for your personal use and not been handed around friends, shared via the internet etc"

In ireland you are not allowed to make any copies at all, even if its only for your own personal back up!
 
Yeah - as far as I know Irish law/precedent does not explicitly make any "fair use" copying (e.g. copying of CDs to MP3 for personal use rather than resale) legal. It may be a bit of a grey area regardless of the fact that it is obviously widespread.
 
In ireland you are not allowed to make any copies at all, even if its only for your own personal back up!
Click to expand...
This is true. The Irish copyright act of 2000 didnt take into account format shifting, where you may wish to backup your cd to pc or copy it to mp3 for personal use. It basically just says "you are not allowed to reproduce any coprighted works".
Although Dick Doyle from IRMA is on record as saying that they didnt intend to pursue this matter legally. With everyone and their mother owning mp3 players, it'd be some job if they did.

On the mp3 quality, if you listen to an album of mp3s at 320kbps and then at 128, youd notice a slight difference on the first song but your ears would adjust quick enough and you wouldnt really notice the difference after a few minutes. 192 is good enough quality if youre ripping, any bitrate less then 128kbps isnt (in my opinion).

As for playing CDs in older machines, in my experience some older players dont seem to be able to recognise CD-Rs with audio on them, Ive found quality of CD-R and burn speeds affects the ability of the player to read the disc. See this [broken link removed] for a decent explanation why.
 
i want to make a cd compilation but have not enough space on the blank cd for the total tracks,could i use a dvd,i ,m not sure if it would play in the car,which plays cd/mp3,s.
 
hopalong said:
i want to make a cd compilation but have not enough space on the blank cd for the total tracks,could i use a dvd,i ,m not sure if it would play in the car,which plays cd/mp3,s.
Click to expand...

What filetype are you copying to CD?? An average mp3 track is around 7MB and a CD holds 700MB you should get around 100 songs on each CD. Is your compilation more than this??

It is unlikely are probably impossible for a in-car stereo to play DVD's...
 
thanks .i figured it out.to put the mp3,s on the disc i neeed to use the make a data disc facility.
 
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