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RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:26:29 GMT

Having recently found that 'Sound Juicer' can be made to automatically rip audioCDs to MP3s in Mint4,5 and 6 as well as Ubuntu 8.04.1 and 8.10 variants, all to Slippy's high standards, I thought that I ought to update the Opening Post to reflect this. :)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:20:46 GMT

Just to let folk know that Ubuntu Restricted Extras and Sound Juicer can be added to Mint or Intrepid and then modified in the same way. (Opening Post so edited.)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:03:45 GMT

Excellent. :)

It's been very rewarding to be able to offer some help in the Linux forum for a change. I have no idea what you guys are talking about most of the time, but it's nice to know that we speak a common language in at least some areas.

Enjoy the fact that LAME VBR is now working exactly how it should, and please do spread the word. ;)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

EDIT: PS I wonder if it might be worth adding the word "RESOLVED" to the topic subtitle for the first post? It would make it considerably easier for people to find a workable solution if using the forum search option. :)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:54:50 GMT

Hi Slipstreem :)
I couldn't have done it without your excellent audiophile advice. ;)
As a former professional engineer I know that there's always more than one way to crack any problem. The trick is to find the best compromise. What I wanted was an approach with recognizable configuration parameters and obvious ease of routine use, preferably routinely using a graphical user interface rather than continually requiring Command Line Interface (CLI) commands.
Sound Juicer seemed to offer the best chance, so I persevered and in a Ubuntu forum discovered a CLI command ([i]gst-inspect-lame[/i]) that made LAME 3.97 surrender up its commands and syntax. (These are invoked via the Ubuntu GStreamer plugin.)
Although upgrading to LAME 3.98 might be possible, under Ubuntu Linux that's not as straightforward as in Windows XP, so LAME 3.97 will have to do. :w00t:
The final results are already providing very satisfactory results to my old ears. I just hope that others with better hearing also benefit from what I have found. Meanwhile I am once again 're-discovering my music' with the excellent Amarok jukebox. ([url]http://amarok.kde.org/screenshots[/url]) :cool:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:18:20 GMT

I do believe you've totally cracked it, Bruce! :D

The small remaining difference is most likely down to the use of different versions of LAME. Both 3.97 and 3.98 are recognised as being excellent performers, so it's entirely up to you whether you update to 3.98 for use under Linux or stick with 3.97.

The only parameter that requires changing for different quality levels is the one that selects the -V level. Everything else remains constant down to -V7 where the samplerate is usually dropped to 32kHz from 44.1kHz.

I admire your perseverence. :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:24:03 GMT

Hi Slipstreem :)
That's finally cracked it then, because that was the only setting that I just took a guess on, leaving it at its default. Changing [b][i]mode=0[/i][/b] to [b][i]mode=1[/i][/b] invokes joint stereo. I'll do that and add a revised FinalImage report to this post ! ;)
Edit PS - Now attached to this post are Image2, for the CDEX produced file and ImageFinal, for that now produced by the finally modified Sound Juicer 2.22.0, with the following GStreamer pipeline settings for 'CD Quality, MP3'
[b][i]audio/x-raw-int,rate=44100,channels=2 ! lame name=enc mode=1
vbr=4 vbr-min-bitrate=32 vbr-max-bitrate=320 vbr-quality=3 ! id3v2mux[/i][/b]

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:39:45 GMT

Well done, Bruce! :)

It's getting there. The encoding is quite clearly in VBR now, but there's still one thing missing. Joint stereo.

The extra bitrate that's being used when compared to the standard -V3 setting is actually being swallowed up on processing the audio as two discrete audio channels. It's not going towards increasing quality. Standard stereo always requires twice the bitrate to store audio when compared to an equivalent mono source and is the least efficient method available for stereo encoding.

Joint stereo is a lossless process in itself and has no effect whatsoever on the stereo field when compared to discrete stereo. It allows the encoder to seamlessly switch between L/R stereo and M/S (mid/side) stereo choosing whichever provides the most efficient encoding method on a block-by-block basis.

It behaves in such a way as to store the channels as discrete left and right signals when this is calculated to be the most efficient method. However, when it requires less bits to store the audio data as sum and difference signals, ie, when the signal contains a higher percentage of mono than stereo content, M/S stereo is used to store the block in question.

The net result is audio that sounds identical in every way but requiring a lower bitrate in VBR mode.

Joint stereo is also the default for LAME VBR encoding, so I'm not quite sure what's disabling it, but you'll definitely benefit from invoking the required switch to re-enable it. The file being produced still isn't standard LAME VBR without it. :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:51:55 GMT

Hi dave.w :)
Thank you for that advice, but I routinely install the Ubuntu Restricted Extras via Applications, Add, plus some other packages that I find useful, the best probably being Gnome Partition Editor, Sysinfo, VLC Player and NTFS Configuration, the latter for setting up retained desktop icon access to NTFS drives.
Even with those and other packages, soundkonverter won't cooperate, but fear not, I have managed to find out how to make Sound Juicer 'play ball'.
Every version's MP3 encoder obeys different GStreamer pipeline commands, but I have found how to make them reveal their list of commands and their syntax.
As a result, all on one line, with separating spaces I have now applied :
[b]audio/x-raw-int,rate=44100,channels=2 ! lame name=enc
mode=0 vbr=4 vbr-min-bitrate=32 vbr-max-bitrate=320
vbr-quality=3 ! id3v2mux[i][/i][/b]
This results in ImageNEW EncSpotBasic's report of VBR encoding that is slightly better than Slipstreem's recommendation when using CDEX in Windows XP.
Once set, the Profile is retained and ease of everyday use of Sound Juicer then applies. You can even set it to 'spit out' the CD and display the destination Home / Music sub-folder MP3 contents at completion of fast encoding ! :w00t:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

dave.w — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:41:08 GMT

Hi, Bruce R if I can recall to get your extra codecs and programs lame, transcode ext. you need the restricted extras for ubuntu, easy way to get them. is in a console, code sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras. (Depending on what ubuntu you are using, there is xubuntu- restricted- extras,and kubuntu-restricted-extras) make sure you get the right one. Dave.w

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:48:47 GMT

Hi Slipstreem :)
It's also becoming clear from Scroogle searches that different front ends have made a mess of passing commands on to LAME, so a different front end might well do a better job. dave.w 's soundkonverter installs and runs OK under Ubuntu GNOME, but it's user interface is less friendly than Sound Juicer. (Sorry dave.w and many thanks for the thought.) I may end up trying WINE etc as you suggest, or persevere with gn2's Grip, which looks as though it does a better job of commanding LAME, but first I'll try to find out more about GStreamer Profile commands for Sound Juicer. I'll try to report back what I find out. ;)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

dave.w — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:32:23 GMT

Hi, again have you tried KONQUEROR. The easy way is to load your cd , in the drop down box choose open in new. Now konqueror will open and show the files on the cd (as mp what ever) click on the file and in the drop down box select copy. (copy to home folder).copy all. konqueror will copy to your home folder.. open your home folder and you should see your mp files create a folder and move them in. close home. Now you can use soundkonverter , Open soundkonverter and add your files. this works in Mandriva 2008 well. dave.w

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:02:23 GMT

There you have it then, Bruce. The files being generated are 192Kbps CBR and the additional switch is overriding the -V setting. Dependent upon source material, -V3 may not be enough, although I suspect that something else is breaking it if the files generated without the 'bitrate=192' still don't sound as good as the CDex/LAME -V3 encodings.

There are plenty of situations where CBR192 may be slightly inferior in terms of quality compared to a genuine -V3 encoding, and the resultant files from a CBR192 encoding will always be wasteful in terms of bitrate used by comparison to -V3 for the same perceived quality.

If it's any consolation, the fault lies fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the people writing the front-ends, not with LAME. It's not always an easy choice when trying to find a suitable front-end in Windows either, as many of them still break convention by enforcing switches that do more harm than good out of ignorance of how the encoder actually works.

CDex was, in hindsight, not the best front-end to use in my MP3 encoding guide as it has no default settings for VBR encoding that match the -V standard. The encodings it makes with my settings are entirely standard -V encodings, but it proves necessary to manually force the settings to achieve default behaviour. Foobar2000 and LameDrop might have been better examples as they're both written and maintained by people with close ties to the Hydrogenaudio community and the LAME developers who have a better understanding of what's required than most.

If you want LAME to work properly then there's no option but to keep plugging away until you find a Linux application that generates resultant files matching CDex/LAME for average bitrate, filesize and bitrate distribution as shown in EncSpot. Anything other than plain VBR as implemented with a plain -V setting is, technically speaking, broken and not making the best possible use of the encoder. :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

EDIT: It's just dawned on me that Foobar2000 [i]will[/i] run under WINE and [i]will[/i] make LAME VBR encodings properly. It's one of the best technical implementations of audio file playback and file format conversion currently available. I'd highly recommend it if you're happy to run free Windows software under WINE. :)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

dave.w — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:27:48 GMT

Hi Bruce.R a good sound converter with a range of sound formats is soundkonverter. Make a copy of your recording choose your end format
and try it. You can take the sound out of FLV videos and convert to mp3 easily too you should have it in your programs to download. It has a
nice and simple GUI to use and works well. dave.w

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

MartenReed — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:25:16 GMT

I'm too lazy to update, you see :)

I also see no need to ;)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:22:58 GMT

Hi Marten :)
This is all fascinating stuff. Yes, I did use Slipstreem's recommended settings with CDEX in XP, but using his recommended LAME 7.98 instead of your 7.97 version. I still don't understand why, but my modified Sound Juicer settings have been producing slightly better sound to my old ears.
What's puzzling is that two of the graphs requested by Slipstreem are as attached, suggesting that Sound Juicer is NOT in VBR mode, despite its command string.
(Image1 relates to the modified Sound Juicer, settings, whilst Image2 is for XP-hosted CDEX as recommended.)
It looks as though I need to follow up his [url]http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showforum=55[/url] link if we are to get to the bottom of this. ;)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

MartenReed — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:01:31 GMT

Bruce, just a thought. I'm not sure if you use CDeX, but if you do, do your settings correlate with the Slip/Reed ones?

Slip recommended this

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:28:50 GMT

Hi again. :)

The short answer is that the only encoding out of the four that is truly LAME VBR at -V3 is the one made by CDex/LAME. The others must all be wrong as they show different bitrates and filesizes in EncSpot.

If you click on the filenames inside EncSpot, a bitrate distribution chart pops up showing the relative percentage of usage of various bitrates within the file. That's the information we need to be looking at to discern what's actually going on.

The graph should show a wide distribution pattern roughly centred around the target bitrate. If any of your encodings appear to encode less blocks at the lower or higher bitrates than the CDex/LAME generated version (which is standard and unmodified -V3) then the VBR profile is being broken in some way by the additional switch(es).

Would you be able to do the same as above regarding the attachment but with the relevant bitrate distribution graphs for all four files please? Now that we have evidence that the encodings are definitely wrong in one way or another, I'd like to help you get to the bottom of this. :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:43:54 GMT

Hi Slipstreem :)
Did as you requested, downloaded EncSpot Basic, re-booted into XP, installed and ran it, directing it to look at my four versions of my Jupiter test track, with JPEG image of results attached to this posting.
The one diagnosed as Xing is in fact my Nero add-in, old MP3PRO file.
The top two, produced by Sound Juicer with LAME 3.97 are the simply changed to VBR3version and the further modified 192Knominal bitrate version. That highlighted version is the one with the settings that I am now using to great effect.
The fourth file, as you can see, was produced with CDEX as per your recommendations, reported as 165K nominal rate. I hope that this helps your thoughts on the topic ! :P

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:22:11 GMT

I'm wondering if you could throw one of these MP3 files through [url=http://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_software/mp3_tools/encspot.cfm]EncSpot[/url] (Windows only AFAIK) to confirm exactly what's being squirted out. It may just be that -V3 isn't adequate for your source material and that ammending the 'bitrate=192' switch is jacking up the average bitrate to closer approximate -V2.

Whatever it's doing, even if sound quality does improve, it's still stopping LAME from working optimally in terms of quality versus filesize. The only other possibility I can think of is that it's a very old version of LAME that behaves differently with respect to the -V parameter. The latest version (3.98) lives [url=http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php#lame-current]HERE[/url].

If you want accurate advice on how to use LAME properly, then I'd recommend going to the home of LAME development, [url=http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showforum=55]Hydrogenaudio[/url]. They're the only guys who [i]genuinely[/i] understand the codec. Any advice received from elsewhere regarding non-standard tweaking will always lead to a reduction in the efficiency of the encoder and sub-optimal performance, guaranteed. :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:03:59 GMT

Hi Slipstreem :)
I'm puzzled too. As you know, I'm a 'just use wot works' kind of a guy.
I used CDEX in WinXP to create test files as recommended by your sig and the LAME settings all seemed to work as you describe, but when it came to Ubuntu and Sound Juicer settings it seemed to depart from those conventions. Simply changing VB6 to VBR3 in its command-string effected a perceptible improvement but didn't match the quality of your approach. Scroogling for advice I found other fora where folk were trying to achieve higher conversion rates with Sound Juicer which included simply adding the bitrate command. I tried it and it's working rather well and seems better than your CDEX approach to my limited hearing, but I'm still hoping for reports from those with better hearing. :D
Meanwhile, I've tried playing original WAV alongside created MP3, one VLC played track echoing the other, and like gn2 I can't detect any difference.
I haven't completely followed up gn2's Grip advice yet, but as its interface and capability is less complex, think that I'll settle for modified Sound Juicer, where simply inserting a CD in the optical drive causes automatic detection, load and track info retrieval so that all I have to do is click on the 'Extract' button and away it goes at great speed, creating Home / Music correctly titled sub-directories containing the MP3s. I'm already about half way through my CD collection with CDDB action that hasn't got anything wrong yet ! :P
Yet again, as I type this, I'm enjoying the superior to MP3PRO results with Amarok jukebox, so thank you for THAT advice. Incidentally, if you want to play with what I'm doing, you can replicate it in a Mint5 LiveCD session with some downloads but no actual installation, then losing those apps/settings on shutdown but not the created MP3s if you have copied them to safety elsewhere. (Please let me know if you want further details on how to do this.) :cool:
Edit PS - Please note that Sound Juicer can be told to use other included encoders instead, each offering the ability to modify their command strings if you know what to try. The v2.22.0 offerings include CD Quality AAC, CD Quality Lossless, CD Quality Lossy (OGG) and CD Quality MP3, the latter capability being the one that I have selected and modified. :w00t:

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Slipstreem — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:28:52 GMT

Hi Bruce. :)

I'm a little concerned as to where this "bitrate=192" is coming from and what it's doing. LAME VBR only needs to be given a "-V" or "VBR" value to work as specified by the developers. Addition of any switches relating to an actual bitrate value breaks the convention and will lead to non-optimal performance in one way or another.

It looks as though this setting may be either applying a bottom or top limit to the bitrate made available during the encoding process. If it's the former, then the files will be unnecessarily bloated as LAME VBR has precision control all the way down to 32Kbps which represents passages of digital 'silence' in source material. If it's the latter, then capping the bitrate to 192Kbps will hurt the encoding quality as LAME VBR will still make use of bitrates all the way up to 320Kbps by default when necessary, even when using a VBR setting of '-V3'.

In short, either eventuality breaks convention and stops VBR encoding from working as intended by the developers. If you can gain access to the command-line for LAME.EXE, simply appending '-V3' is all that's required as all of the other settings you're manually setting (bar the 'bitrate=192') are actually defaults for '-V3' anyway. :)

Cheers, Slipstreem. :cool:

EDIT: Whilst it may be true to say that Vorbis (often incorrectly called OGG) used to have the edge (marginally) over LAME up until the listening tests [url=http://www.listening-tests.info/mf-128-1/results.htm]HERE[/url] in 2005, Vorbis has seen little serious development since this date. Note that it's not really a true comparison anyway as it compares LAME in CBR mode for which it hasn't been fully optimised for many years to a custom, optimised version of Vorbis. LAME has seen considerable development and improvement in the intervening period for VBR encoding and is considered by most to have the lead presently. New listening tests are in the pipeline and I'll keep you informed as to the results. :)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:33:32 GMT

Hi gn2 :)
It sounds as though we are achieving similar conversion speeds and ease of use once configured. Whilst typing this reply, I am listening to Amarok playing and I simply inserted another CD and it was auto-detected by Sound Juicer and its track listings retrieved and displayed, so I just clicked on 'Extract' and it has already created the MP3s in Home/Music. I could direct Amarok to that location, but I'm using another logical drive for my audio collection, so I just 'drag and drop'. ;)
Regarding comparison, I think that I'll try 'side-by-side' original versus MP3 playing with VLC Player, which Ubuntu multi-tasking should support. It may be a bit of a row, but it should make comparison easier. Meanwhile, another 'Mac' CD encoding completed. At this rate, it'll be hours rather than weeks before my collection is completely re-encoded ! :D
Edit PS - I don't know about you, but I stopped hearing really high frequencies around twenty-eight years old, with further gradual reduction thereafter.

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

gn2 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:02:01 GMT

[quote][b]Bruce R (16/08/2008)[/b][hr]
@ gn2 :)
Thank you, I'll try your approach and see if it produces similar or better results. Meanwhile, the speed plus quality of re-encoding with Sound Juicer v2.22.0 is quite impressive, but what differences can you perceive with Grip ?[/quote]

I have no comparison as I have only ever used Grip, not Soundjuicer.
Grip is very fast compared to tools I have used in the past in Windows.
The resulting .mp3 files at 192kbps sound identical to the original CD to my (47 year old) ears.

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:12:17 GMT

@ wyliecoyoteuk :)
In my case 'the original' can mean vinyl, which is why I am hoping that a special ultra low noise, wide dynamic range RIAA preamp that I designed and built some thirty years ago will turn up. I have some vinyl records that never got re-released on CD, but most of my 'originals' are in the compromise CDaudio format, on CD. Re-encoding is always better with as few sequential conversions as possible, which all also applies to video files, with Hollywood now desperately searching for good quality film prints that they can re-master and archive in 'SuperHD' format before the film crumbles away and so that they can re-release video DVDs or Blu-Ray discs. ;)
I guess that when it comes to audio coding, at the other end of the sequence, you need to first check out what player(s) you will be using, and how good your hearing is. I used to hear the 'whistle' of fluorescent lights, let alone the whine of '625-line' TV line frequency, but now I am really surprised that I can still appreciate the differences that I have described.
@ gn2 :)
Thank you, I'll try your approach and see if it produces similar or better results. Meanwhile, the speed plus quality of re-encoding with Sound Juicer v2.22.0 is quite impressive, but what differences can you perceive with Grip ?
(As I type this, I am already re-enjoying the results with Amarok.)

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

gn2 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:35:39 GMT

To get Grip working you need to install the "Lame" package as well and specify Lame as the encoder in Config>Encode>Encoder and make sure that:
the "Encoder executable" field shows: /usr/bin/lame
the "Encoder command line" field shows: -h -b %b %w %m
the "Encode file extension" field shows: mp3
the "Encode file format" field shows: ~/ogg/%A/%d/%n.%x

In Config>Encode>Options you can set the desired bitrate.
In Config>Rip>Options if desired, select Auto-rip on insert and Auto-eject after rip.
In Config>Misc if desired, select Do not lowercase filenames and Do not change spaces to underscores

Set this way, open Grip then on inserting an audio CD Grip will auto-rip and encode as .mp3 to a folder called ogg in /home then spit the CD out.

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

wyliecoyoteuk — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:00:57 GMT

there are lossles codecs, and lossy codecs.
Ogg is generally better at the same bitrate as MP3
Variable bitrate is better than constant.
AAC or FLAAC is lossless, IIRC

EDIT: every time you convert, it gets worse.
Always transcode from the original.

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:04:01 GMT

Hi DaveHand :)
Entitled CD Quality, Lossy the OGG encoder Profile can be edited but I am unfamiliar with it's specific commands, but I guess the answer is yes, it's quality should be capable of improvement. In my case, hardware players like my car CD/MP3 player and portable Creative devices don't recognise and can't handle OGG, but are very happy to handle the higher than 'standard' rate MP3 files. Sound quality on my new Creative 'Stone' using some Sennheiser (PX200) headphones is very good. :D

RE: MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

DaveHand — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:12:15 GMT

Is it not possible to alter the conversion quality with ogg files?

MP3 Creation with 'the Heron'

Bruce R — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:16:46 GMT

If you would like to simply rip audio CDs to recommended VBR quality MP3s, complete with automatically-acquired track information using Ubuntu or LinuxMint variants, perform these changes to 'Sound Juicer', the Audio CD Extractor which otherwise rips them to Ogg Vorbis.
Once these changes are made, insertion of an audioCD results in the automatic invocation of Sound Juicer and, if Internet-connected, the automatic download of track information before offering to Play or Extract to MP3 files, the latter typically taking less than ten minutes for an audioCD.
This works for LinuxMint4, 5 and 6 and Ubuntu 8.04.1 and 8.10 (haven't tried it for 9.04 yet).

First check that 'Audio CD Extractor' appears in a Sound menu. If not, use the Package manager (Synaptic) to Search for [i]sound juicer[/i], then Apply it with its dependencies.
Use Synaptic to Search for [i]ubuntu-restricted-extras[/i], which should offer ubuntu/Mint, kubuntu and xubuntu versions. Apply the appropriate version with its dependencies. This will take a while, as it installs the LAME MP3 encoder, GStreamer plugins and MS compatibility OpenOffice TTFonts.
Invoke Sound Juicer and Edit Preferences and check 'Eject after extracting tracks'. Then select 'CD Quality, MP3' under 'Format' and 'Edit Profiles', selecting 'CD Quality, MP3' and 'Edit' and change the 'GStreamer pipeline' to read as follows (all on one line) :
[i]audio/x-raw-int,rate=44100,channels=2 ! lame name=enc mode=1
vbr=4 vbr-min-bitrate=32 vbr-max-bitrate=320 vbr-quality=3 ! Id3v2mux[/i]
'Close, Close, Close' to save these changes, Shut Down and they should be remembered thereafter, so that simply inserting an audio CD into an optical drive will initiate the ripping process, producing MP3s to Slippy's Windows CDEX criteria which are highly compatible with Linux audio jukeboxes and MP3 players like Creative's. (Annoyingly, it gets the first track duration wrong, so if someone can find a fix for that minor problem, please tell me.)