MP3 Setup Document

MP3 Setup Page Updated .. on 7/23/2001

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Hi .. I've written the following text to assist you in setting up your (IBM Compatible) PC running mIRC software to play and record MPEG Audio Layer-3 or as they are commonly called ..MP3.. sound files..

Someone once said that there are "many ways to skin a cat" .. yuck .. but the meaning behind this saying is very true. Everyone has their own way of doing things and I'm no exception. And when it comes to MP3 there are various programs out there to make wave files, encode (compress) them, listen to them and play them on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). I will list the programs I use, explain how to install and configure them and give you links to many others .. so you can make your own choice as to which programs work best for YOU :o)

I've received a lot of inquires lately on how to convert Mp3 files to .wav format using WinAmp prior to burning them to CD. I've put together some quick and easy instructions to do that so Click Here! to go to that page.

Table of Contents .. For Help ..Just Click below and Go!!
Mp3 Basics - What do you want to do with Mp3's??
Go to mIRC (an IRC client written by Khaled Mardam- Bey )
Go to WinPlay3 ( an MP3-player )
Go to WinAmp ( an MP3-player )
Go to WavGet (a program to play and grab MP3's and waves in mIRC )
Go to WinDAC (a program to "rip" MP3's directly from CD-Rom drives )
Go to Other Programs (like AudioCatalyst, Audio Grabber and Gold Wave)
Go to The Bottom of this Page

1. Mp3 Basics -- Read this first!!

OK .. if you want to do the "quick 'n dirty" install of a couple of programs to get going with MP3's .. here are the ones that you will need to have .. all these programs can be downloaded on my MP3 Page (probably the one you were on before you came here)

..To just "hear and play" MP3's for yourself, you need an MP3 player like WinPlay3 or Winamp 2.75 (I recommend WinAmp).

..If you want to play MP3's in channels on IRC .. (and you don't already have them) you will also need to download copies of mIRC 5.82 and either WavGet 1.9, SpR Jukebox or SDFind (versions of SpR and SDfind depend on your mIRC version)

..If you want to "hear, play and record" MP3's yourself, you will also need a program to record music in .wav format like GoldWave 4.21 or Cool Edit 2000 (also keep in mind that your sound cards usually come with a program to record .wav files, but be sure you record them in 16 bit stereo and 44mhz/128kbps..)  Not only will they sound better but down the road you may want to purchase a CD "Burner" CD-R (CD Recorder)or CD-RW (CD Recorder capable of rewriting files or music over and over again using a special CD-RW blank CD disk).  By the way, CD-RW's are great for backing up your data, Mp3's and making "backup copies" *grin* of your friend's favorite music CD's.

Once you have a .wav file recorded, you need to encode (compress) it into Mp3 format.  In the "good old days" that would mean you would need L3enc (a DOS based program) which compared to today's encoders was clunky and slow, along with Windows programs which were designed in an easier to use graphic interface format which made L3Enc easier to use.

Lucky for us, CD-Rippers showed up just in time to make our lives a lot easier.  Programs like AudioCatalyst, AudioGrabber and WinDAC, are capable of recording tracks directly from your CD's into Mp3 or Wav formats.  You may ask why would I want to record to Wav format if I can encode the tracks directly to Mp3's.  The answer is simple .. If you want to buy that CD-RW Drive and make your own audio CD's (for your home and auto stereo systems), you will need to have them in Wav format first prior to "burning" them to your blank recordable CD disks as CDDA format.  Thanks to WinAmp 2.75, Mp3's can easily be made into wav files.   Just Click Here! to see how.   Sound complicated??  It's really not that bad and soon software programs will be capable of "burning" audio CD's directly from Mp3's without making them into Wav files first.

Remember .. all these programs can be downloaded from links on my MP3 Page. So .. without any further ado (is that a real word?) .. let's begin.

.. Back to Table of Contents

1. mIRC (an IRC Client)

The first thing you must have is a copy of "mIRC" (an IRC client written by Khaled Mardam-Bey). The latest version is 5.9 and can be downloaded here from a link on my MP3 page or at (http://www.mirc.co.uk/). For help in installing and configuring mIRC for sound .. you can go to Z_Man's mIRC Sound Setup Page where you can view or download a copy of "Z_Setup4.txt" and print it out to keep it handy as a reference guide. But remember, since mIRC is constantly being upgraded .. you must have the most recent copy of "Z_Setup4.txt" .. and just like this document, it's a continuing work in progress!!

.. Back to Table of Contents

2. Winplay3 ( an MP3-player program by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft )

This is a pretty simple, straight forward program .. it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles like Winamp 2.75. I used this one prior to discovering Winamp .. you will have to try both and see which one you like. Some of the Mp3 player scripts like SpR Jukebox recommend WinAMP and I have to agree.

After you download the file .. go to your file manager/explorer and double- click on the .exe file to run the install program. Place the program in it's own folder .. for example: C:\Winplay3 and again .. remember the path .. you will need it later.

.. Back to Table of Contents

3. Winamp 2.75 (an MP3-player by Nullsoft)

Winamp 2.75 is visually a more desirable MP3 player than .. Winplay3.  Both can be used and do a good job .. but .. I just prefer WinAmp.  It has some nice options and you can also use it with the "playlist" feature .. to listen to MP3 music in the background while you are doing other things .. on your computer away from IRC.  Winamp has evolved into "the" premier Mp3 player and can also decode Mp3's back into wav files which comes in handy as I explained above.  I won't go into a lot of the differences between the two programs .. I'll leave that to you to experiment .. have fun.  By the way, WinAmp 2.75 is now Freeware so pick up your copy today!

After downloading the file .. go to your file manager/explorer and double- click on the WinAmp.exe file.  This will run the "install" program.

WinAmp Skins: Starting with version 1.80 you are able to download and install "Skins" for WinAmp.  What are "Skins" you ask?  Well they are custom interfaces created by WinAmp users to visually enhance the WinAmp standard interface.

You can download "self-installing" skins from .. WinAmp's Website ..  Just click on the "Skins" tab at the top of the page and browse your way through the thousands of available skins.   With the new versions of WinAmp just downloading the skin files installs them automagiclly on your hard drive.

After installing the "Skins", you may change the player interface by clicking the player with your mouse to make it active and then pressing Alt- S.  This will bring up a list of your installed "Skins" for you to select your favorite one.   Starting with WinAmp Version 1.81 .. (at the bottom of the "Skins" selection window), they give you a box to check to randomly switch your "Skins" as a new MP3 plays .. A very kewl feature!!  For answers to general questions regarding WinAmp check out their web site at http://www.winamp.com

.. Back to Table of Contents

4. WavGet (a program to play and grab MP3's and waves in mIRC (and much more) by Paul Beuger)

Download a copy of WavGet 1.9 (the most recent version) from my MP3 Page or you can obtain it directly from the Official WavGet Home Page at: http://www.wavget.com.

The readme.txt file and help files that accompany WavGet are very good and very comprehensive. WavGet is a great program and is easier to install and configure then ever before.  Once it is installed, and you have your mIRC client running, click on the 'Help' pull down menu and chose 'Configure mIRC' which is the recommended configuration method for new users or those of us that love to do things the easy way!.

WaVGeT will automatically ask you if it can configure mIRC for you the first time you run it.  If you said no, or if mIRC wasn't running at the time, you can use the Help - Configure mIRC menu option. Make sure mIRC is running before you use this function.

WaVGeT will generate a wgremote.mrc file with all the required command lines to handle all the events. It will then load the wgremote file into your alias and remote sections of mIRC. All the script lines in the wgremote file are commented, so if you are wondering what all the lines are for, check it out!

If you are having problems with duplicate DCC sends or other duplicate events, check all your other ini files that are loaded in mIRC's remote section for other lines that try to handle the same events.

Note: In versions 1.5.2 or earlier WaVGeT added the remote lines to mIRC's ctcps.ini and events.ini files.  If you use the 'Configure mIRC' in the Help pull down menu in version 1.9, WaVGeT will generate the wgremote.mrc file and load it into mIRC.  In the event that you had a previous version of WavGet installed, this will produce duplicates for all lines! Please manually unload the mIRC's ctcps.ini and events.ini files or delete all WaVGeT related lines from both files.

There are other choices under the 'Help' pull down menu .. including one to configure another IRC client called 'VIRC'.  That choice is for the VIRC client ONLY .. do not use it to configure the mIRC client.  I don't use VIRC so I'm not going to comment on that configuration.

Now, back to WavGet!  With WavGet open and active, press Control-S or click on the little open folder icon near the lower right corner of WavGet.  This will open the setup section of WavGet.  Choose the WavDir tab on the upper left and then click on the 'ADD' button.  Enter MP3 and then click on 'ok'. a new box will appear .. enter the path to your MP3 player in this box .. for example: c:\WinAmp\WinAmp.exe and click 'ok'.  Next check the 'Use /ctcp SOUND box and then click on the 'mirc' button to configure mirc .. to finish ... click 'ok'.  Set the drive/path to your wave/mp3 folder here in this wavdir section also.

Now, click on the DCC button which is located at the top of setup under the Options button. Check the 'Handle !nick DCC REQUESTS' box (if you want WavGet to handle your DCC requests to send MP3's automatically) Here you can also set the Total Max sends your WavGet will allow and also an individual Nick Max which is the limit one person can pull from you at one time. Remember, the more pulls the slower your mIRC system runs. I set mine to Total Max: 12 and Nick Max: 2 .. however you may experiment with that setting or choose your own as you go. You may also setup messages here to respond to nicks trying to go over your set dcc pull limits.

If you are an older version of WavGet, once WavGet 1.9 has auto-configured your system, go to mIRC and choose Tools/Remote/View/ctcps.ini and look for the following lines which should be at the very top of the box:

The following lines (if present) should be removed OR 'remed out'(placing the word "rem" in front of the line to render it non-operational): ( I've added the 'rem' statement as an example below )  The function of these files are now handled by the wgremote.mrc file.

rem ctcp 1:sound:/write c:\c-script\wavget.log $nick $parm2
rem ctcp 1:smsg:/write c:\c-script\wavget.log :smsg $parm2*
rem ctcp 1:mp3:/dde wavget32 form1 text1 ! $+ $nick $parm2

NOTE: these are directly from my mIRC so your path (c:\c-script) will be different.

The following lines will also need to be removed OR 'remed out' in mIRC .. choose Tools/Remote/ View/Events.ini to accomplish this.  (I've added the 'rem' statement as an example below )

rem on 1:text:!z_man*:#:/nickcount $nick | /write c:\c-script\wavget.log :send $nick $nopath($parm2) ? $send(0) %nicks
rem on 1:filesent:*.*:/write $mircdir $+ wavget.log :rmsg $nick $nopath($filename)
rem on 1:filercvd:*.*:/write $mircdir $+ wavget.log :rcvd $nick $nopath($filename)

NOTE: these are directly from my mIRC so the nick (!z_man) and your path (c:\c-script) will be different.

WavGet 1.9 has a @find function so people can type @find *file* # in the channel to see if you have a file they are looking for.

One of the greatest improvements in Wavget 1.9 is the ability to play and pull Mp3's from others in an IRC channel with Spaces in the file names which saves you a ton of time when you rip Mp3 from your CD's using the CD's Ripping programs.  Most of these programs are not capable of replacing the spaces in the file names which made them a no no with previous versions of Wavget.  This was a major drawback and the reason a lot of people switched to the Mp3 Player Scripts like SpR Jukebox and SDFind. There are just too many features of WavGet to cover here. You need to explore all the features, so .. read the readme.txt file and look to the help files for assistance. Have Fun!!

.. Back to Table of Contents

5. WinDAC 1.53 .. (record tracks directly from CD's and encodes them to MP3 files)

Since I purchased my new computer and finally have a CD-Rom drive that is compatible with WinDAC 1.53 (and a nice CD-RW Drive too), making MP3's has become a whole lot easier. Although not all CD-Rom drives will work with WinDAC and other "rippers", if you are lucky enough to have one that is .. you're in good shape. I am going to list the WinDAC download site URL as well as some other sites that will give you more information on CDDA (CD-Rom Digital Audio). If you are serious about making quality MP3's and your CD-Rom drive is on the "compatible" list, I would suggest you download WinDAC 1.53 or AudioCatalyst 2.1 and register it to get full advantage of all the program features.

To download a copy of WinDAC 1.53 go to .. Digital Audio Copy .. The Official Homepage

.. Back to Table of Contents

6. Other Programs

The following is a list of other programs and utilities available here to rip and encode CD tracks or record .wav files to make quality Mp3s.

Goldwave .. this program can be used to record and edit .wav files prior to encoding them for Mp3 .. Click Here .. For GoldWave (Trial Version)

Cool Edit 2000 .. this sound editor can be used not only to record and edit .wav files, but also edit Mp3 Files without first converting them back to .wav format .. very SLICK! To download a trial version of Cool Edit 2000 .. Click Here ..

To purchase a full copy of AudioCatalyst 2.1 .. Click Here .. For AudioCatalyst 2.1

To download a trial copy of Audio Grabber 1.70 .. Click Here .. For Audio Grabber 1.70 (Trial Version)

To download a free copy of Music Match Jukebox 6.0 (Basic).. Click Here .. For Music Match 6.0 (Basic Edition) a full featured version (Music Match Jukebox Plus) is also available for purchase here.

.. Back to Table of Contents

.. Back to the Top

.. Back to Mp3 Basics

.. Back to mIRC

.. Back to WinPlay3

.. Back to Winamp 2.75

.. Back to WavGet

.. Back to WinDAC

.. Back to Other Programs

I hope this page was able to assist you in setting up your computer to play, record and encode from .wav files and cd's to MP3's.

Thanks .. Z_Man

Last updated: 6:55 PM on 4/6/2004

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