Realaudio to MP3 converter?

Dan Backlund

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Jan 14, 2004, 9:43:10 PM1/14/04

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Does anyone know a program that can convert Realaudio files (.ra, .ram or
streaming) to mp3?
I would be thankful for an answer.
Dan

Dieter

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Jan 14, 2004, 9:48:32 PM1/14/04

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Try Streambox Ripper, I use it a long time.

"Dan Backlund" <d...@schweiz.org> wrote in message
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Dan Backlund

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Jan 14, 2004, 10:32:00 PM1/14/04

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Thank you for the tip!
Do you know where I can get that program?
Dan

"Dieter" <die...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Dieter

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Jan 14, 2004, 10:36:37 PM1/14/04

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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22streambox+ripper%22+download

www.streamboxripper.tk

"Dan Backlund" <d...@schweiz.org> wrote in message

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Dan Backlund

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Jan 15, 2004, 12:26:45 AM1/15/04

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Thank you! It's good!!!!!!!!

"Dieter" <die...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

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>
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22streambox+ripp

Dan Backlund

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Jan 15, 2004, 12:32:21 AM1/15/04

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Just one question. I don't see that it can convert streaming Realaudio (for
instance a radio program) or am I wrong? Do you have to save the stream
first (however that is made??)?
Dan

"Dieter" <die...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

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>
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22streambox+ripp

Dieter

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Jan 15, 2004, 1:40:46 AM1/15/04

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It can convert only .ra files and can't convert streams from Internet.

"Dan Backlund" <d...@schweiz.org> wrote in message

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AngryofMayfair

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Jan 15, 2004, 5:18:27 AM1/15/04

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"Dieter" <die...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

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> It can convert only .ra files and can't convert streams from Internet.

Try Total Recorder:

http://www.highcriteria.com/

I have just downloaded it to try recording internet radio - it seems to have
all the buttons....
You can convert & save internet radio to mp3 or wav as you record it.

Dan Backlund

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Jan 15, 2004, 8:30:52 AM1/15/04

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Thank you!
I will try that one!
Dan

"AngryofMayfair" <pla...@aspambbigpond.com> wrote in message
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Thomas

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Jan 15, 2004, 12:40:41 PM1/15/04

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Streambox can rip from Internet streams.

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Thomas

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Jan 15, 2004, 12:48:59 PM1/15/04

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Should have added, Streambox rips from Internet Streams but keeps the file
as a .rm file. You'd have to convert to mp3 afterwards.

"Thomas" <an...@anon.com> wrote in message
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Mevlut

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Jan 15, 2004, 1:01:05 PM1/15/04

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iTunes

Dirk Gently

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Jan 15, 2004, 2:28:13 PM1/15/04

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"Dan Backlund" <d...@schweiz.org> wrote in message news:<4005fdeb$1...@news.bluewin.ch>...

> Does anyone know a program that can convert Realaudio files (.ra, .ram or
> streaming) to mp3?
> I would be thankful for an answer.

Go over to the StreamboxVCR forum. They have a FAQ about things like
this, plus they are pretty knowledgable about these things.

http://pub25.ezboard.com/fstreemeboxvcrfrm7

There are a number of options. Directly convert from RA to mp3. Or
play it with a WAV writer as an output and then encode that.

You could also try HydrogenAudio.org for your general audio questions.

Now, having said that, I'm not so sure that actually converting them
is a good idea.

Basically, it's like making a fuzzy photocopy of a fuzzy photocopy.
The copy is not going to be as good as the original.

Real audio is usually pretty low quality to begin with, and converting
it is just going to make it worse.

Bb

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Jan 15, 2004, 5:13:03 PM1/15/04

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"Dan Backlund" <d...@schweiz.org> wrote in message
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JetAudio will record to mp3, mp3Pro, et al.

Dan Backlund

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Jan 15, 2004, 9:45:10 PM1/15/04

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"Dirk Gently" <dirkg...@subdimension.com> wrote in message
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Yes, you are sure right, but my portable mp3 player doesn't play RA!
Anyway thank you everybody! This has saved me MANY hours of work and
hardware wireing and so on.
Dan

TC

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Jan 16, 2004, 9:17:27 AM1/16/04

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Try the Messer sound recorder. It records anything you hear from your
sound card. The output can be saved as either .wav or .mp3. And; it's
Freeware!!

http://www.dago.pmp.com.pl/messer/

It works great. Start a Messer recording session. Then start
RealPlayer. The only problem is that you might wind up with extraneous
sound at the beginning and ending of the file. This can be eliminated
with an .mp3 editor such as Wave-Mp3 Editor and Recorder:

http://www.dak.com

AngryofMayfair

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Jan 15, 2004, 10:06:11 PM1/15/04

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>
> Real audio is usually pretty low quality to begin with, and converting
> it is just going to make it worse.

In theory I agree but if you select a reasonable encoding rate the quality
is pretty much as good as the original.
I use 128kbps mp3 for recording internet radio, it seems fine, perhaps it's
a bit of overkill as the original stream is only 48kbps but if you go down
much below 128kbps then that probably where the 'copy of a copy' effect
would become apparent.

Dirk Gently

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Jan 17, 2004, 12:58:11 PM1/17/04

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"AngryofMayfair" <pla...@aspambbigpond.com> wrote in message news:<bu9nr5$2gp2$1...@arachne.labyrinth.net.au>...

> >
> > Real audio is usually pretty low quality to begin with, and converting
> > it is just going to make it worse.
>
> In theory I agree but if you select a reasonable encoding rate the quality
> is pretty much as good as the original.

Sure. These are lossy formats and the less you throw out the closer
it is going to sound like the original.

> I use 128kbps mp3 for recording internet radio, it seems fine, perhaps it's
> a bit of overkill as the original stream is only 48kbps but if you go down
> much below 128kbps then that probably where the 'copy of a copy' effect
> would become apparent.

Yeah.

But it seems kind of silly to need 128kbps+ just for a streaming file
that was only 48kbps or so to begin with.

And some format1->format2 conversions are worse than others. It's
possible for Format1 to throw away stuff that format2 really needs, so
you gotta make the bit rate even higher.

Incidentally, somebody on HydrogenAudio was going to do a transcoding
listening test to find out how bad these things were, but
unfortunately not enough people participated so they didn't get
results that were statistically valid.