[slinkelist] converting cd's to mp3

[Thomas W. Humphrey]

This is a long term pet project for me, so let me put in my 2 cents.

First, the CD-ROM player is definitely the way to make the MP3's.  It is way
faster and way easier than trying to play the CD audio into the sound card,
capture it with a WAV recorder, then convert to MP3.  Sure, you have to pull
the disks out of the changer, but you can do three each day or whatever is
comfortable, and soon enough you will have MP3's for your entire collection.
The programming effort to make MP3 ripping automatic using CDJ and the
changers, is truly overwhelming.

An added benefit is that if you use Real Jukebox or another widely used MP3
ripper, you will have built-in support for moving MP3's to portable players.
You can also migrate your MP3 database from one computer to another or use
MP3's over a networked configuration if you have one, with Real Jukebox
support..

Real Jukebox is not as good an environment as CDJ for actually playing
music.  CDJ's graphics, lyrics, music ratings, notes, etc. put Real Jukebox
to shame, IMHO.  However, I do like the idea of usnig MP3's from the
computer rather than CD's in a changer to play music.  Ultimately, I want to
use CDJ with MP3's and get rid of the changers.  Then I can use the CD's for
playback in the car where I still have a CD player, or in my bedroom where I
have a standalone CD player.

To move from CD's to MP3's, requires setting up "audio file albums" for the
MP3's made from each CD, and then moving over the graphic, lyric, and other
information from the existing CD library entry to the new audio file album
and audio file entries for the MP3's.  Manually, this would be a big job.
However, I see no reason it can't be automated.

If you use Real Jukebox to do the ripping and have it connect to CDDB to get
disk and track names, Real Jukebox will save the MP3 files under file names
includnig the disk and track names.  This means you could then write a small
VB application to access the CDJ library database and the directory with the
MP3's, and for every MP3 file on disk that is not already identified in the
CDJ database, create an audio file album and audio file entry.  Then use the
album and track titles found in the MP3 file name, to find the existing CDJ
library entry for the CD and track.  Then the graphic and other information
for the CD and track could be copied over to the MP3 audio file entry and
audio file album entry.  The CD entry can be left in the library, or
deleted, depending upon whether the CD would be used again in connection
with CDJ or just shelved for use elsewhere.

This process could quickly register all of the MP3's into CDJ.  Basically,
you would rip a few (or lots of) CD's to build up your RealJukebox database,
and when you feel like adding all the new MP3's to CDJ, just run one program
and voila!, the ripped MP3's are now in CDJ just like the CD's were.

Once all of your disks are out of the changer, you can sell off your
changers and relieve some space in your rack system for something else!

If anyone likes this idea, and/or wants to participate in its
implementation, let me know.