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OGG VORBIS

Ogg Vorbis is a free, open source, high quality audio compression technology that can create much smaller files than MP3. Ogg provides better compression without loss of quality due to the improved encoding process. Ogg files encoded at ~80kbps sound as good as or better than MP3s encoded at 128kbps. Players are available for all computer systems: go to Vorbis.com to get set up.

All the software listed on this page is freeware.

PORTABLE AUDIO PLAYERS

See the Ogg Portable Player Wiki for a list of players that support the format, and updates for those that don't natively. If you have an iPod or other player that doesn't play ogg files, you can install Rockbox: view Free your iPod to Play Ogg by AppleSource/CNET. There are also freeware programs that will convert ogg to MP3 in one step, although I only know ones for Windows: SUPER (Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer) can convert between just about any audio AND video format; SWITCH Audio File Convertor comes in both free and pro version. There will always be a loss of audio quality when converting between compressed file formats such as ogg and MP3, and you should not convert to MP3 before burning to CD (decode to WAVE instead).

HOW TO BURN OGG TO CD

Ogg files must be decoded to WAVE format before burning to a standard audio CD. MP3 files must be de-encoded as well, but CD burning software does this invisibly for you. Burning Ogg files to a CD is the same process, it just requires the user to take one more step and de-encode the files to WAVE first before burning them. Many free programs can de-encode ogg files to WAVE: CDex and Quintessential Player are easy to use if you read the help files (both for Windows). I use CDex myself.

Using Quintessential Player to convert Ogg to WAVE

  1. Right click on a file in the playlist.
  2. Select Convert and then select Encode Settings.
  3. Set the Output Folder to which the new .wav file will be saved. By default, this is My Documents > My Music.
  4. Right click on a file again and Select Convert.
  5. Select either Convert All to or Convert Selected to.
  6. Choose the WAVE format to convert your audio files into.
  7. Right click on a file to choose the folder.
  8. Use your favorite CD burning software to burn these .wav files to CD.

HOW TO CREATE OGG FILES FROM CDs

Windows users can use CDex and Quintessential Player and Mac users can use Ogg Drop to rip CDs. Windows Media Player cannot create oggs.

CDex

  1. Open the Systems menu (under Options) and choose the Encoder tab.
  2. From the Encoder drop-down list select Ogg Vorbis DLL Encoder (select Lame MP3 Encoder or Blade MP3 Encoder for ripping to MP3).
  3. Move the Quality Setting slider to 1 (Ogg Vorbis) or 128kbps (MP3).
  4. Click on the Filenames tab to set where new files will be stored when encoded, and hit OK.
  5. Click on the second button from the top, "Extract CD tracks to compressed audio files" to begin encoding.

Quintessential Player

  1. Click the small purple recorder button on the left side.
  2. Click the Source button and select the CD you want to record.
  3. Click the Settings button to bring up the Encoding Settings window.
  4. In the Recorder List, click on the tracks you would like recorded. A small red square appears next to the track indicating it is selected for recording. Or click the Select All or Select None buttons located on the bottom of the recorder window.
  5. To start and stop recording music, click the red record and stop buttons in the upper right corner of the recorder window.
  6. To view recorded music files, click the folder button in the lower right corner of the recorder window to explore your default output folder.