Ditching The Media
I'm really used to playing my stereo CDs through the medium of MP3s
stored in a central respository on my computer. However, playback of my
DVD-Audio or music DVDs required using the original media. That was
further encumbered as a screen is usually required to navigate the
interface in order to play them. So, basically two strikes against the
new format in terms of awkwardness of use. Plus, of course, the third
in that it could be played nowhere else than in my home theatre set-up
as that's the only location with a Dolby Digital decoder.
The solution is quite simple:
- First, use SmartRipper to pull the VOB file off the DVD
onto a harddrive. There's a minor caveat here that you need to play
part of the DVD with a legitimate software DVD player in order to
unlock the disc before you can rip anything off it. SmartRipper has the
option to pull just the audio stream so the unwanted graphics can be
left behind. In the case of both DVD-Audio albums tried (Corrs' "In
Blue" and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells 2003") the ripped stream is
about 200MB for the former and 150MB for the latter so while large,
it's not huge. By comparison a recent MP3 rip from the "Tubular Bells
2003" CD using the LAME encoder set to VBR High resulted in a 75MB set
of files. As that's including the four extra tracks, it's an impressive
bit of compression.
- Trim the tracks using ChopperX. While this doesn't have the
most advanced interface, it does make cutting the single stream into
chunks much simpler. Play the track through it, select the appropriate
point, and then save out a new file with just the play range.
- Rename the resulting files from .vob to .ac3, and install
the WinAmpAC3 plugin into WinAmp5. Drop the AC3 files into the playlist
and go! Depending on whether the PC is plugged into an AC3 decoder
(like my home theatre amplifier) or is standalone, there're a few
changes to be made to the WinAmpAC3 interface:
- For the PC connected to a proper decoder, configuration
is easy: just change the output to SPDIF and feed it through untouched.
- For a standalone PC playing through stereo speakers,
the gain should be cranked up. This is due to the original vobs being
mastered at a much lower level than most stereo CDs, so it sounds far
quieter when being played back compared to an MP3. The AC3 decoder will
automatically reduce the levels on the fly so they don't exceed the
clipping levels if required. The downconversion from 5.1 to 2.0 is
handled quite well, although the emphasis moving from speaker sometimes
sounds a little wierd depending on recording technique.
The software that the WinAmp plugin is based on currently supports
conversion on the fly from DTS to AC3. We couldn't get that working
yesterday, but I imagine next time the plugin is updated, it'll add
support for DTS as well. With the wealth of DTS recordings out there
right now, that'll be great.
On the downside, I now no longer have quite as strong an argument when
it comes to avoid buying DVD-Audio or music DVD discs...other than
price. Darn.
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Current Playlist
Music Sources:
A&B Sound
Cob Records
CD Baby
eBay
Future Shop
Music Reviews:
Recommended
Avoids
AllMusic.com
Related:
Copy Protected CD Rant
Creating CDs on the Amiga
Computer (Wintel):
Audiograbber
Helium2
LAME
WinAMP
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