# Off-topic: How do you rip your digital music files for BMW Phatnoise?



## SizzlerMA (Sep 23, 2003)

Just got a BMW Phatnoise and have about 400 CD's to rip . . .

Thanks.


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## Melissa (Aug 9, 2002)

Wrong board, try "off-topic"


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

SizzlerMA said:


> Just got a BMW Phatnoise and have about 400 CD's to rip . . .
> 
> Thanks.


iTunes!!

I've been ripping mp3 at 192kpbs. Dunno if it's worth the 50% extra in size, but I'm not reripping now.


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

Melissa said:


> Wrong board, try "off-topic"


 Actually, I believe that the "Audio" forum is a better location. 

FWIW, I ripped all my CDs (well, the ones I've gotten to anyway) using a combination of WMP and iTunes to 128 and 192Kbps MP3s for use in my Phatbox. Personally, I can't hear any difference between a 128Kbps MP3 and audio straight from a CD, but others can.


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## Terry Kennedy (Sep 21, 2002)

SizzlerMA said:


> Just got a BMW Phatnoise and have about 400 CD's to rip . . .


Extremely _other_. I have a variety of in-house utilities as described here but the actual MP3 encoding is done with LAME 3.95.1 using something very similar to --alt-preset standard. You have it easy - my collection has 2078 CDs at the present time.


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## Dave T (Apr 18, 2004)

Media Jukebox

You should really check it out. As Terry says, LAME is the best MP3 codec, and Media Jukebox provides a very nice front end. I use High Quality VBR (Variable Bit Rate), that will encode up to 320kbps, but only when neccessary. It gives about a 7:1 compression ratio.

Media Jukebox is very nice for ripping a whole pile of cd's, you don't even have to look at the monitor or touch the keyboard. You just pop in a cd, and when it's done it will play a beep and eject the cd. You just keep feeding it another cd every time you walk by the computer and see that the drive door is ejected. If you have two (or more) cd/dvd drives in your computer, it will use them.

It also connects to the internet and downloads the song titles, etc.

It also has a discussion forum similar to this one, where people exchange ideas, rant about stuff they like and don't like, etc.

- Dave


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## Dave T (Apr 18, 2004)

Also, for general info on ripping music, here's a great forum to discuss this kind of thing:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=26


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## gojira-san (Mar 1, 2004)

On the PC I've used Audiograbber for ages to rip tracks. It will convert to WAV then you can use an option in the program to use whatever backend you want to convert to MP3. On the Mac I use ITunes.


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## phrider (May 6, 2002)

Terry Kennedy said:


> Extremely _other_. I have a variety of in-house utilities as described here but the actual MP3 encoding is done with LAME 3.95.1 using something very similar to --alt-preset standard. You have it easy - my collection has 2078 CDs at the present time.


A few LAME questions:
1. Where do you find the "core" source for LAME 3.95? Is http://lame.sourceforge.net/ the "real" home for LAME?
2. Is LAME 3.96 stable?
3. Since I've learned to head for the "commerical standard", any hints/ suggestions on using LAME ripped files with iTunes for use with an iPod?
- I didn't see anyone saying that you could integrate LAME with iTunes. Is there a way?
- Any issues in importing LAME /Media Jukebox ripped files into iTunes for iPod use?

I sure wish that I'd known this before I ripped all my CDs......

BTW, Apple just released an upgrade to iTunes.


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## Dave T (Apr 18, 2004)

I can answer your questions somewhat.

Regarding Lame - yes, I believe the code is SourceForge, but I'm not totally sure. Again, I just use Media Jukebox, which has the option of using the Lame codec (which I take advantage of). If you go that route, you don't have to worry about where it's getting Lame from - it downloads and installs Lame for you.

As far as using Lame ripped files with an IPod, that works fine. Lame produces mp3's, which the Ipod supports. It doesn't care which codec you use to rip them. I have an IPod, and all the files on it were ripped with Media Jukebox/Lame.

As far as using Lame ripped mp3's in ITunes, I've done that too, and it works fine. But, Media Jukebox also supports talking directly to the IPod, so you don't actually need ITunes. I find it better than ITunes - it has some powerful features you can use to pick and choose which files you want to send to the IPod. I can't send all my music - it wouldn't fit. If all your music will fit, then ITunes is probably fine.

- Dave


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## SizzlerMA (Sep 23, 2003)

*CDEx uses LAME and works nicely so far . . .*

I downloaded CDEx, see

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/downloads.php

and it works nicely. It has many codecs, including LAME. A very nice feature is that it detects its own "jitter problems" (where you hear blips or gaps in the mp3). It can often detect these, and sometimes fix them. When it can't fix them, it suggests CD drive params to fix the problem and you can re-rip that song.

Downside is that it rips kind of slowly, but seems to produce very good quality files. And it's a small, lightweight program.


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## phrider (May 6, 2002)

Dave T said:


> I can answer your questions somewhat..........


Thanks. I have some ACC protected files that I purchased, so that's the incentive to keep using iTunes. You've inspired me to re-rip at least a few things. And my music collection fits in my iPod, at least so far.

What are the LAME settings that you recommend? Or go with stock?


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## stan1911 (Mar 11, 2004)

Musicmatch Jukebox


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## Dave T (Apr 18, 2004)

phrider said:


> Thanks. I have some ACC protected files that I purchased, so that's the incentive to keep using iTunes. You've inspired me to re-rip at least a few things. And my music collection fits in my iPod, at least so far.
> 
> What are the LAME settings that you recommend? Or go with stock?


Hi, phrider.

I don't mess with LAME - I let MJ pick them for me. I think the MJ settings I use give LAME settings of -alt -preset -standard, or something like that.

Regarding ACC, I guess that rules out MJ, although I don't know if it can play ACC - did you check into that? That's one of the reasons I don't pay to download music, you get something that's much more limited than buying a CD, and ripping it, plus it's lower resolution. It sure is convenient, though! If somebody someday lets you download full resolution music, I'll be all over it.

- Dave


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## demenas (Sep 15, 2003)

I use Audiograbber with the LAME external decoder set to VBR (variable bitrate). For ID3 Tag Maintenance I use "Tag&Rename". I have done over 1,500 CD's with this combination, with excellent results.


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## flashinthepan (Jul 25, 2003)

I have had great luck with the Phat-box software, lovin' it !! :thumbup:


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## Dave T (Apr 18, 2004)

So what is Phat-Box/PhatNoise, anyway?


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## gfeiner (Jun 27, 2003)

Dave T said:


> So what is Phat-Box/PhatNoise, anyway?


Phatnoise is the name of the company. The MP3 jukebox they make that emulates a CD changer is called Phatbox. The phatbox plugs into your CD changer cable with the use of a Blitzsafe adapter and is controlled by your factory stereo.

http://www.phatnoise.com


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## Dave T (Apr 18, 2004)

gfeiner said:


> Phatnoise is the name of the company. The MP3 jukebox they make that emulates a CD changer is called Phatbox. The phatbox plugs into your CD changer cable with the use of a Blitzsafe adapter and is controlled by your factory stereo.
> 
> http://www.phatnoise.com


Thanks! So, I'm not seeing how you interact with it. It sounds like it doesn't give you any interface to pick albums, songs, playlists, etc, on the NAV screen. If it does, I'm getting one! But, it doesn't look like it does to me. If so, and if you've got 400 cd's of music on there, how do you pick what to play?


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## Terry Kennedy (Sep 21, 2002)

Dave T said:


> Thanks! So, I'm not seeing how you interact with it. It sounds like it doesn't give you any interface to pick albums, songs, playlists, etc, on the NAV screen. If it does, I'm getting one! But, it doesn't look like it does to me. If so, and if you've got 400 cd's of music on there, how do you pick what to play?


It talks to you, and you use the 6 CD selection buttons. For example, press "4" and it says "Now browsing by artist. The current artist is...". Press and hold the up button to seek by letter - it will say "A B C" and then let go and press again to step to the artist you want. Similar function for album name, genre, and playlist (custom collections of songs you make using their manager software).


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