Recording online radio to CD

M

Mala

macrumors 6502
The BBC's Book of the Week this week is Opening Skinner's Box, but it's on just as I'm racing out to work.

It's available on the BBC website, but I'm new to broadband, so I'm a bit uncertain about how these things work.

As far as I can understand, I download a .ram file, but that will only play when the original is still available on the BBC's site.

What I'd really like to do is save the files containing the book to CD, so I could play the whole thing when I'm on a long journey in the car.

Is this possible, and if so, how?
 
Thanks very much, jMc!

I've emailed the BBC, but they warn that they don't answer for a week or so, by which time the files will be gone. So I'll try the files. Is one better than the other?
 
RealAudio

From my understanding of how RealAudio/RealPlayer works, .ram files are merely links to the actual audio in a .ra file. I've managed to get .ra files when they're not offered for direct download by opening the .ram file in a text editor, copying the URL inside, and pasting it into my web browser's address bar. Doing this usually triggers a download of the .ra file, which can be listened to even when you're not connected to the Internet. However, I do not know if this works for streaming RealAudio files.
 
So, I used WireTap to record something. It works well.

Question:
Now, if I have to break this huge AIFF up into chunks, what kind of software do I have to use? Will iTunes allow me to do it? Or do I need something else?

Thanks!
 
Originally posted by Maritan
So, I used WireTap to record something. It works well.

Question:
Now, if I have to break this huge AIFF up into chunks, what kind of software do I have to use? Will iTunes allow me to do it? Or do I need something else?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, just use iTunes to convert your file to MP3/AAC and then delete the original AIFF and the one in iTunes (you'll have 2 files in iTunes - the 'original' AIFF and the MP3 or AAC - make sure you delete the AIFF by checking the Get Info) and you'll have a nice 'small' size compressed audio file in iTunes... If you need to cut your file up into 'chunks', I'd suggest Sound Studio, it's not freeware, but does have a fully functional demo... Search Versiontracker for it. If you have QT Pro you could, of course, also use that.

It's amazing how complicated this sounds when it is in fact pretty straight forward... If you had chosen (the non freeware) Audio Hijack over Wiretap, I believe you would have been able to rip your audio into MP3 from the start without all this rigmarole...

jx
 
Thanks, jMc. (BTW, I did know how to convert it to AAC/MP3 and delete the original and the copy AIFF files.)

I don't mind paying $15 or whatever for Audio Hijack, but it doesn't really let me break the file into chunks right? Or does it? If it does, I'll straightaway buy a copy of it.

If it doesn't, I might go for QT Pro. Or Sound Studio. Which is a better choice between QTP and SS?
 
Originally posted by Maritan
Thanks, jMc. (BTW, I did know how to convert it to AAC/MP3 and delete the original and the copy AIFF files.)

I don't mind paying $15 or whatever for Audio Hijack, but it doesn't really let me break the file into chunks right? Or does it? If it does, I'll straightaway buy a copy of it.

If it doesn't, I might go for QT Pro. Or Sound Studio. Which is a better choice between QTP and SS?
Click to expand...

Apologies, didn't mean to sound patronising - just find it'd often good to put as much detail into forum posts as possible...

You're right, Audio Hijack won't allow you to edit audio - Wiretap is perfectly adequate for ripping. If audio editing is all you're interested in then I would recommend Sound Studio over QT Pro - it allows you to import and export from QT anyway... There may, of course, be freeware alternatives you could try out.

jx
 
Audio Hijack will allow you to specify a file size to start a new file at (I usually use 600 MB so I can fit each one easily on a CD) or you can specify by time (30 minutes or similar).

Audio Hijack Page
 
Right, I played Opening Skinner's Box, while apparently recording it on WireTap by clicking (strangely) the Idle button.

Then I clicked the square button on WireTap, and it opened the file in iTunes and played it all over again, while apparently recording it as a desktop file, which came to about 40MB.

This is an .aiff file.

Can I put this on a CD and play it on my car CD player, or will it only play on a computer? I know my car CD player won't play mp3 files, for instance, and while it plays CDs that I've copied on my Mac, it *won't* play those that a friend has copied on his fancy-dancy non-computer CD recorder.

(Even more weirdly, if he copies a CD on his fancy CD recorder, and I copy that CD on my computer, the car CD player *will* play the copy I've made!)
 
Set your iTunes to record an audio CD and burn it from iTunes (as opposed to a data CD). This should play from the car's CD player.
 
Yaaay! Cool! Thanks!

It plays perfectly. Now I can record Ciaran Mac Mathuna's "Mo Cheol Thu" from RTE Radi 1 and Taobh Tuathail from Raidio na Gaeltachta and play them in the car!
 
Next time you are ripping from internet radio use StreamRipper if it is an actual radio stream, but if its a ram and you want to skip the aiff conversion part use Sound Recorder and just connect your headphone jack to your line in...
 
Is there any way I can set it to record a half-hour's worth and go off and leave it without it keeping on recording for the next six hours?

In other words, can I time a recording?

Set it to record something at a particular time and stop after a certain amount of time?
 
Check the site's FAQ or the ReadMe file that came with it. I don't have it installed on this machine so I couldn't tell you at the moment. That may be a feature of the "pro" version.
 
Originally posted by Mala
Is there any way I can set it to record a half-hour's worth and go off and leave it without it keeping on recording for the next six hours?

In other words, can I time a recording?

Set it to record something at a particular time and stop after a certain amount of time?
Click to expand...

Audiocorder!

The Void
...........
 
<advertising>
One of the few things I keep a Windows PC around for is the excellent StreamBox VCR software. It allows you to make 100%-accurate digital copies of RealMedia files. It has time-record functionality etc, so if there's something on in the middle of the night, I can set it to record from say 2:00 until 4:00, and it'll copy it :)

The best thing is its high-bitrate support. Even on a dialup connection, it can pull down broadband streams without losing any quality. Great when you want to watch a streaming video but don't have a fast enough connection for it to look good.
</advertising>

Now I just need a way to convert RealVideo to a normal format. RealAudio's easy to convert, but I haven't figured out how to do the video yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top