So i’m real new here and I hope this question isnt out of line but I’m going on a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong soon and I need something to listen to to keep me from going slightly nuts on the flight. I would like to transfer some of the music on one of my cable TV music channels to mp3 files that i can put on mycomputer and then to my ipod.
The cable box has an optical audio output and an hmdi output. Feasible?
If the cable box had a typical stereo output (such as RCA jacks), I’d say it was feasible. With digital output only, my guess is that you would need other hardware in addition to the software to do so. This is a “gray” are as far as legality goes, so you may not get a good answer.
Yup, definitely possible. If your computer’s got an optical input, you’re all set there. Otherwise you could use something like this. Another option would be to use your TV in that capacity. Check for an audio output on your TV. Then, a cheap RCA to 1/8" stereo adapter will connect it to your computer.
You can use a program like Audacity to record the audio and save to mp3.
Also, strongly advise checking out podcasts for a long trip like that. There’s a huge selection of them in iTunes, all free, on all different topics. I know it’s a fantastic thing when I go on road trips!
ETA:
Time-shifting was ruled fair use in * Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.* in the late 1970s.
[quote=“goldmund, post:3, topic:610547”]
Yup, definitely possible. If your computer’s got an optical input, you’re all set there. Otherwise you could use something like this. Another option would be to use your TV in that capacity. Check for an audio output on your TV. Then, a cheap RCA to 1/8" stereo adapter will connect it to your computer.
You can use a program like Audacity to record the audio and save to mp3.
Also, strongly advise checking out podcasts for a long trip like that. There’s a huge selection of them in iTunes, all free, on all different topics. I know it’s a fantastic thing when I go on road trips!
ETA:
Thanks so much for the info. I’ll definately follow up on the podcasts, which are something i never before got into.
Regarding the converter you suggested, I dont see how that would work. I converts an optical signal into a digital signal as the following reviewer noted:
"That being said, make sure you UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE PURCHASING: the output, while it is a commonplace RCA jack, is a DIGITAL OUTPUT."
And since I dont have an RCA plug type digital input on the computer, I dont see how I can get the signal into the computer. For that matter I already have a digital output on the cable box (which i forgot to mention) but its of no use vis a vis my computer.
As for the legalities, although I’m an atty I dont really care about that aspect. If i followed the law to the letter in every instance I’d be broke.
On this board, however, it is frowned upon to ignore the legal issues.
Oops, sorry, I didnt know that. Last thing I want is to be frowned upon. Next thing you know, i might be looked at askance.
Copyright violation is rape like any other violation.
Still not as bad as a handshake.
Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that not all lawyers are filthy scum.
"Copyright violation is rape like any other violation. "
Rape? Maybe it’s time your license to use hyperbole be revoked, or at least, carefully reviewed.
If depriving a multinational corporation or a multi-millionaire rock artist of a few dollars in royaltities is rape what would the outright stealing of, say, a bike from a kid be - genocide?
You could probbly get the same or better results, with a YouTube downloader. Many will convert the audio portion to mp3 automatically. You could then pick and choose your songs to some degree
Thanks AndyLee, that would work;except I dont know the names of any of the songs I want to download. My cable provider has these dance/Mix Tape/electronica channels that plays some good stuff by artists i never heard of. You know, club music by all these various esoteric music mixer types. I wanted to just randoming record a couple of hours of this stuff to put on an mp3 player.
HarddiskOgg is vastly superior to Audacity for the requested purpose. You feed it input, kick it off with some switches for things like splitting up the file into slices (do you really want a single 16 hour long file?), and it runs saving to the hard drive as it goes. It’s a brilliant and as near as I can tell bulletproof little application that I use weekly.
Thanks, that HardDiskogg looks interesting - but so does quantum mechanics - and I understand neither one.
As far as I can tell (which isnt very far) this application does not produce mp3 files, without some serious computer razzle dazzle?
"Uses the high quality, patent free Ogg Vorbis encoding engine. Ogg Vorbis easily outperforms MP3 in sound quality, especially at lower bit rates.
LAME MP3 encoder compatible. However, due to patent issues HarddiskOgg ist not distributed with the LAME encoding DLL. If you want MP3 support, fetch LAME_ENC.DLL from the web, but make sure you have the appropriate rights for doing so."
I would be throwing this stuff onto a pedestrian Zen Mosaic and i dont suppose it would support a Ogg Vorbis format?The LAME encoding DLL isn’t hard to find, but I fear explaining how to locate it may go beyond what the mods allow. It’s actually explained in some detail on the Audacity site, since Audacity doesn’t provide it, either.
Nah, that’s still simple theft. However, if you can get five years for downloading a Michael Jackson song and four for killing Michael Jackson, I wonder if my analogy even goes far enough.
Closing this. There’s enough info for the OP to do what he wants. We prefer discussions of how to circumvent US laws not be aired here.
Care to comment on what legal princiipal allows the end to justify the means?