Rockers Never Die - They Just Get Digitalized

David Shamah, The Jerusalem Post July 19, 2005

Recording your favorite tunes from streaming Internet Radio sources, as we mentioned last week, can net you a lot of MP3 files very quickly, There are only two problems with the songs you record using software like StationRipper. First, like with any other radio station, you don't have control over what's being played. There are thousands of Shoutcasts you can record from, representing even the obscure genres of music, but you still have to wait for the DJ to play what you like (although many streams take requests via instant messaging). So, while you will be able to build a broad-based music library very quickly, you're going to have to work a bit if you don't like taglines, DJs, and jingles (think 1960s and 70s AM radio, it you remember back that far).

The reason this happens has to do with the way streams label their MP3s. Each file as an ID tag (ID3 tag, to be precise). That tag is how your MP3 software (like Winamp) knows what it's playing.

Many legal MP3 streams follow the conversion process, from LP records and cassette tapes, that we are going to describe below (or something like it). Some of the conversion software will automatically build play list, insert station breaks, commercials, etc. Thus, some "extra noise" often gets encoded in he broadcast files. In addition, network delays sometimes cause the tag and the song to get mixed up, so sometimes the beginning of the next or previous song gets "captured" by your streaming player as part of the song you're recording. Of course, there are streams that are much "cleaner" - the only way to know which ones are which is via experimentation. As mentioned, the full version of StationRipper lets you record dozens of streams at one time. So, depending on the stream, you may get crisp, clear songs, or music with "noise" at the beginning and end of the file.

Some people, like me, don't mind the banter of radio DJs, even if isn't live (lots of the jingles with the station names give a dramatic introductory flair to the song, I think). If you prefer to have your music "clean" of non-audio interference, you can use various MP3 file editors to delete the extraneous data.

But as we mentioned, the list of songs you'll be able to download might be long - but it might not necessarily be the specific songs you want. And while you might be interested in expanding your mind with new sounds, there's something extra special comforting about listening to the favorites you've gathered over the decades - in your LP and cassette collection.

The move from analog to digital will do more than let you listen to your files using computers and MP3 players - it will let you "improve" music, boosting the bass and tripling the treble,so that "the thrill" of when the when you first heard (insert favorite song here).

In principle, transferring music should be an easy project. All you have to do is insert the cassette/ load the LP, play the music, and record it onto your computer. Generally, sounds that are recorded by a microphone or an electrical connection can be saved in one of several formats, the most popular among recording programs being WAV files, which is the format used on audio CDs, among others. Afterwards, you can convert them to MP3 or other formats.

And to what do you connect the radio/stereo/cassette/LP? Well, technically you could connect it to your PC's sound card, if it was the right one. There are dozens available, but I want to try and make the process practical instead of getting bogged down on sound care reviews (maybe another time). Suffice to say that I am using my Mac Mini for this project, so the software and hardware used in my method will reflect that choice (later we'll look at how you would do it with a PC).

The best choice in terms of effectiveness versus price is the Griffin iMic (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic) - it certainly is easy to use and effective. The iMic connects to your computer's USB port and records and plays in stereo - and since the Mac Mini has no digital audio in/out, the iMIc comes in mighty handy. Using the iMic on a Mac couldn't be simpler - plugging it in to the Mini's USB port causes it to be listed automatically as a sound card on the computer. Just flick the button to the recording side and load up your digital recording software (also to be discussed) and you're ready to go. (The iMic works on PCs too, and includes a driver CD, although it does seem to be recognized in most up to date versions of Windows XP).

With a huge collection of rock tapes that peter out somewhere around 1992, as well as some real Motown type music that I practically guarantee you never heard of, I pulled up a boombox type radio/cassette/CD layer I had bought few years ago, and connected it to my iMic. Ah, but where to connect it? The iMIc comes with a bunch of cables, including a straight dual channel RCA cable, as well as an adapter for stereo headphone input ports on the boombox. Since I did not see any other input plug on the boombox, I plugged the headphone connector into the RCA cables, connected the other side to the Mac Mini, ran iTunes and started recording.

Well, obviously things didn't work out so great, or I wouldn't have spent a whole paragraph talking about it! The recording software recorded - but the quality was awful! A little checking on the Internet indicated that this was exactly what was to be expected - the proper way to move music to a computer is via a stereo line-out connection, allowing both stereo channels to do their thing (something any dope should know, but then again, I'm not just any dope). Line-out was the answer to the musical question of "how to correctly connect and transfer analog cassette tapes to digital format WAVs and MP3s

Except my boombox didn't have a line out - and none of the other ones in the store did either! It was eerie - dozens of models of boomboxes, and all with only the headphone out connection! Obviously "something" was going on here - and I'll tell you what I suspect it was next time, as well as how I successfully overcame this challenge.

ds@newzgeek.com