MP3s, I Think

Thanks Altheos & everyone. I copied and pasted your settings info for future reference.

I've given the cd burning a break. I didn't really mean to, but I'm just sort of frozen with confusion and mental fatigue. I've also done some movie downloading recently for the first time. That, of course, has led to a whole bunch of new stuff and a steep, distracting, learning curve.

I've got windows xp home, a P4 1.7, a 60 gig Quantum hard drive, ASUS dvd, PlexWriter 24/10/40A, 512 SDRAM, 32 DDR All In Wonder Radeon graphics card and I have a cable connection to the net.

I've got (but haven't yet figured out how to use) eac (which I won't use, since I'm not sure I've still got the latest version; I'll download/ install another one before trying to use it). I was using my Nero to rip tracks, but when I read that a 'dedicated' ripper is the better way to go, I downloaded and tried Audiograbber, which I have yet to purchase. I'm not sure I want to purchase it. I also downloaded and tried RazorLame, which I like. And, as I've mentioned, I have Monkey's Audio.

But I'm confused. I'm not sure what I want to do with Monkey's Audio. I've also got MP3 Gain, which I don't think I've used. Before I worry too much about normalization (which is MP3 Gain's main function), which is a sujbect that has me confused, I want to get ripping sorted out. As well, I haven't been separating my mp3 from my other files.

I don't understand why nothing gives me good results. (Well, I've gotten satisfactory results a few times.) It's like it's all a sham. My computer and everything in it is brand spanking new. I understand that the first step (in getting mp3 files from my own cds) is to get a good rip, which depends on the quality and power of my pc, as well as the prog I use to rip. So why do I still get artifacts (correct term?) in my music? I haven't done a lot with audio files recently mind you, for reasons I already mentioned. 99% of the ripped tracks I have were done with my Nero, which I've kept upgraded. But even with my Nero, I'm surprised at how bad the resulting tracks sound in some cases.

I'm whining and not being very nice, I know. Don't mind me. If you had specific questions to answer, I'd be a lot easier to listen to. I guess that, for the moment, I've got nothing to report or ask about. I need to get busy again, and that includes reading up. It just all got to be a lot for me to deal with, on top of the horrible crap I had to deal with recently at work.

I got moved to a different site, which I didn't want, after my boss found out that I was being bullied. How do you like that? I get bullied and then I get punished for it. The bully didn't have the seniority over me. He should have been moved off the site. Then again, My new site (I'm a security guard) is not bad. In fact, I do virtually no physical work at all there, unlike where I came from, and I can sit and read and drink coffee all night long. Patrols, maybe every hour and a half, take all of 5 minutes.

Later...

man that is too much of a post for me to read...
:P

going back to my paper now...
environmentalism....

but i guess ur problem is solved?