AusCelebs Forums

I know this is all basic & rudimentary stuff to most of you but I'm sure there's still some luddites out there (like me) who just want to know the best, quickest, easiest & free way to get music & make their own CDs so here's how I've been doing it:

First of all, to download the songs, get a free programme called eMule. This a a great programme & can be used to download virtually everything (although I've only ever used it for music). It has the biggest range I've ever seen on a peer2peer network & isn't full of spam & other crap like LimeWire is. People using it are scrutinised more so if they are just filling it up with crap they can get banned. It also has a reward system where, the more you upload, the faster the download speed you're allocated. This is good because it encourages people with the really good stuff to share more. It's also not very resource hungry. I have it running all the time & even though it's downloading its way through hundreds of songs it still doesn't slow my PC down when I'm doing other things like playing games or watching YouTube videos.

The next step is to adjust all your mp3s to the same volume level. This can be done by downloading a small free programme called MP3Gain. You can run all your mp3s through it in one go & it adjusts them all to the same volume. You can set whatever volume level you choose but I just leave it at the default level which is the same as what's set on normal music CDs.

If you couldn't find the song you wanted as an mp3 & could only find it as a WMA file, you can convert it to an mp3 with another free programme called Jodix Free WMA to MP3 Converter.

Once you have all your mp3s & they're all set at the same volume, the next step is to convert them from mp3 to WAV files so, after you've burnt them onto a CD, they'll play on an ordinary CD player. You can convert them with a free programme called MP3Decode.

All of these programmes I have listed here are free downloads, really easy to use (you only have to press a couple of buttons), have no spyware & do a really good job so I can recommend grabbing all of them.

When it comes to burning them onto CDs I guess that comes down to choice. I use Nero 7 Ultimate Edition. If you want to make your CD labels & jewel case insert sleeves & underlays, I can highly recommend an excellent programme called Acoustica. Nero & Acoustica can both be easily on found torrent sites & downloaded with a free torrent programme (I use BitComet).

The proper stationery (which I do recommend you use) for the CD labelling can be procured easily enough at places at Big W.

Oh well, I hope I saved some people some time trying to figure out all this stuff themselves.

You could save yourself one step in the process that you've outlined.

I see you burn CDs with Nero. Nero will convert mp3 into CD audio files automatically, and then burn them to disc, if you choose the "Create Audio CD" option.

You don't need to recode mp3s when using Nero.

Do you ever use bittorrent for downloading music?

If so, is Emule better than bittorrent?

Your way sounds more complicated!

I find eMule the best way to get music, even better then what Napster, KazaaLite & WinMX were in their day but I don't download whole albums, just songs, so if that's all you intend to do then I recommend giving it a go.

How can an "ordinary CD player" play WMA files? I would have though more devices would support MP3 over WMA...

Shit! I meant WAV. Sorry! I'll fix it in the first post.

Is eMule any good for older Aussie stuff? I can never find the stuff I want on either limewire, isohunt or torrentz search engine.

It's pretty good. I've found old album tracks for Icehouse, Split Enz, Hunters & Collectors, Hoodoo Gurus, etc.

I'm trying to find CD/mp3 of all my old tapes, not very easy

I can't hurt to try. It's a free download. Just keep checking at times you know a lot of Australians will be on...

i buy cds and play them on a cd player.lol.
pm me with a tradelist.