last.fm
Recently I was talking to Ken about ripping my cd collection so that I can have a digital copy of it. Quite honestly I don't bother with cds anymore. Having them on my computer would allow me to listen to them on my PC as well as allow me to stream the audio to our xboxes.
Currently I'm almost half way through the 200ish discs I have. The process isn't all that bad, but it does take a little time. It's best to do in spurts. Ken has 10x the number of discs I have, so he has his work cut out for him when he finally decides to start rippin'. :)
Begin the process by getting a free program called Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and the free mp3 encoder LAME. There are other programs out there, but this one does a bang up job. Once you have those two pieces you can begin the ripping and encoding process. Go through the options and settings to meet your needs. When setting quality under compression, choose a bitrate that is at least 192 kpbs. Go higher if you want, but file sizes are going to increase. Personally after you get to 192 kbps, I have difficulty noticing any real difference. After everything is set up, start ripping your collection. If you configure EAC properly, it'll grab the song information from an online database to build your mp3 tags properly. This isn't intended to be a tutorial, so I'm not going to go into any detail. Contact me if you want for more in depth help.
As you rip your collection, you are going to want to use some kind of program to manage your music. There are a lot of different programs out there. Many are free. iTunes is probably one of the more popular aps and does a fine job. I heard about MediaMonkey, which has a free version and a PRO version. iTunes, I'm sure would work just fine but I chose MM for different reasons. It allows for scripting and allows you to run add-on features that other users have created. I also use MM to add cover art to my mp3 tags, which it downloads from Amazon.
So that leads me to the final piece of the puzzle... While researching some MM scripts, I came across this cool web site called last.fm. Basically, using a plugin from your media player (MediaMonkey in my case), it creates a database of the music you listen to. Additionally, it offers social means to meet people who have interests in similar music. You are also able to listen to music from the site, so it provides a means to introduce you to new bands that you mat not have known about. By checking into what other people are listening to that have similar musical tastes, it allows you a more direct way of finding music that will most likely appeal to you. It takes quite a bit of listening before it can determine what people are good neighbors (people with similar musical tastes) to you.
Finally, one of the coolest features of last.fm is the ability to publish charts online of your listening habits. Take a peek on the right hand side of the blog in the sidebar there is a listing of the last 10 songs I listened to on my PC. Lately I have just randomly been shuffling through my music. You can choose to display charts of currently playing, groups most listened to for the week, or groups most listened to for the year. Their site will let you choose charts of all different styles and supply you with the code to insert in your web page, blog, or forum signature.
last.fm is really new to me. I only found out about it yesterday but I have already taken a liking to it. If you don't want to mess with plugins, they also have a stand alone media player that will send the data to them. If anyone needs help with any of the information above, just drop me an email.
If you are into music and feel like joining last.fm, please befriend me. HERE is a link to my profile. I'm a loner right now. :) Play with the charts by clicking on the charts tab. If you are wondering where all the Def Leppard is, I really haven't gotten to ripping it yet. It's coming next. :)
Currently I've ripped 83 discs, 1017 songs, 5.8 GB of data, for 72 hours 7 minutes 56 seconds of music.
Whatever music you like, enjoy it!
Currently I'm almost half way through the 200ish discs I have. The process isn't all that bad, but it does take a little time. It's best to do in spurts. Ken has 10x the number of discs I have, so he has his work cut out for him when he finally decides to start rippin'. :)
Begin the process by getting a free program called Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and the free mp3 encoder LAME. There are other programs out there, but this one does a bang up job. Once you have those two pieces you can begin the ripping and encoding process. Go through the options and settings to meet your needs. When setting quality under compression, choose a bitrate that is at least 192 kpbs. Go higher if you want, but file sizes are going to increase. Personally after you get to 192 kbps, I have difficulty noticing any real difference. After everything is set up, start ripping your collection. If you configure EAC properly, it'll grab the song information from an online database to build your mp3 tags properly. This isn't intended to be a tutorial, so I'm not going to go into any detail. Contact me if you want for more in depth help.
As you rip your collection, you are going to want to use some kind of program to manage your music. There are a lot of different programs out there. Many are free. iTunes is probably one of the more popular aps and does a fine job. I heard about MediaMonkey, which has a free version and a PRO version. iTunes, I'm sure would work just fine but I chose MM for different reasons. It allows for scripting and allows you to run add-on features that other users have created. I also use MM to add cover art to my mp3 tags, which it downloads from Amazon.
So that leads me to the final piece of the puzzle... While researching some MM scripts, I came across this cool web site called last.fm. Basically, using a plugin from your media player (MediaMonkey in my case), it creates a database of the music you listen to. Additionally, it offers social means to meet people who have interests in similar music. You are also able to listen to music from the site, so it provides a means to introduce you to new bands that you mat not have known about. By checking into what other people are listening to that have similar musical tastes, it allows you a more direct way of finding music that will most likely appeal to you. It takes quite a bit of listening before it can determine what people are good neighbors (people with similar musical tastes) to you.
Finally, one of the coolest features of last.fm is the ability to publish charts online of your listening habits. Take a peek on the right hand side of the blog in the sidebar there is a listing of the last 10 songs I listened to on my PC. Lately I have just randomly been shuffling through my music. You can choose to display charts of currently playing, groups most listened to for the week, or groups most listened to for the year. Their site will let you choose charts of all different styles and supply you with the code to insert in your web page, blog, or forum signature.
last.fm is really new to me. I only found out about it yesterday but I have already taken a liking to it. If you don't want to mess with plugins, they also have a stand alone media player that will send the data to them. If anyone needs help with any of the information above, just drop me an email.
If you are into music and feel like joining last.fm, please befriend me. HERE is a link to my profile. I'm a loner right now. :) Play with the charts by clicking on the charts tab. If you are wondering where all the Def Leppard is, I really haven't gotten to ripping it yet. It's coming next. :)
Currently I've ripped 83 discs, 1017 songs, 5.8 GB of data, for 72 hours 7 minutes 56 seconds of music.
Whatever music you like, enjoy it!
posted by Craig at 6:25 PM
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