Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with MP3

Credit for a store I could steal anything from.

Bobby Bittman — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:15:04 -0800

iTunesFilter: I got an iTunes gift card for Christmas - $15. What could I possibly buy on iTunes that I couldn't just download somewhere else?

Free nature sounds/mp3s on-line?

math — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:37:27 -0800

Where have you found good long streaming/mp3 sources for nature sounds, like rainfall or oceans or crickets? This question was asked and partially answered before (in 2005 and again in 2006) but here we are almost in 2010 so I figure there must be some new stuff out there. I'm not looking for music, but rather something that is or that simulates the sounds of nature. Rain falling on a roof, or waves on a beach, or a babbling brook, or things like that. I'm listening to the only thing I've found so far, a beautiful 42-minutes-long rainfall recording here at archive.org by Jacques Richer. It's lovely, and I want more.

This is perfect for studying or trying to go to sleep or both. What have you found?

What are some of your favorite self-help audio books available on MP3?

wordsmith — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:51:29 -0800

What are some of your favorite self-help audio books available on MP3?

Yeah, I realize I'm probably screwed

The Winsome Parker Lewis — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:16:52 -0800

How can I fix unplayable MP3s recovered from a formatted hard drive? A couple weeks ago I posted this question about the total loss of my iTunes library. I was looking into data recovery options at the time. Update: Due to a poorly designed Western Digital utility (and my own ignorance/anxiety) the drive containing all my media got formatted. I found Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery and a scan of the disk in free trial mode revealed fewer than half of my files, but at this point that's way better than nothing. Their names had been turned to full or partial gibberish like 53568412544329.mp3 or Bohemian-Rhap2364015779.mp3. But Stellar Phoenix provided partial previews of the files, actual audio I could listen to and know that my music was intact.

I put up the $100 and bought the program and set about undeleting the MP3s. Mission accomplished, now they're sitting in a folder on my laptop. Problem is, I can't play them at all. iTunes, QuickTime Player, Audacity, nothing will even open them. The filenames end in the .mp3 file extension and the right icon is displayed in the Finder. The file sizes look correct. I get error messages informing me that they're not a known file format.

I'm on the verge of giving up but I still believe there might be a way to save these files. Since Stellar Phoenix could preview them, the data structure must still be fundamentally intact, right? How can I convince my computer that they're viable MP3s? I'm totally down with AppleScripting or Terminal hacking or whatever it takes.

Converting .SND Files

RavinDave — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:17:42 -0800

Need a cheap way to convert .SND to .MP3 files. I'd never even heard of .SND files until today -- and I only have a handful of'em that need to be converted (ie: so I wanna avoid commercial solutions as much as possible -- if possible). Most all of my media players and sound software choke on'em. Audacity threw a fit. Nero never heard of'em either. Windows will play'em, but won't convert anything (as far as I can tell).

Where can I listen to Japanese train station melodies?

avocet — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:38:16 -0800

Where can I listen to Japanese train and bus station melodies and onboard announcements, preferably without installing RealPlayer? My previous go-to archive is 404ing. My Japanese is mediocre but good enough to help me navigate sites.

Automatic song identification/tagging?

mojoworkin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:07:13 -0800

Any programs that can analyze and tag individual MP3 files that have NO metadata? I have a pile of untagged files, and so far no joy. I have a big, fat, messy pile of files, and would love a head-start on getting them tagged and filed. It seems there are some programs that are geared to ALBUMS, but I don't really care about album info as much as I am in accurate artist/title. There are iPhone apps that can listen and identify songs through the mic.. I have to believe there is a desktop program that would do this by the batch.

PLEASE HELP! Thanks!

Mp3 recorder for kids

FidelDonson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:11:27 -0800

My daughter would love a toy like the Fischer Price tape recorder from my childhood. A simple sturdy mp3 recorder with a microphone that can be operated by a small child. Does that perfect gift exist? My google skills turn op nothing.

Help me force my mom into 2003!

Madamina — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:51:20 -0800

Giftfilter: My contrarian technophobe mother has indicated that she "might like to experiment with an iPod." Which one should we get her, and how can we make this as easy as possible? My mom is a terrible, terrible technophobe, though I am convinced that half of it is simply her need to be a special snowflake. Refuses to get a microwave (even though she subsists almost entirely on leftovers and tea), refuses to get a cell phone (but will gladly commandeer that of a complete stranger if she feels like it). My patience with her techno-whining ran out around the time my 94-year-old great-aunt got on Facebook.

However, she is intrigued by the ability to take an iPod from room to room and dock it in speakers. She's also been downloading podcasts individually. She is very close to her next-door neighbors, who are more or less my age, and likes how they've used theirs this way. So between them, me and my dad with our iPhones, she could have someone show her how to do things.

I have a 30 GB iPod Classic that is about six years old. I don't use it myself, and she's welcome to it. However, I think that an iPod Touch might be a little easier for her to figure out. Also, a new one would have the most current warranty/help specs available.

We plan to open it before Christmas and prefill it with all of her music. (She has a PC that is entirely her own, so we plan to sneak in there and put the stuff on her iTunes before giving it to her.) I realize she can go in there and switch stuff in and out, but she is so hand-flaily that I'd prefer to do that as little as possible, so we'll probably try to get a 16 or 32 GB model. The Gmail solution, if you will: just have enough space on there that you never have to deal with it.

An iPhone would, of course, be most appropriate, but she would be frightened by it (seriously, she would put on a big show) and she would absolutely refuse to pay 70 bucks a month. Which is unfortunate, because she would LOVE the ability to take pictures of random stuff with the camera.

So I have two related questions:

1. People keep telling me that the iPod Touch would be way more scary to a technophobe than an iPod Classic, and I remain unconvinced (mainly because of the source). To me, it seems like the visual interface would be easier, especially if she's seen me and my dad use our iPhones. When she was telling me how she wanted to do this, she seemed like she was confused by the whole finger-twirly scroll action on an old iPod. Which would be better?

2. Are the second generation ones just as good as the third generation ones? It looks like the big thing she'd miss out on if she got a second-gen one would be voice controls/voice memos, and I highly doubt she'd use those. Apps wouldn't interest her, although she might use maps and the notepad... that sort of thing.

Anyone else with advice for introducing their parents to iPods, or similar, be my guest. Thanks!

Loud speaker. Quiet speaker. Alternate at random.

TheSecretDecoderRing — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:41:24 -0800

I want to listen to my digital music player at work (technically, WMAs and not MP3s) through speakers rather than headphones. With the latter, all my songs sound fairly consistent in volume. With the former, they're all over the map and ditto for the dynamic range. Suggestions? I'm using PC speakers. They seem of good enough quality, but is that what's magnifying the variation in volume? Would a cheaper, weaker set of speakers actually make it better?

This is at work, so sound quality and bass isn't too important. And I keep the volume just loud enough so I can hear it, and the environment is usual office ambience/conversations. I've tried maxing out the speakers and adjusting the player, vice versa, and in between on both.

I'd prefer to avoid the hassle of normalization software, unless there's something out there for WMAs that's really easy and effective. USB access to the work computer is restricted. Hopefully others have had similar problems and have found workarounds as simple as just getting the right speakers. Thanks in advance.

Scratch n' Skip

cmoj — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:48:23 -0800

I have SRV mp3s that skip in exactly the same way as a CD I have. I've had a Stevie Ray Vaughan CD for as long as I can remember. I think it's from a remastered boxed set from the early 90's. Also, as long as I can remember it's skipped in places (you know, CD type skipping), but kept playing, so I dealt with it.

Nowadays I've got downloaded mp3s of all of this SRV material I already had on CD. Here's the weird thing: the mp3s skip in the same way as my old compilation CD. Even weirder, I don't have mp3s of that specific compilation. I believe the skipping is on an In Step reissue that's marked as being from 1999.

What's the deal? What could be the deal?

Whither imeem?

Chrysostom — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:38:48 -0800

Since imeem got acquired by myspace (and is offline, for now at least), is there any functional equivalent? Imeem basically allowed you to listen to whatever music you wanted, when you wanted, for free. So, not a "radio station" like Pandora, and no blocking of listening to things over again, like Lala.

Not interested in anything illegal. It's just that imeem was great for listening to music a few times before deciding to purchase.

Is there a Muxtape analog yet? I've seen Mixtape.me but the song selection is constraining me.

anthropomorphic — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:53:20 -0800

Is there a Muxtape analog yet? I've seen Mixtape.me but the song selection is constraining me. I know Muxtape died from RIAA troubles so I suppose I'm not hoping for a pretty application with which to upload mp3s (though that would be preferable) but is there anything else out there? Is there a Mixtape.me with a better selection? Should I just .zip my mp3s together and email my mix like a loser?

All I want for Christmas is to save a franklin on postage for a holiday CD

rileyray3000 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:55:56 -0800

I used to send out a Christmas CD with holiday songs and clips from Movies and TV shows. It took a month to master and rip the CDs and 100 bucks in postage. What's a way to do this online instead? Is there somewhere I can POST a Christmas CD so people can listen online and download it if they want? This used to be my holiday project. It more or less consumed the last week of november and the first of december. So I stopped.

But I thought "If I can just take out the postage, it's not THAT awful. Ideally I'd like to have the tracks all in order and downloadable if people want. Is there a service that exists? How do I do it?

How do I convert from cassette tape to CD (or mp3)?

jdroth — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:46:51 -0800

For a memorial service on Saturday, I need to convert audio from cassette tape to CD. I'm fairly geeky, and used to rip vinyl to mp3, but that was five years ago. I have several modern Macs and a Windows Vista machine at my disposal. I have a standard mid-1990s component stereo system with tape deck and/or an old portable cassette player. Assorted cables. An 8-10 year old copy of CoolEdit somewhere. What's the easiest way for me to get from cassette to CD? I have plenty of money to throw at the problem, so that's not an issue. Time is the issue. (Which means that I'd rather download software than go out and buy it at Fry's.)

Will I get in trouble for posting mp3s to my blog?

hagelslaag — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:33:22 -0800

i am (surprise surprise) into blogs. and before i was into blogs, i was into music. now i like to post mp3s to my blog. is it a bad idea to label which song/artist it is -- as in, are there really crazy music coppers who will show up on my doorstep to arrest me? my blog's host is tumblr, which makes it easy to share an mp3 a day. should i just forgo labelling which songs i post? or is it pointless to even worry about this at all? i have no idea how intense lawyers are these days about persuing folks who share tunes online, and i don't want to get sued just 'cause i want to spread my love for joe meek.

thunder road cover mp3?

headnsouth — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:35:30 -0800

Please help me find an mp3 (mp4?) of Badly Drawn Boy's cover of Thunder Road. There is a youtube video but I'd like to get a copy of it as an mp3 if possible. Amazon and itunes don't have it, I'd like to actually purchase it rather than just find it wherever it if it's available, as mp3 or cd (preferable but it's not on any of BDB's albums as far as I know) or whatever.

What to do, what to do, what to do??? What mp3 player should I buy?

GrooveStix — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:50:51 -0800

Could you help me find a mp3 player that has large capacity and plays flacs? It seems to me that I am spending too much time googling on this matter, so I decided to finally post my question here.

After my trusty mp3 suffered a severe fall from my schmuck self, I decided to upgrade. Which is when I hit a wall... :(

I am something of an audiophile and have a fairly large, evergrowing collection of music, so I am looking for something that's a music player FIRST and everything else is secondary. So something around 120gb, or more. iPods don't play flacs, and I've been using Rockbox long enough to know that there isn't a port for the later generations (with bigger capacity) of iPods. Is there anything else that I can buy?

I am really not interested in a device that plays dvds, makes pancakes, and occasionally calls the boyfriends of my ex-girlfriends to have a chat, so lets make sure it's something reasonably priced and back to basics. :)

What are some good iPod speakers?

MaryDellamorte — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:55:11 -0800

Looking to buy some speakers for my iPod which I have absolutely no experience with. Looking for something in the $150 - $200ish range. Specifics:

-Don't really care about how it looks.
-Don't want it too big or too small.
-I'm shooting for no more than $200, but if there are some phenomenal speakers for more than that, I can go higher.
-I've seen some with sub woofers, how much of a difference do those make?

How can i sync my android?

Iananan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:21:19 -0800

I'm looking for an effective and hassle free way to sync small amounts of music (less than 6GB but more than 3GB) to my android phone. PC only. I use Mediamonkey for my ipod, and that works fine, but every time i plug my phone in, mediamonkey wants to delete all of my podcasts and ringtones, and i have to uncheck them all by hand, which is more hassle than just dragging and dropping the music, which is my current solution.

the missing sync looks promising, but will rely on windows media player, which i usually avoid like the plague, and either way isn't actually out for a while yet.

Doubletwist has been recommended (by google searching and lifehacker) but is effectively un-usable on windows, (it looks pretty smooth on macs, from videos, but fails to recognise my phone/build an effective library/read simple id3 tags/stay alive more than 3 minutes on windows)

Any suggestions?

Champion Sound

murtagh — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:57:21 -0800

Why does music on my MP3 player sound better with small earphones than with big headphones? I have a Samsung YP-U5 MP3 player. Music on it sounds great when I listen with the earphones that came with the player, but if I connect my large Philips (SHP2000, if it matters) headphones to the player, music sounds quite poor. Why is that?

(There's nothing wrong with the Philips headphones, just to be clear.)

Where can I find better music metadata?

imposster — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:47:48 -0800

Need more metadata for my music. I'm looking for track-by-track recording date/performers/composer/etc. mainly for jazz albums. Is there a source out there? Right now, I'm ripping my CD to FLAC with dBpoweramp using the AMG subscription to fill in the metadata. I'm making small changes as I go (mainly to the year and genre). but I'd really like to have the detailed information found in most liner notes. (For the albums I really care about, I'm keeping both the CD and the liners for reference). Is there a service out there that can provide this? AMG's data doesn't seem to go down to that level, nor does Musicbrainz. Certainly other music fans have done this manually already. Are they sharing it somewhere? Thanks for any help.

What audio format for remastered Beatles listening on iPod only??

Avenger50 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:11:06 -0800

What audio format would you rip the recently remastered Beatles albums in for optimum iPod listening? Let's say you've got the recently released Beatles in Mono (or Stereo). Let's say you have to use iTunes and you only listen on your iPod, via Sony headphones or the car stereo. And let's say storage isn't an issue. What format would you rip them in? MP3 192kbps? AAC iTunes Plus? Apple Lossless?

I've seen parts of this question answered here, here, here, and here, but not specifically for strictly iPod listeners with something this good.

Maybe with just the iPod, you don't hear the differences anyway.

Should I buy a Tonium Pacemaker?

jonnyploy — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:54:53 -0800

Should I buy a Pacemaker if I am not a DJ and don't have all that much dance music? I am thinking of acquiring the above product which is a pocket-sized DJ system, however I'm worried that my music collection is unsuited. I do have a limited collection of funky house from the last few years but this is mainly in the form of Hed Kandi compilations. I have music spanning several genres including: soul (60s and 70s), funk (60s, 70s, 80s), britpop, 80s cheese, electro-pop from the last few years, it goes on...

Will I be able to effectively mix tunes from these different genres and therefore get good value for money from my purchase?

A secondary, related question: where online can I purchase vocal-only and instrumental versions of songs? I have tried itunes (obviously) and hit a blank. Are these even available to buy?

Mp3 players with good sound quality?

litleozy — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:58:51 -0800

mp3playerfilter: what's the mp3 player that gives the best quality sound? My old mp3 player just gave out on me and I'm looking to pay a bit more and get a good quality one this time with sound quality as my top priority (then capacity).

Any ideas?

(checked through Askme and haven't seen a question like this, my apologises if there is one and I've just missed it)