Mac Freeware for CD Ripping

February 24, 2004 11:52 AM

Does anyone know of a free (emphasis on FREE) program for Mac (or something I can run through X-11) that can either 1. rip just part of a CD track to MP3 or 2. create a new file from part of an MP3? I'm annoyed with "hidden" tracks that introduce 15 minutes of silence when my iPod is on random.
posted by The Michael The to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

Within iTunes, select a song and choose "Get Info" from the file menu. select "options" from the bar near the top of the window. you can then set the song to start and stop playing whenever you want it to. This does not truncate the file in any way, so you won't save any HD space, but I'm 90% that the settings carry over when you import it into your iPod.
posted by rorycberger at 12:09 PM on February 24, 2004

Audion has a waveform mp3 editor, and although they want you to pay, you can use it for free, although your sessions will be limited to 30 minutes after 15 days.
posted by jeremias at 12:25 PM on February 24, 2004

hmm, if you have access to a PC, there's a nice little program called MP3Trim that does just this, without altering the quality of the mp3 at all. there are many opensource mp3 editors out there (like audacity) that can edit the audio, but will require re-encoding it on output, thus doubling the compression and lowering quality. be sure and mp3 trimming utility you get edits the mp3 directly without reencoding it.
posted by Hackworth at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2004

This is a bit clunky, but WireTap (free) will allow you to record any snippet of audio your machine is playing and create an .aiff file. You can then import to iTunes as an MP3.
posted by jalexei at 1:26 PM on February 24, 2004

I think the one you're looking for is audio hijack. Allows you to make an mp3 out of any sound (realaudio file, alert beep, sound from a webpage) coming out of your mac, and convert it into a free standing mp3. Highly recommend it, but it only works for free for ten minutes.

A real advantage of this program is you can record -anything- on your mac. so you can make an mp3 of a streaming audio, a shockwave game, etc. the controls are nice, too.

Unfortunately this only works for macs. A nice feature i've found with it is to play interview mp3s - pause them in itunes, and then make a separate mp3 of the snippet, for reference later.

jeremias - thanks for linking the audion waveform thing. that looks good, too. (on preview - so does wiretap, cool, an aiff-equivalent)
posted by Peter H at 1:33 PM on February 24, 2004

Doesn't the iTunes software allow you to say when to start / finish a track. RightClick --> Get Info. Set Start & End Time.
posted by seanyboy at 1:42 PM on February 24, 2004

(As an aside, as I'm sure the iTunes options trick is the one you're looking for) With QuickTime Pro, you can drag in the timeline to make new in & out points, then copy and paste that into a new player window, and then export that as mp3. I've found that sometimes I want to cut a track short for the purposes of making a mix CD or what have you, but I still want to keep the original track timing in my library.
posted by D at 2:20 PM on February 24, 2004

I do as seanyboy does; however, note: this is stored in the iTunes D.B., rather than the file itself, so if you remove a file from your library and reädd it, it will not &ldquoremember&rdquo to end early.
posted by Utilitaritron at 2:51 PM on February 24, 2004

that's " 'remember' " ... grrr.
posted by Utilitaritron at 2:53 PM on February 24, 2004

The capabilities to edit audio are in QuickTime, whether you pay for it or not. Apple just disables them in QuickTime Player unless you've paid for the QuickTime Pro key. Other freeware and shareware audio players are not so restricted. Search VersionTracker for some of them.
posted by mdeatherage at 3:05 PM on February 24, 2004

I've used Audacity within OSX to trim mp3s before. Open source, supports WAV, AIFF, Ogg, and MP3 formats, and works like a charm.
posted by web-goddess at 3:07 PM on February 24, 2004

Seconding Audacity, which I've used for precisely this purpose, and is totally free. It works. Don't bother with any of that other stuff.
posted by jjg at 3:12 PM on February 24, 2004