Windows XP Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 88 Save Streaming Music to Your PC

Build up a digital music collection by saving
files in MP3 format when you listen to Internet radio
stations.

When
I'm at my PC, I spend a fair amount of time listing
to streaming Internet radio stations, such as you can find at
http://www.shoutcast.com,
http://www.live365.com, or the
many radio stations available directly from Windows Media Player and
MusicMatch Jukebox.

To listen to radio stations with Windows Media Player, first launch it by choosing Start All Programs Accessories Entertainment Windows Media Player, then click on the Radio Tuner button.

Often, I'll want to listen to a particular song
again after hearing itfor example, a pavan by the English
Renaissance composer John Dowling that I don't have
on my CD collection. But because radio stations stream music to your
PC, that music apparently can't be called back up
and listened to again. Same deal with sample clips on Amazon.com and
other sellers of digital musiconce you've
listened to the clip, you can't save it like other
files.

However, there is a way to save streaming
music or any streaming audio to your PC as a
digital music file.
Super MP3 Recorder (http://www.supermp3recorder.com) lets you
capture streaming music in MP3 and WAV formats.
It's shareware and free to try, but if you continue
to use it, you're expected to pay $19.95, or $29.95
for the Professional version, which lets you do sound editing and
lets you automatically start recording at preset times.

To record streaming music, install and run the program, then choose
Option, which will bring up the screen shown in Figure 10-4. This screen lets you choose which format to
record your music. Unless you're planning to edit
the sound file, choose MP3 as your recording format, because WAV
produces files that are extremely large.

Figure 10-4. Choosing your file format and sound quality before recording

Click OK and return to Super MP3 Recorder's main
screen. Now click Volume Control. This lets you not only set the
volume control, but also to choose from which input you want to
record. The program can record from a CD player, microphone,
auxiliary input, and several other sources. By default,
it's enabled to record only from a CD, so you have
to choose the Wave Out option if you're recording
from an audio stream.

By default, the recorded music files are stored in the
C:\Program Files\Super Mp3 Recorder Professional
folder. To change the location, click on the Browse button and choose
a new folder.

Now you're ready to record. Listen to your radio
station (or any other streaming input) and, when you want to record,
click on the Start Recording button. The program will tell you that
it's started recording, show you how long
you've been recording, and display information about
your recording format, as shown in Figure 10-5.

Figure 10-5. Recording an Internet radio station and saving to an MP3 file

The program's controls work like a CD
player's, so you can pause and stop recording. When
you've finished recording, go to the location where
you've chosen to save your files, and the music file
will be there, ready to play. The file will have an odd name, such as
rec0611-143130.mp3. If you want it to have a
more understandable filename, before you start recording, give it a
filename of your choosing in the Destination file box, shown in Figure 10-5.

10.4.1 See Also

Ripcast Streaming Audio Ripper is a similar program, but is designed
to work with SHOUTcast servers that deliver streaming MP3 files, so
won't work for all streaming audio formats.
It's shareware and free to try, but
you're expected to pay $9.98 if you continue to use
it. It's available from Internet download sites and
from http://www.xoteck.com/ripcast.