.cda files to MP3

[Timpson-Music]

I am a song writer. I master onto Cd and this creates .cda files. to promote on the net I need to convert these to MP3. how do I do that. As WINamp is the only software that plays these files, is there a version that converts or do I have to get something else?

Colin

[Mr Jones]

Check this thread out, converting various audio formats to various audio formats.

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread....threadid=35634

[. - .... .- -. ....]

Download CDex. Simply insert a CD, highlight the tracks and click on the "CD -> MP3" button.

[NeoRenegade]

CDex uses the Lame encoder. Get the latest alpha here.

[Timpson-Music]

thank you so much for all your helpfulness

I found that Nero won't read from the CD itself, so got CDAC to copy to hard-disk and nero takes over creating the MP3 at approx 8% of the cda file size....

I am a happy bunny now, who want's to hear some stuff -only reply if you can give me a deal!

[NeoRenegade]

Ugh, NO don't use Nero. LAME is the best MP3 encoder, hands down.

[Budgie]

I totally agree, LAME is the best MP3 encoder out there, by far. It's free, plus it features the greatest VBR engine, as well as so many more quality-improving features. You can, of course, get the latest alphas from here, for example. Yet if you plan on archiving your music, I would use the v3.89 stable beta, or use the v3.90 alpha that comes with WinLAME v1.7, a decent frontend for LAME (presets included).

You can also use EAC, another very recommended CD ripper, in conjunction with LAME, but keep in mind EAC is slightly more complicated to use, yet it offers more features and might give you better results.

I hope we all did not confuse you too much . You can also read r3mix.net to find out more about perfect ripping and encoding.


Peace.

[NeoRenegade]

Actually, according to the people at r3mix, Fraunhofer and Lame are still very close in quality when it comes to CBR.

But for VBR of course Lame is far better.

[Budgie]

True, yet LAME has the better joint-stereo handling, no matter if CBR or VBR. Ah, well, let's not get into in-depth discussion now ...

I would say LAME is better generally, as it is being developed constantly (fresh & almost daily alphas ).

If you want to use CBR, both the Fraunhofer and LAME encoders are the best solutions available . Yet avoid those so-called alternate Fraunhofer encoders, as found in some CD-ripper / encoder combinations.


Peace.

[NeoRenegade]

Actually they seem to have slowed down all of a sudden. The last alpha was released Oct. 23.

[Budgie]

Not really. After the alpha dated on the 23rd, another alpha has been released on the 26th, which is, as the time of writing this, the latest .

What site(s) do you check for binaries? Or do you compile the source on your own?

I always check here for new alphas and such.


Peace.

[Timpson-Music]

I am very grateful for all the advice. I visited the link to LAME above by Budgie -thanks I'll give it a go and report back !
As I said, I have the demo version of Nero which gives me 30 conversions - 20 to go.... Then I'll have to pay or give it up. So far it does exactly the job I want it to. I'm sure LAME will too
look forward to it......... Thanks to all

Colin

[Budgie]

Ummm, first visit smpman's site, that's where you can get the latest alpha version of LAME, as well as the official beta versions which are considered as stable.

Either download LAME v3.89b, executable version, or check this area of the site for the latest alphas.

That's all you need, basically. All zip files come with instructions on how to use LAME, including most commandline parameters. Just read the documentation .

Alternatively, go get WinLAME v1.7, a frontend that comes with a stable version of LAME v3.90a. It's very easy to use and also ships with presets . Also, I mentioned WinLAME before in this thread. Why don't people read stuff?

Note: The Official LAME homepage www.mp3dev.org/mp3 does not supply the binaries. You obviously downloaded the source code, which is not an executable program. You will have to compile it if you want turn the source code into an usable program.
Just visit the smpman's site and download the already-compiled binaries .

Ok, if that all does not help, well, then I don't know how else I can help you .


Peace.

[leetsa]

I've used CDex to rip files from a CD. They won't play in Winamp, but they do play in the preview I get in Windows Explorer. Can someone please explain this to me?

In CDex, I've chosen the option to extract from CD to mpeg.

[Rocker]

what sort of files?

cdex rips and encodes. .wav files mp3, ogg, mp2, mp1, aac, wma and vqf...with the default setup


make sure you click setup--->encoder (tab)--->and make sure Lame(.mp3) is selected.

change your settings(if you want)

re-encode your files

if you tell me what you encoded to in the first place I might be able to find a plug-in that will make those files work with winamp.

its better to re-encode though

[DJ Egg]

Also . . . define "won't play" (details please!)


Just making sure it's not something st00pid like, eg.
DiskWriter Output is selected
Volume slider is down
etc etc

[leetsa]

The files will only play one second in Winamp and then it quits. I've looked in Setup and LAME MP3 Encoder (Version 1.20, Engine 3.88 Alpha 8) is toggled from the drop down. I'm stuck . . .

The only options I have to convert to are mpeg and wav. I tried to convert to mpeg. No dice. . .

[NRen2k5]

http://mitiok.free.fr/ for the latest version of Lame (3.91 stable)

[leetsa]

Awesome! Thanks for helping out a poor lil Canadian girl!