More MP3 Q'z

[DoPeY5007]

Ok I am going to start re-ripping ALL my CDs ( this is a LONG task )


as of now I am going to be ripping using MusicMatch ( I have a registered Version )

I will be ripping using the VBR option...

ok now my question, should I still encode the MP3s with RazorLame???.. and what does RazorLame do anyway???...


I did a test on one album and razor min was set @ 192 with a VBR and it made the folder size from 42.7MB to 40.8



I want the best quality MP3 with out an outragus file size, if you don't know I DJ from MP3s


and what is ABR in the RazorLame options???...

[Hoser]

RazorLame is a frontend program for LAME (Lame Ain't an MP3 Encoder), which is a DOS program that actually does your encoding. It passes information to the LAME program which runs in the background. Here's a site that will give you some good information about MP3's:http://www.r3mix.net

On the expert tab of options in RazorLame, I've been using --r3mix as my custom option, and checking the 'Only use custom options' checkbox. You can get more information by clicking the 'Quality' link on the website above.

I'm using LAME 3.90 Alpha and RazorLame 1.1.4 Beta. I don't remember where I found the Alpha version, but if you want it, I can e-mail it to you.

I'm using NERO to rip my CDs. It came with my 24x10x40 TDK CD writer. I can rip a CD in about 3 minutes. The encoding takes between 7 and 8 minutes. My music tastes are varied, so I've converted a lot of different types of music. The average MP3 size is about 1/8th the size of the original.

For your question about ABR, here's some information about the 3 diferent types of bitrates from the LAME V3.90 documentation.

Constant Bitrate (CBR)
This is the default encoding mode, and also the most basic. In this mode, the bitrate will be the same for the whole file. It means that each part of your mp3 file will be using the same number of bits. The musical passage beeing a difficult one to encode or an easy one, the encoder will use the same bitrate, so the quality of your mp3 is variable. Complex parts will be of a lower quality than the easiest ones. The main advantage is that the final files size won't change and can be accurately predicted.

Average Bitrate (ABR)
In this mode, you choose the encoder will maintain an average bitrate while using higher bitrates for the parts of your music that need more bits. The result will be of higher quality than CBR encoding but the average file size will remain predictible, so this mode is highly recommended over CBR. This encoding mode is similar to what is reffered as vbr in AAC or Liquid Audio (2 other compression technologies).

Variable bitrate (VBR)
In this mode, you choose the desired quality on a sqale from 9 (lowest quality/biggest distortion) to 0 (highest quality/lowest distortion). Then encoder tries to maintain the given quality in the whole file by choosing the optimal number of bits to spend for each part of your music. The main advantage is that you are able to specify the quality level that you want to reach, but the inconvenient is that the final file size is totally unpredictible.

Like you I'm ripping all my CDs. I'm going to store them on a hard drive and use my Diamond Rio Receiver hooked to my stereo. Now I don't have to search through all the CDs (around 1200 or so) to find a song.

That must have been a small album to end up around 40MB. A full CD (650 or more MB) shrinks to about 80MB using the --r3mix option. I can't tell the original from the copy, so I'm happy. I'll be putting most of my music on CDs, so fitting 8 original CDs on one is a good trade.

[DoPeY5007]

so is MusicMatch ok for ripping???... My conseren is the file tags.. I am still doing tests before I re-rip all 500+ cds

[DoPeY5007]

also, is there a soft that will put in all the file tags once I change it from wav to mp3?

[Hoser]

I've never used MusicMatch, so I can't comment on it. When I use NERO to rip a song, it goes to http://freedb.freedb.org/ and gets the song information. This is asssuming that the CD is in their database (451,284 CDs at last count). I have some CDs that I got in Europe (where they're a little fuzzy on copyrights) that aren't in there, so I have to enter the information manually. I used to use Dr. Tag (http://www.asterius.org) for this. I like it because it does both ID3 versions 1.1 and 2. If you store your songs in directories named after the CD, then you can create the album name from the directory and put it in the ID3 tag. You can also create ID3 verson 2 tags from the version 1 tags. You use version 2 tags if you're going to stream a song, or you want to put a picture or more information than a version 1 tag can hold. See www.id3.org for ID3 information.

There's also a program called Tag&Rename (http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm) that does a lot more, and it also makes playlists.

I know how you feel about re-ripping your CDs. I did some, but then found out that I should've used different options when encoding them. Since I deleted the WAV files after making the MP3 files, I had to rip them all again. I decided to do some research before starting again. I've settled on what encoding options to use, so all that's needed is to start ripping. I usually rip all the CDs to one directory then start the encoding before I go to bed. Once the first file starts getting encoded, there's a box you can check that will turn off your computer after all the files are done. If you sort your WAV files by date when you encode them (click on date in the title bar) in RazorLame, then they'll be encoded in the order you ripped them. This means you can create the directories named after the CDs and easily put the songs in the proper directories.

The one thing is that your WAV file should be properly named before the encoding, or you'll get a name like 'track 1.mp3'. That's what your ripping software should do for you. On the songs that don't get named properly, rename them before the encoding. After all your MP3s are made, then use one of the programs listed above to complete the ID3 tags. You'll be adding the album names, and possibly the song numbers. I'm only using ID3V 1.1 now because I'm not streaming the files, or putting other information in them.

[DoPeY5007]

wow that is some great info... thanks...

yeah I am ripping them ( yes they are named) then encod'n them, I will look into the stuff you said about the tags..

thats again, you are alot of help

[DoPeY5007]

I hit 35x ripping tonight

[Hoser]

What drive are you using to get 35X ripping? Is this toward the end of the disc (last song)? If you notice the speed starts out relatively slow and gets faster farther into the disc.

I bought a Kenwood 72X drive about a year ago to do fast ripping, and I found out it couldn't do it. It could load programs fast, but couldn't rip with accuracy.

I bought a 12x10x32 Iomega (Plextor) last December and started ripping with that. It's pretty fast, but every second counts when you're ripping a lot of CDs (like we are). The encoding is directly related to the speed of the CPU so I upgraded from a Duron 750MHZ to a Thunderbird 1.3GHZ (fastest my motherboard can handle) to help with that. I may try multiple CPUS to see if that makes any difference. Since I encode during non-peak computing times (bedtime) it's not as important as ripping speeed.

[Hoser]

42.2X ripping on the last song on the CD Missundaztood by Pink. Isn't technology wonderful?

[DoPeY5007]

I have a Creative 12x/40x DVD ( it sucks @ ripping ) and a Plextor 16/10/40...

the plextor hit 37.8 today!!!... and yes it is to the end of the disk... I can't keep up with its speed I need a robot arm to change the cd's for me.... that would be great... oh and my system brain is only 466cel right now...

I am gonna try and fine the fullest cd I can and see what it hits....

[DoPeY5007]

I think it hit 39.4

[Hoser]

If I get off my lazy a$$, I'm thinking of having 3 machines ripping CDs at once. I have 5 computers (K6-2 450, K6-2 500, Celeron 500, Dual Celeron 500, Thunderbird 1.3). I've got three CD writers (HP 8x4x32, Iomega 12x10x32, TDK 24x10x40). All the machines are within sight of each other. I can use VNC (Virtual Network Computing) at http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/index.html to control 2 machines from a 3rd machine. If everything works right, the 2 slower writers should take about 4 minutes to rip a CD, while the faster writer should take about 3 minutes.

If I get into the right rhythm, I could rip around 46 CDs an hour. This is allowing for 15 seconds to change each CD. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Then before I go to bed, start all 3 machines encoding, and everthing will be done in the morning! i could have all my CDs done in a month. Of course, then I have to create/proofread all the ID3 tags.

I've found that DVD drives don't rip with any decent speed (I've got a Teac 12x DVD) and normal CD readers aren't as good as CD writers.

[LPMiller]

Originally posted by Hoser
If I get off my lazy a$$, I'm thinking of having 3 machines ripping CDs at once. I have 5 computers (K6-2 450, K6-2 500, Celeron 500, Dual Celeron 500, Thunderbird 1.3). I've got three CD writers (HP 8x4x32, Iomega 12x10x32, TDK 24x10x40). All the machines are within sight of each other. I can use VNC (Virtual Network Computing) at http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/index.html to control 2 machines from a 3rd machine. If everything works right, the 2 slower writers should take about 4 minutes to rip a CD, while the faster writer should take about 3 minutes.

If I get into the right rhythm, I could rip around 46 CDs an hour. This is allowing for 15 seconds to change each CD. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Then before I go to bed, start all 3 machines encoding, and everthing will be done in the morning! i could have all my CDs done in a month. Of course, then I have to create/proofread all the ID3 tags.

I've found that DVD drives don't rip with any decent speed (I've got a Teac 12x DVD) and normal CD readers aren't as good as CD writers.

You might be done in a month, but you wouldn't have much of a social life!

[DoPeY5007]

when I first ripped all my music I had 5 PC's doing it @ one time, they were all ripping strait to MP3 so it was slow but it took a long time

[Hoser]

To LpMiller, I don't have much of a social life now, so it wouldn't make too much of a difference. But seriously, I've been meaning to get all (or most) of my CDs converted to MP3 for some time. It'll be worth it in the end, since I'll be able to listen to anything without having to look through a bunch of CDs for it.

I have a small computer that has TV output that would be running a web page interface to choose my music, create playlists, etc. I'd be using a wireless keyboard for input and the soundcard will be a Soundblaster MP3. This would be in addition to a Diamond Rio Receiver which has both a 10MB Ethernet and 10MB Home Network (Phone) connection, making it ideal for using in another room.

[speedracer120]

This is some good info. Thanks a lot Hoser.

[Hoser]

Here's where I found LAME 3.90 Alpha: http://home.pi.be/~mk442837/. There's also links for other MP3 Programs/Utilities.

Additionally I found another site that has the newest versions that I've found anywhere. The newest version there is dated 24 November 2001. It also has versions optimized for Intel Processors.