Compression at 128k bit rate is about 10 times.

So 1 CD-R full of mp3s equals a 10-disc CD changer...

Probably even more, as Audio CDs are hardly ever filled to the brim.

Phew* - All this techie audio chatter is giving me a headache

Personally I rip CDs onto my PC at 192. This is mainly so I can be sure of a fairly decent sound when I decompress the files back into wav files to stick on to CD. When I used Napster at uni, I tended to just get 128bps MP3s, and sometimes they would not decompress as well as a 192 song. Having to find 50% more hard drive space is of little worry, especially when backing up on to data CDs is, nowadays, a piece of cake. I can still remember taking 100MB ZIP discs to university to download from Napster in the library at incredible rates. Seems like piffle when you can now get a 700MB CD for 16p and can write to it a lot quicker than a ZIP ever could.

As for compressing albums into MP3. I use audiocatalyst, but only had a trial version where it let you grab half the songs at a time. So, I was a naughty boy and downloaded a cracked full version from winMX. It also let me rip to 192bps. *slapped wrists*

PS: whilst on techie talk, can someone tell me the precise method of joining Mpegs in DOS, please? I have those getwaway, plus extra, CDs and I was told how to join them, but it went in one ear and out the other

Cheers

Jason - PM on its way. I was expecting that question ...

I use Musicmatch Jukebox, as it's a fully non-nerd all-in-one proggie, with a ripper, burner and player.

It rips at speeds up to 320k, but 128k is CD quality, so that's good enough for me. I can understand Jason's reasoning behind 192k, but then I don't re-convert them to wav.

As a side note, for those who want to create a techie marriage between their retro and postmodernist split personalities - I've recently converted my first tapes into mp3! In my teenage years cassettes were the ultimate (and only) "for personal use only" medium, and I still have some 250 tapes with almost 500 albums with songs that can't even be found on Kazaa. Same for my hundreds of vinyl records, for which I still have a record player in full working order.

Trouble is, tape/record-to-mp3 conversion time is 1:1, as you must use your sound card as a second tape deck...

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

1. Normalise?

2. "500MHz!!! You were lucky .... " (my fastest box - the one with the CD burner on - is a 350).

1. Put simply, it's just adjusting the levels so you don't have

to keep fiddling with the volume control with songs being

louder and quieter!

2. It's as much about the chip's instruction set as the clock speed.

And from my experience, Intel do still have the edge on producing

desktop chips with good instruction sets for this kind of maths.

But not good enough for me to bother paying the difference!

Rob.

Ah, you mean volume leveling!

Very useful with tape-to-mp3 conversion

Sometimes known as auto level or compensation.

I've been meaning for years to try and muster the enthusiasm to get my vinyl collection put on CDs but the 1-1 time ratio - plus the logistics of getting a record deck near the PC or vice versa - have put me off. Still if Mattijs can do it ....

Recipe for tape-to-mp3 conversion success:

- 1 stereo amplifier with two tape monitors

- 1 stereo cassette deck

- 1 Soundblaster Pro sound card with audio-out and line-in

- 2 pairs of "tulip" plugs (don't know the English name, but they're the standard red and white plugs)

- 2 tulip-to-micro plug converters

- www.polderbits.com

You can do it!

(Since I quit being a student to become respectable, my big old eighties amp, deck and record player have moved to the study, now sitting comfortably above my desktop, with the PC's audio-out going straight into the amp. Have never found a need for those PC sound-cube things. At the same time, on the orders of SWMBO, a space-saving audio unit has found its way into the living room. A solution that has kept everybody happy...)

Jason - Use Acusplit - google for it and download the trial version which will join the files back. For the ghostrider movie, you might need to change the .mpg extenstions to .seg in order for it to glue them back together. GIS I and II should play back fine... GIS III is encoded using Intervideo - go to www.intervideo.com and download the trial of their DVD player to get the codecs on your PC :-)

On the subject of MP3s - I would happily switch to MP3 use in the car (as I've said before, I was tempted by the entry-level Sony HU but

AFAIK the Linux based in-car MP3 player was basically an old stripped down computer

with Linux on it.

Unless I'm thinking of a different one...

Rob.

Mattijs - I will take a picture of my study for you sometime - the floor area is about 1.5m square and that's before all the bookshelves, PCs and general cr*p gets in there. No room for anything bigger than a matchbox any more - I keep having to tidy as it is to avoid piles of stuff falling over and covering the floor.

I would mainly want to convert records anyway, not tapes. My tapes are only copies of my records anyway - or other people's records but I can live without those. Don't have enough time to listen to my current stuff really, let alone the old stuff.

So if I converted the old stuff to CD should I go for audio or MP3??? I guess both is the sensible answer. Just got to find storage for another 250 CDs or so ... :(

PS I expect tulip plugs are what we call phono plugs.

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

So if I converted the old stuff to CD should I go for audio or MP3??? I guess both is the sensible answer. Just got to find storage for another 250 CDs or so ... :(

Depends what you're after really - if you want a CD version of

your vinyl, you'd be best recording it to audio and burn each

CD as you go. If you want to keep them on your hard disk and

only make CDs of the best, MP3 is your friend. Probably not

worth recording it at higher than 128kbps though, depending

on the quality of the vinyl and your turntable...

Rob.

Phono or tape - doesn't matter. Recipe remains the same: link up sound card line-in and audio-out to "Tape 1" or "Tape 2" line-out/line-in and your PC will function as a tape deck.

[gets all mushy] The Polderbits software will have you hark back to the days you were waiting for the needle to hit the vinyl before quickly tapping on the "Record" and "Play" buttons of your tape deck. It works exactly the same! Even the quaint green and red recording-level LEDs are there...

On another note: have just visited the Apple site to have a look at the iPod. Nice. 30 gigs. Works with Windhose and USB2 too, and is shipped (and works integrated) with Musicmatch Jukebox! The Accessories page shows a Belkin Car Stereo Adapter with a 3.5mm line-out "that plugs directly into a car stereo input jack". Which input jack would that be?

It also comes with a power adapter that works with the cig lighter. Petty the Octavia's lighter is placed so unconveniently. I see myself getting crossed up with all the wires while trying to find the gearshift! :(

Perhaps a mp3-capable changer would be better for me - the car is the only place away from home where I listen to music anyway.

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Depends what you're after really - if you want a CD version of

your vinyl, you'd be best recording it to audio and burn each

CD as you go. If you want to keep them on your hard disk and

only make CDs of the best, MP3 is your friend. Probably not

worth recording it at higher than 128kbps though, depending

on the quality of the vinyl and your turntable...

Rob.

Hmmm - good points. So capture them all as MP3, @128kbps - Mattijs says that's about 10:1 compression so 50Mb/album roughly * (say) 150= 7.5 Gb - can probably afford that at least for a while. Quality of vinyl from v. old and scratched to mint - turntable budget but bearable - no point in having a top quality turntable to play old scratched records...

What software to use to do the capture? I've heard there are things that can filter out the pops and crackles - worth it??

Gosh I'm learning a lot this afternoon - or dredging up memories anyway ... thanks for all the tips guys

Software I used to capture from an analogue input from a turntable was called CoolEdit. Which

is a powerful piece of software from a company called Syntrillium that allows you to do lots of

manipulation to audio. This was back in the day though, so I used to record and edit as audio,

and convert it to MP3 afterwards, as it took about 15 minutes to compress a song into MP3.

I've never tried any of the "specialist" packages for recording from vinyl to comment on them

though. Personally I think you're just better off sticking with the pops and crackles - if you

want a "clean" copy, you'd be best buying the remastered CD version of the vinyl!

Rob.

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

Hmmm - good points. So capture them all as MP3, @128kbps - Mattijs says that's about 10:1 compression so 50Mb/album roughly * (say) 150= 7.5 Gb - can probably afford that at least for a while. Quality of vinyl from v. old and scratched to mint - turntable budget but bearable - no point in having a top quality turntable to play old scratched records...

What software to use to do the capture? I've heard there are things that can filter out the pops and crackles - worth it??

Yes, and I mentioned it once or twice already... see www.polderbits.com

Oh, BTW, Nick/Rob, Polderbits works the other way around: you capture the record or tape as raw wav files, so Audio CD-ready. Second step involves cutting up the wav files into separate wav or mp3 files, using the gaps between the tracks. This is also included in Polderbits.

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Software I used to capture from an analogue input from a turntable was called CoolEdit.

CoolEdit is also very good for enhancing a recording of your exhaust note...

Yes, sorry Mattijs - didn't make the connection the first time - I thought when you posted their name in your list of bits they must be a supplier of cables etc. Then I had already posted the next post before I read your next with the description of the software...

I'm off to have a look now, sir, sorry sir ....

Colin

This thread points to the need for an ICE Forum, preferably in my Skoda! Please...

I know i started this thread off with my 'cheapo work-around' to get mp3 into the car, but that was just playing with the toys I've got. The real answer for me, think of my signature line "mac & skoda - how strange", is the new i-pod (wish list) and the mac I already have. Now the 15 GB i-pod is

An ICE / "entertainment" forum probably would be quite handy...

So would a "I've got an enormous capacitor" subforum

So would a "I've got an enormous capacitor" subforum

Caught u bragging again eh Stimps

SPC ipod=sexy bit of kit...but it wouldn't turn me away from the M$ darkside

ps

Have u seen the latest Maplins pocketPC offer...tomtoms Sat Nav

Paul: how/where do you plug the iPod in? (In the car, I mean.)

Will it talk to my PC?

Yep, fully M$-compatible, through USB2 (faster than FireWire) and integrated with Musicmatch Jukebox.

So no trouble there.

What I would like to know is whether it will still only be a hipster Walkman in the car, dallying about on the passenger seat with an earplug connected, or if it will cooperate with my head unit without any wires lying about? Apple site doesn't mention any such in-car compatibility.