You little ripper – a public service bleg

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This webpage surveys the various products on offer to rip (a groovy word meaning ‘record’ I guess) streaming video and audio into files like MP3 files.heads.gif

I’m not too interested in video, but occasionally want to convert a streaming audio into an MP3 file. yelling-609437.jpgSo in the very likely event that there’s good advice out there on this matter, I’m asking for it. What I (and perhaps other Troppodillians) am (should this word be ‘are’?) after is a program that’s as easy as possible to use, not chock full of features that will confuse me without giving me any capability I’m likely to use. And of course the closer to free it is – the better.

And the page on MP3 ‘rippers’ is here.

Pictures courtesy of a quick Google Image search of “person with headphones”. I guess people will differ in which one they prefer. But there’s no doubt they add a bit of colour and movement!

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Jc
Jc
17 years ago

nice head shot , nick. who’s the blond on the right?

invig
17 years ago

i use FreeRIP (windows). Its free but still well supported with a CD database, but you have to convert into Ogg-Vorbis (rather than MP3, but i think all players read it fine) if you want to go over 128kbps.

Francis Xavier Holden
17 years ago

Audacity is my favourite for most simple sound tasks. It’s FREE and well featured. It will capture streaming depending on your sound card. It will then export/convert your files as MP3 if you want. Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Runs on Linux/PC/MAC.

My other favourite (player) is Media Monkey – FREE – cos it plays FLAC as well as MP3 etc. It will also convert from superior FLAC straight to MP3. It will burn too but I like to use different programs for burning and extracting.

Gold Audio Geek Standard for extraction is FREE EAC (Exact Audio Copy)

I use JUICE a FREE GPL Linux/PC/MAC program to auto download podcasts and store then so that months later I can wonder what they are and delete them without listening.

David
David
17 years ago

Just so you know where “RIP” came from:

It’s an abbreviation for “Raster Image Processor”. This is the bit in a laser printer that converts a printer file into the pattern of dots the printer actually puts on the paper. (A “raster” image is a “bitmap” image – a digital image made of dots).

These days every computer and laser printer does its own “RIPping”, but in the early days of digital graphic (mid 1980s), this was a separate process done on an expensive machine called a…RIP.

So people would say “can you RIP this file”, “I’ve just got to RIP it” etc.

In digital video, the terminology for (essentially) the same thing is “rendering).

When you’re converting analogue audio to digital, you’re doing more-or-less the same thing – making a digital file out of something else. So I guess people started picking up the graphics term.

Since then it has morphed into covering any kind of file extraction and conversion (probably because “ripping off” also seems to fit some of these activities).

There, aren’t you glad you know that now?

D

zoot
zoot
17 years ago

I can heartily recommend Total Recorder (Windows), but it does cost about $18 (US)

Robert Merkel
17 years ago

Ogg Vorbis is a free software thing – unlike MP3, there’s no patent uncertainty surrounding its use.

If you want something guaranteed to record streaming audio, this program should do the trick. It pretends to be your sound card driver, but instead captures the audio to a file, which you can then convert to MP3 or whatever other format you like.

Alexm
Alexm
17 years ago

Support zoot regarding Total Recorder. Very easy to install and use. Actually one of the few reasons I keep a Windows box running as I’ve almost totally converted to Linux otherwise. The website of the developers is

Alexm
Alexm
17 years ago
Roger Migently
17 years ago

Is there something similar to capture streaming video in various formats?

Alexm
Alexm
17 years ago

Total Recorder has an add-on for AVI files (most streaming video is available in this as an alternative). It appears you have to have the Professional ($US40) or Developer ($US100) versions of Total Recorder as well as stumping up $US40 for the AVI add-on – update – you can bundle the AVI add-on with the Professional edition for $US72 or with the Developer version for $138.

Haven’t tried this so can’t speak for it but if it is as easy to use as the audio version it might be worth the money if you have a bit of use for it. Just investigating it has half convinced me to try it (trial version is available).

trackback
17 years ago

[…] some reason, this put us in mind of the Nicholas and Jacques over at Club […]

Patrick
Patrick
17 years ago

btw, the ‘am’ was correctly singular since if the sentence didn’t read grammatically without the brackets then you should not have had the brackets.

invig
17 years ago

Nicholas, you’d think so but it does seem to function as a drop-in replacement without any frigging around (the bit rate is just a sound quality thing).

Nevertheless, I bow to FXH’s far-superior insight on these matters (and thank him profusely for putting me back in touch with EAC – I used to use it but had forgotten what it was called and was unable to download it after a hard drive wipe)

So, I change my recommendation to Exact Audio Copy.

invig
17 years ago

WARNING

I think there is something weird going on with Gzip (which you need to unlock the LAME encoder for EAC). It installs but then does not create an executable file, while other versions do nothing at all.

Is there a reason to be concerned here? Could GNU no longer be safe.

Worried, any help appreciated.

invig
17 years ago

Geez i’m crap at the stuff. Stand down everyone, my bad, no conspiracy.

You just download the .zip file rather than .gz file and its all good.

Francis Xavier Holden
17 years ago

invig – if you are geeking it up at the high end of audio town may I remind you the audio purist’s burner of choice is Feurio. Also free (more technically shareware with a small nag screen bother)

invig
17 years ago

Lol reminder appreciated though the high end of geek town is perhaps a little further than my intellectual taxi fare will take me.

Mules
Mules
17 years ago

If you use winamp to play the stream you can use the Streamripper plug-in to record it as mp3. It is the easiest one I have used. Or WM recorder to recorder it from Windows Media Recorder.

Thanks to the link to Audacity, may have to give that a go.

Pedantic Bastard
Pedantic Bastard
17 years ago

What I (and perhaps other Troppodillians) am… (should this word be are?)

No. The trick is to avoid the clash in the first place. If you must have the parentheses, consider instead:'(perhaps like other Troppodillians)’.