# How do I capture a song on a DVD to my iPod? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752 "2006-07-09T16:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/1 "2006-07-09T16:28:56Z")
NOTE: I’m only interested in the legal, above board process. I bought a DVD of a TV series (the wonderful Canadian show, SLINGS AND ARROWS, but that’s not relevant.) The opening “scene” in “play by scenes” is the opening credits which has the wonderful song, “Cheer up, Hamlet.” I would like to capture that song on my computer for the iPod. I have QuickTime for DVD playing, but I’ve not been successful in figuring out how to pick up only the audio portion for the iPod. Can someone explain in simple, non-technical, easy-to-follow steps, please? Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/2 "2006-07-09T16:34:48Z")
You’re probably going to need to find a piece of software that can do audio captures from DVD video. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/3 "2006-07-09T16:58:18Z")
I can think of a real easy way that doesn’t require demuxing software (rip the video and audo, separate one from the other, etc…) I will assume you have some kind of audio recording program. Your Windows Mixer’s Recording properties should have a channel for “What You Hear” or “Stereo Mix” or something similar. Check the box to open this recording source. Start the recording program. Play the DVD in the drive, and it _should_ pass the audio signal through the sound card, and the recording program _should_ pick it up and record it. Record it as a 44,100 Hz, 16-bit stereo audio file. Then, convert it to whatever format the iPod accepts. If it’s mp3, that’s easy. If it’s a proprietary format, that’s where my knowledge ends. If you need some free software recommendations, come back and let us know what you need. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/4 "2006-07-10T05:19:41Z")
Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll try it in the next few days and report back! ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/5 "2006-07-17T17:09:52Z")
Hey, **Dex** , I was wondering if you had any luck in getting a recording. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/6 "2006-07-17T20:57:12Z")
Cleverly, my son borrowed the DVD, so I don’t have it and haven’t tried. Sigh. I’ll let ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/7 "2006-07-18T17:58:36Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] NOTE: I’m only interested in the legal, above board process. I bought a DVD of a TV series (the wonderful Canadian show, SLINGS AND ARROWS, but that’s not relevant.) The opening “scene” in “play by scenes” is the opening credits which has the wonderful song, “Cheer up, Hamlet.” I would like to capture that song on my computer for the iPod. I have QuickTime for DVD playing, but I’ve not been successful in figuring out how to pick up only the audio portion for the iPod. Can someone explain in simple, non-technical, easy-to-follow steps, please? Thanks in advance! [/QUOTE] On my Mac I got a crippleware program called [Audio Hijack](http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/). It’s pretty self explanatory. It grabs (“hijacks”) the audio feed from an application and records a wav file. Without paying for it the sound quality degrades after ten minutes, but that’s enough to get most songs. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/8 "2006-07-18T18:01:42Z")
A much dirtier and complicated solution, but one that’s guaranteed to work: Run a cable from the audio out on the DVD player to the line-in jack on your sound card, and use Audacity (free) to capture it as a WAV. Then clean it up and convert it to MP3. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/9 "2006-07-18T18:20:35Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] NOTE: I’m only interested in the legal, above board process. [/QUOTE] First you write a nice letter to the copyright owner, asking for their permission to make a legal copy. Then you wait for their reply before you do anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-capture-a-song-on-a-dvd-to-my-ipod/363752/10 "2006-07-18T19:31:45Z")
Welcome to [**the analog hole**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_hole). No, it’s not robot porn. Try [Audacity](http://audacity.sourceforge.net).