January 7th, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
Time to pick up where I left off before the holidays… So, you’ve downloaded yourself a free ripper, decided on a format, and now you’re wondering how to go about adding those pesky file tags you keep hearing about. But wait, what are they and why are they needed? Simply put, tags (as they relate to music files) are extra bits of meta data that get added to music files so that playback or cataloging software can identify and display pertinent information about the file: artist, title, album, track number, genre, etc. Say your music file is a piece of candy — tags do not alter the taste of the candy, they just provide the packaging. Without the packaging, your brain (or your computer) has no idea what’s inside the wrapper. Nobody wants to pop an Eminem in their mouth thinking it’s an Ice Cube, do they?
Bad metaphors aside, tagging is absolutely critical for maintaining a tidy and smoothly running digital music archive. Not every music format includes tags, so make sure you choose one that does. MP3s have the most robust tagging support. If you go lossless, FLAC support tags, to a certain extent.
The best rippers rip and tag in one step. Programs like iTunes and Windows Media Player can do both and for most people, they will suffice. Problems can arise, however, when you don’t like the choices those programs have made. Sometimes a tagger is inconsistent: one album gets tagged by “Medeski, Martin, and Wood” and the next one is tagged by “Medeski Martin & Wood.” When you go to sort your music, those albums are not listed as by the same artist. It’s not always easy to figure out how to change the tags they have added and once you have, some apps (like iTunes) have a nasty habit of changing them back without your permission (* see below). That is why I recommend a dedicated tagging program. I use Tag & Rename — it has great features, is easy to use, and only costs $29.95. But if you want something free, go with Mp3tag, which offers 90% of the functionality of Tag & Rename. Despite its name, Mp3tag can handle a plethora of formats.
That’s probably enough about tags for now, but one last tip: one of the most important tags is often the least consistently implemented: and that’s the genre tag. Many tagging programs come with their own subset of genre tags and they don’t all match. The result is a scattered mish-mash of genres, so that (for example) when you go to make a cool mix of all your World Music artists, you have to search through multiple genres like World, World Beat, Latin, International, and Mongol Throat Singing. So just like you should choose a single file format, you should also create a set number of genres (the fewer the better) and consistently stick to them. Otherwise, you loose the very utility that tags were created to provide.
( * You can prevent this from happening by tagging the files properly and then changing their setting to “Read Only,” which prevents any further changes. In Windows you can do that by selecting the files in question, right-click, properties, and check the “Read Only” box. Just remember that you’ll need to uncheck it if you ever want to make any further changes yourself. )
Posted in: Handy Little Apps, Tech Checks
Tags: music file tags, taggers, tagging files
November 24th, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by admin
In my previous article I suggested three good CD rippers for digitizing your music collection. I used MP3 as the default format (and I’ll explain why) but there are actually a plethora of choices. Today I’ll be discussing which ones make the most sense and why.
There are literally dozens of digital music formats. This article could be ten thousand words long and still not cover all the options. I’m going to save everyone a lot of boring reading and cut to the chase. Only two formats make sense: FLAC and MP3. Choose the former if you are an audiophile purist and want a perfect duplicate of your CDs, utterly and objectively indistinguishable from the original. You’ll need more hard drive space, but space is cheap these days. Choose the latter if your hi-fi gear cost less than $2,000, you are humble enough to admit that you do not have golden ears, or are willing to take a simple test to tell whether you can hear the difference. You may also want to opt for mp3 if you have an mp3 player, as maintaining two separate music archives is a huge pain in the butt.
I can hear a lot of you Pod people screaming at me, but what about Apple Lossless? What about AAC? Sure, that’s what Apple wants you to use, but why? How many other pieces of gear can you name that support Apple Lossless? (And if you have an iPod Nano, even that won’t support it.) You think your next car will come with a built-in AAC player? FLAC and MP3 are open source, more or less (MP3-compression is a patented, technically speaking, but licensing is loosely policed). Which means manufacturers don’t have to pay anyone to build compatibility into their gear. Which means a heck of a lot more hardware on the market capable of handling those formats than the narrowly defined ones Apple promotes. With respect to all the hard work that went into developing Ogg-Vorbis, Monkey’s Audio, Real Audio, WMA, Musepack, and all the rest — the same Occam’s Razor applies. FLAC support is far from universal, but it’s a lot more common than any other open-source, lossless option, and FLAC supports tagging — a critical difference (see tomorrow’s article for why).
The truth is I used to be a lossless snob. I saved everything in FLAC and made the hardline decision that any compression was evil and mp3s were not sophisticated enough to feed my cultivated ear. It took me a few years before I realized the prejudice I had against mp3s was based on the few, low bitrate examples I had heard. By that time, I had also acquired an mp3 player and hated the inherent inefficiency of maintaining all my music in two different formats. So I took a simple A/B test, easily conducted with the excellent, free, and very low-overhead player Foobar2000. The results proved that I simply could not reliably hear the different between a lossless FLAC file and one encoded in VBR (variable bit-rate) mp3. To err on the side of caution, I opted to use a constant bitrate of 320 kpbs — the highest setting available. The end result? Over a thousand albums, comprising about 140GB of space, and an archive that is as easily accessible by my mp3 player(s) as it is by my whole house audio system.
Now, a few disclaimers: If your needs dictate a possible future conversion to another format, or are approaching CD ripping as an archiving process, and are saving this music for posterity, do not use mp3. There’s no going back without degradation. But for most of us, mp3 is the right choice.
Posted in: Tech Checks
Tags: bitrate, choosing an audio format, mp3
November 23rd, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by admin
In many ways, MP3s have gotten a bad rap. To many, they are synonymous with piracy and copyright infringement. To others, they suggest poor fidelity. The truth is that there is nothing illegal about ripping a CD you own, and the result need not be a significant (read: audible) degradation of the original. Although the RIAA continues to muddy the waters of common perception with its incessant lawsuits, under U.S. law it is still considered “Fair Use” to make a digital backup of music you own, so long as you do not try to share the files with others.
Now that the legal issue is out of the way, how should you go about freeing your music from its physical confines and condemning all those scratch-happy circles of silver and gold to 20th-century obsolescence? Well, the options are endless, actually. There may be more CD ripping applications available than any other type of program. In addition to which program to use, you also need to decide what bitrate files you want to create and how you want to go about tagging the resultant files (both will be the subject of future articles) . Today I’ll focus on three free choices and tell you why one or another may be more apt for your particular set of needs and preferences.
Exact Audio Copy : One of the most venerable and well-respected cd rippers ever coded, and an easy choice for my Free Windows Apps Hall of Fame. The product of one obsessive German for whom accuracy is paramount, EAC is one of the few (only?) rippers that double checks its own work and insures your rips are bit-for-bit accurate. If a perfect copy is not possible, due to scratches or other flaws in the disc, EAC will tell you so but not before doing its absolute best to squeeze every possible 1 and 0 from the original. As a result, some rips can take a long while to complete, so EAC is not for those who want quick results. EAC also requires a fair amount of initial configuration. Guides and tutorials abound for tackling this once-and-done step. Here are two: EAC Setup Guide , Exact Audio Copy Guide.
CDex : Easier to use than EAC, due to fewer initial configuration options. Open-source, which unfortunately doesn’t always translate into frequent updates and robust support. Apparently does not play well with Windows 2000. All that being said, CDex is simple, intuitive, requires low system resources, and is a good choice for the average user who is not hyper concerned with perfection.
FreeRip: The newest entry on the list, FreeRip looks to be a strong competitor. Also very easy to use and configure, has built in tagging, and supports a decent number of formats. So far, though, FreeRip has yet to really distinguish itself and apparently has a nag screen and some add-ons you should be sure to opt out on at the time of installation.
Posted in: Handy Little Apps, Tech Checks
Tags: CDEX, Exact Audio Copy, free cd rippers, FreeRip, how to rip a CD
October 23rd, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
It seems Microsoft is not entirely devoid of sympathy or a conscience. As part of their penance for delivering unto the world the lumbering, malformed bastard-child known as Vista, they are making their next offering available as a download to students and teachers for just $29.99. All you need is a viable email address that ends in .edu to qualify. Go here for the details and to check if your system is capable of running the new OS. By all accounts the upgrade is worth your time and effort.
Posted in: Recommended Merchants
Tags: cheap, deal, Windows 7
October 19th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
I recently acquired my very first iPod. Being late to the party is standard operating procedure for me, at least as far as certain trendy electronics go. I like to let the early adopters (over)spend their hard earned cash, work out the kinks for me, and only tend to jump on board after the manufacturers have slashed prices and moved on to the next iteration of the latest and greatest.
In this case, acquiring an iPod was not by choice. I actually had a 30gb Zune that I quite liked, despite the naysayers. Sure, it came in a color most accurately described as “turd.” Sure, it carried no cache and quite a bit of stigma. But it could do just about everything a comparable iPod could, costs half as much (I got it refurbed on Woot), and best of all did not come saddled with the overblown monstrosity that is iTunes.
Well, I made the mistake of taking said Zune to a reunion of college buddies at a lake house where all we do for three days is drink canned beer, float on truck tire tubes, and listen to classic rock ad nauseum. Well, that particular Zune now sleeps with the fishes. Nobody knows how it ended up at the bottom of the lake, but the most likely suspect had the decency to send me his old video iPod as a replacement. So I reformatted it for Windows, named it iTryd (to not get an iPod, get it?), and set about learning the ins and outs of this little cultural iCon.
Truth be told, I quite liked the thing. Enough so that I bought one of those handy dandy docks that would allow me to play tunes or output My Little Pony movies to a TV for my kids while it was still charging. Which made it all the more annoying when I discovered that it wasn’t actually charging while playing. At first I suspected the dock. Then I suspected the cable. But the iPod displayed other strangeness, like confusion over its level of charge and whether it was even connected to a power source at all.
To make a long story short, I decided to try replacing the battery. Now, cracking open an iPod might seem like a scary proposition to most folk, but it’s really not that bad. There are quite a few guides on how to do so out there on the Internets, so I’m not going to duplicate them here. For those who like textual step-by-steps with images, I found this one to be complete enough to get the job done. There are also video guides on YouTube and elsewhere. I definitely recommend buying a battery on eBay (much cheaper) and getting one that comes with a plastic tool for opening the case. Small metal screwdrivers, knives, etc. are likely to mar the iPod’s case and you certainly wouldn’t want to diminish yourself in the i’s of your fellow podmates.
p.s. the new battery appears to have fixed my issues. So now I can charge and use the iPod at the same time. Now to figure out how to do the same for my gray matter…
Posted in: Electronics Repair 101, Film Reviews, Just Do It (Yourself), Tech Checks
Tags: replace battery video ipod
October 10th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
This one is a no-brainer for most anyone who has spent time fixing or experimenting with computers, but once upon a time I didn’t know about it, so perhaps there are others out there like I was, who can benefit fro
m a tip.
Occasionally, diagnosing a computer requires you to have the motherboard (and possibly other components) laid out on a desk, outside and disconnected from the case and its handy little power button. Or maybe your power button is shot and you want to check.
In any case, “hot wiring” a computer is as simple as determining the two power-on or on/off pins in the front panel header. Your motherboard’s manual should have a handy little diagram that gives you this information, like the one depicted here, but if you don’t have that a few minutes with Google should yield you an answer.
Once you know which pins control power, you simply need to short them with something metal. Something long and narrow like a screwdriver works best, but anything metal will work: a coin, a knife, the fillings in your teeth… Touch your tool of choice to the two pins for a second or two and watch the computer whir to life. All that you are doing is recreating the press of your actual power button, which is nothing more than a “push-to-make” momentary switch that closes a circuit and tells your power supply to kick on.
But don’t leave your tool touching the pins for too long–that will power off the system just like holding in your power button.
Posted in: Electronics Repair 101, Just Do It (Yourself)
Tags: how to hot wire a computer, turn on a computer without power button
October 9th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
I’m not a big fan of companies who go out of their way to create proprietary cabling or try to trick their customers into spending more money than necessary. To some, that’s just good business. To me, that’s just another brand of snake oil.
Owners of (non-HD) Zunes or Video iPods wishing to connect their devices to televisions will need to acquire a
3.5mm Plug (4 Pole) To 3 RCA A/V Cable 6 ft.
MS and Apple want us to believe you need their special, pricey cables, but the truth of the matter is any garden variety cable with a 4-pole mini-jack on one end and white, red, and yellow RCA jacks on the other will work just fine. You may even have one on hand if you also have a camcorder. The trick is knowing which plug goes where.
For Zunes, you’ll want to swap the Red and Yellow connections. So white connector to white jack, red connector to yellow jack, and yellow connector to red (see image above).
Those tricky Mac engineers went one step further by switching around all three cables, so for Video iPods: red connector to yellow jack, yellow to white, and white to red. Like so:
Posted in: Just Do It (Yourself), Tech Checks
Tags: ipod, standard cable, video out, zune
October 3rd, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by admin
Here’s a handy little image for those of you who, like me, occasionally need visual reminders when doing something as simple as wiring a stereo potentiometer. While most dual/stereo pots will have a similar layout, this image is only guaranteed accurate for the 100k stereo pot sold at Radio Shack (part no. 271-1732). Don’t forget to tie your input and output grounds together.
Posted in: Electronics Repair 101, Just Do It (Yourself)
Tags: How to, Potentiometer, Radio Shack 271-1732, Wiring
September 18th, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by admin
From time to time, I’ll be adding mini reviews of what I consider to be the best (read: most useful) free Windows applications of all time. Here’s a starter list below.
Got a recommendation? Join the small but highly valued group of go-getters who have actually posted a response to this blog!
System Tools
UltraVNC - Remote PC control software par excellence. Simple to use and configure, low overhead, and a total life-saver for people like me who spend half their time servicing the computers of their friends and family.
AVG - Who could possibly need (or want) the bloated monstrosities of Norton or McAfee living inside your machine when you can have a silent and stealthy virus assassin like AVG instead?
Xport - Serial COM port splitter, especially helpful for situations where USB GPS devices in CarPC installs have trouble resuming properly from hibernation. Can also help with video lockups during resume.
Poweroff - need to remotely shut down, hibernate, or wake up another computer on your network? Look no further.
Auto Hotkey - “AutoHotkey is an open source scripting language for Windows that can automate and customize almost any action on your PC.”
NirCmd - Extremely handy command-line tool for streamlining and simplifying all those pesky multi-step actions like hiding all of your windows, muting volume, and so much more.
Regcleaner - It takes almost no time at all for the Windows registry to get bogged down with obsolete entries. This free tool will help keep your system running at full speed.
TweakUI - part of the PowerTools pack for Windows, this app gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. One setting in particular - keep windows from stealing focus — is very helpful in configuring a frontend.
Media
Exact Audio Copy - One of the most venerable and well-respected cd rippers ever coded. When accuracy is a must and ever bit counts.
Media Player Classic (Home Cinema) - one of the best free video players out there just got even better, with more secondary screen control for those of you who (like me) use a projector or flatscreen TV in addition to a standard monitor with your HTPCs.
Video Lan Client (VLC) -cross-platform, open-source multimedia framework, player, and server. When all other video player apps fail to play a given file, usually VLC can come through.
ffdshow - not for the faint of heart, this extremely powerful free app (to quote Wikipedia) “is a media decoder and encoder mainly used for the fast and high-quality decoding of video in the MPEG-4 ASP (e.g. encoded with DivX, Xvid or FFmpeg MPEG-4) and AVC (H.264) formats, but supporting numerous other video and audio formats as well. It is free software released under the GPL license, runs on Windows and is implemented as a DirectShow and VFW decoding filter.”
Winamp - “It really whips the llama’s ass!” Forget the latest greatest incarnation and head over to oldversion.com to get a leaner ancestor of this venerable and versatile digital music player (2.95 is a personal favorite). Then grab you some Milkdrop (use 1.04 or earlier with older winamps) and slurp the trippy visuals, brah.
Foobar2000 - The unexciting but very intuitive default interface of this excellent music player belies all the power under the hood. Essentially, get foobar’ed if you want none of the frills and all of the functionality (and then some) of Winamp. Also converts file types and even burns CDs with ease.
Xlobby - The latest official version of this powerful and yogi-flexible media frontend is no longer free (or even available to the consumer market, per se), but the old free version is still capable of running circles around frontends that cost more than your computer.
Graphics and Word Processing
Open Office - Freeing the world from Word (and Powerpoint, Excel, etc), one computer at a time. Works cross-platform, available in dozens of languages, it will even save your files in a Word format if you have clients or colleagues that absolutely must have their docs as .docs.
Gimp - the only free alternative to Photoshop that even comes close to offering a similar feature set.
Wordweb - this free dictionary and thesaurus has been a trusted tool of mine for years.
Posted in: Handy Little Apps
Tags: best free applications, free apps
