MUSIC
With the right Software and Hardware, most Home Computers can be turned into an all purpose recording studio and Jukebox.
In this section we try to give you a few hints as to how you can do this.

Click to go straight to a particular section or simply scroll down to read through them all

1. What Hardware will I need?
2. What Software Programmes will I need?
3. Playing CD's on your Computer
4. Recording from Audio CD's
5. Copying Audio CD's using a CD Writer
6. Converting Audio tracks to MP3 format
7. Downloading Music (MP3's) from the Internet
8. Making Audio CD's from MP3 tracks
9. Transferring MP3's to a Personal MP3 Player
10.Recording from Audio Cassettes and LP's (vinyl)
11.Editing Audio Tracks





What Hardware Will I Need?

Most PC's have a Sound Card installed from new but not many PC's have a GOOD Sound Card installed from new. If you plan to play music from your PC you should think about fitting a good Sound Card and getting a good set of Speakers to go with it. If you're just going to play music a 2.1 system (left & right + Sub-Woofer) is quite adequate but if you plan to watch DVD Movies on your PC then it might be worth going for a 4.1 surround system (2 front, 2 Rear + Sub-Woofer).
If you want to be able to make Audio CD's or copy CD's you will need a CD Writer or Re-Writer. A Re-Writer is able to use Re-Writable disks which are great for backing up files.




Here are some recommendations:

Sound Cards  Price (£)
Soundblaster Live 5.1Creative Soundblaster 4.1 Digital14.00
Trust 5.1 Sound Expert Digital Surround20.00
Creative Soundblaster Live 5.1 Digital26.00
Creative Soundblaster Audugy 282.00
Speakers
Creative Inspire 2.1Trust 1000P 2.120.00
Philips Rhythmic Wave 2.130.00
Creative Inspire 2.135.00
Creative Inspire 4.145.00
CD Re-Writers
CD-ReWriterA Open 52x52x3228.00
LG Electronics 52x52x3237.50
Plextor 52x52x32 (one of the best)89.50


The prices quoted are those available from www.dabs.com but may vary in High Street Stores or Superstores.


What Software Will I Need?
There are three main items of Software that you will need:

1. An Audio Player for playing your Audio CD's on your PC
2. Recording or Ripping Software to record Audio CD's onto your PC
3. CD Burning Software to record your audio tracks to Blank CD's

1. Audio Players
Although most versions of windows come equipped with Windows Media Player to play Audio CD's, there are other alternatives which have certain advantages. For example some players contain Graphic Equalisers to enhance playback, some can convert tracks into different formats (e.g. Wave to MP3), Some can also Record & Rip tracks from an Audio CD and some even have their own CD Burning (Recording) Software. Here is a selection to choose from:

Players Available from
Musicmatch JukeboxMusicmatch Jukebox
(Play, Record, Burn)		www.musicmatch.com
(Free)
 
Winamp 3.0Winamp 3.0 Music Player
(Player, Equaliser, Radio)		www.winamp.com
(Free)
 
Sonique Player 1.96Sonique Music Player version 1.96
(Player, MP3 Decoder)		sonique.lycos.com
(Free)


2. CD Ripping Software
There are too many CD Rippers about to list them all so simply visit the following Web Site and pick the one you fancy. There's not much to choose between them; they all work
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/CD_RIPPERS/

Audiograbber

Above is the Window for Audio Grabber but most CD Rippers look about the same. They will extract Audio Tracks from a Music CD and usually save them in MP3 format. You can do this with the Windows Media Player but it only saves to WMA (Windows Media Audio) format. Musicmatch Jukebox will automatically convert tracks to MP3 and you can select the quality of the recording up to 320 Kps. (Recording Studio Quality)


3. CD Burning (recording) Software.
When you buy a new CD Re-Writer you will usually get a copy of either Nero Burning Rom or Roxio Easy CD Creator. These are both very good programmes but there are a few alternatives that you could try out:

Alcohol 120%Alcohol 120% CD & DVD Burning Softwarewww.alcohol-software.com
Clone CDClone CD for protected CD'swww.clonecd.net
CDR WinCDR Win from Goldenhawk www.goldenhawk.com
Again Musicmatch Jukebox has its own burning software included so you could cover all 3 categories with just the one programme. This saves a lot of messing about as well as space and confusion; its my personal favourite and comes highly recommended - Editor

Playing Audio CD's on your Computer
When you place an Audio CD in your CD-ROM drive it should start playing automatically with your Music Player. By default it will be Windows Media Player but if you have installed a different player you may need to adjust the 'settings'.

WINAMP -> Options -> Preferences

Winamp Preferences
In WinAmp Preferences you can chose to associate with Audio CD's and choose which other file types you want WinAmp to play.


MUSICMATCH - Options -> Player -> Settings

Musicmatch Settings
In Musicmatch Jukebox Setting you just tick the options you want to enable.


Other players have similar 'settings' or 'preferences' boxes for associating the programme with your audio files. All you have to do then is adjust volume and equaliser (if available) to suit your listening needs.

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