Re: OT: MP3 Sites with Non-mainstream Artists

[Jeff Larson <Jeffrey.Larson@Sun.COM>]

Wind Stick Devil wrote:
> So, I take it there's an encoder on the 'net somewhere that converts to 
> a higher MP3 resolution format.

There are a number of applications that can do MP3 encoding, but it is
most convenient if this is built into the application that you use to
rip the CD and to organize and play your files.  This is why I like
iTunes, it is just dead easy to rip CDs directly into MP3s and add
them to the iTunes library for immediate access.

Encoders that are not integrated into the ripper/librarian require
that you first use one application to rip to .wav files.  Then another
to convert the .wav files to .mp3.  Then another to import them into
the player.  This bouncing between applications takes time unless
you're technical enough to write OS scripts to automate the process.

Most MP3s you find on the web will be at 128 kbps which I find
tolerable for mobile iPod use but which sound overly compressed and
"grainy" when played at home on a good stereo.  iTunes can rip to a
maximum of 320 kbps in either MP3 or AAC format.  AAC is supposed to
sound better than MP3 at the same bit rate, but I haven't done any
lengthy comparisons.

If you intend to only use this at home, have lots of disk space, and
don't intend to share your files with others, I would probably use AAC
rather than MP3 at 256 kbps or higher.  If you want to swap files with
others, well of course that's illegal, but hypothetically if you did,
MP3s are more universally recognized.

If you want to digitize vinyl, it's way more complicated.  I generally
use an application that records an entire side, then tries to detect the
gaps between tracks and generates a set of wav files.  But this doesn't 
work
very well for recordings that don't have obvious silence between tracks.
Then I spend a considerable amount of time in Sound Fourge trimming
and fading the edges of each track.  Then there is the time vortex
of "restoration" tools which can remove some of the crackles and
pops you inevitably will have.  I only bother with this for albums
I'm particularly fond of and can no longer buy, it takes way too much time.

Jeff