My MP3s Updated
Published December 20, 2004 @ 20:49 in My MP3 Collection

I've added 21 new CDs to my MP3 collection. The new additions are Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", "Meddle", "The Division Bell" and "Dark Side of the Moon", Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain: 25 Years" four disc box set, Bruce Cockburn's "Anything Anytime Anywhere", Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" and "60 Minutes With...", Ray Charles' "16 Greatest Hits" and "His Greatest Hits, Volume 2", the Oh What A Feeling 2 four CD box set, "The Wired CD: Rip. Sample. Mash. Share.", "No Alternative" The Rankin Family's "Fare Thee Well Love" and "It's Christmas Time" featuring seasonal tunes from Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.

That's 579 complete albums and 8729 songs. Check it out.

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My MP3s Updated
Published November 28, 2004 @ 18:42 in My MP3 Collection

I've added eight new CDs to my MP3 collection. The new additions are The Strokes' "Room On Fire", Bob Geldof & The Boomtown Rats' "Great Songs of Indifference - The Best Of ...", Modest Mouse's "The Moon & Antarctica", Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps", The Libertines' "Up the Bracket", Patti Smith's "Land (1975 - 2002) - Discs 1 & 2" and The Clash's "London Calling".

That's 556 complete albums and 8417 songs. Check it out.

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How To Rip Your CD Collection To MP3 Like Me
Published November 28, 2004 @ 13:05 in My MP3 Collection, Technology, The Best of Toronto Mike

I've been getting a lot of questions lately from people wondering exactly what I use to rip my CDs to MP3s and what steps are involved in the process. Below is a step-by-step guide for a newbie who wants to assemble an MP3 collection based on CDs they already possess.

1. Download Audiograbber - I realize there are various applications that will convert your CDs to MP3s, but I use Audiograbber. It's free and I've been quite pleased with its performance. Visit the download page and download Audiograbber 1.83 build 1 from one of the listed locations...perhaps this one.
   
   Now that you've downloaded Audiograbber, open the .exe file and install it.
2. Download the LAME MP3 Encoder - Although Audiograbber will enable you to rip your CDs to MP3s by itself, you'll want to increase the quality of your MP3 and that's where the LAME MP3 encoder comes in. Visit the download page and download lame-3.96.1 from one of the listed mirrors...perhaps this one.
   
   It's a compressed zip folder, so you'll have to unzip it. Windows XP comes with a utility that will do this automatically when you open the file, but other Windows users will need to use Winzip to unzip the dll. Once you've unzipped this file, simply put the contents into your Audiograbber directory. You now have an internal MP3 encoder.
3. Configure Audiograbber - On the Audiograbber toolbar under "Settings", select "General Settings". I'm comfortable with all the defaults here, but everyone will want the folders and songs named differently. I personally like a folder for each artist and within that folder a folder for each album name and then within that folder an MP3 for each track in the format 01 - Artist Name - Song Name. There's also an option on this tab to select the directory you want your files to write to. I've found it's easier for me to organize everything if Audiograbber places the folders in my Audiograbber directory until I'm ready to copy them over to my music folder. View this screen cap of how my General Settings are configured and mimic it if you want the same results.
   
   Next, on the Audiograbber toolbar under "Settings", select "MP3 Settings". Here you determine how you want Audiograbber to rip your CDs and at what bitrate. This is a very important step in configuring Audiograbber. I've chosen to grab to "MP3 file via intermediate wav file. Delete the wav file". Also, I've selected "Internal Encoder" and used the drop down arrow to select the LameEnc DLL I downloaded and dropped in the Audiograbber directory in step #2. Finally, I've dragged the selector under "Constant Bitrate" to 192 Kbit/s. I like the quality of sound I get from ripping to a 192 bitrate, but feel free to bump this up as high as you wish, if you can afford the hard drive space. View this screen cap to see how my MP3 Settings are configured and mimic it if you want the same results.
4. Get Album Details and Rip to MP3 - Now that Audiograbber has been downloaded and installed, your LAME MP3 Encoder has been downloaded, unzipped and copied to your Audiograbber directory and Audiograbber is configured to rip to your specifications, you're ready to rock. Place your CD in your CD Rom drive and open Audiograbber. You'll see one of the menu options on the top reads "Freedb" and is accompanied by a penguin icon. If you're connected to the Internet, click this icon and artist, album and song details will be automatically downloaded to Audiograbber. There's no need to ever type in song names or any such detail. View this screen cap to see what happens when I click the penguin after placing the Almost Famous soundtrack in my CD rom.
   
   If you're happy with what you see, click "Grab!" which is the option accompanied by a hand. Audiograbber will begin converting the tracks on your CD to MP3 as you specified in step #3. It's that easy. Once Audiograbber is finished, you'll find the folders in the directory you set in that step. If you've chosen to have everything terminate to your Audiograbber directory, navigate there, cut the Artist folder containing the CD title folder and subsequent tracks, and copy it to your permanent music folder. Follow these steps for every CD in your collection and your music folder will resemble my music folder.
5. Tips and Tricks - Depending on how the information comes back from the Freedb, the artist name may be listed as "The Beatles" or "Beatles" or even "Beatles, The". You'll want to keep this consistent throughout your collection so pick a format and stick to it. That way, all of your Beatles albums will remain under the same folder instead of having some filed under "The Beatles" and others filed under "Beatles".
   
   In a similar vein, you'll most likely have numerous compilation CDs in your collections that won't be filed under a particular artists name. The details coming back from the Freedb may have the album listed under a directory entitled "Various Artists", "Various", "Compilation" or some variant thereof. Again, pick a format and stick to it so everything remains nicely organized on your PC.
   
   The speed at which this ripping takes place depends upon the resources available to you. If your machine isn't up to snuff, it would probably be best that you don't do anything else while Audiograbber is doing its thing. And speaking of resources available to you, hosting your entire CD collection on MP3 requires a good chunk of hard drive space. Ripping at a 192 bitrate, Eminem's Encore takes up 105 MB of space. Do the math and ensure you have sufficient space.
   
   And finally, if you've got a good sized CD collection, ripping it all to MP3 will take up a great deal of your time. You'll be popping discs in and out of your PC for hours and hours on end. I started my digitization project back in December 2003 and I didn't finish it until this past spring. It's a massive job and you don't want to do it more than once if you can help it. Do yourself a favour and back up your music. Hard drive failures happen, computers can get stolen or destroyed, shit happens, so burn your files to CD or DVD and sleep well knowing they're there when you need them. I know I do.

That's it in a nutshell. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me. I can tell you from experience, once your collection is digitized into MP3s you'll truly be able to access your music, your way. You'll feel liberated, listening to tracks you haven't heard in years, creating eclectic playlists in Winamp, burning massive MP3 mixes and burning audio CDs when MP3 mixes are insufficient. It will be glorious.

Enjoy the music.

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My MP3s Updated
Published November 27, 2004 @ 16:30 in My MP3 Collection

I've added a whole bunch of new CDs to my MP3 collection. It's probably best I break down these new additions into three groups: recent releases, old favourites and for Taryn.

Recent Releases:

• Eminem - Encore
• Marilyn Manson - Lest We Forget (The Best Of)
• The Tragically Hip - 92nd Grey Cup Commemorative CD
• Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003) Up Side (Disc 1)
• Pearl Jam - Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003) Down Side (Disc 2)
• Sum 41 - Chuck
• Jimmy Eat World - Futures

Old Favourites:

• Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits
• Crash Test Dummies - The Ghosts That Haunt Me
• Tripping Daisy - I Am An Elastic Firecracker
• Various Artists - CFNY: The New Music Search 1993
• Rusty - Sophomoric
• Odds - Good Weird Feeling
• Pet Shop Boys - Discography
• Moist - Silver
• Treble Charger - Maybe It's Me
• Various Artists - 102.1 The Edge Campus Tour Sampler 96
• Kenny Rogers - Greatest Hits
• Various Artists - Almost Famous Soundtrack
• Kid N' Play - Funhouse
• Maestro Fresh-Wes - The Black Tie Affair
• Kris Kross - Totally Krossed Out
• Positive K - The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills
• Technotronic - Trip On This -The Remixes
• Various Artists - It's Christmas Time
• Various Artists - Favourite Christmas Carols
• Various Artists - Christmas With A Kick II
• Various Artists - NOW Christmas: Traditional (Disc 1)
• Various Artists - NOW Christmas: Contemporary (Disc 2)

For Taryn:

• Shania Twain - Up!
• Shania Twain - Come On Over
• John Mellencamp - American Fool
• Ian Hunter - Shades Of Ian Hunter
• Cyndi Lauper - Twelve Deadly Cyns ...And Then Some

That's 548 complete albums and 8302 songs. Check it out.

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My MP3s Updated
Published November 14, 2004 @ 16:58 in My MP3 Collection

I've added six new CDs to my MP3 collection. The new additions are Eminem's "Encore", Marilyn Manson's "Lest We Forget", Sum 41's "Chuck", Jimmy Eat World's "Futures" the Beastie Boys' "To The 5 Boroughs" and Bruce Springsteen's "Greatest Hits".

That's 519 complete albums and 7885 songs. Check it out.

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My MP3s Updated
Published October 24, 2004 @ 19:53 in My MP3 Collection

I've added seven new CDs to my MP3 collection. The new additions are Franz Ferdinand's "Franz Ferdinand", Modest Mouse's "Good News For People Who Love Bad News", The Killer's "Hot Fuss", Papa Roach's "Getting Away With Murder", Green Day's "American Idiot", 311's "Greatest Hits '93-'03" and Cream's "Strange Brew - The Very Best of Cream".

That's 511 complete albums and 7894 songs. Check it out.

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My MP3s Updated
Published July 27, 2004 @ 22:55 in My MP3 Collection

I've added four new CDs to my MP3 collection. The new additions are Velvet Revolver's Contraband, The Tragically Hip's In Between Evolution and the two new acoustic Pearl Jam CDs, Live At Benaroya Hall, October 22, 2003. All four are awesome.

That's 503 complete albums and 7766 songs. Check it out.

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Nine New Discs Added
Published May 30, 2004 @ 13:41 in My MP3 Collection

I just added nine new albums to my collection of MP3s. I added...

1. The Punisher Soundtrack
2. Billy Talent's Billy Talent
3. Rage Against The Machine's Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium
4. Hype Soundtrack
5. Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits
6. Kill Bill Volume 2 Soundtrack
7. Stray Cats' Greatest Hits
8. Ben Folds' Rockin' The Suburbs
9. Sloan's Action Pact

That's now 7726 tunes and you can see them all here. If you want to see what I'm listening to right now, click here.

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My MP3s Updated
Published April 27, 2004 @ 21:39 in My MP3 Collection

You'll find a whole bunch of new CDs have been added to my MP3 collection. The new additions run the gamut from the latest Default to Lenny Kravitz' Greatest Hits to Willie Nelson's 16 Biggest Hits to Blues Classics from 1927 - 1969 and a shitload more. Blues fans will be particularly interested in what I've added.

That's 493 complete albums and 7582 songs. Check it out.

I'm seriously considering sharing an MP3 every week with a few words about why I like the song. Is this something you'd be interested in? Drop me a line if you'd dig it. If enough people respond positively, I'll do it.

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Ripping to MP3 the Collection of Another
Published April 16, 2004 @ 14:17 in My MP3 Collection

One of the best things I ever did for myself was rip my entire CD collection into MP3s. You can read about this here and check out my collection here.

Back in January, I wrote about RipDigital, a company that will rip your entire CD collection into MP3s for a hefty price. I offered my MP3 consultation service free of charge to anyone who was interested. A friend of mine with an extensive CD collection took me up on the offer.

Right now there are two large garbage bags full of CDs belonging to this friend of mine sitting in my basement. I'm going to rip his entire collection and return to him his CDs along with blank CDs containing his new MP3 collection. It's going to take a while, but I'm already enjoying it. The vast majority of this tunage is the blues, and I'm having a fantastic time listening to songs like "Turtle Twist" by Jelly Roll Morton, "Dust My Broom" by Elmore James and "Stones in my Passway" by Robert Johnson. This is a very cool way to hear cool tunes I wouldn't normally stumble upon. Maybe I should be paying him for this opportunity?

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