Song segments - best tool for the job?

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 28 Feb 2000 8:35 am

I want to add audio samples to the music page of the Forum Catalog. I need an easy to use, inexpensive (under $100) software tool that does the following:

1) Rip a song from CD
2) Clip a 30 second segment
3) Fade in / fade out
4) Save as lo-res .wav (8k mono) and .mp3

Does anyone know of a product that does this? It has to have a fast, easy to use interface and it has to work under both Windows 95 and NT.

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Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra S-8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (D13, A6)

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 28 Feb 2000 8:37 am

Bob, check out GoldWave. It may do what you want. I have a registered version. It cost $60 canadian, less than $40 US at the time I bought it.

http://www.goldwave.com

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 28 Feb 2000 8:47 am

That looks pretty good, but it doesn't appear to rip songs from CD. You have to record them, which is a more error-prone process. We would need to get the levels right for every session.

Since this project will take several weeks, and be ongoing as we add more CDs, I want to put together a process that will be very consistent over time. Ripping is a key element.

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Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra S-8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (D13, A6)

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 28 Feb 2000 10:08 am

b0b
perhaps SOundForgeXP from Sonic FOundry the folks who brought us ACID may fit your bill...it does a LOT for the bux...and is NT friendly
I don't think it rips, but Adaptec's Easy CD Creator does and it's free with most CD-R recorders (another reason to spend more money)
or find a shareware util that rips then use SOundForgeXP

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 28 Feb 2000 10:23 am

b0b:
Try this address. Program is $34.00 to register but is worth every penny. I use it a lot for my steel clips. You will still need a program to record the .wav files with, but this will rip a whole song off of a CD to .wav format or to MP3.
As an aside, DO NOT record your planned .wav files at 8-bit!! At that rate, they will pick up a lot of white noise directly off your sound card. Far better to record at 16-bit mono.

http://www.streambox.com/Products/Ripper/StreamboxRipper2009.exe [This message was edited by Graham on 28 February 2000 at 10:25 AM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 28 Feb 2000 10:35 am

I've had good luck saving 44k stereo files to 8k mono from a little freeware program that I have, but it is deficient and buggy in other respects. You're right though - I would never actually record in 8k mono.

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Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra S-8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (D13, A6)

John Gretzinger · Post by **John Gretzinger** » 28 Feb 2000 2:00 pm

b0b -

I have a program that I got specifically to rip files from CDs that I never used. I'll take a look when I get home tonight, and if it does what you want, I'll be glad to donate it the cause.

John

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MSA D-10
'63 Gibson Hummingbird
16/15c Hammered Dulcimer

Peggy Green · Post by **Peggy Green** » 28 Feb 2000 3:09 pm

I used MusicMatch to do the CD ripping and mp3 encoding.

The newer version no longer does Real Audio (RA). Sonic Foundry has products that do RA.

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 28 Feb 2000 3:48 pm

Peggy:
The Streambox listed above also does RA files. Also has a built in equalizer which works both in playback and recording/encoding.
Very versatile program.

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Rebel™
ICQ 614585

Post by **b0b** » 28 Feb 2000 3:55 pm

Does it do clips, and fade-in - fade-out?

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 28 Feb 2000 4:29 pm

b0b:
Unfortunately, no clips, fade-in or fade-out. Need a regular sound editing program such as Cool-edit, Goldwave, etc. for doing that.
It is basically a ripper/Real Audio converter which will save to .wav, mp3 or windows media files formats.

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Rebel™
ICQ 614585

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 28 Feb 2000 4:33 pm

Right. What I really need is one program to use as a production tool that will do all 4 steps. Am I dreaming?

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 28 Feb 2000 5:15 pm

b0b:
I don't know of ONE program that will do all 4 of the things you want to do. I use two programs to do them with. The ripper to get the .wav files from either Real Audio or CD's, then Wave-se to get the segment I want (Intro, break etc) and to edit it as far as fade-in, fade-out, or to raise or lower the gain and to save it as a .wav file.
That segment can then be brought back into the ripper and encoded and saved as an mp3.

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Rebel™
ICQ 614585

Peggy Green · Post by **Peggy Green** » 29 Feb 2000 6:26 am

If you find this dream tool let me know as well. MusicMatch used to do RealAudio and that went away with Ver. 4.

Marty Pollard · Post by **Marty Pollard** » 29 Feb 2000 8:03 am

Goldwave will extract from CDs with the appropriate dll. It's mentioned on their website, just download and go. 8-bit can be foggy sounding but with Goldwave you'll find a good compromise between quality and size and it does all the editing you'll need.