How to: Downloading net music to a writeable CD

[cymbidia]

How?

What are the best sites from which one can do this?

Any tips to know about?

What the hell is m3p?


I'm a total novice at this and the big girl wants to do it but i can't begin to be of any real help to her with it. There are bewildering number of hits one gets with a google search of "music download free shareware", too, far too many to be of any use.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Jet Fuel Genius]

Try this one. www.winmx.com Good software, easy to use, find pretty much anything you want. Just search for song name or artist, double click to download. Has the ability to resume a file if the download gets stopped in the middle, something the old Napster setup couldn't do.

For modifying .mp3 files (they all seem to have different volume levels, long silences at the front or beginning, etc) get a program called GoldWave. www.goldwave.com You can fade in, fade out, adjust the quality (128, 160, 192 etc) of a file to make it smaller, change the volume level of the song, remove pops and clicks from songs recorded off an album, and all kinds of other stuff.

For playing and burning .mp3s to CD, you can't beat Music Match Jukebox. www.musicmatch.com

Those three programs will do anything you could ever want to do with music.

Hope that helps.

K.

 

[Ice Princess]

I'll second Jet Fuel Genius's suggestion you try WinMx, which does give you access to some great music and videos. You could also try http://www.kazaa.com if you didn't find what you were looking for at WinMx.

I use MusicMatch to burn CDs and I just got the latest upgrade which will equalize the volume on all the tracks. It also seems to burn a lot faster, so it's my program of choice for making CDs these days. Just to give you another option, though, you could try RealOne, which is the latest software from real. com. I haven't tried it yet, but I used the version before this one, the RealJukebox, and it was pretty simple to burn CDs and listen to mp3's with that one too. Here's the URL for RealOne:

http://www.real.com/jukebox/index.html?src=020129realhome_2

Hope that helps a little. Honestly, once you start playing around with the programs, you figure it out pretty fast. It's great fun once you get the hang of it (oh what a collection of 80s music I have now!).

Good luck!

 

[Ice Princess]

In looking at that RealOne link I just gave you, I realized they are trying to sell a subscription service too. Apparently there is a monthly music subscription service and some special features on the deluxe player (and a 14-day free trial if you wanted to try it), but there's still a free player that should burn CDs and play music and handle all the basics.

The link to the free RealOne player and the free trial of the other service is here:

http://www.real.com/realone/trial.html?dc=242322&src=020129realhome_2,020131rjbchoice_1

 

[Smilodon]

Hi there cymbidia

I have just written an article on this for a magazine - if you'd like me to send you a compy, please let me know.

Smiley

 

[Max27]

i have found everything I ever wanted (musically) at audiogalaxy.com
you need the cd burner software of course
easy to download their satellite that lets you share with others.

 

[CarolineOh]

I have an IMac, and got an Ipod for Christmas.
It is very easy to download music using ITunes, and I have been having a ball with it. I'm not exactly techically proficient, so if I can do it, anyone can.

 

[BlazeofLife]

i have found everything I ever wanted (musically) at audiogalaxy.com
you need the cd burner software of course
easy to download their satellite that lets you share with others.

Be careful with audiogalaxy, it has spyware embedded in the program.
As for burning, I recommend Kazaa for downloading the songs, and musicmatch jukebox for burning them. Just make sure that your software is conversion enabled, that is, it converts the mp3 files into .wav files before buring, otherwise you'll end up with a CD that can only be read by certain players, as opposed to nearly all with .wav.

Another way to go is with winamp, which you probably already have on your computer. If you don't, its free to download off the winamp home page. You can download plug-ins for it, which will enable it to burn, equalize, convert, and moderate your music, before burning it to the blank CD.

When you do get around to the final stage, burning, remember that with most freeware programs the quality of the burn diminishes as the speed is increased. So, while you would get a perfect burn at 1x, you might notice that certain tracks won't play in certain CD players when you burn at 32x. (I have that problem all the time, when I go at 32x and forget to modulate the laser matrix) It takes time, and practice, but its fairly easy to burn CDs, and you'll be a pro at it in no time.

Blaze

 

[foxxxyred]

Be careful with audiogalaxy, it has spyware embedded in the program.
Blaze

spyware?

 

[BlazeofLife]

spyware?

Spyware is software that's embedded in certain programs. Its designed to run behind the scenes, so to speak, and it records data from your computer, such as your name, favorite internet sites, personal information, and passwords.
It then sends this information to a third party when you log back onto the internet.

Blaze

 

[Keta]

i use morphues from musiccity.com try it...

 

[BlazeofLife]

i use morphues from musiccity.com try it...

Morpheus is good, especially if you want to find rare files, but Kazaa is better. It has the exact same appearance and interface, because its the company that designed and marketed the software that Morpheus uses, but it has a much larger database and user directory, and has a lot more on it. It also has a higher success rate, and downloads a lot faster. I prefer it over Morpheus 10 to 1, and its completely spyware free.

Kazaa: http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-1896420-100-7142396.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst-7-1.7142396

Blaze

 

[needsome]

Call me stupid but

Hey all. I am new to this music burning stuff too. I was woundering if there is a way to burn a music CD on my computer that will play in my auto CD player? I don't quite understand the mp3 thing except that I think that you need a special player for it? I was hopeing that there is a way to download music from the web and make a copy to play in any regular CD player. Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree and there is no way or if there is a way any and all information would be greatly be appreaceiated. HELP ME I"M STUPID but I like varried music and would love to mix and match them and not have to barrow or buy the CD's for a couple of songs.

Thanks
needsome

 

[BlazeofLife]

Re: Call me stupid but

Hey all. I am new to this music burning stuff too. I was woundering if there is a way to burn a music CD on my computer that will play in my auto CD player? I don't quite understand the mp3 thing except that I think that you need a special player for it? I was hopeing that there is a way to download music from the web and make a copy to play in any regular CD player. Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree and there is no way or if there is a way any and all information would be greatly be appreaceiated. HELP ME I"M STUPID but I like varried music and would love to mix and match them and not have to barrow or buy the CD's for a couple of songs.

Thanks
needsome

I'm assuming you mean you want to simply create a CD that can be played anywhere, much like the ones you can buy from a store. Its actually pretty easy.
1) get your songs downloaded, they'll be in MP3 form. (if you're not sure, MP3 stands for mpeg layer 3, its a method of encoding music in a smaller format. It reduces the music file to approximately 10% of the original size, without too much quality loss.)
2)Make sure you've got the software to support your burning. You should have some kind of software that came with your burner, if not, try one of the programs thats been mentioned on this site already.
3)pick your songlist, tyically this will be about 16 songs, depending on their length.
4)Convert them from their .mp3 status to a .wav format. (your software should have this option, if not, check out Winamp, there's free plugins for it that will allow you to do it.)
5)Burn them to your CD

Your burning software will automatically create a table of contents on the CD, which is what allows your CD player to read the files on the CD.
There are CD players out there that will read mp3 music, which allows you to put a much larger number of songs on a CD, but most will only recognise .wav files.

If you have any other questions, just ask here.

Blaze

 

[needsome]

Need a little more info

Thanks Blaze

Thank you for the info. I did download some MP3's and converted them to WAV files then burnt my CD only did 9 titles the first time as a test. They played on the under the counter CD player fine, and I was a happy camper. However I do have a problem and that is that it will not play in my auto CD player it shows "ERR" and kickes it out. I then put a store bought one in and it played fine. Is there something that I have done wrong or is there something more that I need to do? Help me MR WIZZARD. Any additional information would be helpfull. Thanks and awaiting your answers.

 

[BlazeofLife]

Re: Need a little more info

Thanks Blaze

Thank you for the info. I did download some MP3's and converted them to WAV files then burnt my CD only did 9 titles the first time as a test. They played on the under the counter CD player fine, and I was a happy camper. However I do have a problem and that is that it will not play in my auto CD player it shows "ERR" and kickes it out. I then put a store bought one in and it played fine. Is there something that I have done wrong or is there something more that I need to do? Help me MR WIZZARD. Any additional information would be helpfull. Thanks and awaiting your answers.

Did you try the CD in any other players?
Try at least one other player, just to check whether its actually the CD or the auto player.
There are a small number of CD players out there that simply cannot read a burnt CD, regardless of what you do to attempt it.
If it still doesn't work with the new player, you can be sure that the CD itself is to blame.
At this point, you need to check the speed you're burning at.
My burner, for example, is capable of burning at speeds between 1x all the way up to 32x.
However, if I try to burn at anything over 12x, unless I'm using a high quality disc, the etching pattern on the CD becomes indescernible to the player.
Basically, you need to try again, and this time, set your burner speed much lower. (I suggest about 4x, and if it works, you can always increase it later to find the optimum burning speed)
There should be an option in your software for speed select.
If neither of these things work, post back here again, and include the speed of your burner, what kind of discs you use, what speed they are, and whether you tried it in another player or not.

Blaze

 

[needsome]

Thanks again O' Master Blaze

Hey thanks again.

Your advise was right on the money. I tried to play the first CD in another CD player and it wouldn't play. I guess Sony CD players except almost any form/quality of recordings. Good thing to know in the furture buying sceam of things.

I did another recording with 22 titles this time and reduced the speed to 2X and it works great in all CD players. I even went and purchased the Musicmatch Jukebox ver 7.0. Haven't played too much with it but I can see that it will be needed in furture recordings vol control and equalizer ability. Some of the songs are lower than others and the lower they are the easier it is for them to skip on the player it seems. The only question that I have now is do you know the in's n out's of the Musicmatch? Can it convert MP3's to WAV's? I have an eariler version that can and what to know if I need to keep both of them?

I do have some advise for other users of Kazaa. Once I have downloaded the songs that I want I convert them from the MP3 format to the WAV format in another folder entirely (not all of the songs will convert over to the WAV format) then I go to the "My Shared Folder" in that directory and deleate all the files there. However you will find that not all of the files will be deleated. This can suck up valuable HD space in time. You need to restart in the DOS mode and go to that directory and sub directory and DEL the left over files in that directory, caution though do not deleat the directory itself it is needed.

Thanks all
Needsome

 

[BlazeofLife]

Re: Thanks again O' Master Blaze

Hey thanks again.

Your advise was right on the money. I tried to play the first CD in another CD player and it wouldn't play. I guess Sony CD players except almost any form/quality of recordings. Good thing to know in the furture buying sceam of things.

I did another recording with 22 titles this time and reduced the speed to 2X and it works great in all CD players. I even went and purchased the Musicmatch Jukebox ver 7.0. Haven't played too much with it but I can see that it will be needed in furture recordings vol control and equalizer ability. Some of the songs are lower than others and the lower they are the easier it is for them to skip on the player it seems. The only question that I have now is do you know the in's n out's of the Musicmatch? Can it convert MP3's to WAV's? I have an eariler version that can and what to know if I need to keep both of them?

I do have some advise for other users of Kazaa. Once I have downloaded the songs that I want I convert them from the MP3 format to the WAV format in another folder entirely (not all of the songs will convert over to the WAV format) then I go to the "My Shared Folder" in that directory and deleate all the files there. However you will find that not all of the files will be deleated. This can suck up valuable HD space in time. You need to restart in the DOS mode and go to that directory and sub directory and DEL the left over files in that directory, caution though do not deleat the directory itself it is needed.

Thanks all
Needsome

Glad to know my advice helped, Needsome. I rather thought that might be the problem.
As for musicmatch, version 7 retains all of the features of the previous versions, including the ability to convert them to wav from mp3.
As for the rest...
I do it an easier way.
Within My Shared Folder, I created a subdirectory, called Music Files, and listed it as the download folder in Kazaa's Tools; Options; Traffic menu.
All files are now downloaded to there.
Then, I programmed my task manager to perform a routine check every 3 days, and delete my created folder.
That gets rid of all of the remaining mp3 files, while giving me 3 days to convert them or move them, and Kazaa automatically creates the folder again the next time it downloads if it doesn't already exist.
It takes some time to set up, but you end up with a self deleting folder to store your mp3's in.
(Just don't forget to convert them before the 3 day deadline)

Blaze