Using Windows Media Player to Rip MP3s
Windows Media Player is, in my opinion, the worst media player known to man. Nevertheless, many people use it. For one, it comes with Windows and is easy to use. For a better option, try iTunes.
One of the biggest agonies with Windows Media Player 8+ and DRM (Digital Rights Management) is they don’t make it easy to convert those hundreds of CDs you own into MP3 format. But there is a registry hack that will alleviate this problem.
From your Start Menu, select the Run… option. Open the Registry editor by typing regedit and hit enter. A really intimidating tree of data will appear. Please be careful here. One wrong move could turn your computer into an oversized paperweight.
Browse to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Settings\MP3Encoding
In the right panel, change the following settings by double clicking on the menu item:
- LowRate = dac0
- MediumRate = fa00
- MediumHighRate = 1f400
- HighRate = 2ee00
This sets the bitrate ripping to 56, 64, 128 and 192Kbps.
Other common rates are:
- 1b580 = 112Kbps
- 27100 = 160Kbps
- 36b00 = 224Kbps
- 3e800 = 256Kbps
- 4e200 = 320 Kbps
Happy Ripping!
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