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From MD to mp3
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Great Outdoors
Hey to all TA DJs,

I've got a few transitions which I wish to upload here for you guys to criticise, but I recorded them in an MD player and I have no idea how to copy them into mp3 form. I was told to connect the MD player to the sound card's line-in jack and use an mp3 encoder program to record it and save it, but no audio is coming out. Anyone willing to help me troubleshoot?
DJTJ
OK, you will need a mini-jack to mini-jack (1/8") lead that goes from the headphone out on your MD to the line-in on your soundcard. It must be the line-in rather than the mic-in; the levels and amplification are different and you will lose a lot of sound quality by plugging it into the mic input.

You then need to pull up the windows volume control. It should be in Start->programs->accessories->multimedia->volume control. You then need to go to Options->properties and click on the Recording option button. Make sure the line-in checkbox is selected in the list below. Then click on OK. The volume sliders should change and they will now be the recording input sliders, rather than the output playing sliders. You need to make sure that line-in is not muted and that the volume is up.

Now open up your favourite sound recording program (Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge 5.0 is a very good choice) and hit the record button.

HTH
JohnSmith
good info as always DJTJ.

2 things i would like to add, there is a shortcut to going through the start menu, you can just double click the little speaker icon in your system tray (the box at the bottom right where the clock is), to get to your audio properties. use the same instructions to get to the recording properties.

also, if you don't have soundforge, there is a program called Total Recorder that does a pretty good job. You can download the trial version for free here:

http://download.com.com/3000-2170-9...tml?tag=lst-0-1

this is only a demo, so you might have to pay to use the full functionality. there are ways aroud that though, i will leave that up to you.

another alternative is the windows sound recorder, in windows 98 it was called sndrec32.exe, just search for that file and run it from the command prompt. i think it only lets you record a limited amount of time. there is a way around that though, you just record the max time, then cut and paste it on the end, making the file bigger. save it as a wav of desired length, then record over it.

but, as DJTJ said, sound forge 5.0 is really the best, that should be your goal. it's damn expensive though.
ampburner
good advice, but you didn't tell him the next step (how to encode from .wav to .mp3(unless Soundforge has this ability, I wouldn't know cos I use cooledit for that))

I'd reccomend two progs for the job:

lame - best sound quality -
http://www.mp3dev.org/mp3/

Xing - less quality (or, as some would say CRAP) but userfriendly
http://www.xingtech.com/

note: OMG xing has been taken over by real? roflmao I didn't know that!
JohnSmith
yeah, good point..

Sound Forge 5.0 does encode mp3s, with a plugin, and it works very good. mine has expired though, i need to register it :(

Real networks suck, i would never use anything from them.
I guess Zing just got added to the boycott list too.

there is also a plugin for winamp that outputs mp3s, you can play wavs in it, and use that. works great, uses the lame encoder for good quality.
Great Outdoors
DJTJ, thanks so much for your help! In the end it was just a simple matter of unchecking "mute" on my Line-in volume control, dang. :D

Here's my first attempt in posting a transition, it's only a minute long coz I'm only allowed 60 seconds of recording in the trial version but it should suffice. All DJs please give me your most honest comments. Criticisms are absolutely welcome. :D

Oh by the way it's Hemstock and Jennings- Mirage of Hope (Original Mix) into Aquilia- Dream State.
ampburner
you can get cracks for most software at http://astalavista.box.sk search engine, I bet there is one for SF aswell (I might be telling you something really obvious :) but just in case you didn't know ). Of course I wouldn't promote anything illegal ( :D ), but...ya know... :)

I'm attempting to download the sample right now, too bad the server doesn't seem to be cooperating :( will try later
Great Outdoors
Hmmm , the server is down.
I can't seem to attach files in the thread, can anyone help?
ampburner
here you go...

I personally think the mixing is solid, but very specacular...I'm sure with skills like this you could play a great set, but the sample itsself doesn't really tel me much...
Great Outdoors
Thanks for hosting it up for me, Ampburner! I appreciate it. :)

Thanks for the compliment, I have to say it's only one satisfactory transition out of a million other lousy ones I have done. :D I'm still trying very hard to be consistent, though, because at times I can really suck. Do you mind posting up some of yours so I can see where I stand?

hapamoto
nice transition great outdoors! you should let the sample play more of the first song though..
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