If you have a portable MP3 player that plays WMA
(Windows Media Audio) files or are in the process of ripping your
CD collection to your computer's hard drive, you should look into
using the WMA format. Since WMA is a newer technology than MP3,
many people have found that it sounds better at the same bit
rate. Let us guide you through the process so that you end up
with files suitable for your purposes.
Before you start, you'll need to gather these elements:
- CDs
- CD-ROM drive
- Windows Media Player
Step 1: Download and install
Windows Media Player
Download and install Windows
Media Player (if you already have it installed, go to Help
> Check For Player Updates to get the newest version). If you
want to use WMP as your default media player, just keep hitting
Next until it's installed. If you want to keep your current
default media player, be sure to deselect the file types when
they are listed.
Step 2: Quit other
programs
If you have an old machine (a sub-300MHz processor with a
three-year-old CD-ROM drive, for example), quit all other
programs before commencing to rip. Then drop the CD to be ripped
into your CD-ROM drive. If you have two drives that can read CDs,
use the cheaper, less complicated one for ripping since the
process can add wear and tear to the drive over a long period of
time.
Step 3: Navigate to the Rip
window
Select Rip on the top navigation bar in WMP. If the song, the
album, and the artist are not properly named, click the Find
Album Info button near the top of the screen to have WMP
automatically fill in that information (see the bottom pane in
WMP for further instructions on adding song information). This
information comes from the Internet, so you have to be connected
in order for WMP to retrieve it.
Step 4: Customise the ripping
settings
Now it's time to set up WMP's copying parameters. Right-click
along the very top of the window and select Options > Tools
> Rip Music. To specify a location for the copied WMA files,
click the Change button and browse to the folder of your choice.
To specify how your files will be named, click the File Name
button.
Step 5: Choose Windows Media
Audio as the format
Without leaving the Rip Music screen, choose Windows Media Audio
from the Format drop-down menu. Make sure that the Copy Protect Music box is unchecked, or you probably
won't be able to play the song on other computers or your MP3
player. Use the Audio Quality slider control to select an
appropriate bit rate; higher qualities and larger file sizes are
found to the right. If you don't know which to choose, pick
128Kbps (which uses about 56MB per CD), the most commonly
preferred bit rate. Click OK at the bottom of the Options
screen.
Step 6: Rip Music
Make sure all the tracks you want to rip are selected, then click
the Rip Music button at the upper right of the screen. If more
dialog screens appear, just choose the options that let you keep
the settings you selected. Sit back and relax while WMP rips the
CD -- if you do too much with your computer while ripping, you
can introduce clicks and pops into the files. It should take
between seven minutes and a half an hour, depending on your
drive's ripping speed. When it's done, navigate to the folder you
chose in step four. The songs on the CD should be there, in WMA
format. Give one of the songs a listen, just to make sure
everything worked out; barring a strange hardware anomaly, the
tunes should sound just about as good as the CD itself.
fafgfd
06/01/2006 10:36 PM
wma does NOT sound better than MP3, I have tested this.
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O
03/10/2006 05:59 AM
I think you are at least a year behind the times. MP3 sounds great, is hardly older and is far more versatile.
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