MediaMonkey forum

Just started using MM, but the steps to rip a CD seem way more complicated than other programs. Maybe I am missing something. here is what I have to do:
1. Insert CD and browse through My Computer on the file list in the left side.
2. Right click and select to retrieve album info
3. Select to rip the CD
4. Can't seem to edit tags before ripping. For example, can't select to add album art to tag.
5. ripping is slooooow
6. New album doesn't show up in library until library is recanned.
7. Select the album and edit the tags....

In windows media player I can do all of this in a couple of steps
Like I said maybe I am missing something... any suggestions?
Thanks

antknee869 wrote:Just started using MM, but the steps to rip a CD seem way more complicated than other programs. Maybe I am missing something. here is what I have to do:
1. Insert CD and browse through My Computer on the file list in the left side.
2. Right click and select to retrieve album info
3. Select to rip the CD
4. Can't seem to edit tags before ripping. For example, can't select to add album art to tag.
5. ripping is slooooow
6. New album doesn't show up in library until library is recanned.
7. Select the album and edit the tags....

In windows media player I can do all of this in a couple of steps
Like I said maybe I am missing something... any suggestions?
Thanks

1. is normal.
2. is normal.
3. is really number four.
4. is really number three. you edit the data on the cdrom before you rip it. you can't add album art but you can load the tag data.
5. depends on what format you rip too. media monkey uses a much better encoder rythem then most others.
6. you need to have the option turned on to make a new playlist of recently added songs. then the songs you ripped after you added the tags will show on that list.

7. is not needed if you do it right!

wmp is saving a few steps by making it bloat ware and doing
one or two mouse or button clicks for you. monkey is trying to
keep the software from getting bloated.

antknee869 wrote:Just started using MM, but the steps to rip a CD seem way more complicated than other programs. Maybe I am missing something. here is what I have to do:
1. Insert CD and browse through My Computer on the file list in the left side.
2. Right click and select to retrieve album info
3. Select to rip the CD
4. Can't seem to edit tags before ripping. For example, can't select to add album art to tag.
5. ripping is slooooow
6. New album doesn't show up in library until library is recanned.
7. Select the album and edit the tags....

In windows media player I can do all of this in a couple of steps
Like I said maybe I am missing something... any suggestions?
Thanks

1. You don't need to browse to the CD
2. It's automatic for me, maybe something needs turning on?
3. That's unavoidable
4. You can, but what's the point if you've already performed step 2
5. Is it? 5 minutes for me
6. Not for me.
7. Again????

Retrieving album data from FreeDB is automatic if MM is still running from the last time you told it to do that - if MM is freshly started however it doesn't seem to automatically go out to FreeDB unless you tell it to?

Album art is still a bit of a PITA .. when I use VCD (which cuts out some steps) it occasionally happens that MM2.5 seems to want to put the album art into the CD folder (D:\<whatever>) which of course is impossible (read only).

I get a Windows Menu as soon as the CD is recognized, asking me if I want to rip or play the CD.

Once I select Rip, MM opens and Freedb is contacted to fill in the track names and genres.

I rip. Takes about 3-5 minutes, yes. It really depends on your CD Writer. I often tell MM and other ripping programs to rip at the slowest possible speed. Less errors and digital noise that way.

Once ripped, I have told MM to rip the tracks into a temporary directory. There I can review the tracks, use a wave editor to boost the volume or reduce audio compression. Once I am satisfied with the sound, I tag, then rescan then convert to flac.

Total time for a CD is about 10 minutes, maybe 20 if the files need tweeking.

wow 10 to 20 minutes? thats fast scooter.

takes me lots longer of course i do edit each wav file and add silent space fore and aft of the song. and also boost the volume. but then i convert to ogg, then move to proper folders.
as i tag all the stuff before i do the ripping. i don't like freedb or other online info taggers. i prefer to do it my self since i have the cdrom case right in front of me it just as easier and faster to type it in then wait for the net to connect.

Thanks for the answers. I wasn't necessarily complaining about all the steps, I was just listing each step I did just to explain exactly what I do.
I do not get a pop up window when I insert a CD... .that would be nice.
How do I get that?
Yeah, I think WMP is bloated but it is also very easy.

Forgot... Can the default folder where music gets ripped be changed?

Yes in Rip dialog you set Rip destination and mask for filenames (left of setting file type).

Right, I meant permantley. It keeps reverting back to C:\My Music as the default.

antknee869 wrote:Thanks for the answers. I wasn't necessarily complaining about all the steps, I was just listing each step I did just to explain exactly what I do.
I do not get a pop up window when I insert a CD... .that would be nice.
How do I get that?
Yeah, I think WMP is bloated but it is also very easy.

To get the popup window you have to fiddle with the autorun settings:
1. My computer > Right click on CD drive and click properties.
2. In the window that appeared click the 'AutoPlay" tab.
3. On the drop-down list select "Music CD"
4. Now you can select to rip with MM or you can select 'Prompt me each time to choose an action'

@antknee869
MM remember last USED setting.

Keith,

I edit and boost or cut the volume of each track in wave before converting them over to flac, too. You might try getting a wave editor that allows batch file modification, e.g., boosting the volume of all the tracks at once, simultaneously. Gold Wave is one such product.

i got that in the one i use.
but i have to add silent space on my songs one at a time.
and that takes up time.
i just put 41 songs in the computer win98 ripped from cd's
to wav did the editing and got them converted via cdex, and loaded in monkey's database in no less then 10 hours.
thats fast for that win98.

would have been about 2 hours on this xp. but i did it on the other one i did not want to transfer via cdrom just got lazy and paid for it.

You guys are crazy, but to each his own!