Recommend Me Some Audio Software

[Huntsman]

I know we have serious computer audio guys here, so...

What's good software for recording, audio, ripping CDs, converting some of my 30gig of WMVs to a compressed format, editing audio files, and burning CDs with some sort of automatic volume leveling?

Right now I use a hodgepodge, and play with WinAMP. The same for video would be great, too. I love Ulead Media Studio, but it's $200 or so....

Thanks,
Huntsman

 

[javyn]

I use Nero 6.0. There are free plugins to let you convert audio formats with it.

 

[brimley]

Exact Audio Copy and variable bit rate LAME is the best way to go for ripping mp3. A good guide to setting up high quality encodes is here: http://www.chrismyden.com/uber/uberguide.php

It used to be the case that some mp3 players would burn up too much battery life playing VBRs, so some people rock constant bitrate. Not sure if that's still true.

EAC --> a FLAC encoder is the best way to go lossless, IMO.

Audacity is free and it is a nice audio editor.

Did you mean 30+ gigs of .wav, by any chance? If you did, EAC + LAME is a great option.

 

[phooi]

I agree with nyf. For audio, I use EAC + LAME but it's not the easiest piece of software to install since you have to find the right version of LAME to use.

Depending on your music files, but I would suggest ripping at a constant bit rate of 320 MP3. It is of high enough quality that you can play it back on a decent stereo without a noticeable difference and you can still compress it further to put onto a portable device.

If you're not tech savvy, I would recommend iTunes. It is an easy way to rip and store all your music in one place. You can choose any number of formats (AAC, MP3, variable bit or constant bit rates, etc.). The only drawback is that the only portable device you can transfer the music onto is an iPod.

 

[phaedrus]

I use CDEX to do all my ripping of Audio CD's, I've been using it for several years now and it does the job for me.

 

[brimley]

Originally Posted by phooi

Depending on your music files, but I would suggest ripping at a constant bit rate of 320 MP3. It is of high enough quality that you can play it back on a decent stereo without a noticeable difference and you can still compress it further to put onto a portable device.

There are legitimate reasons to rip at 320 mp3, but I wouldn't recompress a 320 mp3 to 192 or whatever. You're going to be giving up audio quality because the compressions will work differently and you've already lost the information from the first encode. If you need a compressed archiving format, FLAC is a good choice, or just leave them as .wav. If you want multiple bitrates for different applications it is best to rip twice.

 

[SGladwell]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

I know we have serious computer audio guys here, so...

What's good software for recording, audio, ripping CDs, converting some of my 30gig of WMVs to a compressed format, editing audio files, and burning CDs with some sort of automatic volume leveling?

At the risk of stating the obvious, iTunes does all of that except for the editing part. And it might do that. I've never checked.

 

[Pennglock]

The guys who named Exact Audio Copy for ripping and LAME for encoding are exactly right. Audiophiles pretty much agree on that combo.

There are some really good preset VBR settings for encoding in LAME. +alt preset Standard, +alt preset Extreme, etc... Use them- they're the result of a lot of people working hard doing listening tests. Unless you have one hell of a system, you won't be able to differentiate between one of the preset encoded mp3s and the original lossless source. Even with the killer system, Im not convinced most people can tell...

I feel good enough about the +alt presets that Ive archived my entire collection on them. It's also nice that it can be done on 2 harddrives instead of taking 10...

 

[phooi]

Originally Posted by nyf

There are legitimate reasons to rip at 320 mp3, but I wouldn't recompress a 320 mp3 to 192 or whatever. You're going to be giving up audio quality because the compressions will work differently and you've already lost the information from the first encode. If you need a compressed archiving format, FLAC is a good choice, or just leave them as .wav. If you want multiple bitrates for different applications it is best to rip twice.

I'm fully aware of that. I personally would not and do not recompress from 320 down. I have a large enough iPod (40gb) that I don't worry about disk space. My recommendations are for those people who have a smaller music device (<8bg) who want to store alot of songs. Then I would suggest ripping at the higher bit rate for home (permanent storage) and transferring select playlists to a lower bit for the smaller device. Reasons are 1) you'll always have a high quality copy and 2) most people use their device for non-critical listening (workouts, driving, studying).

However I do agree with FLAC or some other lossless format for true permanent storage. But at that size, I prefer 320 as I can barely tell the difference between that and the original played on my home system (I have a nice system).

Originally Posted by Pennglock

The guys who named Exact Audio Copy for ripping and LAME for encoding are exactly right. Audiophiles pretty much agree on that combo.

There are some really good preset VBR settings for encoding in LAME. +alt preset Standard, +alt preset Extreme, etc... Use them- they're the result of a lot of people working hard doing listening tests. Unless you have one hell of a system, you won't be able to differentiate between one of the preset encoded mp3s and the original lossless source. Even with the killer system, Im not convinced most people can tell...

I feel good enough about the +alt presets that Ive archived my entire collection on them. It's also nice that it can be done on 2 harddrives instead of taking 10...

I use +alt preset insane setting which, I believe, is 320 constant bitrate. The only thing I'll add about using LAME is that you have to choose the right version. I've been out of the loop on this but you can do a google search for "LAME" and I think one of the sites is hydrogenaudio.org.

 

[jenny]

Recommend to use FlexiMusic Wave Editor, an audio editor with more options for editing.

 

[billiebob]

Audio Hijack is a fantastic program. It is very easy to &quot;time shift&quot; any streaming audio show automatically, whether real media, or some custom job like This American Life (which plays in the browser).

 

[migo]

I use Audacity...it's freeware from soundforge I believe...works for me. That and a little program by the name of dbPower amp in case I need to convert between different MHZ's and stuff like that.

 

[bachbeet]

The best one for editing is Kristal Audio Engine. It's free and it supports VST plugins. Even some plugins which are demos and fail in other editors after a certain demo period.

 

[Huntsman]

&lt;deluged&gt; Thanks, guys... this is the place to go for, like, anything.

 

[lakewolf]

I use Nero to burn, WMP to rip and SoundForge to edit or change formats