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Archive-name: music/mp3/newsgroups-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly - weekly to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d Last-modified: April 14, 2005 URL: http://www.mp3-faq.org/ Copyright: (c) 1999 by Sucker@n.a.n., (c) 2000-2005 by Webmaster@mp3-faq.org See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge (Note: all follow-ups to this post will show up in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d, [the absm.* discussion group] NOT in the group where you find it posted. If you post a follow-up, go to the discussion group to see any responses to your post.) The faq is located at http://www.mp3-faq.org/ or at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/mp3/newsgroups-faq/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------: : : The Official FAQ for alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* : ------------------------------------------------------------------------ www.mp3-faq.org * Help make these groups better and more useful for everyone. Follow these easy steps. Thanks!* * 1. * Use a high quality encoder. <faq3.html#3.10> * 2. * Make good use of a 0-file <faq4.html#4.10> and include all pertinent info. * 3. * Use meaningful subject <faq4.html#4.9> headers that are not too long. Avoid using more than 80 characters! * 4. * Check <faq3.html#3.29> your MP3s before posting them. * 5. * Test post <faq4.html#4.34> in test groups. * 6. * Post from 472500 to 315000 bytes per segment <faq4.html#4.12> (7500 to 5000 lines uuencoded/segment) for best propagation. * 7. * Crosspost <faq4.html#4.0> into the appropriate decade group (if you know it). * 8. * Don't post binaries <faq1.html#1.1> in the discussion or request groups and vice versa. * 9. * Enjoy the music! *The vision impaired should download the absmFAQ.txt file <downloads/absmfaq.txt> for offline viewing* Contact the folks who update the FAQ via Webmaster@mp3-faq.org 1. General Information *[1.0]* *What is an "MP3"?* MP3 is another name for a layer-3 mpeg. It is a sound compression format that can create near CD-quality sound files while maintaining a small file size. For more technical information on the MP3 format see [9.2] <faq9.html#9.2> *[1.1]* *What newsgroups does this FAQ apply to?* This FAQ covers the entire alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 hierarchy and includes, but is not restricted to, the following: *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3* - The Binary posting group (also known as the "main" group). This group is for the posting of binary sound files that are in the MP3 format. This group is *NOT* for the posting of text, requests, or ftp site announcements. The exceptions are: postings of this document, FAQ tips, zero-files (a.k.a. (0/x)), and brief follow-ups as needed to alert posters to problems or to urge them towards these guidelines. Other non-musical exceptions are cover art/insert scans, and .nfo files. Players, encoders, and other sound utilities should be posted in the appropriate group: alt.binaries.sounds.utilities. *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d * - This is the discussion group for the a.b.s.mp3 hierarchy. This is one of two non-binary groups of the hierarchy. Binaries are strictly forbidden in this group. DO NOT post any binaries in the "d" (discussion) group. This group is for the discussion of MP3s, MP3 technology and other MP3 related topics. *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests* - This is the request group of the hierarchy. It is *not* a binaries group and mp3 files should not be posted there. This group is intended to contain only requests and request follow-ups alerting the requestor that their request has been filled. *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.19xxs * - Also known as the decade groups. These are groups that are similar to the main group (a.b.s.mp3) but are ONLY for the posting of sounds from a specific decade as indicated by the group name. The same exceptions for posting of non-binaries apply to decades that apply to main. The groups are: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1950s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.2000s *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.<music-type> * - The "genre" groups. These are groups that have been created to contain a specific type of MP3 posting. You may or may not have access to these groups, but some are being used more and more so they deserve comment here. The names of the groups should be pretty self-explanatory. alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.zappa *NOTES:* For songs that were recorded before 1950 there exists a group called * alt.binaries.sounds.78rpm-era * It is "for the posting of binary files from the beginning of recorded sound to the end of the age of 78 records in the late fifties." Appropriate MP3s are welcome there. Although the * alt.binaries.sounds.country.mp3* group is **not** part of the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 hierarchy, and therefore not bound by its FAQ or Charter, it is available on a number of news servers and deserves a mention here. While there **is** a country group available in the a.b.s.m* hierarchy, at the time of this writing it is not as active or readily available as the * alt.binaries.sounds.country.mp3 group* is. There are also a large number of other *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.** groups that may or not be available to your on your news server/ISP. *[1.2]* *Dividing the groups into genres would be a good idea. How come there aren't groups like a.b.s.m.funk, or a.b.s.m.rock-and-roll? * There **are** groups like those. In fact, not only is there a.b.s.m.rock, but there's also a.b.s.m.rock.full-album, a.b.s.m.alternative-rock, a.b.s.m.classic-rock, a.b.s.m.heavy-metal and even a.b.s.m.metal.full-albums. It seems like every week there is a request that a new MP3 binary group be created for a specific genre of music that would be posted there. There are a couple of reasons why this *isn't* the great idea that it may appear to be. But despite those reasons and attempts to discourage new mp3 groups, there has been rampant mp3 newsgroup creation. *FALLACY *: "If you build it, they will come" Just because you decide a new mp3 group is needed does *NOT* mean that anybody will ever use the group. If it is poorly thought out, poorly executed, or redundant, the odds of your group succeeding are slim at best. There are currently more than *SEVENTY-SEVEN* groups in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* hierarchy, and over *ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR* mp3 groups on all of Usenet. How many of them do you have access to? How many of them are used for MP3s at all? A big problem with a number of the 'genre' groups is that they are duplicates of already existing groups. Where should you post *Dangerous Toys* entire album of *Hellacious Acres*? Does it go in a.b.s.m.complete_cd, a.b.s.m.complete-cd, a.b.s.m.full_alblum, alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock.full-album or a.b.s.m.metal.full-albums? And doesn't it also belong in a.b.s.mp3, a.b.s.m.1980s, a.b.s.m.1980s;, a.b.s.m.heavy-metal, a.b.s.m.rock, and a.b.s.m.rock.full-album? That's *ELEVEN* groups where those mp3s would be on-topic. Another major problem is that 'genres' of music are subjective and people legitimately disagree on what genre any given song would fall into. One person insists that Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby.mp3 should go in the R & B group while another insists it should go in RAP. How do you determine the difference between "metal" and "hard rock"? Take a look at Winamp's ID3-Tag genre list, it's a great example of a lot of different ways to describe the same music. One person's "Booty Bass" is another person's "House" is another person's "Hip Hop." Also, would your new group even get used? There are thousands of binary groups, and a large number of those are nothing more than spam traps. A lot of them aren't even carried by most ISPs. The decade groups (the ones that are even used at all) are **still** unavailable on some news servers. Right now a.b.s.mp3 is the largest newsgroup by volume. Do you think that many news admins want to add **another** MP3 binary group? The list below is a sample of mp3 groups that already exist, but many are hardly used and most are not widely propagated. This does not mean that your server does not carry them, only that many servers do not. alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s.venice-beach alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.alternative-rock alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.black-gospel alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bluegrass-and-rockabilly alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.blues alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.books Alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazilian alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazillian alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christian alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.classic-rock alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.complete-cd alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.emmylou alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.full_alblums alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.gothic alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.gothic-industrial alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.bhangra alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.movies alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.movies.old alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.pop alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.remixes alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indian.requests alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.karaoke alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.kcuf alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.m alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.metal.full-albums alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.minneapolis alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.native-african-folk-music alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.newcleus alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.ninja alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.ninja.music alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.pop alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop.full-albums alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rap-hiphop.mixtapes alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.reggae alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock.full-album alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.rock alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.singing-cowboy alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.sound-effects alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.speeches alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.spoken-word alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.themes alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.tramaine-hawkins alt.binaries.sounds.1940s.mp3 alt.binaries.sounds.1950s.mp3 alt.binaries.sounds.1960s.mp3 alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s alt.binaires.sounds.mp3.1970 alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980 alt.binaires.sounds.mp3.1990 Alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980's Most of these groups all have very low mp3 traffic and some may not have **ever** had any mp3s posted to them at all. And even if you subscribe to a standalone news server that **does** carry these groups, posting to most of them is pointless because they are carried by so few servers. You should also keep in mind that there are many forms of audio compression currently available that are similar to MP3. If you create an exclusively MP3-based group, then posts of MP4s, AAC, VQF or RA files are off-topic. Getting more and more specific with newsgroup creation is not always a good idea. All in all, while creating the new group of your choice (so you don't have to search through the main group to find something that **you** like) may seem like a good idea, the odds of it truly being successful on it's own are probably pretty small. In fact, it's likely that it already has been created and just isn't widely propagated or used. *[1.3]* *How can I create a new a.b.s.mp3.* newsgroup?* Before you decide to just go ahead and create your group du-jour, you should see if a group already exists that covers what you're looking for. It's very likely that a group already exists that meets your 'needs' and mp3 might not even be in the group's name. For example, there was no need to create an MP3-specific classical group. The newsgroup *alt.binaries.sounds.music.classical* is a group that already exists and is properly used for MP3 posting. Another example is *alt.binaries.sounds.78rpm-era*; it is a group that carries binary sound files of all formats from the beginning of recorded sound to the end of the age of 78 records in the late fifties. If you are unaware of such a group that would fit your needs and cannot locate one, ask in * alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d* for some help. If you **insist** on creating a new newsgroup, please go about it in the correct manner. There is a proper way to create an alt.* newsgroup and have it be successful, i.e., be accepted as a valid newsgroup by ISPs and news servers. What you *DON'T* want to do is to just go create the new group because **you** think it's needed. If you really feel that there is a need for an additional a.b.s.m.* newsgroup, mention it in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d for discussion and *PLEASE* read the appropriate FAQs. *THEN* when you take your suggestion to alt.config *LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE THERE HAVE TO SAY*. Just because people may disagree with your new group suggestion does NOT make those people wrong. You may or may not get a lot of suggestions from the followers of alt.config as to the creation of your new group, but you should not dismiss those suggestions out of hand. The people who follow alt.config probably know much more than you do about the creation of new alt.* newsgroups. *[1.4]* *What are these groups all about?* They are about the posting of high quality MP3-compressed sound files. If you post here, please keep that in mind. *[1.5]* *What about the other MP3 groups that I see? Does this FAQ apply to them too?* There are a number of MP3 groups, some of which are unused (except for spam-posting). The above mentioned groups are the primary groups that this FAQ deals with. This does not mean that the information within this FAQ is not relevant and applicable to other groups, only that it is not this FAQ's intent. This FAQ has been voted on and applies to all groups in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* hierarchy. *[1.6]* *Anything else I should know about this FAQ before I continue on?* There are many software applications and utilities involved in the playing, encoding, decoding, posting, and retrieving of MP3s. This FAQ is not meant to be a primer for the use of your particular software. If it was to take into account every piece of popular software and its inner-workings or tricks, this FAQ would rapidly become bloated and unreadable. So, for the most part, this FAQ does not deal with specific software issues. The exceptions are those that either relate to "*frequently asked questions*" in the discussion group, or other helpful tips that might not be readily found elsewhere. Look in the Specific Software Sub-FAQs <http://www.mp3-faq.org/faq9.html#9.8> (S.S.Ss) accommodate software issues that relate to the a.b.s.mp3 hierarchy or in the Tips Section <tips/index.html>for some detailed discussions of commonly-asked questions not covered in the FAQ proper. With all newsgroups it is a common and recommended practice to "lurk." This means that you follow the newsgroup, watching and learning, before you begin posting. Posting is *NOT* required. There is no "ratio" or required "trading" in the a.b.s.mp3 newsgroups. Leeching is completely acceptable. If you are new to Usenet, or to binary newsgroups in particular, there are a number of basic FAQs <http://www.mp3-faq.org/faq9.html#9.0> that may help you: http://abmefaq.net <== a *MUST* read. Basics of Usenet and binary newsgroups. Take a look. <http://www.geocities.com/tick1845a/bin_help.htm> The Definitive Answer to Downloading and Viewing alt.binaries <== If you have questions about how to get the MP3 files from the newsgroup down to your personal computer, look here for help. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/ A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/what-is/part1/ What is Usenet? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2.0]* I want to request an MP3. How do I do that with the best chance of being successful? The most obvious answer is to request it in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests group and then hope that some kind soul will upload it for you. This is most likely to be successful if it is a mainstream song. A typical request might look like this: REQ: Song Title [decade and/or year] - Artist - Other Info - Thanks Start with REQ. What else you put in your subject and in what order is really up to you. Keep it concise. Put details in the body of your post. If no one responds, and especially if the song is obscure, old, or in a narrow genre, you may need to do some lurking in the appropriate decade or genre group. If you see that people are making requests there and getting responses for material similar to what you are looking for, you may want to make your request there. Some people ignore text posts in binary groups, but if you cannot get a response in absm.requests, this is your next likely approach. A caution. Post your REQ in either .requests OR the binary groups. Please do not crosspost your request. If someone responds to a crossposted REQ and attaches the MP3 you want, the poster will trash the .requests text group with a binary. If you try the .requests group first, wait a while, and if no one posts in response, THEN try the binary group. Then no harm, no foul. Please DO NOT add your requests to the subject headers of binary posts. There is no requirement to trade files here, and including requests in the subject lines of posts is likely to DECREASE the chances your requests will be filled. Subject headers are most effective when kept short and concise; adding requests only confuses others as to what is being posted vs. what is being requested. It's best to post your request separately. [2.1] I've come up with about 100 songs that I want. I guess I should post a separate request for each one, right?* Whoa, wait one second. It is unlikely anyone wants to see a REQ-Flood filling up the group. Put yourself in the potential poster's shoes. An option is to put your request list in the body of a request message. Those who dedicate themselves to filling requests may look inside and help you out. [2.2] I want to make sure that people see my requests so I'm going to post them five times each. People will notice me then, right?* People will notice you, but that isn't always a good thing. Posting the same message multiple times could be called spamming or billboarding, and it annoys many. Remember, you are dealing with other people here. Possibly the biggest single reason people find their requests ignored is because others see them as being demanding, obnoxious or rude. Being polite and reasonable will get you far. Being rude, obnoxious, loud, demanding or overly persistent will more likely get you ignored. [2.3] I posted my requests and nobody filled them. Why? And what can I do about it?* It's possible that nobody has the songs you're requesting. It's also possible that the songs you requested was JUST posted, and people don't want to repost it right away. What can you do about it? Check to see if it is already out there waiting to be downloaded. How? Visit these sites: http://www.audiofind.com http://www.bincrawler.com/default.aspx http://www.newzbin.com/ http://www.newzsearch.com/ Or use the search feature in NewsRover <http://www.newsrover.com/> or GrabIt <http://www.shemes.com/index.php?p=features> . And if you still can't find it? Wait a few days and post your requests again. Maybe the right person will see it that time. [2.4] I want help identifying a song so I can post a REQ. Can I post a snippet to the discussion group or .requests?* Please don't. Post a sample to alt.binaries.test or alt.binaries.misc. Then come to the discussion group and ask people to go listen to it and help you identify it. Make sure you identify your sample post by subject title or Message ID so folks can find it. When you get the name of the song, ask for it in the .requests group as usual. Or according to the method you find most successful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Making MP3s *[3.0]* *I want to give something back to this group. How do I make an MP3?* First off, sharing is great but don't feel obliged or obligated. If you don't know how to make MP3s or if you don't really have something new or different to post you really have no obligation to upload. That said, making MP3s from scratch involves a couple of steps. The first is acquiring the sound file (ripping) and the second is encoding the file into MP3 format. *[3.1]* *How do I get the music into my computer?* The preferred method of making MP3s is to do it from a digital source (CD) and capture it digitally (*Digital Audio Extraction: DAE*). This process is also known as "ripping". First off, you must have a drive configured to support DAE. This was more of an issue in the past, very few drives produced in the last few years do not support DAE. Unless you have a vintage computer or older CDROM, the chances are your drive, (be it CDROM or CDRW) will support DAE. *NOTE:* Unless you specifically state otherwise, those who download your MP3 will automatically assume that it was digitally extracted from a CD. If your music source is a tape or vinyl record or something *OTHER* than a CD *-OR-* your capture process includes the use of a sound card or other non-digital methods, you *really* should inform people in your Subject line or in the zero-file of your binary post. If you do not do this, people will definitely let you know that you should have. *[3.2]* *How do I determine if my drive and system support digital audio extraction (DAE)?* Some software packages will test your system for you. If you have *Easy CD Creator*, go to *Tools|System Tests|Audio Extraction* and run the test. If your software doesn't have a test method you can see if your drive is listed here: http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html If you are experiencing problems you might also try downloading a utility called aspichck, available from various places. This checks your ASPI layer to make sure it is installed and functioning properly. It is often accompanied by another program called ForceASPI which will install the ASPI layer. A Win95 or Win98 computer can't properly rip digitally without the ASPI layer and many ripping programs will simply default to other methods if the ASPI layer is not functioning correctly. *NOTE:*WinXP does not have an ASPI layer installed by default and uses another method. Although you can still rip digitally using many drives and programs, some third party programs will default to using non-digital audio extraction and will produce files that are sub-standard at best. ASPI drivers for WinXP have been released by Adaptec and are easily found, downloaded and installed. Some programmers and users believe that using the ASPI layer is the best way to get clean digital rips. As with anything else, there are many opinions both ways, these are simply suggestions aimed at hopefully getting you started in the right direction. More details and download links: http://aspi.radified.com/ WinXP/ASPI: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=WinXP+ASPI *[3.3]* *I know my CD drive does DAE, but I'm having strange problems and I can't get it to work right. What do I do?* You may be having compatibility problems with a specific piece of software. Check: http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html to see if there are any software issues with your particular drive. *[3.4]* *My CD drive supports DAE; what do I use to rip audio tracks?* There are many different software choices, and each has its pros and cons as well as its fans and detractors. Current rippers of choice are EAC, CDex, dbPowerAmp, Audiograbber and some others. Regardless of the program you use, current opinion has it that LAME is the best encoder to use. It has been optimized for quality over any other considerations. Some programs, like MusicMatchJukebox for instance, use an Fhg codec and they make perfectly good (some think excellent) MP3s but the consensus right now seems to strongly favor LAME. Your own preference may differ, just make sure you are listening carefully and using decent equipment to play your files back before making any judgements. Download links for these and other rippers: www.mp3-faq.org/utilities <faq10.html> *[3.5]* *Can I encode to MP3 straight off of the CD?* Yes. Sort of. Many programs will do this in the background making it seem as if it is being done in one step but it is always being done as CD > wave > MP3. Most "all in one" programs such as MusicMatchJukeBox or even the newest versions of Winamp will do this. Using EAC or CDex it is simple to select "Extract to compressed file" and have it all done at one time. Some folks prefer to extract the wave files and then use a front end (such as RazorLame) or a command line encoder to turn all those wave files into high quality MP3s at a time when they are not using the computer for anything else. Download links are on the Utilities page <faq10.html>. *[3.6]* *I've ripped the audio track but the .wav file is messed up. It seems jittery and has pops or skips. Why?* It could be a number of things. Check your CD. You need a good clean source to start with. If the CD is in good shape, it may be jitter or it may be caused by trying to rip faster than your system is going to be able to or it may be a software incompatibility. Try slowing the process down if you can. Try a different piece of software if you continue to have problems. Read the Help file and see if your software specifically addresses things like jitter and offset (EAC, for instance, does). Spending some time reading the help file can solve a world of difficulties. If you aren't getting good wav rips though, you will never get good MP3s out of them. Keep trying until you find the problem and resolve it. Some good helpful information and detailed explanations are here: http://www.teamcombooks.com/mp3handbook/15.htm *[3.7]* *I don't like the way the song sounds on the CD because I like more bass. Should I adjust the equalization (EQ) on the .wav file before making it into an MP3 and uploading it?* Please don't. People generally want to hear an MP3 that is as close to the original CD as possible. Even though you may feel that something helpful (like normalizing the songs) will make them better, that decision should be left to the final recipient. If they want to tweak their MP3s, they can do it themselves. If you /have/ tweaked or adjusted the song before you encoded it, please make that information known when you post it. See Section [4.9] <faq4.html#4.9> and [4.10] <faq4.html#4.10> for more information. *[3.8]* *I've ripped the track to my hard drive. Anything I should do before I turn it into an MP3?* Yes. Listen to all of your files first. Before you encode the file into an MP3 and possibly upload a problematic MP3, make sure your source file is clean and doesn't have any jitter, skipping, distortion or unwanted noise. *[3.9]* *I've listened to all my uncompressed files and they sound great, now how do I make them into MP3s?* As mentioned earlier the codec of choice right now is Lame. There are a number of programs available to make MP3 using Lame. You can install Lame as the ACM (default) codec. You can use it from a command line if you prefer. You can use a front end such as RazorLame to access it easily if you prefer a graphic user interface (GUI). You can use fuller featured programs such as EAC, CDex, dbPowerAmp, and many others to make your MP3s. More information on encoding software can be found in Sections [3.10] <faq3.html#3.10>, [3.11] <faq3.html#3.11> Information about Lame is here: http://www.mp3dev.org/ More info and download links to other programs mentioned here: www.mp3-faq.org/utilities <faq10.html> *[3.10]* *I've heard that not all encoders/codecs give equal quality results. Which encoder/codec is best?* While there is no way to arrive at an absolute answer to "which is the best" the contributors the a.b.s.m.* groups at this time mostly use LAME. There are many places online where you can read technical discussions. Hydrogen audio <http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php> is one, but the purpose of this document is not to /tell you/ what to do but rather to help you decide what /you want/ to do. In the end, all you can do is either trust your ears or go along with the consensus. There does seem to be more of a clear cut agreement as to which codecs /not/ to use. This site has some interesting information in that regard: http://ff123.net/notrecomm.html *NOTE:* Some people (and many journalists) will rank MP3 encoders based solely on their speed. In the a.b.s.m.* groups, audio-quality at reasonable size is by far the most important factor. When you hear or read information regarding "the best encoder" you should try to determine what factors are being taken into consideration. The quest for the 'perfect encoder' seems to be never ending. It seems that certain encoders are better suited for certain types of music and not so much for other types. There is also a subjective aspect that will become quickly obvious as soon as you post your question in a.b.s.mp3.d. Check out the Encoders page in the Tips section <tips/encoders.html> where we will be collecting (subjective) reviews of various encoders. (Got an opinion? Contribute!) *The bottom line? * Use your ears and do some testing. A good set of headphones can give you information that a set of computer speakers won't. And if you don't have the time for that, then ask around in a.b.s.m.d and see what the current consensus appears to be, but always listen to your MP3s before uploading them. *[3.11]* *I don't have a lot of time or patience for testing, which codec do you recommend?* LAME. *[3.12]* *What settings?* More difficult. As previously mentioned, some people prefer CBR (constant bit rate) while others think that VBR (variable bit rate) delivers on its promise of the best quality at the best overall compression ratio. Whichever you use, don't make the error of going too low or too high. 160Kbps is pretty much the absolute minimum you will ever see requested with 192Kbps much more prevalent. When making VBR files with most programs using Lame you will have many choices. The combinations of parameters are almost endless and can be very confusing to a beginning encoder. The use of the presets (formerly alt-presets) such as preset-standard or preset-extreme will give you excellent quality files with no need to worry any further about parameters. The presets have been tuned at a code level in Lame and will arguably produce results far better than many (or most) of the different parameter combinations you run across. Like anything else, though, nobody but your own ears and your own taste can tell you what is best for you. One caveat: If you really think the highest bitrates (224 or 320Kbps or preset-insane) sound that much better and are worth the extra file size then perhaps you should consider checking into lossless encoding where the resulting files (.ape, .shn, .wvc, .flac and others) are larger than MP3 but the quality is exactly the same as the source file. These files are shared in the alt.binaries.lossless groups, /not/ in the a.b.s.m.* groups. *[3.13]* *Winamp tells me that .wav files are 176kbps. Why don't we just encode at THAT bitrate and get .wav quality MP3s?* What Winamp is **really** telling you is that your .wav file is recorded at 178kilo*BYTES*ps and *not* kilo-bits per second. This has caused a fair amount of confusion in the past. When you digitally extract a stereo song from a CD, there are 176,400 *BYTES* for each second of music. That's 176.4 k*BYTES* per second . Noting the fact that there are 8 *BITS* in each *BYTE*, you arrive at a *BIT*rate of 1,411,200 bits a second, or approximately 1411kbps. Remember how a 128kbps mp3 should be ~1/12th the size of the original .wav? Well 1/11th of 1411kbps is ~128kbps. *[3.14]* *Should mono material get encoded at the same bitrate as stereo material?* No. Mono originals only require half the bitrate of a stereo recording to get the same quality. If you encode your Stereo MP3s at 192kbps, then the comparable Mono file would only need 96kbps. For material with little high frequency content and waves with a 22050 sample rate, 64k is recommended. Some spoken word material with no special background effects can be recorded at a low bitrate without suffering loss of quality. Experiment with Joint Stereo, Mono, and VBR to get a good encode with a small resulting file size. A useful rule of thumb: do not waste server space or force long download times by recording at too high a bitrate if the source material does not need it. On the other hand, do not allow quality to suffer by worrying only about file size, either. *[3.15]* *Who listens to mono any more? Shouldn't I just encode my mono songs in stereo?* No. If the original recording was in mono, there is no reason to use stereo encoding which will only produce two identical channels using twice the space. *[3.16]* *What's the Difference between Stereo, Joint-Stereo and Dual-Channel?* Well, a lot. There are other types being used now also, MS Stereo, Forced JS, etc. The differences and the technical aspects are beyond the scope of this FAQ. Much discussion is online, try reading some forums like the CDex boards <http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/boards/index.php?act=idx>, the Hydrogen Audio forums <http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?s=059a73b9b1324c2ee51e8cab5e4aa8f9&act=idx>, the Audiograbber boards <http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/boards/cgi/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro&BypassCookie=true> or sift through 66,000 Google hits here. <http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-45,GGLD:en&q=stereo+vs+joint+stereo> Suffice it to say that for the purpose of sharing your files in the a.b.s.m.* groups the choice of stereo mode is your own but as always, please make an informed choice based on what your ears in combination with a little research tell you. Don't make the mistake of listening to someone else's prejudices that may have been formed before the encoder you are using was developed. Make the best mp3s you can, listen to them to make sure they are the quality you want them to be, and then share them, posting them in sensible, clear and complete posts and you will be making a valuable contribution. No matter which type of encoding you use, listen to your files before uploading them. *[3.17]* *I've made some MP3s with Joint-Stereo and I think they sound fine, but I'm not sure my $20 computer speakers are very accurate. Is there a better way to tell if my Joint-Stereo MP3s are flanging?* If you have used a recent implementation of Lame or Fhg to make your MP3 then you have little to worry about in this regard. Some older encoders had trouble with their implementation of JS or joint stereo but that is largely a thing of the past. Get yourself an updated version of whatever codec you have chosen to use and you should not have a problem. More importantly, though. If you have reason to question the quality of your mp3 files then you have reason to not post them. *[3.18]* *My MP3s sound good except there is a little POP at the very beginning of the song. What can I do about that?* First of all listen to the file a couple times. Sometimes your MP3 player will make a sound that isn't necessarily in your MP3. If the pop is really there, you can either remake the file or try and remove it without causing more damage. There are a couple of software options, most notably MPTrim and MP3DirectCut. Links to these and other options on the Utilities Page. <http://www.mp3-faq.org/> *[3.19]* *What is VBR? * *VBR stands for Variable Bit Rate*. VBR is a method to encode MP3s dynamically. Depending on the complexity of a particular passage, the bitrate (kbps) of encoding varies. Generally, a VBR file will give better quality at a smaller size than a CBR (constant bit rate) file aiming for the same quality overall. Like most everything concerning audio compression, though, opinion varies so you should do some experimenting and decide what/ you/ think sounds best and best suits you. *Should I be using it?* Completely up to you. If you do choose to use VBR there are a number of reasons why it is a good idea to include that information in your headers when you post the files. The most important is that some hardware (albeit usually older models) is still incompatible with VBR and will have trouble playing back your files. *[3.20]* *Can I just sample the audio via my sound card instead of digitally ripping the CD?* The general consensus is "no" due to the amount of noise that gets introduced into the file by that process. You may not initially even hear the noise due to your computer fan, the quality of your speakers, etc., but inexpensive sound cards, in conjunction with your computer itself, introduce noise into the files. However, if it's something that's unavailable anywhere else, or the requestor doesn't mind, then just make sure you make a note of the ripping technique in the Subject Line of your post. *[3.21]* *I don't have a CD-ROM in my computer, but I do have a CD player in my stereo; can I just hook that up to my sound card and sample it that way?* You are going to be getting an analog copy by doing this and it is far from the best way to do it. It may be fine for your own use but if you really want to share, you should either find a way to make digital copies or make it clear that your files are analog rips. *[3.22]* *I have some tapes that I want to post as MP3s. How can I do that?* MP3s originating from cassettes are very problematic. If you have some cassettes that have something that doesn't seem available anywhere else then there are some good tutorials on line that detail the pitfalls and solutions for doing this. One is on this site in the tips section, here. <tips/cepcass.htm> Many more can be found with some Google searching. Try putting <cassette to MP3> in a Google search box and prepare yourself to sift through about 1.5 million hits. Most important, if you choose to go this route and post your results, please make the source of your MP3s clear when you post. *[3.23]* *I made an MP3 from a tape and it sounds TERRIBLE! No, I mean a lot worse than the .wav file did. Why?* Many possible reasons, many possible solutions. "If at first you don't succeed, try try again" and all that. One thing: please, do not post the file until you get a good result. *[3.24]* *I'm making some MP3s from a vinyl source. Is there any easy way to make my files sound better?* No. When making MP3s from vinyl sources much time and effort are usually required to get the best sounding MP3 possible. There are some posters who do a fantastic job at making MP3s from vinyl sources, and they take their time and make sure they're done right before posting their files. Again it is important that if you decide to share files from a vinyl source they should be clearly labled as such. For more tips look on the utilities page <http://www.mp3-faq.org/faq10.html> under "vinyl to mp3". See also the tips section <http://www.mp3-faq.org/tips/> . *[3.25]* *Can I edit my MP3s directly without having to decode them into .wav files first?* Yes, to a certain extent, you can. There are some programs that will allow you to cut, fade in and out, alter volume, paste, and otherwise manipulate the MP3 files directly. Some of these are MP3Cutter, MPTrim, MP3DirectCut & MP3Gain. All of these are linked from our Utilities Page <http://www.mp3-faq.org/faq10.html> . *[3.26]* *I've made my MP3s and it's time to name them. Is there a naming standard? What information should I include in the name?* There is no current universally accepted naming standard. It depends completely on how you have your files organized and what /you/ want to put in the file name. What /does/ matter here is that, however you choose to name the files, you make sure that when you post them the artist-album-track#-track name all appear, but appear only once, in your post headers. If they are in the file name then they don't need to be repeated again in the header. If any of the artist-album-track#-track name information is /not/ in your filename then it needs to be added to the post header. If you have the correct information in the ID3 tags and you post the correct information in the post header then it makes no difference from the point of view of sharing how you choose to name your files. See Section [3.28] <faq3.html#3.28> for more info on ID3 Tags. *[3.27]* *I don't like the way other people name their MP3s, and now I have a whole directory filled with MP3s that I want to rename. Is there an easy way to do this?* There are a large number of file renaming utilities available. Also, most ID3 Tagging programs will rename files based on any number of criteria. There are a number of such programs linked from the Utilities Page. <faq10.html> *[3.28]* *What are MP3 ID3 tags? Should I bother with them?* Yes. If you are ripping your own CDs then most ripper/encoders will add the information to the tags for you and will even look up the information from CDDB or freedb so you don't have to type in a thing. Check the settings and/or help files if you aren't sure how the software you are using does this. If you are adding ID3 tags to files you downloaded that don't already have them or have wrong or incomplete tags, there are a number of tagging applications, many of them will do freedb look-ups of whole albums and fill in a lot of the fields, most will allow you to fill in a whole CD full of Artist or Album or other repetitive field with one entry. Check the Utilities Page <faq10.html> for links to some. You do have two choices, ID3V1 and ID3V2*. Either one is good as long as the information in them is complete and correct. For more information about both you can look here: http://www.id3lib.org/id3/intro.html Further questions about issues such as this can always be directed to the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d group where hopefully one of the regular denizens will provide you with helpful hints. *[3.29]* *Cool, I've IDed all of my MP3s and I'm ready to post. Is there anything else I should know?* Yes, a couple of things. First of all, please listen to your files. Are there any skips or pops in them? Do they cut off before the song is over? Do they sound as good as you would like them to? Secondly, see the "*Posting MP3 files* <faq4.html>" section of this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Posting MP3s *A quick reference to posting is the best way to begin this discussion. The rest of this section is long and detailed because it needs to be. Please read it all.* * * Make good use of your 0/x file <#4.10> and include all pertinent info. * * * Use meaningful subject <#4.9> headers that are not too long. Avoid using more than 80 characters! * * *Test post <#4.34> in test groups. Test again after every reinstall.* * *Post from 472500 to 315000 bytes per segment <#4.12> (7500 to 5000 lines uuencoded/segment) for best propagation.* * *Crosspost <#4.0> into the appropriate decade and genre group. * * *Alert <#4.11> the requestor if you are responding to a request. * * *Wait <#4.27> a while before reposting. * * *Cancel <#4.18> your "oops" if you do mess up. * * *Cover scans <#4.31> are cool, but a Zip or Rar <#4.32> rarely is, and other non-MP3 <#4.33> binaries are off-topic. * *[4.0]* *Where should I post my MP3s?* You should post your MP3s to the main MP3 binary group (alt.binaries.sounds.mp3) with a crosspost to the appropriate "*decade*" group and to the appropriate "*genre*" group. Web sites like www.allmusic.com <http://www.allmusic.com> have search engines that can help you determine the year when the song was originally recorded. *NOTE:* If you don't know when the song was recorded and you can't/don't want to find out, you should err on the side of caution and avoid posting it in any of the decade groups. Please *DO NOT* post your MP3 into any random decade; a song recorded in 1994 is off-topic in the 1970's newsgroup. Also note that you should post into the decade that the song was originally released. If the song originally came out in the 1970s, but was re-released (unaltered by the original artist) in 1998, the 1970s decade group is the place to post. If you are posting compilations or "best of" albums that span decades, don't crosspost to a decade group. Stick with the main group and the appropriate genre group. Also, the "*genre*" groups are by far the least propagated groups. If you crosspost to them, you allow some people to more easily find songs from a particular group or genre, but if you chose to *ONLY* post to those groups **without** crossposting to the *main* and *decade* groups, you are not reaching the maximum possible downloaders. *Please post ALL MP3s to the main group*. *[4.1]* *What are the "decade" groups?* The decade groups are: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1950s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1960s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1970s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1980s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.2000s *[4.2]* *What about the "other" decade groups?* There were some groups created with an improper hierarchy format. They don't exist on many servers and, even where they do exist, they get much less MP3 traffic. *[4.3]* *What are the "genre" groups?* Some of the genre groups are, but are not limited to: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.beatles alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.blues alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.brazilian alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.christian alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.comedy alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.country alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.dance alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.french alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.heavy-metal alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.latin alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.zappa There are currently more than 100 groups in the a.b.s.m.* hierarchy and more are created all the time. Many of the groups are unavailable on many ISPs. For more information on the genre groups, see Section [1] <faq1.html> *[4.4]* *Why should I crosspost the files? Doesn't that eat up bandwidth and disk space?* No, crossposting does not eat up bandwidth or disk space. Crossposting *DOES NOT* mean making your post *TWICE*. It means that you include both newsgroups in the "*Newsgroups:*" header of your post. Each news server will only carry one copy of your post, but it will provide two separate "pointers" to that file. *[4.5]* *HOW do I crosspost?* When crossposting the format is: *first.news.group,second.news.group* There is *NO* space between the group names and the comma. There are some news servers that won't accept a crosspost if you include spaces. It is not a good idea to crosspost to more than 4 groups. Your post may be cancelled by a spam 'bot. *[4.6]* *My news server doesn't carry certain groups, so I can't crosspost to them. Can I?* You probably can. When you crosspost, the information in your "newsgroups" header propagates to the other servers along with your post. As long as your server carries at least *ONE* of the groups listed in the header, and you make that valid group the first in your newsgroups listing, it should accept your post and propagate it (and all of the header information) on to other servers. If other servers carry those groups, then pointers to your post will appear in all the specified newsgroups. *[4.7]* *People read both the main group AND the decade groups. Is there a way to avoid seeing the same posts twice?* If you're using Agent , this can be solved by going to *Group | Default Properties | Crossposts* and checking the box that says, "*Enable Crosspost Checking*" Now when you pull headers in all six groups, you will see only *one* occurrence of each message. *[4.8]* *Don't some ISPs cancel your message if it's crossposted?* Certain ISPs may have filters set up to disregard messages crossposted to five or more groups. However, crossposting is a generally acceptable activity if it is warranted, and in this case it is only to 2 or 3 groups. ISPs have typically accepted posts made to no more than three groups. *[4.9]* *What should I put in the subject header of my post? You should include the *name* of the song, the *artist*, and the *bitrate* it was encoded at. If you're filling a request, include the requestor's name in the subject, preceded with an "*ATTN:*", to help that person locate the post. *NOTE:* Keep in mind that some newsreader software, like Forte's Agent, adds the name of the file to the end of the subject line. If the name of the MP3 file already *includes* the name of the song and the artist, there is no reason to type them in manually as this information will be added automatically. *REMEMBER:*/ If you include every possible suggestion in this paragraph, your subject could end up looking like a paragraph. Whatever you put in the subject header, *keep the total length around 70 characters *or some people will not be able to read it all./ If you have done anything that would be considered unconventional, you might want to include that in the subject header, and you definitely want to mention it in the 0-file [4.10] <#4.10>. Did the file originate on tape? Put that information in the Subject line. Was it sampled at a low bitrate? Let people know. Was it encoded using VBR? Tell people that fact. If you don't make people aware of these things **before** they download your files, they may become angry. The minor insertion of the word "*Vinyl*", "*Tape*" or "*VBR*" in the subject header can make all the difference in the world. Some songs have been recorded by many different artists, or even many times by the original artist. If you are posting a version that you **know** is not the original, you should make note of that in the subject header too. There are many people who are only interested in the original-artist/original-recording of a song. The addition of the words "*Re-Recording*" in the header will alert those who are only interested in original recordings. Like the MP3 naming convention difficulties, there are many opinions of what should and shouldn't be included in subject headers. The suggestions here are to prevent people from downloading something that they did not expect. Don't forget that there are many people who are still using 28.8 modems and downloading multiple MP3 files is a time consuming process for them. *NOTE: * The use of fractions in your Subject header can cause problems with some newsreaders. Putting any kind of numbers in brackets [ ], braces { }, and parentheses ( ) results in havoc for some newsreaders (they can't reassemble the parts). Let your newsreader only put numbers and dividers in your subject line. For example: if you put "*Here are Ten Cool Songs (1/10)*" (mean cool song #1 of 10 cool songs) into your Subject line, the *(1/10)* will likely cause problems, especially after your newsreader appends your Subject with "*CoolSong1.mp3 (1/7)*". Most newsreaders would never be able to read a subject like *Here are Ten Cool Songs (1/10) - CoolSong1.mp3 (1/7).* Using fancy high ASCII and odd characters in your subject line can also cause problems. There are some newsreaders that simply won't see your posts. Please be aware of the length of your subject headers and try to keep them *under 70 characters*. As you type your Subject header, try to abbreviate things. "*128*" conveys just about as much information as "*This was encoded at 128kbps*" does. It's really not difficult to keep your Subject header manageable while still getting the important information across. Here is an example of a **very** informative Subject header that uses only 55 characters: *Example: * [Metal]ATTN: c.y.a. Tape-128S DeathTrolls - Bang You All To Hell.mp3 The accompanying zero-file would let everybody know that the song came off of the soundtrack to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, that it was track #8 and that the encoder used was SoloH in true Stereo. The "*S*" after *128* indicates that it was encoded in *stereo*, and *[Metal]* indicates the genre. While these two things don't **have** to be in the Subject header, this example shows how they **can** be included and **still** result in a Subject that is under 70 characters. *[4.10]* *What about the zero-file (0/x)?* A zero-file is a simple text entry in the body of your post to which the binary then gets attached. Most newsreaders will create it if you simply compose a text post and then include the binary as an attachment. The zero-file will then be part zero of the total number of parts and the first part of the binary will be part one, etc. The zero-file should contain *ANY* and *ALL* pertinent information about the post. You should include information about how the files were created, what software was used, what album the song was taken from and possibly a full track listing (if it's a full CD rip.) You might also want to mention other files you could post and any requests that you might have. In the zero-file, the more information you give, the better. If you're using Outlook Express, see the Outlook Express Sub-FAQ <tips/oe5subfaq.html> for more information. If your newsreader does not automatically create a zero-file, see your software's help file. A common practice in other hierarchies that is often used in the absm.* hierarchy is to include an .nfo file to describe the post rather than or in addition to a zero- file. An .nfo file is just a .txt file that has been given an .nfo extension to denote that it contains iNFOrmation about the posting. Open an .nfo file with any text editor. If you use Windows and know how, you can associate the .nfo extension with your favorite editor. At least one newsreader makes it hard for you to read the 0/x file, so those who use it would prefer .nfo. Some servers are configured to strip .txt files out of binary groups, so making the extension .nfo is a good idea. *[4.11]* *When I'm filling requests I found in the .requests group, how should I alert the requestor?* *PLEASE * post a follow-up to the request *WITHOUT* changing the Subject header. If you add anything to the Subject header like "*I'm posting your song NOW*", your follow-up post won't necessarily be seen by the requestor because the subject change will start a new thread, not just show up as a follow-up to the requestor's original thread. The a.b.s.m.requests group gets even more posts than the discussion group, so it's very easy to overlook a single post in there. By posting a follow-up post informing the requestor that you are filling their request, you not only let that person know that they should keep an eye out for the post, but you also let *OTHER* people know that they shouldn't bother trying to fill the request themselves. So when you're filling a request, please post a follow-up message to the original request. In the *BODY* of that follow-up, inform the person that you are going to fill the request, and in which group(s) they can expect to find your post. *[4.12]* *Some of my files aren't appearing on some other news servers. Why is that? * There are a number of things that could cause this. Short of getting a new ISP or complaining to your present ISP about poor propagation, you can't do anything about most of the problems, but one thing that has seemed to improve propagation is adjusting your segment size. See Section [4.13] <#4.13> *[4.13]* *How many lines per segment should I use when I post?* Try setting your segment size to something between 460K and 300K (between 7500 and 5000 lines uuencoded). The higher setting is usually fine, but if downloaders are consistently complaining about your posts being incomplete, reduce your segment sizes a bit more. These settings are for uuencoding *only*, not for yEnc. Consult your documentation for segment size setting with yEnc posting clients. *Don't* use a setting below 300K. It will create far too many headers which puts a strain on news servers. If your ISP kills binaries larger than 300K, it means they don't want large binaries on their server, so you should subscribe to a pay news service <faq9.html#9.7>. You should not put a strain on all other servers by trying to propagate a binary that your ISP is trying to prevent. Instructions on setting segment size in Agent are found here <tips/agenttips.html#seg> now. If you're using Outlook Express, see the Outlook Express Sub-FAQ <tips/oe5subfaq.html> for instructions. *[4.14]* *How do I post multiple MP3s at once?* By making multiple posts. Do **not** attach multiple files to **one** single post. If you post like this, you can easily end up with a single post that has over 100 parts, and it makes it difficult for anybody to retrieve a single MP3 from your post without downloading the *ENTIRE* post. A post that won't be downloaded is a waste of server space. *[4.15]* *I noticed that people are following up my MP3 posts with questions/salutations/requests/etc. in the binary group. Are the binary groups only for binaries?* One thing that you can do is to set your "*follow-up*" header to point back to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d A lot of the time, the people are merely trying to "*Follow-up Usenet Message*" and ending up with a non-binary post in the binary group. If you change your follow-up header to the discussion group*, the discussion is easily re-routed to a text forum. You should be aware, however, that some inexperienced posters don't know about follow-ups being redirected to another group, so they may have no idea where their post went. * With Agent, this is accomplished by going to *Group | Properties | Post* and typing alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d into the "*Followup-To:*" field. You can also make a note in your zero-file (0/x) to post any questions in the discussion group with a subject header including: "*ATTN:<Your Name>.*" *[4.16]* *Should I answer the questions posted to me in the binary group?* That is something that you must decide for yourself. But, if you're interested in keeping the binary groups clean and manageable, you might avoid posting non-binaries there yourself. If you encourage posting discussions in the discussion group, and discourage discussions in the binary group, you're helping to keep these groups clean and organized. On the other hand, some people never go to the .d group or .request group ever, so you will not reach them if you post only in the text groups. *[4.17]* *I'm trying to post, but my server keeps timing out or I get disconnected in the middle of my post. Is there any way to resume my post in the middle or do I have to start over?* There are some software packages that will allow you to resume your post if you use a PC compatible. Microsoft's Outlook Express will do this. And for those who use a newsreader that doesn't let you resume a binary post, there are two programs that will be of great help. One is *Power-Post 2000 *by Chris Morse, a program that has become the defacto standard for Windows. *[4.18]* *Darn it, I had to restart my MP3 upload 5 times last night and now there are all kinds of little pieces cluttering up the newsgroup. Is there anything that I can do to clean it up?* Yes. Cancel your unfinished posts. Most newsreaders will allow you to easily cancel your own posts. Read the help file. The unusable pieces of your post do nothing but consume space on the news server and you should cancel them. For more on canceling posts see Section [4.19] <#4.19> [4.20] <#4.20> and [4.21] <#4.21>. *[4.19]* *Whoops! I posted an MP3 to the discussion/requests group. What should I do?* Just post a brief apology to the discussion group and cancel the post. Most newsreaders will allow you to easily cancel your own posts. Read the help file. Clean up your mess and free up the server space. Most news servers allocate different amounts of space for the binary groups than they do for the non-binary groups, so stop hogging all of the non-binary space with your misplaced binary. Don't forget that most MP3s will be broken into multiple parts by your newsreader. This means that there is not just **one** post to cancel, but **many**. Although your binary may appear to be one file, you may need to split it into all of its separate parts to cancel it all. It is a rare newsreader that will require you to do this. If you are using Forte's Agent or Free Agent newsreaders, you should read the detailed instructions in the Tips section on canceling <tips/cancel.html>. If you're using Outlook Express, check out the Outlook Express Sub-FAQ <tips/OE5SubFAQ.html>. For other newsreaders, check out the Cancel FAQ at http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faqs/cancel.html <http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faqs/cancel.html#I.G> *[4.20]* *I *can't* cancel my misplaced/incomplete posts because my news server doesn't accept cancel messages.* You can (and should) still cancel your posts. It doesn't matter whether your server will cancel the messages or not. Even if the messages aren't cancelled on your server, you can cancel them on other servers by issuing your cancel. Not all servers honor cancels, but all accept and propagate cancels. For more information on how to cancel see Section [4.19] <#4.19>. *[4.21]* *I didn't realize that my posts had screwed up while I was asleep. Is it too late for me to cancel them?* No. It's never too late. Anything you can do to clean up your mess is appreciated. Better late than never. For more information on how to cancel see Section [4.19] <#4.19> *[4.22]* *Somebody posted the same file that I posted; should I cancel their post?* You should *NEVER* cancel someone else's post. It is a severe breech of netiquette and could result in your ISP canceling your service. *NEVER CANCEL ANYBODY'S POSTS BUT YOUR OWN!* *[4.23]* *I'm posting my MP3s. Should I make an announcement to a.b.s.m.d? * Maybe. If you are filling a request, you should alert the person who requested it by posting a follow-up to the request stating that you are going to upload the requested file (see Section [4.11] <#4.11>), but *this should be done in the requests group*. If you are planning on doing a post that you *know* will be of interest to a certain number of people who follow a.b.s.m.d, you might want to make an announcement before you post. This will give people a chance to prepare for downloading multiple songs. *[4.24]* *Is there a daily posting guideline for absm.*?* * * There used to be. There is no longer a consensus on how much a contributor should post in the hierarchy. While some claimed consensus in the earlier days of the hierarchy for what was considered a reasonable cap, other posters do not see the point of limiting the amount posted to absm.*. Some posters voluntarily limit their posting to the equivalent of one commercial audio CD per day. They believe this can make a difference in retention. You need to make up your own mind. Look around. Look at who is doing the best job of posting and emulate their style. Learn from them. A discussion of the former posting limit can be found here. <faq4_24d.html> *[4.25]* *I heard that I'm only allowed to post MP3s if they've been requested; is that true?* No, that's not true. One of the great things about the MP3 group is that people are exposed to, or reminded of, songs that they would never request. There are certain people who focus on only posting MP3s if they have been requested, but they are in the minority. If you want to share your MP3s, you should. If you take a look at the requests group, you might see that somebody has requested one of the mp3s that you were thinking about posting. Or maybe you have a song that is of the same genre as a requested song, or a little known song by a member of a popular band. By posting a '*heads up*' to the requestor maybe you can turn somebody onto a song that they never knew that they wanted. *[4.26]* *I see an MP3 request that I can fill. What should I do?* *The first thing that you should do is to see if the request has already been filled*. Multiple simultaneous postings of the same MP3 are a waste and happen far too frequently. *The second thing that you should do is to alert the requestor and the rest of the group that you're going to fill the request. * This not only lets the requestor know to be on the lookout, but it also will help prevent multiple posts of the same song. See Section [4.11] <#4.11> for more about this. Then you post it to the binary group and the appropriate decade group. *[4.27]* *I just posted a bunch of MP3s but some were incomplete on a couple of news servers. Should I just keep re-posting until everybody gets them?* No. Wait several hours. Even a day. It takes a while for all parts of a post to propagate sometimes. Then, if your post is still incomplete, repost the missing segments only. A good posting program will allow you to do that. You will want to check the groups you posted to during the week following your post. It is possible that people will be looking for reposts or segment reposts. *[4.28]* *But people keep requesting the same songs. What do I tell them?* Reply to their requests with a message that tells them when you plan on reposting it, that's part of what the* * .requests group is for. Since the expire times in the non-binary groups are sometimes longer than in the binary groups, your reply will alert any other people who might come looking for those songs in the following days. This will help prevent the constant reposting of the current pop hit. *[4.29]* *I can never get the songs that I want. Either they scroll off of my news server, or I have to wait for a repost, or they never show up at all. What can I do?* Usenet was never intended to carry large numbers of binary files, and there are always difficulties. If completeness or retention is your main problem, you might want to invest in a stand-alone pay news server. More information can be found in Section [9.7] <faq9.html#9.7>. Or you can try making other arrangements for your MP3s. Make friends in the group. Arrange for your songs via *e-mail*, *ftp*, *ICQ *or* P2P (Peer to Peer)*. *[4.30]* *Is there a standard format for encoding binaries for posting to Usenet?* There are a number of different ways to encode binaries for Usenet. *The standard is uuencoded (UUE).* Every newsreader available can decode a UUE encoded post, whereas others are not as widespread. UUE is a Usenet standard and will make your posts available to the largest number of people. yEnc is another very popular format that has its supporters and detractors, but you will find yEnc everywhere. *[4.31]* *I've got some album cover scans for the MP3s that I just uploaded. Can I post them in the MP3 binary group?* Sure. Even though they are not MP3 files it is acceptable to post * accompanying* album scans along with the songs. You may also want to crosspost them to alt.binaries.pictures.cd-covers. If you are posting scans only, not accompanying an MP3 posting, that is the only place you should post them. *[4.32]* *Should I zip (arj, rar, jar, gzip etc) my files before uploading?* In general, no. Compression is pretty useless for MP3s because they're already compressed. There are occasions, due to posting difficulties, when people will break their MP3s into distinct sections using one of these formats. But for the most part you'll just post them as MP3s. An exception to the recommendation not to zip MP3s is for those rare musical works that have extended periods of silence in them. Such MP3s will benefit from being zipped, and will actually propagate better. If you suspect your MP3 will benefit in this way, zip it and compare sizes. If it is significantly smaller zipped, post it that way and explain your reasoning in your 0/x file. Also, keep in mind that people use many different operating systems so if you **do** decide to break up your post using something *OTHER* than a newsreader, you should make sure that both Mac and Windows users can reassemble your post. You should also include information in the 0/x file to help them if necessary. And if you chose to use rar, be sure to use "no compression" and *don't* make it a self-extracting archive. That way the MP3s can still be 'sampled' by downloading a single part. *[4.33]* *I've got a new shareware MP3 player/encoder/decoder, should I share it with the group?* Yes and no. Is it available on the WWW or ftp? If so, post a message in a.b.s.m.d that includes the WWW/ftp address. If it is not available via the WWW or ftp, and it is a sound utility, post it to the appropriate group: alt.binaries.sounds.utilities and post an announcement in the discussion group to let people know. There is no group in the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* hierarchy that is appropriate for the posting of MP3 players/encoders/decoders or utilities. Please only post to the appropriate groups. *[4.34]* *What are the "test" groups and who should use them?* You should use them if you're new to binary posting, are using a newsreader that you are unfamiliar with or if you have changed your settings. The test groups (*alt.test* and *alt.binaries.test*) are intended for posting tests without disrupting the normal activity in other newsgroups. They are there so you can work out the wrinkles of posting **before** you do it in the MP3 groups or any other group. The test groups are also a great place for you to test your canceling methods. After you do a test post, try canceling it; you never know when you might want that knowledge at your fingertips. Information about canceling your posts can be found in Section [4.19] <#4.19>. Everybody makes mistakes; wouldn't you rather make yours in a test group? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Downloading MP3s *[5.0]* *Where are all the MP3s that people are talking about?* It all depends on where you have been looking. If you are currently searching in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.requests (the request group) or in alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d* *(the discussion group), you are simply looking in the wrong newsgroups. Refer to Sections [1] <faq1.html#1> and [4] <faq4.html#4> of this *FAQ* for more information. If you **are** looking in the correct groups, but you are confused because you're seeing something like: begin 644 song.mp3 M_^,@Q``2@5#]&49(`ORFY(P``H\!A=`@1(`0/`870($800LF%L```H4&%Q6V MD*!0Q#+GJA`*$"/5$"#)S4%;:@H),7;4!,V4!`,1(VZ1MJ($$4:.D;:G`$,$ M`@$0H%`(P7,&V`*$1N3_XR#$$1DS@KFYDE!!!+J".,F12W!K&07G\#X7`T)O M^6%L`H"`VG^*X-XMA=@5R?_^)@KC<8`*`6"&__\>$CSQ89S/___GGW,:C/__ M__\QIAD]V'Y[F?_____,CP1Z0P_,`15NZFM,K/_C(,0'&`%>WG^,22#'K*0` M$`'(V'M[#,I7=P_A%"]RS>DX&G\F]G)')1L7(S9144)!=&(MTDK3RR$G4$F# M9^:4U;BVVM#4]<TX4*H-VYR<_S^[EM@,9__I____[O1_\7S^4W_U?P`(_^,@ MQ`(3P4;-Y<=``!L@#2+=!,1]D0C]1]O^2VO_$`!`75=9#L`<4;^10P[_N!`& MFUZ$`H$AU^XN#<@PH$#.#[/_[*[1.+6=\R]JW]7&NS3!0H+%6G%_T_XK(@:X M(`!.Z9OJ#MA!.MS_XR#$#A-`ON96*`1`Z_R&\A';J'"H^H[BHBQ82NB$1/4` M@U#VNIG^3=H76932*+HC()LN%M(A881:D++2+A@BU2<;>@M=0JQK'"Z_4H8@ MT"FF7SPC##=!P;_5']%+[C'<ZVD%74WRP?_C(,0<$X"2UA='$`#:G!K!D!25 M*05K$;KG^E9&@"B(.BB,J)?UN56`2<]N'#CY`M#0-5N'+MS:XUM>]!9:OP)( M&F",]-=_ST%0B/2K_-J'&SN?X+230Y"2SG'H).`Z1C)/5XPX[!W$_^,@Q"D< MPV)X*9AH`+%O_EYQZF!2'[_\NFIL7EL7?_\G##&3#B)H\2<2/__X]1,1ZDE0 M/FIPGEQ&K5___122HHHF"-5$Q?____]!.7C(NS)(ZBLP-E>K____________ M____________XR#$$0```ELAP```________________________________ M____________________________________________________________ M_____________________________U1!1TAI(0`````````````````````` M`````````````%-U8VME<@```````````````````````````````$YO;F4N M+BXN+BX@>65T+BXN`````````````````#$Y.3EW=W<N;7`S+69A<2YO<F<@ //"T@9&EG(&ET(0````$< ` end then you'll need to go back to Section [1.6] <faq1.html#1.6> and read some of the FAQs linked there. *[5.1]* *I know *where* to look for the MP3s, but I can't find any complete MP3 files.* Well, if you are using your newsreader correctly, the problem is probably your ISP or, more specifically, your news server. If you consistently see incomplete files, your news server is probably not receiving all of the parts that are necessary to get a complete file. The solution? Either find a new ISP or look into an additional pay-news server. Information on ISPs can be found at http://thelist.internet.com/ Information on news servers in particular can be found in *alt.binaries.news-server-comparison* and *alt.internet.newservers* or at Yahoo's Usenet server page <http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Communications_and_Networking/Internet_and_World_Wide_Web/Usenet_Servers/>. Some popular pay-newsservers are *Altopia, Giganews, Newscene, Newsguy, Easynews* and *Airnews*. See Section [9.7] <faq9.html#9.7> of this FAQ for more info. *[5.2]* *Frequently I only see the last part of any post, like only (12/12) and not any of the first 11 parts. Why is that?* This can happen if your news server, or another news server up the pipe from yours, is filtering out based on segment-size. The FAQ recommends that you set your segment size to something between 5000 and 7500 lines or about 1/3 Meg to 1/2 Meg (see Section [4.13] <faq4.html#4.13>) There are some ISPs that will filter out and not accept any posts that are larger than that. If you frequently see files posted and the only part that is available is the last one (which is inherently the smallest of the parts), it is possible that the other parts are being filtered out. You can either request that the poster changes their segment size, or try and find a different news server that doesn't have this particular problem. *[5.3]* *I see an MP3 of a song I *think* I like, but I'm not sure. Is there any way that I can sample the song without downloading the entire file?* Yes. One way is to just download the first part of the file (which may require that you split the file into its separate sections), decode it using your newsreader or a third party decoder, and play it with your MP3 player. *Winamp* will give you an error, but play the file anyway. Check the Tips section for detailed instructions on using Agent to sample <tips/agenttips.html#sample> before downloading. *[5.4]* *I'm using Outlook Express and it's not automatically decoding the MP3 files. How do I get the files?* First download all parts, they will be listed as (1/5), (2/5), (3/5), etc. Right click on the highlighted parts click "*Combine & Decode.*" Another window will pop up. Use the up & down buttons to put all the parts in their proper order. Click OK. When the file comes up - click on "*file*" then click on Save Attachments. More tips for using Outlook Express can be found in the Outlook Express Sub-FAQ <tips/oe5subfaq.html>. *[5.5]* *I'm using AOL and it's really difficult for me to get the MP3 files. Everything in the binary groups is a mess and out of order. Any advice?* Apparently you can use AOL's "Filegrabber" to only display binary files that are complete. AOL's newsreader can then automatically download and decode the file. You can accomplish this by selecting the newsgroup (e.g. a.b.s.m), clicking on Preferences, and checking the box that says "Show only complete binary files which AOL can download and decode. Hide text files." There are times when AOL's software won't recognize that all of the parts are there. In these cases you may have to manually download each separate part and combine/decode them yourself. For more information on uploading/downloading newsgroup binaries on AOL, check out the AOL Newsgroup FAQ at: http://members.aol.com/crystalsingerdg/AOL.htm. *[5.6]* *ARGH! I don't like downloading with AOL's news software; can't I use Agent to get the files?* Yes and no. You can't use any external newsreader to access AOL's news server. On the other hand, you **can** subscribe to a stand-alone pay news server and use Agent, or any other newsreader, through your AOL internet connection. See Sections [5.1] <faq5.html#5.1> and [9.7] <faq9.html#9.7> for more information about pay news servers. *[5.7]* *It drives me crazy when the saved file attachment isn't named the same as the subject title! What to do?* If you are using Free Agent or Agent you have a solution at hand. Go to Groups | Default Properties on the main menu. Click on the Receive Files tab and check the box that says "Use the message subject for name of first attachment in message." This will save you a lot of time renaming later. *[5.8]* *I can't use Agent at work. How can I download binaries with Netscape?* You have to save each part (number them!) with a .uue extension. It is a two-step process. After downloading, use Winzip to combine and convert from multipart .uue format to .mp3. Quite a pain, but it can be done. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Playing MP3s on your home CD player *[6.0]* *I've got all these great MP3s and a CD-recorder; is there any way that I can play these songs on my home CD player?* Yes and No. You can't play MP3s (in that format) on a regular CD player. What you can do, however, is to change the MP3s back into .wav files and burn them as an audio CD (redbook) format. You, of course, lose the size compression that you get with the MP3 format and will only be able to burn 73 to 74 minutes of music. *[6.1]* *So there's no way to just play my MP3s on a CD player, a Walkman or anything like that?* The technology is changing almost daily in this area. There are now MP3 Walkman-style players, built-in dashboard MP3 players for your car, mini-players that have headphones and port in to your home and car stereo AND your computer, and on and on. More info on current technology is at http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Music/2001-6450_16-0.html. *[6.2]* *How do I make a normal music CD from these MP3 files?* Some older burner software will want you to first decompress your MP3 files into .wav files before creating an audio CD with your burner. With newer software you can burn an audio CD without the intermediate step of creating a .wav file. Software packages that do direct MP3 to CD-R are: Nero <http://www.ahead.de/>, Roxio Easy CD Creator <http://www.roxio.com/en/products/ecdc/index.jhtml>, WinOnCD <http://www.cequadrat.com/>, and AudioCD MP3 Studio <http://products.pts-shop.de/> (shareware). Some swear that using the MAD plug-in or some high-quality decoder to convert first to .wav is the best way to go. Try it yourself: http://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/mpeg/mad-plugin/ *[6.3]* *How do I decompress my MP3s into .wav files for burning a CD?* A number of software packages will do this, and are often referred to as "*decoders*". A good free one can be found at http://www.dbpoweramp.com/. You can look for "players" or "all in one packages" at http://www.audio-now.com/. Click the links at the left for your operating system or platform. They also highlight only a few, so click the "complete list of..." for a more detailed listing. (*NOTE*: Not all players will decode MP3s into .wav files; read the individual descriptions for more details). *[6.4]* *How do I use Winamp to make .wav files?* For whatever reason the creators of Winamp change its decoding function relatively frequently. Therefore, the following information may not be precisely accurate for the version of Winamp that you have, but it should be similar. Start Winamp and hit *Ctrl+P*. This should open Win Amp's "*Preferences*" window. Now select the "*Audio I/O*" tab. Go down to the "*Output Plug-ins*" section and select "*Nullsoft Disk Writer Plug-In*" Now when you "*Play*" your MP3 files, they will actually be converted to .wav files. (*this information refers specifically to Winamp version 2.09*). DON'T forget to put your settings *back to normal*. You need to select an output of *Nullsoft WaveOut Plug-In* to be able to hear MP3s in Winamp again. *NOTE:* If you use the EQ provided with Winamp, you might want to disable the EQ **before** decoding the songs to .wav. If you decode with the EQ enabled, the resulting .wav is *NOT* a clean decode of the MP3. It is a decode that has been EQed by your EQ settings. Perhaps this is what sounds best to you on your computer speakers, but if you're going to burn the resulting .wav to a CD for playing on a normal CD-Player, you might be disappointed by the *'tweaked'* results. *[6.5]* *Is WinAMP the only/best decoder?* No and no. WinAMP is very popular as a decoder because of its popularity as a player, but the links in [6.3] <http://www.mp3-faq.org/faq6.html#6.3> will take you to some other decoders. CoolPlayer <http://www.daansystems.com/> is a popular freeware option for decoding. *[6.6]* *I've got my .wav files; how do I burn a CD?* That question is beyond the scope and relevancy of this FAQ. The first thing that you should do is read the instructions or the help files for your CD-R software. You can also try the newsgroups: comp.publish.cdrom.hardware, alt.comp.periphs.cdr or alt.cdrom. There is also some information available on the WWW. There is a good *CD-R FAQ* at: http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/ and the comp.publish.cdrom *FAQ* is available at: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/cdrom/cd-recordable/part1/faq.html <comp.publish.cdrom.software">http://www.newsville.com/cgi-bin/getfaq?comp.publish.cdrom.software> *[6.7]* *I burned a CD and there are pops between each track; what gives?* You should burn your music CDs disk-at-once, not track-at-once. Most popular CD-burning software offer this option. Take a look under preferences or options or consult the help file for your particular software package. *[6.8]* *I was trying to record a live music CD, but there are pauses between each track. What can I do?* You should burn your music CDs disk-at-once, not track-at-once. Most popular CD-burning software offer this option. Take a look under preferences or options, or consult the help file for your particular software package. When you burn a music CD track-at-once, a 2-second gap is inserted between each track. Also, apparently when you take a .wav file --> mp3 --> .wav file, there is a bit of silence inserted at the beginning of the final .wav that wasn't present in the original .wav. In order to make a truly seamless series of songs, some manipulation of the .wav files is necessary. Many audio software packages, like CoolEdit and SoundForge, will allow you to delete the silence. In addition, MP3Cutter is a Win9x/NT program that allows you to chop up (and paste parts of) your MP3s without having to decode them to .wav. It is available at: http://home.hccnet.nl/p.luijer/. Some people just combine every track into one large .wav file before burning it to their CD. However, if you do this you will have to edit your cuesheet to reflect a distinction between one song and the next. Also check out MusicCutter: http://musicutter.szm.sk/. *[6.9]* *What is the best software to use if I want to decode and/or burn a CD?* Best is subjective; take a look at the LINKS <faq9.html#9> and Utilities <faq10.html> sections of this FAQ for sites that might help. *[6.10]* *Don't CDs commonly hold more than 74 minutes of music these days? Where can I get those?* Just about anywhere. Also check out: http://www.cdmediaworld.com/. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. MP3s and the WWW *[7.0]* *Where are the best places on the web to find MP3s?* This FAQ really only covers the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* Usenet hierarchy and not the entire Internet. However, there are a number of Web based search engines that can help you in your search for MP3s, and you may even want to check them **before** you request a song. Many times when a new album or single comes out there is a flood of requests, posts and reposts of the same song over and over. Almost **always** these songs are also available on ftp sites. Be warned that searching for MP3s this way can also be very frustrating. You can spend a lot of time and never end up with anything useful. Some MP3 search engines are available at: http://mp3search.lycos.com/ <http://music.lycos.com/downloads/> and http://oth.net/ In addition, www.mp3now.com <http://www.mp3now.com> has a list of the *top 20 MP3 search engines*. You can also use some of the standard search engines such as www.yahoo.com <http://www.yahoo.com> or www.excite.com <http://www.excite.com> to search for the MP3 you're looking for, or even to search for other *MP3 Search Pages*. There is also software like "*MP3 Fiend*" and "*Abe's MP3 Finder*" that are available at www.download.com <http://www.download.com>, www.tucows.com <http://www.tucows.com>, and www.mp3.com <http://www.mp3.com>, which will search the Internet for the MP3s you are looking for. Did we warn you that these searches can be frustrating? See also our section on FTP sites: FTP <tips/ftp.html>. *[7.1]* *I downloaded some MP3s from the web and they're all screwy. What's up?* You may need a program like Uncook, Phix or Detox to repair your files. They are available at: http://www.team-mp3.com/mp3/mp3_utility_links.htm (select the utilities for your OS). *[7.2]* *I downloaded some cool songs from this web site that I found; should I upload them?* Has somebody requested those songs? If so, you should post an announcement in a.b.s.mp3.requests informing the requestor of the location of the songs so they can download them where you did. No need to upload and download then. Sometimes the MP3 files that you find on the World Wide Web are not up to the quality of those that are ripped and encoded by members of the a.b.s.mp3 newsgroups. If they are readily and freely available on the Web, there isn't usually a reason to post them to Usenet. *[7.3]* *I used to use this cool thing called Agent-MP3. I cant find the place where I got it. Where is it?* Agent-MP3 is apparently gone. Agent-MP3 was merely another way to look at your own newsgroups on your own ISP's server. It could not do more for you than you could do with any decent news reader. The link to the site is dead: http://www.agent-mp3.com/. *[7.4]* *What about Napster?* Napster <http://www.napster.com/> was a very popular new way to acquire MP3s. The demise of Napster has brought a lot of new blood to the MP3 hierarchy (with a lot of habits that do not necessarily work well on Usenet). Napster has often had MP3s of distinctly inferior quality. Please listen to all MP3s *before* uploading to this hierarchy. There is a very disturbing phenomenon since Napster and similar file-sharing services have become very popular. As MP3s are being traded at an astounding rate, some files of very poor quality are being shared by more and more people. Many bad MP3s with pops, clicks, blips, jingles, gaps, blasts of noise, etc. are being posted to absm.*. No matter where you get your MP3s, please listen to all files with a critical ear before reposting to absm.*. If a file is audibly flawed with objectionable artifacts, please do not post it. A high bitrate does not automatically equate to high quality. If a track is rare, and a requester wants it anyway, be sure to be very clear in your subject title, 0/x, and/or .nfo file that the file is imperfect or encoded at a lower than usual bitrate so that subscribers can choose whether or not they wish to download the file. Just stating NMR (Not My Rip) is not sufficient warning. If you feel you must upload, please do not upload without warning potential downloaders. Lurk, leech, listen, and learn. Figure out what this place is all about before going wild. It is a different community with different standards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Hardware and Software Issues *[8.0]* *What CD-ROM should I buy?* That all depends on your system and/or your bank account, but for making MP3s a CD-ROM that does DAE (digital audio extraction) is a must. Of course, that is just about any CD-ROM you might buy these days. The speed of DAE is not always related to the speed of your CD-ROM (i.e., just because your 24x is faster than my 8x *DOESN'T* mean that either one does DAE any faster than 1x) So how do you find out how your new drive is going to do DAE? Go to: http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html. *NOTE:* That is a reader-supported WWW page so if you can send your info to the author, it will make the page just that much better for the next person who refers to it. *[8.1]* *What CD-ripping / MP3 encoding / MP3 decoding software should I use?* Go to a.b.s.m.d, http://www.mp3-converter.com/decoders/, Utilities <faq10.html>, http://www.dbpoweramp.com/, or www.mp3.com <http://www.mp3.com> for some information on this. But keep in mind that there is no 100% "*right answer*". When looking for an encoder, opinions of what's "best" vary person to person. When looking for a CD-Ripper you might have problems with a piece of software that somebody else loves, all depending on your particular hardware setup. Follow the discussion group (alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d) and you'll see what particular products work best for most people, what the newest software is and what products just plain stink. For more information on encoders see Sections [3.10] <faq3.html#3.10> and [3.11] <faq3.html#3.11> of this FAQ. *[8.2]* *What .wav file software should I use?* Two popular audio manipulation packages are *Cool Edit* and *Sound Forge*. Information on these programs can be found at: http://www.syntrillium.com/ and http://www.sonicfoundry.com/ respectively. These are just two out of *MANY* different software packages but are the most commonly used. *[8.3]* *Do I need a special soundcard to play MP3s?* Most decent quality soundcards will play MP3s well. Newer and nicer boards can do more, however. Use your friendly search engine to look for comparisons and reviews. *[8.4]* *What is the best soundcard? * That is far beyond the realm of this FAQ, but info can be found in the comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.* hierarchy. Also, http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/ has detailed technical comparisons of some sound cards. *[8.5]* *How do I do XXXX with this cool piece of software called YYYY?* This FAQ covers the* *alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* newsgroups. It is not intended to be a primer on every piece of software that you may use to make, listen to, change, post or in any other way affect these files. The Internet is a vast resource, and many other very fine FAQs are available for your perusal. Use the search engines to your benefit. *[8.6]* *Some of my MP3s play louder than others. Is there a way to set the volume levels so I don't have to change it for every song?* What you are looking for is something to normalize your MP3 playback. There is a WinAMP plugin called AudioStocker Pro that will do this for you. It is available from http://users.one.se/liket/mp3stock/ *[8.7]* *What other cool software is there that will enhance my MP3 enjoyment?* Well, beyond those listed prior to this, some useful utilities <faq10.html> are: *Catalogers/Databases*: to keep track of your growing MP3 collection; *ID Taggers*: to automate or simplify setting your ID Tags; *File Renamers*: to simplify your personal renaming tasks; and even *MP3 alarm clocks*. Many of these are available at http://www.download.com/Audio-Video/2001-2025_4-0.html?tag=dir or http://dailymp3.com/otherutil.html and can also be located on shareware download sites such as www.tucows.com <http://www.tucows.com> and www.shareware.com <http://www.shareware.com> You can also find these by using standard WWW search engines such as www.yahoo.com <http://www.yahoo.com> or www.lycos.com <http://www.lycos.com> *[8.8]* *How can I convert from one bitrate to another? Or from Real Audio to MP3? Or from/to another format?* These are certainly Frequently Asked Questions: One of the best all-around conversion utilities is dBpowerAMP Music Convertor (dMC) found at http://admin.dbpoweramp.com/ . Hard to beat, and the price is impossible to beat. It's free. It does .wav, .mp3, Windows Media, and Ogg Vorbis. Some folks have a need to capture and encode Real Audio files to MP3. The best information on this process is found at: http://www.musiclivesonline.com/how_to/04_22_2001.html. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Links *[9.0]* *Other helpful FAQs* The FAQ for the alt.binaries.multimedia.erotica newsgroups <http://abmefaq.net> - It contains a *wealth* of information about the use of binary newsgroups in general. A MUST READ if you have questions about downloading, anonymity, posting and netiquette. Other MP3 FAQs <http://www.team-mp3.com/mp3/mp3_links.htm> - This is a very good page full of helpful links to other MP3 FAQs and MP3-related information. Decoding Internet Attachments <http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/decode.htm> - A detailed page covering all types of binary attachments on the internet Guide for Usenet binary attachments <http://www.geocities.com/tick1845a/bin_help.htm> - A good set of basics for those who are new to Usenet binary groups. The Compact Disc Recordable FAQ <http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/> - originally developed as a Usenet newsgroup FAQ How to Work With the Usenet Community <http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/> - New user primer What is Usenet? <http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/what-is/part1/> - New user primer Usenet: Reading and Writing the News <http://www.webliminal.com/Lrn-web05.html> - good basics The FAQ for the comp.publish.cdrom newsgroups <comp.publish.cdrom.software">http://www.newsville.com/cgi-bin/getfaq?comp.publish.cdrom.software> - current CD Recordable Usenet newsgroup FAQ A Rant About Usenet <http://www.eyrie.org/%7Eeagle/writing/rant.html> - What Usenet is really about. *[9.1]* *General Info and Software* MP3.com <http://www.mp3.com> - Lots of MP3 related software, information and free .mp3 files from unknown bands. Daily MP3 <http://www.dailymp3.com> - Lots of MP3 related software and also news about MP3s *[9.2]* *Technical Info* CD-ROM digital audio extraction information <http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html> - information, software, and survey How MP3 Works: Inside the Codec <http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mp3/chapter/ch02.html> - excellent chapter from a book by Scot Hacker Technical MP3 info from the Fraunhofer Institute <http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/techinf/layer3/index.html> - Very good and clearly written The Moving Picture Experts Group home page <http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/> - MPEG standards 1 through 7 MP3 File Structure <tips/mp3struct.htm> - From SoloH help file. *[9.3]* *Musical Reference* The All Music Guide <http://www.allmusic.com/> - Great search tool for songs/albums/artist names and info The CD Database <http://www.gracenote.com/music/> - A searchable database of album information that can be used by some software to automatically name your files. See also http://www.freedb.org/. The Ultimate Band List <http://www.ubl.com> - A searchable database of bands and artists and their Official web sites Lyrics.com <http://www.lyrics.com/> - A database of song lyrics Joe's Lyrics <http://www.icestorm.net/sharp/lyrics.html> - Excellent links to other lyric pages The Archive of Misheard Lyrics <http://www.kissthisguy.com/> - Fun stuff :) *[9.4]* *Newsreader Software Info* Agent and Free Agent newsreaders <http://www.forteinc.com> - Forte, Inc. Installing and using Free Agent <http://www.lisp.com.au/%7Emichael/guides/agent/index.html> - good guide Power-Post 2000 <http://www.cosmicwolf.com> - another excellent posting utility that allows you to repost individual segments. *[9.5]* *MP3 Software for non-Windows Machines* The PowerMac Sub-FAQ <tips/pmacsubfaq.html> - the definitive word on the Mac Pure Mac MP3 Utilities Archive <http://www.pure-mac.com/mp3.html> - lots of links The Mac Orchard <http://www.macorchard.com/> - Macintosh Internet applications (including newsreaders) Mac MPEG Audio News <http://www.raum.com/mpeg/> - now includes Version 1.8 of the Encoder Quality Comparison MP3 software for Macintosh users <http://www.mp3-encoders.com/featured/macintosh/player/> - Link to the Mac section of MP3.com MP3 software for Unix/Linux <http://www.mp3-encoders.com/featured/unix/player/> - Link to the Unix/Linux section of MP3.com http://pan.rebelbase.com/ - Pan newsreader for Unix/Linux http://newspost.unixcab.org/ - Newspost Usenet binary autoposter for Unix/Linux http://www.gnome.org/softwaremap/projects/Gnewspost <http://users.vectorstar.net/~ash/gnewspost.html> - Gnewspost an open source Gnome front-end to Newspost http://www.semeniuk.net/linux/knewspost/ - Knewspost - KDE front end for Newspost DOS-based MP3 Players - DOSAmp <ftp://ftp.elf.stuba.sk/pub/pc/sound/dosamp08.zip> and MPXPlay <http://mp3.wp.pl/p/programy/opis/418.html>. *[9.6]* *MP3 Search Engines and Utilities* Lists the top 20 MP3 search engines <http://www.mp3now.com> - MP3NOW.COM Fast MP3 Search <http://music.lycos.com/downloads/> - Lycos Search Engine Oth Net MP3 search engine <http://oth.net/> - Another popular search engine Shareware MP3 software including Search programs - www.download.com <http://www.download.com>, www.tucows.com <http://www.tucows.com>, and www.mp3.com <http://www.mp3.com> DAILYMP3.COM <http://dailymp3.com/main.html> - Good General MP3 Info, Software and Utilities (also they have a mirror site <http://dailymp3.org>) FTP <tips/ftp.html> - A Brief Tutorial for those who desperately want to try FTP. *[9.7]* *Stand Alone News Servers* Airnews <http://www.airnews.net/> - (http://www.airnews.net/) <http://www.airnews.net/> Altopia <http://www.altopia.com/> - (http://www.altopia.com/) <http://www.altopia.com/> Easynews <http://www.easynews.com> - (http://www.easynews.com) Giganews <http://www.giganews.com/> - (http://www.giganews.com/) <http://www.giganews.com/> Newscene <http://www.newscene.com/> - (http://www.newscene.com/) <http://www.newscene.com/> Newsfeeds <http://www.newsfeeds.com> - http://www.newsfeeds.com Newsguy <http://www.newsguy.com/> - (http://www.newsguy.com/) <http://www.newsguy.com/> Usenet Server <http://www.usenetserver.com> - (http://www.usenetserver.com) Check the links below for much more comprehensive pages on finding a premium provider: http://www.exit109.com/~jeremy/news/providers/ http://www.geeks.org/~ed/Usenet_Servers.html *[9.8]* *Specific Software Sub-FAQs* Tips for using Outlook Express 5.0 in the absm.* hierarchy <tips/oe5subfaq.html> - Tips Section The Power Mac Sub-FAQ <tips/pmacsubfaq.html> - Tips Section > *[9.9]* *Other Links from the FAQ (See also the Utilities <faq10.html> section)* Digital Domain: CD Mastering <http://www.digido.com/index/pmodule_id=11/pmdmode=Fullscreen/pageadder_page_id=13/searchQuery=normalization> - Info on normalization (Section [3.7] <faq3.html#3.7>) PCAVTech Benchmark Page <http://www.pcavtech.com/play-rec/summary/index.htm> - Compares some encoders (Section [3.10] <faq3.html#3.10>) MP3Trim <http://www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/> - An MP3 file trimmer (Section [3.18] <faq3.html#3.18> [3.25] <faq3.html#3.25>) Sound Forge <http://www.soundforge.com/> - Popular wav editing software (Section [3.24] <faq3.html#3.24> [8.2] <faq8.html#8.2>) DartPro <http://www.tracertek.com> - Popular wav editing software (Section [3.24] <faq3.html#3.24>) CoolEdit <http://www.syntrillium.com> - Popular wav editing software (Section [3.24] <faq3.html#3.24> [8.2] <faq8.html#8.2>) LP to CDR <http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm> - Tips for transferring your LPs to your computer (Section [3.24] <faq3.html#3.24>) File renamers <http://www.mp3-encoders.com/> - (Section [3.27] <faq3.html#3.27>) MP3ext <http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext/> - an ID3 tagger (Section [3.28] <faq3.html#3.28>) The History and Future of the ID3 Tag <http://www.id3.org/> - (Section [3.28] <faq3.html#3.28>) The ISP Buyer's Guide <http://thelist.internet.com/> - Information on ISPs (Section [5.1] <faq5.html#5.1>) Yahoo's List of News Servers <http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Communications_and_Networking/Internet_and_World_Wide_Web/Usenet_Servers/> - (Section [5.1] <faq5.html#5.1>) - AOL Binary FAQ <http://members.aol.com/crystalsingerdg/AOL.htm> - (Section [5.5] <faq5.html#5.5>) NAD MP3 Player v093 <downloads/downloads.htm> NAD MP3 Player v093 - (Section [6.5] <faq6.html#6.5>) MP3Cutter <http://home.hccnet.nl/p.luijer/> - cuts or chops MP3s up into chunks or parts without first converting to .wav. CD Media World <http://www.cdmediaworld.com/> - Information on 80-minute cds (Section [6.10] <faq6.html#6.10>) Soundcard Performance Benchmarks <http://www.rockpark.com/soundcards/> - compares soundcards. (Section [8.4] <faq8.html#8.4>) AudioStocker Pro <http://www.shannon.reece.net/audiostocker.zip> - WinAMP plugin to normalize MP3 playback (Section [8.6]) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *10.* *Utilities <faq10.html>* * Search <search.html>* * Tips, Opinions & Reviews <tips/>* * FAQ Lite <faqlite.html>* * Site Map <sitemap.html>* These Utilities and Links have been suggested by users of the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 groups for inclusion here. They are here in alphabetic order and not by any sort of rating system. We have tried to simply describe and not express opinion. Many of the descriptions are simply excerpted from the software's own websites. *1by1* /[MP3 Player]/ 1by1 is a small, fast and handy player which also provides powerful tools to handle your files and listen to your tracks. *FREE* http://www.mpesch3.de/ *Acid Pro* /[Music Creation]/ ACID® Pro software is the ideal loop-based music composition and production tool for original music creation. *$299.96*. http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?pid=928 *Agent* /[Newsreader : Binary Downloader]/ Agent 2.0 is a top-rated Usenet newsreader. Agent is also an excellent POP email client. Around since 1994 Agent may be the oldest existing usenet client, although frequent upgrades keep it up to date. Available in FreeAgent (which is less functional) and paid editions. *$29.00*. http://www.forteinc.com/main/homepage.php *AlbumGrabber* /[Image tool]/ Album Grabber is basically a bot that grabs album covers off of Allmusic.com and Google images. *FREE* http://bluedragontavern.dyndns.org/albumgrabber/ *All2Lame* /[Encoder front end]/ All2Lame is a free Windows front-end for the LAME MP3 encoder. It's very easy to use. *FREE* http://members.home.nl/w.speek/all2lame.htm *All Music Guide* /[Website]/ Source for CD info, track lists, band and musician bios, and generally all else pertaining to recorded music. Huge database, but lots of graphic content and java scripts can make it slow to access with a slow connection.http://www.allmusic.com/ *Apollo Player* /[MP3 Player]/ Apollo is a music player GUI front-end for Linux. It aims to make it easy to choose and play music, currently MP3s, using a clean and functional interface. No skins. *FREE* http://sourceforge.net/projects/apolloplayer/ *Audacity* /[Wave Editor]/ Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. *FREE* http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ *Audiograbber* /[Ripper/Encoder]/ Audiograbber is software that grabs digital audio from cd's. It copies the audio digitally-not through the soundcard-which enables you to make perfect copies of the originals. It can perform a test to see that the copies are perfect. Audiograbber can also automatically normalize the music, delete silence from the start and/or end of tracks, and send them to a variety or external MP3 encoders). *FREE* http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ *Burnatonce* /[CD Mastering]/ Burnatonce can master data and audio discs, read/write image files and copy on the fly. It's drag and drop interface has multi-language support and is fully compatible with XP themes. Multisession and bootable disc mastering is supported as well as long filename support using Joliet, Long Joliet and Rockridge. Extra long filename support is provided with the ISO9660:1999 and UDF file systems. *FREE* http://www.burnatonce.com/index.htm?news *Burrrn* /[CD Burner]/ Burrrn is a little tool for burrrning audio CDs with CD-Text from various audio files. Supported formats are: wav, mp3, mpc, ogg, aac, mp4, ape, flac, ofr, wv, tta, m3u, pls and fpl playlists and cue sheets. You can also burn EAC's noncompliant image + cue sheets. *FREE*(optional cardware) http://www.burrrn.net/ *CDex* /[Ripper/Encoder]/ CDex is a tool to do all sorts of things audio related. Mainly focused on ripping and converting. Built in support for many encoders although most users of the a.b.s.m.* groups opt for Lame. *FREE* http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/ *CDRCue* /[Cuesheet creator]/ CD-R cuesheets are short text files specifying the contents, order, and spacing of your CD-R disc, as you wish to burn it. Almost all major CD-R burning applications support cuesheets. *$19.95* http://www.dcsoft.com/products/cdrcue/ *CDR FAQ* /[Website]/ An excellent source. Useful stop for anybody new to burning CDs of any kind. http://www.cdrfaq.org/ *CDText* /[Website]/ Essentially CD Text is a extension of the existing audio CD standard ("Red Book") that adds the ability to store text and graphical information like album titles, artist names, and song titles on a music CD. This website is full of information about CDText. http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa571/cdtext.htm *CDWave* /[Wave editor]/ CDWave is a program designed to aid in CD-Recordable mastering. It was built for splitting WAV files from any source, like LP, tape or even CD. After recording, you can let CD Wave automatically calculate split points, or you can manually add and delete split points. *Uncrippled Shareware: $15.00* to register. http://www.milosoftware.com/cdwave/index.html *CKRename* /[File Renamer]/ CDRename is a compact, powerful, highly configurable file renaming utility that features a very intuitive user interface. Odd URL though. *FREE* http://www.musicsucks.com/CKSoft/index.htm *Cool Beans (NFO)* /[NFO Creator]/ CoolBeans NFO Creator is a small program that generates detailed .nfo text files based on nearly fifty user-input fields. *FREE* http://www.coolbeans.ws/ *CoolEditPro (now AdobeAudition)* /[Music editing]/ Adobe® Audition™ 1.5 software is a professional audio editing environment. Designed for demanding audio and video professionals, Adobe Audition offers advanced audio mixing, editing, and effects processing capabilities. *$299.00* http://www.adobe.com/special/products/audition/syntrillium.html *CoolPlayer* /[MP3 Player]/ Small and fast freeware skinnable mpeg audio player. Uses MAD decoder.*FREE*. http://coolplayer.sourceforge.net/ *dbPowerAmp* /[Ripper/encoder]/ dbPowerAmp calls itself the "Swiss Knife" of audio. Basic (free) program will rip, convert, and do some other things with audio. More features available for upgrade pricing. Site also has a ton of codecs available for download. *FREE* (basic) with Optional Power Packs $14 and UP http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm *EAC* /[Ripper/encoder]/ Exact Audio Copy is a program used to copy audio data from an audio CD to a stereo WAV file. Uses DAE to get a perfect digital copy and will do a check to verify that copy is perfect. Will also write a log file that shows this for sharing. Will function as a front end for either the Lame .dll or Lame .exe to make MP3s from the wave files. *FREE* http://www.exactaudiocopy.org/ *EAC Advice* /[Website]/ Website with much good advice about making high quality MP3 files with EAC. Also has some downloadable presets for EAC which eliminate the user having to set up the program for themselves. Worth a look. http://www.bestmp3guide.com/ *EasyMP3* /[Ripper/encoder]/ Ripper/encoder. Website says it is intuitive, powerful and fast with jitter correction and ID3 tagging.*$19.95*. http://www.proteron.com/easymp3/ *EasyMP3 Recorder* /[Analogue Recorder]/ Easy MP3 Recorder 3.0 offers professional recording features with mp3 support. Easy MP3 Recorder can record almost all audio from your sound card at near-perfect quality. And, It can also record directly to mp3 format if you choose, *$24.95* URL *EncSpot* /[MP3 Checker]/ EncSpot is an application which reports useful facts about your mp3 collection. The most famous feature is its ability to guess which encoder was used to encode each file. It will also give you a general idea of the audio quality of the file. *FREE* http://www.guerillasoft.co.uk/ <http://www.guerillasoft.co.uk/> *Flexible Renamer* /[File renamer]/ A file/folder renaming utility, which can use Wildcard or Regular-Expression and Tag-information (MP3, EXIF). *Free*. http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/english/FlexRena/ *Folder Playlist Builder* /[Playlist creator]/ Creates .m3u playlists based on folder names. *Free)*. http://kanjischool.com/mp3folders/ *Foobar2000* /[MP3 Player]/ Foobar2000 is an advanced audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include ReplayGain support, low memory footprint and native support for several popular audio formats. *FREE* http://www.foobar2000.org/ *GoldWave* /[Wave Editor]/ GoldWave is a top rated, professional digital audio editor. It contains many great features, and is a favorite tool of many vinyl rippers. *$45.00* URL *GrabIt* /[Binary Downloader]/ Multi-threaded Binary Downloader. Now has search features and more. *FREE* http://www.shemes.com/index.php?p=features *Gravity* /[Newsreader : Binary Downloader]/ Gravity is a very powerful and configurable newsreader that was released by its former owner as open source a few years ago. Since then some folks have made improvements, particularly in the area of using it for viewing and downloading binary posts. Lots of tutorials and helpful information on this website. *FREE* http://lightning.prohosting.com/~tbates/gravity/ *Hydrogen Audio* /[Website]/ Forums, forums and more forums. Lots of highly knowledgeable (and highly opinionated) discussion of all aspects of digital audio. Lots of information about Lame, the various presets and switches available to best use it.. http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php? *ID3-TagIT* /[ID3 Tagger]/ ID3-TagIT is a program for editing, adding, or deleting ID3 tags in MP3 files. Single file and batch editing are both supported. Able to read information from the directory structure and put it into the tag, organize files into folders, handle several comments and genres in the ID3V2 tag, get tag information from a FreeDB Connection, has some analyse functions, libraries for your genres and artist and some transfer and copy functions for the tags.*FREE* http://www.id3-tagit.de/ *ISOBuster* /[Data recovery]/ IsoBuster is a highly specialized yet easy to use CD and DVD data recovery tool. It supports all CD and DVD formats and all common CD and DVD file-systems. Some features*FREE* Full functionality *$25.95* http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/ *Jet Audio* /[MP3 Player]/ Multimedia player. Audio/Video Playback. Supports all major file formats. Internet broadcasting. Basic version *FREE*. http://www.jetaudio.com/products/jetaudio/ *LAME* /[MP3 Codec]/ Lame is pretty universally accepted as the best MP3 codec available. It is free and it has been extensively tuned and re-tuned for quality over any other consideration. Some recent versions have added more speed and user friendliness but Quality still remains the most important factor with the volunteer development team. *FREE:* Info page:http://www.roemersoftware.com/help/index.html More info and download links:http://mitiok.cjb.net/ *ListMaker* /[Organizer]/ ListMaker is an easy way to catalog and manage all your files. Many features for MP3 files, including bitrate info, song length and integration with Winamp. Keeps track of removable disks like floppies, CDs and Zip disks. You can search for your files and ListMaker will tell you which disk they are on and launch them from the disc once you insert it. Will export a list of all your mp3 files in .html format. *Uncrippled shareware.* Voluntary registration $10 http://www.nwlink.com/~koolguy/home.html *Lossless audio* /[Website]/ Some folks have decided that quality is much more important to them than any file size savings or space savings such as those realized by mp3 encoding. For these people, lossless compression codecs are a very logical way to go. This page at Radified.com is a good start for explanations and options. http://mp3.radified.com/lossless.htm *MAC (Mpeg Audio Collection)* /[Organizer]/ MAC is designed to organize your audio file collection. It is fast and easy to use, scans selected drives for supported audio files and lists them in an Explorer-style tree-view interface. You can retrieve all information about your audio collection and you can play files as well.*FREE*. http://mac.sourceforge.net/ < http://mac.sourceforge.net/> *MAD front end* /[MP3 Decoder]/ Graphical front-end for the MAD decoder. Decode your MP3 to high quality wav files.*Free*. http://members.home.nl/w.speek/mad_frontend.htm *MP3DirectCut* /[MP3 Editor]/ mp3DirectCut is a small tool for editing mpeg audio directly. You can remove parts, change the volume, split files or copy regions to new files. All without the need to decompress your mp3 into pcm/wav. This saves work, encoding time and disk space. And there is no quality loss through any re-compressions. *FREE*. http://www.mpesch3.de/ *MP3Ext* /[Organizer : ID3 Editor]/ MP3Ext is an extension for the Windows Explorer. It enhances it, so you can get information in many ways, perhaps the most interesting is that it installs a different icon for varying bitrates of MP3 so you can see at a glance what bitrate your files are. Also displays tool-tips and a property page which allows you to edit one or a whole playlist full of ID3 tags.*Free*. http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext/ *MP3Gain* /[MP3 Editor : Normalizer]/ MP3Gain analyzes and losslessly adjusts mp3 files to a specified target volume. It does not simply do peak amplitude normalization. Instead, it performs statistical analysis to determine how loud the file actually sounds to the human ear. Uses Replay Gain specification so all changes are completely reversible. *Free*. http://sourceforge.net/projects/mp3gain/ *MP3TagStudio* /[ID3 tagger, organizer, MP3Editor]/ Powerful tagging and renaming program. Also trims, organizes, creates playlists, repairs headers and more. *Uncrippled shareware* Registration*$19.00* http://www.magnusbrading.com/mp3ts/ *MPTrim* /[MP3 editor]/ Used to by called MP3Trim. Small utility that trims silence from the beginning or end, does fade in and fade out and adjusts volume of mp3 all without decoding/re-encoding. *Free*. http://www.mptrim.com/ *MusicCutter* /[MP3 Editor]/ MusiCutter is mp3 and ogg vorbis joiner/cutter that works without need to decode and re-encode. Cut points can be imported from cue sheets, XMCD file or even plain text files. Some posters use this utility to cut large seamless rips into individual tracks, then post them with a cue sheet so they can be reassembled by the downloader to produce seamless audio CDs from them. *Free*. http://musicutter.szm.sk/ *MusicMatch Jukebox* /[MP3 Player : Ripper/encoder : Burner : Organizer : Tagger : Subscription Music Download service]/ "Full featured" audio program. Plays, rips, organizes, tags, burns, looks up cover art, etc. Some consider it indispensable, some consider it "bloatware". If you choose to use it to make mp3s with you should know that it uses a Fhg codec that is not quite as highly thought of as Lame. Use your ears and some careful listening to your own rips to make your choice. *FREE (basic)* Optional Premium Version available as well as subscription based downloading service. http://www.musicmatch.com/ <http://www.musicmatch.com/> *Nero* /[CD Burner : Ripper/encoder : Organizer]/ Popular burning software now claims to be "what you need to manage all your digital media" *$69.99 plus* more for various plug-ins. http://ww2.nero.com/us/index.html *Netjuke* /[Streaming media]/ Netjuke is an Open Source, cross-platform, web-based streaming media jukebox powered by PHP 4, an increasing choice of databases, and all the media that constitutes your digital music collection. *Free*. http://www.netjuke.org/index.php *NewsLeecher* /[Binary Downloader]/ Newsleecher is a Usenet downloading (leeching) application. NewsLeecher can download from multiple usenet servers at the same time, using up to 99 download threads per server, and will download file parts spread over different servers. Maker claims superior speed. *Various Pricing* Seems to be subscription based. from $29.95 http://www.newsleecher.com/ *NewsReaders* /[Web site]/ Links to many newsreaders. Some comments, some other links, but mostly links to newsreaders. http://www.newsreaders.com/win/clients.html *NewsRover* /[Newsreader : Binary downloader]/ Powerful newsreader/downloader program. Frequently updated to keep up with new developments. Currently supports yEnc, .nzb files, .rar combine/decode all internally. Also has search function that will search for mp3 or any other attachment across multiple news services even if you aren't subscribed to them. You can also program it to check for files fitting your criteria at intervals you specify and download them if they are on your servers. *$29.95*. http://www.newsrover.com/ *Newsgroup server comparison* /[Web page]/ Good comparison of usenet service providers. Rated according to clearly defined criteria so you can decide which one fits your needs. http://www.newsgroupservers.net/ *Newzbin* /[Website]/ Usenet Indexing and search service. Listings of what is currently available on Usenet. The main (and still free) feature of Newzbin is to provide you with detailed list of what is recently posted to Usenet. *Web Site*: Paid premium account needed to access some advanced search features. http://www.newzbin.com/ *NFO Sighting* /[.nfo creator]/ Make those .NFO files quickly and easily with this .NFO generator. NFO Sighting digs deep into your MP3 files to gather as much information as possible. *Free*. http://www3.telus.net/rogerhelliwell/comp/nfohome.html *OldVersion.com* /[Web site]/ "Because newer is not always better." Large (and growing) archive of older versions of many popular programs.. http://www.oldversion.com/ *Oscars Renamer* /[file re-namer]/ Oscar's Renamer takes and enhances the idea of editing files in directory in a full featured Text editor and then writing all the changes at once into the files. Easily create macros to do repetitive tasks. *Free*. http://www.mediachance.com/free/index.html *Post Assistant* /[.nfo creator]/ A small utility for all you posters out there, that creates a SFV-file, an info file (including track list) and a Winamp playlist file all in once. Works easily and quickly from a right click in Explorer. *Free*. http://go.to/postassistant *PowerGrab* /[Binary downloader]/ Binary grabber from the guy who made PowerPost. Version 2.6-RC1 has enhanced header sorting routines that now allows Power-Grab to handle very large groups, with millions of headers. *Free*. http://cosmicwolf.com/ *PowerPost 2000* /[Binary poster]/ Binary poster for those who want to post in UUEncode. The source code is the code on which a few other posters which post with yEnc have been based. New versions have been rumored but haven't happened just yet. *Free*. http://cosmicwolf.com/ *Quickpar* /[PAR2 Creator]/ Quickpar is a utility for creating Parity Volumes using the Reed Solomon algorithm. For details of the algorithm used, see the parchive website http://parchive.sourceforge.net/ at SourceForge. Parity Volumes may be used to verify that a set of files have not been corrupted, or to reconstruct damaged files (providing that you have a sufficient quantity of Parity Volumes to match the missing or damaged files). QuickPar uses the PAR version 2.0 specification. *FREE* http://www.quickpar.org.uk/index.htm *Quintessential Player* /[MP3 Player : Organizer : Ripper/encoder]/ A full-featured digital jukebox, with straightforward interfaces for playing, recording, and organizing your digital music collection. Version 4.5 adds video support, new plug-in types, new skinning features, improved CD ripping and encoding, simultaneous audio playback while ripping CDs, and an updated interface.*Free*. http://www.quinnware.com/ *Radified Guide* /[Website]/ Lots of information. Lots of links. Lots of guides to ripping and encoding digital audio.**. http://mp3.radified.com/ *RazorLame* /[encoder front end]/ Simple and easy to use GUI for Lame. Does batch encoding, makes setting parameters a snap even for the novice but allows the experienced user complete control. *Free*. http://www.dors.de/razorlame/index.php *ShufflePlay2* /[MP3 organizer]/ ShufflePlay is an MP3 file manager, playlist manager, player-front end, and database utility integrated into one fully featured package. One caveat, it has no ID3V2 support.*$10 Donation*. http://www.fliptech.net/shuffleplay/ *Slyck.com* /[website]/ Thorough and detailed guide to using binary groups. Not completely specific to the mp3 groups but still has lots of good information and is presented very clearly with lots of screen-shots and links to other information. **. http://www.slyck.com/ng.php *Sound Forge* /[Music creation : editing]/ Sound Forge® software is the tool of choice for media professionals who want to create and edit digital audio files with absolute speed and precision. *$300*. http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/soundforgefamily.asp <http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/soundforgefamily.asp > *TAG&Rename* /[ID3 Tagger/renamer : Organizer]/ Tag&Rename is a very popular tagging utility. (quote website) "Tag&Rename supports many files and tags standards in an easy and intuitive way, so you can work with music metadata and not have to think about files codecs and tags versions - Tag&Rename does it all." Trial version of Tag&Rename has limitations: nag-screen and 30 days trial period. *$29.95* http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm *TagScanner* /[Organizer : Tagger : Renamer]/ TagScanner is a multifunction program to organize large music collections. It can edit tags of several progressive audio formats, rename files based on the tag information, generate tag information from filenames. Also you may get album info via internet music database freedb.org. Supports ID3v1, ID3v2, Vorbis comments and APEv2 tags. Worksheets technology. Powerful TAG editor with batch functions and special features. Playlist maker with ability to export playlists to HTML or Excel. Built-in player.*Free*. http://xdev.narod.ru/index_e.htm *The Gimp* /[Image editing]/ The GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages. Used by some to create CD or CDR covers. *Free*. http://www.gimp.org/ *UltraTagger* /[ID3Tagger/renamer : Organizer]/ Full featured ID3 tagging shareware utility. Does freedb lookups for albums, rewrites tags from file info, renames files from tags, and many more features. *$18.00*. http://www.ultratagger.com/ *VBRFix* /[MP3 editor]/ Reconstructs Mp3 files removing unwanted data Recreates VBR Tag with seek information if it's VBR Can remove ID3v1, ID3v2, FHG, VBRI tags *Free*. URL *Vinyl to MP3 help* /[Web site]/ Web site with much helpful information for those wanting to turn a vinyl album or whole collection into MP3 **. http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm *Vinyl to MP3 help (more)* /[Web site]/ Another web site with much helpful information for those wanting to turn a vinyl album or whole collection into MP3 **. http://www.a-reny.com/iexplorer/restauration.html *Wikipedia MP3 Page* /[Web site]/ Wikipedia MP3 page…informative lots of links *Cost(optional)*. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3#Quality_of_MP3_audio <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3#Quality_of_MP3_audi> *Winamp* /[MP3 Player : Ripper/encoder : Organizer]/ Long a favorite mp3 player for Windows, Winamp lost some fans when its parent company was bought by AOL. Lost some more when it added full list of features moving away from its original concept of a small footprint audio player. Still available free. New full versions play audio and video, have a music library, visualizations. Pro versions also rip audio, and burn CDs. Basic versions *FREE* Pro version *$14.95* http://www.winamp.com/ *Winface* /[image creator]/ Program to make XFace icons for use with some newsreaders. *Free*. http://www.xs4all.nl/~walterln/winface/ *XNews* /[Newsreader : Binary downloader]/ Free and powerful binary downloader and newsreader. Has a very loyal group of users. Interface is a bit different from other readers but those who take the time to get to know it seem to really like it. Regularly updated.*Free*. http://xnews.newsguy.com/ *yEncPowerPostA&A* /[Binary Poster]/ PowerPost-A&A is a custom version of Power Post 2000 with many additional features. Features: yEnc posting, .nzb support, par2 creation, .sfv creation, .md5 creation, multi-threaded posting. *FREE*. http://powerpost.cjb.net/ *ZINA* /[MP3 player : streamer]/ Zina (Zina Is Not Andromeda) is a graphical interface to your MP3 collection, a personal jukebox, an MP3 streamer. It can run on its own, embedded into an existing website, or as a Postnuke/PHPNuke/Xoops/Mambo module. It is similar to Andromeda, but released under the GNU GPL.*fREE*. http://sourceforge.net/projects/zina/ *DISCLAIMER and SUGGESTION BOX* These are all programs that are currently being used by contributors to or downloaders in the a.b.s.m.* groups. There are other programs available that do the same or similar things...if you have a favorite that you don't see here please let us know and we will try to include it. Email here <mailto:webmaster@mp3-faq.org> with any suggestions for programs you think would be worth adding. Post suggestions to the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.d group also. Neither the writer of this page nor any other users of the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 groups can take any responsibility for any damage resulting from the use of these programs or links. They are being used safely and productively by contributors here, use them wisely but use them at your own risk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact the folks who update the FAQ via Webmaster@mp3-faq.org User Contributions: 1 jennifferC âš Apr 15, 2022 @ 4:04 am I like the helpful information you provide in your articles. https://mp3download.to/ I love seeing all the information here. Thank you! Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:
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MP3 Binaries FAQ - alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* (04/19/05)
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MP3 Binaries FAQ - alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.* (04/19/05)
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