When I use iTunes on the Mac it can convert CDs to MP3s at about 9x
the play rate of the cd.  I mean that 9 minutes of music takes 1
minute to go to the Mac.  Is there an equivalent program for the PC
(win 2k) where I can convert cds to MP3s very quickly (10x)?

wapl...

You'll be happy to know that the RealOne Player can
convert CDs at the rate of 32X, depending on your
computer's speed and your CD player's speed, of course.
And that's just the free version, which converts CD
tracks to MP3s that play at 96Kbps (which is quite
adequate, as far as playback quality is concerned),
which makes for a smaller file, and more room on
your hard drive.

For test purposes, I just converted a whole CD in
a couple of minutes. A 4+ minute song took 8 seconds
to convert. Playing it back, I can't tell that it's
not the original CD, and I'm a musician who plays by
ear, so I'm acutely aware of sound quality.

The free version is available at the right of this page:
http://www.real.com/realoneplayer.html?pp=choice&src=121902r1choice_c2

The premium version costs $19.95, and converts CD
tracks to MP3s that play at up to 320Kbps, though,
of course, these take longer to produce, and will
take up much more space on your hard drive.
Assuming 320Kbps MP3s take 3 times as long to create
as 96Kbps MP3s, they would be created at 10X speed,
vs 32X for the 96Kbps ones. The premium version is
available on the same page.

The RealOne Player has many other excellent features
as well, including a very good equalizer and some
great visualizations, but I'll leave you to discover
more on your own.


Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by means of a dialog with
the researcher through the "Request for Clarification" process.

sublime1-ga


Searches done. via Google:

RealOne
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=RealOne

---

Request for Answer Clarification by wapl-ga on 01 Jan 2003 21:57 PST

Great answer, but one clarification.  I have a 1.4 ghz computer,
384meg RAM, CD drive (not sure the speed).  I'm only achieving 2x with
real player at 64k bit rate.  I have version 2.0 build 6.0.11.853 of
Real Player.  Any idea why it seems slow?

---

Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 01 Jan 2003 23:08 PST

wapl...

Hmmm...

Mine is a 1.67G, 512M DDR RAM, and your version of
the RealOne player is later than mine. I wouldn't 
expect that great of a difference due to the CPU
or the RAM, so I'm left suspecting your CD drive.
Mine is 48x 16x 48x. The fact that you're not sure
of the speed of yours implies to me that it might
be one of the older components on your system,
and due for an upgrade. Beyond that, I can't say
anything with any certainty. If you don't think
your drive's age/speed is the problem, this might
better be addressed in a separate question.

sublime1-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by wapl-ga on 01 Jan 2003 23:09 PST

Thanks.  I found a utility that measures cd speed and mine is 2x. 
Wow.  I guess I must have re-used it from a couple of old computers. 
I'll upgrade.  Thanks for helping me get to the bottom of the problem.
 No reply necessary.

---

Clarification of Answer by sublime1-ga on 01 Jan 2003 23:40 PST

wapl...

When you post a response in the "Request for Clarification"
area, I am required to respond. No problem though - thanks
for the great rating and the generous tip. I'm sure you'll
appreciate the considerable difference a new CD player makes.
And let me recommend that you purchase a CD-R, which allows
you the option of sharing large files with friends, as well
as backing up large amounts of data in a simple manner.

Well done and good follow up.

Ripping speed depends on both hardware and software, as well as your
settings. You can convert music much more quickly by encoding at lower
bit rates, but most PC software is designed to try and make the most
of whatever limit you set it at for a better quality rip. Why do you
need it to go so quickly? I highly recommend sacrificing the extra
five to ten minutes of time for a better quality rip that you can use
for years until something better comes along.

bookface-ga

Well I would like to comment on this....

I wonder how one could get a music track on Realplayer while a CD is
playing and save it? I have tried 3 times and it won't save. I wanted
to save it & send  via  a file to a friend to listen to........... but
it won't save..........

I love CDEx to convert CD Tracks to mp3s. CDex extracts the sound
digitally straight from CD to mp3,  without doing an digital to analog
and back to digital (mp3) conversion like many other programs do. So
Quality is amazing.
Then it is fast, offers the CD DB features, includes different codecs
(WAV, MP3, OGG, VQF, APE, etc), mp3 extraction to 320k or whatever the
codec supports. Oh yes and it is free, without ad- or spyware (like
real)
CDEx can be found at http://www.cdex.n3.net/    oh and if you use win
XP or 2000, and CD Ex is not recognizing your CD Drive, then make sure
to download the latest ASPI driver... this page here helps
http://w3.westnet.gr/mp3/rippers/aspi.htm