Convert LPs, CD or Cassette to MP3: Transfer to MP3/MP4 Player

You don't have to be tied to your turntable, cassette player, or aging boombox to enjoy your favorite sounds. Go digital! With a Notebook or Desktop computer and easy-to-use software, you can quickly convert analog music on records, cassettes, eight-tracks, and other formats to digital format. Then transfer the files to a digital music player for on-the-go entertainment.

Music is one of those elements that seems to infuse everyone's life. There's always music playing somewhere, and there's a good chance that you have some of your favorite music on albums, cassettes, or CDs. Why not digitize that music so you can manage it from one source -- your PC -- and transfer it to a portable player so you're never without the music you love? In this article, you'll find out how to do just that.
Ripping Music

Note: Taking music off of any type of media and converting it to a digital format is called ripping. Each type of music media requires a slightly different approach to ripping.

To rip an LP, for example, you need to connect a turntable to an amplifier, and connect those items to your Notebook or Desktop computer. Then use a program like Musicmatch Jukebox or The Boom Box™ to pull music from an existing format and convert them to digital formats such as WAV (Windows Waveforms), MP3 (Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 Audio), WMA (Windows Media Audio), and ATRAC® (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding).

After you rip music to your PC, you can use software such as Nero software to create your own music mixes and burn your own audio CDs, or transfer files to a portable digital music player.

Tip: Most MP3/MP4 Players comes with a built-in USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector that connects directly to a PC so you can transfer files without the need for an additional cable.

Making Sense of Audio Formats

There are a number of digital audio formats, including WAV, MP3, WMA, and the Sony ATRAC3® and ATRAC3plus™ formats. Here's a brief explanation of each of these audio formats.

* ATRAC®/ATRAC3®/ATRAC3plus™: ATRAC® is a secure compression technology based on Sony's ATRAC technology, which was first developed by Sony in 1991 and is supported by MiniDisc. ATRAC3 is a major update to the ATRAC format, doubling the data compression rate with virtually no degradation in sound quality. ATRAC3 reduces the size of a digital music file to a mere 1/10 the size of the original CD source. ATRAC3plus, the most advanced ATRAC format, compresses audio CD data to approximately 1/20 the original size.
* MP3: MP3s are highly compressed, making MP3 the ideal format for storing and accessing lots of digital music. The compression works by removing sounds in the music that are undetectable by the human ear.
* WAV: A Microsoft audio format that doesn't have any type of compression associated with it. That means that audio files that are stored as WAV files are very large.
* WMA: An audio file that features compression. WMA files tend to sound better than MP3 files, but WMA is not as popular as MP3.

So, which digital audio file is the best one for your music? The answer depends on the sound quality you want, how much music you have, and the type of music player you use most often. Currently, MP3 is the most popular format. More players support MP3 files, and the sound quality is good enough to satisfy even the pickiest audiophile. But if you've invested in a top-of-the line digital mp4 player, you get the added benefit of ATRAC3® or ATRAC3plus™ file playback. These formats give you the highest possible compression without seriously eroding sound quality.
What You Can Do When Your Music Is Digital

Once it's digital, you can use your digital music it in many different ways:

* Listen to two songs on a CD rather than the entire CD.
* Listen to more than one artist at a time.
* Create your own playlists that reflect the mood you're in, the task you're working on, or whatever elements that affect what you want to hear.

Now that you know why you should convert your analog music to a digital format, and how to do it, the next step is dusting off the old equipment, hooking it up to your PC, and getting started.