Good but could be better! (Audiograbber)

Name: DanLeach

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Product:	Audiograbber
Date:	13/08/00 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick, good interface, lots of options for the more experienced.

Disadvantages: Doesn't come with an MP3 encoder.

They say that music soothes the savage beast. But music and computers don't always work well together. After all, if you're using the CD-ROM, you can't very well listen to audio CD music, can you?

Well, don't be too quick to answer. In case you missed the recent press, MP3, the online music format, is making big waves (or small WAV's - bad joke, sorry). MP3 is a standard for encoding CD quality music to a manageable size for storage and playback on computer.

Audiograbber is an application that allows you to create MP3's or WAV's from your favorite CD. The program starts by capturing a song to a WAV file, which takes about 2 - 4 minutes and results in a file which may run as high as 60 megs. Then if the program is configured to use an MP3 encoder, it can translate that WAV into an MP3, which usually takes 6 or 7 minutes, and results in a file around 5 megs or so. The kicker is that you need to have an MP3 encoder on your system already to create the MP3 (I use Blade Encoder).

The program is easy to use, with a reasonable setup process, and one click encode ability. The speed and status indicators are decent, and it allows you to set CD and track names to identify the file. My only problem really is that the package should be bundled with an MP3 encoder. Encoding to WAV files is possible without that piece, but who wants 50 meg files for each track on your PC? Bundling with an MP3 encoder would provide a much more complete package.

One question people might have is the legality. As I understand it, it's legal to make an MP3 for your own use from a CD you've purchased, and possibly download an MP3 for evaluation (not clear on this last point). I encourage everybody to buy the CD's you like, if piracy becomes a serious problem, we may lose a great online capability because it's misused.

Summary: