Tuneage

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HOW-TO: Convert FLAC files to OGG/Vorbis files with a bash script

Sep 042011

So you have a bunch of FLAC files for whatever reason, but if you’re like me, it’s because you are an audiophile and prefer a lossless codec for files you play on your high-end stereo equipment. However, FLAC files are huge, which can make them impractical for small personal music players with limited storage. This is especially true if you’re just going to plug the player into a cheap-ass stereo (like the one in my base model Toyota RAV4, for example.) That’s a bit like hunting squirrels with hand-grenades: overkill. Your best bet is to convert your FLAC files to something smaller and more manageable (and sounds better than MP3!): OGG/Vorbis. Let’s get started. We’ll assume your FLAC files are tagged with the artist name, song title, etc. [...]

HOW-TO: Rip audio CDs to FLAC format with Rubyripper

Geeky Stuff, Tuneage 2 Responses »

Aug 122010

HOW-TO: Rip audio CDs to FLAC format with Rubyripper

So, you’ve liberated yourself from the prison of proprietary audio formats like MP3 and decided to move to an open format with growing industry support and a far superior sound quality: you’ve selected FLAC. And if you run a GNU/Linux distro on your computer, there may not be a more bulletproof tool than Rubyripper for making high-quality (almost exact) copies of your audio CDs in the FLAC format. How to install Rubyripper on a Debian-based distro To get the latest release, browse to http://code.google.com/p/rubyripper/downloads/list. At the time of this writing, the current version is Rubyripper-0.6.0. Download and extract to a directory of your choosing. You’ll need a few prerequisites and some recommended packages — on Debian 5.0.5 (lenny): $ sudo apt-get install cdparanoia ruby cd-discid eject vorbisgain normalize-audio [...]

HOW-TO: Get better audio quality when ripping CDs in Rhythmbox 0.12.8

Geeky Stuff, Tuneage 5 Responses »

May 042010

HOW-TO: Get better audio quality when ripping CDs in Rhythmbox 0.12.8

So, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was released last week and it shipped with Rhythmbox 0.12.8. I thought I’d provide an update to one of the more popular posts on this site: HOW-TO: Enable MP3 ripping in Sound Juicer 2.22.0, and blather on a bit about how you shouldn’t be ripping to MP3 in the first place ;) As noted in the comments in that previous post, Rhythmbox uses the same audio format and quality settings as Sound Juicer, so setting them in one place affects them in the other. But let’s focus on getting the results we want out of Rhythmbox, since that’s the Ubuntu default. When you insert an audio CD, Rhythmbox will recognize and display it as a CD device in the left side pane (F9 toggles [...]

Kill Your iPod

Geeky Stuff, The World According to Me, Tuneage 2 Responses »

Nov 182008

Admittedly, I do not own an iPod, but consider it a symbol for my point. I got to thinking about this the other day when I became wholly frustrated at not being able to legally make backup copies of movies that I thought I had purchased. Naturally, I started cursing copy protection technolgies and pined for the days of recording the latest Van Halen LP — these were made of vinyl, kiddies — to cassette so I could listen to it in my Z28 stereo on the way to school. (Insert nostalgiac moment here.) Was the music on that duped cassette “free”? Of course not, but I was free to do for my personal use with that music as I so chose because I had purchased that right [...]

HOW-TO: Enable MP3 ripping in Sound Juicer 2.22.0

Geeky Stuff, Tuneage 8 Responses »

Sep 202008

As with most tasks in Linux involving proprietary or non-free multimedia formats, ripping to MP3 with Sound Juicer is not obvious to setup. So, here’s a quick recap of the steps I took to get things working as I wanted. YMMV. First things first: I am running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS on my PC, having done nothing in addition to a fresh installation and performing a system update immediately afterward. (But if you’re leary at all of your repository configuration, check that the main, universe, restricted, and multiverse sources are enabled by going to System > Administration > Software Sources.) Then, install the gstreamer0.10-lame package from a terminal: ricky@zetterberg:~$ sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-lame This will ultimately give you the gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse and liblame0 packages: exactly what you want. Now, start [...]

Tuneage

HOW-TO: Convert FLAC files to OGG/Vorbis files with a bash script

HOW-TO: Rip audio CDs to FLAC format with Rubyripper

HOW-TO: Get better audio quality when ripping CDs in Rhythmbox 0.12.8

Kill Your iPod

HOW-TO: Enable MP3 ripping in Sound Juicer 2.22.0

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