Creative Titanium Getting Started Guide - Page 55

Making MP3s or WMAs - audio extraction The first phase in making an MP3 or WMA file is extracting audio data from an audio CD. To extract audio data, you will need a CD-ROM drive that can extract digital audio data, and a program known as a Ripper. This program uses the CDROM drive to read the audio tracks from the audio CD and stores it on your hard disk. The time needed for a successful audio extraction depends on: • CD-ROM drive speed • defects, like scratches on the audio CD • error-checking features on the CD-ROM drive Making MP3s or WMAs - encoding Encoding is the second phase of making an MP3 or WMA file. Encoders are used to convert the stored audio tracks, usually WAV files, into these formats. The encoding process is considered lossy compression, which means that some data is lost during compression. However, using the standard sampling rate and bitrates will ensure that your MP3 or WMA files retain much of their audio quality. The standard bitrate of most MP3 files is 128 Kbps, although some are set higher, at 160 or 192 Kbps. Higher bitrates will result in larger MP3 file sizes, with better audio quality. For WMA, it is touted that audio tracks encoded with half an MP3 file's bitrate can offer similar audio quality. As such, 64 Kbps WMA files are quite common. Use Creative PlayCenter, Creative MediaSource or a number of third party applications (not bundled) to extract audio tracks and encode MP3s or WMAs. When creating unprotected WMA files, ensure that the digital rights management function is disabled. For example, in Windows Media Player, under Options, click the CD Audio tab, and then click the Enable Personal Rights Management check box to deselect it. An MP3 and WMA Primer D-2