How can I create mp3 files?

Factual Questions
1

I know that I can create mp3 files from CDs by using ripping software on my computer. But is there a way I can go from audio direct to, say, a floppy without using a computer? Obliously I’d need some sort of machine built for the task.

Currently, here’s how I do it – I plug audio out (RCA connectors) into the audio in of a CD burner, and burn a CD-R, then finalize it, making it read-only. I then have to walk it over to my PC where I RIP it. It’s so primitive that I might as well chisel into stone. For just one song, that’s pretty much a waste of a CD.

Is there any way to go directly from RCA out to mp3?

2

A CD-RW would mean you’re not wasting a CD.

-Joe, not helpful

3

Pipe the RCA out to the sound card input jack (usually 1/8" stereo), and use a program like Audacity to record and edit the sound. You can find cords or adapters at Radio Shack to adapt RCA left and right to 1/8" stereo.

4

Of course there is. Audacity will record from your PC’s audio input and export to a variety of file formats, including MP3, provided you have the MP3 codec.

If you don’t need all the editing power of Audacity, I love HDOgg, which can also use the codec from above. I use this to record over 9 hours of radio programs every weekend. Love it, love it, love it.

5

The problem with that is that my CD burner won’t produce CDs that can be read until they’re made read-only. Yes, it’s a crappy machine.

6

I didn’t even think of using my sound card’s input. Genius!

So I’d just need some adaptors. Will the sound format, impedence, and levels be compatible?

7

What does that have to do with using a CD-RW? The burner finalizing the CD has nothing to do with its inherent ability to be erased and reused. It just puts the “that’s all there is” code at the end of the table of contents.

Yes, as long as you use an analog “line out” output from your source (TAPE OUT, EQ OUT, something like that). Meaning basically: don’t run speaker or headphone connections to your PC.

8

It’s a particular feature called “Wild Assumption On My Part.” Perhaps I should revisit it.

9

:smiley:

10

Thanks for the tips. I’m going to a Dopefest tonight that is pretty close to a Radio Shack. I’ll see if they have what I need. (Not confident – my track record for shopping this week is dismal.)

11

Thanks once again for this. I walked into Radio Shack last night while waiting for the Dopefest to begin. I looked to the left and saw cellphones. Not promising. I looked to the right, and saw the exact adaptor that I needed. A very helpful sales clerk then found the exact extension cord I needed. A couple of downloads later, and I was creating files like no one’s business.

It was a little disconcerting that I was creating mono files at first, but I think I got that straightened out.