I recently took the plunge and purchased an Apple iPod Classic with an 80GB hard drive. I wanted something small that I could take with me on my trips that would carry all my music, books on tape, podcasts, and other recordings. In the near future, I will tell you more about my adventures with it and the Apple iTunes software. But for today, I just will focus on making MP3 recordings from my CD collection for storage on my computer and my iPod.
Music on commercially-produced cd's are recorded using a file format with no compression (other than that done in recording studio mixers). These files are quite large. MP3 is a method where much of the extraneous information contained in the standard CD audio file is taken out, leaving only the important musical information. Of course, the smaller you make it (meaning the greater the compression), the less fidelity you have from the original recording. The trick with MP3 is finding the happy medium where you really can't tell the difference between the MP3 version and the original file. Some audiophiles will tell you there is always a difference...and they may be right. But listener tests show that most people can't tell the difference between the original recording and an MP3 recorded at a bit rate of 192 or higher.
How small does this render the file size? Rather than give you numbers, let me just say that I have an 8 Volume complete CD collection of Schubert's String Quartets. Using a high quality MP3 recorder set at a bit rate of 225, which I will describe shortly, I can put 7 of those CD's on one blank MP3 CD-R. Of course, I need a way to play back MP3's which, of course is where the iPod comes in. There are also CD players (and even some DVD players) that can read MP3's recorded on a blank CD-R disk. I have two of those.
Interestingly, not all MP3 recorders are the same. There are many good free ones on the market, the best one being "Audiograbber," which is the one I use. All MP3 recording software use what is called a "Codex" to create an MP3 file from the original CD... and here is where some big differences come in. Not all codexes are created equal. Rather than talk about all of them, I will just tell you that in most experts opinions, the highest quality MP3 codex is named "LAME."
The problem is that LAME is not included by most free MP3 recorders, including AudioGrabber. But, AudioGrabber has the facility to let you use whatever codex you want. All you have to do is download LAME from their Web site, then move the LAME.DLL file into the AudioGrabber directory. Then, you just set up AudioGrabber to use the LAME codex. It is easier than it sounds.
Does LAME make a difference that you can hear? You betcha! I took one particular piece of music that I recorded three separate ways...using a standard MP3 codex, a LAME codex, and the Apple AAC codex (not MP3) that comes with iTunes. All were recorded at the same bit rate. LAME was definitely the best of the bunch and it was very audible to me, even with my aging ears.
Another tip I should pass along is when you set up your LAME recorder, set it at the second highest quality compression rate and use "Variable Bit Rate." It works just great.
More on using iPod, iTunes, and perhaps some other music software in the near future.
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