What software?

[Superduper]

So I found a station on XM, Sirius I like and want to record some tunes off the air to convert the songs to MP3.

My XM radio has RCA outputs. I'm sure I can record them onto my computer, right? But rather than one big azz long MP3 file, how or what is the best way to break up the lengthy recording onto separate MP3's? Also, I prefer if the software can convert to MP3 on the fly rather than WAV due to my computer has a miniscule amount of disk space remaining.

 

[Terry]

So I found a station on XM, Sirius I like and want to record some tunes off the air to convert the songs to MP3.

My XM radio has RCA outputs. I'm sure I can record them onto my computer, right? But rather than one big azz long MP3 file, how or what is the best way to break up the lengthy recording onto separate MP3's? Also, I prefer if the software can convert to MP3 on the fly rather than WAV due to my computer has a miniscule amount of disk space remaining.

I use "Total Recorder 7" but I record in 60 minute blocks (automatically). It can record in mp3 as long as you have the Lame Mp3 codec.

How did you want to break the files up? You would need something like Audacity if you want to edit the files into the separate songs. There's no automatic way of doing it I would say.

 

[Superduper]

Well, just like the music search feature on boomboxes, that rely on the gap between music to determine when a song ends. I suspect that accomplishing this with electronic circuitry was a much harder task to accomplish than a simple bit of programming in software. I was hoping maybe apps had advanced enough to do that. I notice that there IS a small gap between songs on the station I want to record from.

 

[Terry]

Well, just like the music search feature on boomboxes, that rely on the gap between music to determine when a song ends. I suspect that accomplishing this with electronic circuitry was a much harder task to accomplish than a simple bit of programming in software. I was hoping maybe apps had advanced enough to do that. I notice that there IS a small gap between songs on the station I want to record from.

Norm I think that Total Recorder can be set to start a new file when it senses a gap. I'll check and report back.

 

[Superduper]

Cool.

 

[Terry]

Norm the FAQ on the website explains it under the title of "Split Mode"

http://www.totalrecorder.com/faq_tr.htm#16a

Using if sound level does not exceed xxx % in yyy seconds is required when you have pauses longer than 0.1 second. Some broadcasts do not have such pauses and cannot be split using this method. Also, a pause in the middle of a song can sometimes trigger a false split. Because such pauses are usually at the beginning of a song, you can sometimes prevent false triggering by setting Do not create files shorter than xxx seconds.

So it looks like it will do what you want.


I found Total Recorder 7 on my favorite torrent site, but beware theres a version that doesn't work and it inserts horrible digital noise every 60 seconds.

......or you could just pay for it.

 

[Superduper]

Thanks Terry. I don't do Torrents so I'll think about it. Maybe somebody knows of an open source solution.

I could see where after I snag a few songs I like, not using it thereafter so an open source version would be more desirable.

 

[Terry]

Thanks Terry. I don't do Torrents so I'll think about it. Maybe somebody knows of an open source solution.

I could see where after I snag a few songs I like, not using it thereafter so an open source version would be more desirable.

What station is it? We don't have XM here, but 7 day streaming trials are available.

 

[Superduper]

You don't have XM / Sirius? That's satellite radio so I thought everyone can get it. I can drive from CA clear across to FL (over 3,000 miles) and not lose a station. Also, subscribers also get to listen to many of the same stations streaming online, although I don't do that for eating up bandwidth and computing power.

The channels I like, most folks aren't interested in... it's CH32 (bridge -- easy listening) and CH69 (Escape -- elevator music. haha.).

 

[Terry]

You don't have XM / Sirius? That's satellite radio so I thought everyone can get it. I can drive from CA clear across to FL (over 3,000 miles) and not lose a station. Also, subscribers also get to listen to many of the same stations streaming online, although I don't do that for eating up bandwidth and computing power.

The channels I like, most folks aren't interested in... it's CH32 (bridge -- easy listening) and CH69 (Escape -- elevator music. haha.).

The satellites for XM/Sirius are geostationary. They sit over the US and can't be seen from here.

There are no commercial subscription satellite radio services in Australia, the market just isn't big enough to justify dedicated satellites to provide the service. There is some free radio services provided on Optus Aurora satellites but they are just rebroadcasts of public government funded terrestrial services for remote areas.

Rental cars in Australia do not offer satellite radio, simply because it is not available.

 

[k2j]

I use Audacity to do all my cassette importing.

You can record from any source on your computer. It records into a graphical wave format that can easily be spliced up and exported into bite size chunks.

Another program that is worth checking out for sure! You may need to buy another HD though..