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How to create MP3 files

Creating WAV files

First of all, you need sound files in the (Windows) WAV-format. Normally you will read in audio cds for that. Be sure to read them digitally and not to sample them (with programs like CoolEdit). If you sample, the sounds will first be convert from digital to analog (in the cd-rom) and then reconverted to digital (by the soundcard). You will get noise if you do so.

Most cd-roms can read digitally, with the exclusion of older Mitsumis. To make things more complicated, not all programs work with all cd-roms, even if these are capable of digital reading. So you just have to try it out.

You can get appropriate programs, so called CD rippers, from MP3.com.

Creating MP3 files

The next step is to convert the WAV files to the MP3 format. For this, there are two programs:

L3ENC

L3ENC is the program which got the whole thing rolling. It was developed by the Institut f�r Integrierte Schaltungen of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. L3ENC is available for DOS and for many Un*x-variants (e.g. Linux), it is commandoline-driven.

The call is 

l3enc in.wav out.mp3 -br 128000
This means the the file in.wav is converted to the file out.mp3 with a bitrate of 128000 bit/s. This bitrate is a good compromise between file size and sound quality. Unfortunatly, only the full version can create this bitrate, the shareware version can only convert with 112000 bit/s.

MP3 Compressor

MP3 Compressor is a program running under Win 96 and NT. It's greatest advantage over L3ENC is the fact that it runs about three times faster.

Unfortunatly, the MP3 Compressor is now illegal, which means that I cannot offer it.

With it's graphical user interface, the program should be used without any problems. The only thing to look out for it you select Quick under Options to get the full speed.

ID3 Tags

The last thing to do is to put Nightmare's ID3 Tagger for this, but there are other programs as well. Take a look at the MP3 Shopping Mall.

Playing MP3

To play MP3 files, you need an MP3 player. In my point of view, the best player is WinAMP. More players can be found on MP3.com.

Playing is the biggest problem with MP3 files because it needs quite some processor power. A 486DX-133 is the least, but you cannot do something else with it while playing. A Pentium 90 is fast enough to play MP3 files in the background. Also, main memory is important as the players first read some part of the file into memory and then play it from there.

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Last change: 98/02/01