DVD to CD

[kimmer]

There's a band I enjoy and I have several of their CD's (which if they were the old vinyl records, I'd have worn out already).    Anyhoo, this band has a new DVD out. Lots of great songs, most of which aren't on my cd's and so far no plans to put out a cd from this live concert. (Yes, I asked. Then I begged. I'm shameless.)  

I'm willing to spend Sneakers money to buy the DVD if I can make a CD for myself. I don't want to tie up my computer playing a DVD, when I could pop a CD in my nice TEAC sound system.

So, is it possible to do this? If so, will I need special software/hardware, or can it be done with my trusty Mac and iTunes?

[RobW]

There may be other ways to do this, but I've done this at least once by using Audio Hijack, a nice shareware app for $16. (You don't need Audio Hijack Pro for this.) My daughter, who is a music major, sang one song at a rather large summer concert series last summer. A friend made a video DVD of it and gave us a copy. I was able to pull the sound from the DVD using Audio Hijack. It saved it to my Mac as an AIFF file, which you can burn directly to a CD, or you can import it to your iTunes library as an mp3 file for use on your Mac, an iPod, or burn back to a CD. (I've got my daughter's performance from that concert on my iPod. )

One question that I can't answer here for you--since the DVD that you'll purchase will likely have DRM "protection", I wonder if it would prevent Audio Hijack from being able to be used here. (When I've done this, the DVDs weren't protected.)

HTH. BTW, who's the band??

[RobW]

Kimmer, I just checked. I tried Audio Hijack with a DVD of The West Wing that I have, which is protected. The sound was saved perfectly as an AIFF file, so it should work for you.

[Epaminondas]

Alternatively, you may want to just go with a standalone DVD player.  We bought ours a a few years ago for around $69.  I believe that I have seen them recently go for as little as $29.95.

After the SONY rootkit debacle we are very skeptical here about putting any entertainment industry CDs and DVDs into our computers.

Who knows what they will try next?

Plus - to the extent that it not inconvenient, we now avoid all SONY products.  Not so much a matter of principle as a matter of quality.

No problem doing this so far.


Wiring the stand-alone players into the audio system is simpler for us, anyway.


Best regards,

Epaminondas

[FLASH1296]

This is sooo easy  just use  iTuners to extract what you want. iTunes will burn the CD for you too.

There are far better applications for this but I am sure that you have the current version of iTunes

[kimmer]

Thanks for the tips and help. Rob, I'll check into Audio Hijack this afternoon. I'll also try a non-Sony DVD and see what I can do with it, but first I have to go to the dentist for my checkup. :-/

[RobW]

Flash, I don't think you can extract audio from a DVD using iTunes. If you can, please tell us where the option for that is.

Kimmer, I should have checked when I was home earlier--I don't think I bought Audio Hijack PRO--just Audio Hijack. You may want to double check from here to see which of the two best meets your needs.

Hope the dentist visit was uneventful. Keep flossing! :

EDIT:  I went back and looked at their site again. If it seems as if the basic version meets your needs, I'd go for that. If not, you can upgrade to "Pro" and get a $16 credit (the cost of the basic version) to the cost of the upgrade.

Another edit:  Just checked--I have the "regular version of Audio Hijack and not the "Pro" version.

[FLASH1296]

Use  Hand Brake to extract AUDIO  from a  DVD

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12987...cContainer_link

HandBrake is a GPL'd multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter. HandBrake was originally available on the BeOS, but now has been ported over to MacOS X and to GNU/Linux.

Supported sources:
Any DVD-like source: VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image or real DVD (even encrypted)
PAL or NTSC
AC-3, LPCM or MPEG audio tracks
Outputs:
File format: MP4, AVI or OGM
Video: MPEG-4 or H.264 (1 or 2 passes or constant quantizer encoding)
Audio: AAC, MP3, Vorbis or AC-3 pass-through (supports encoding of several audio tracks)
Misc. features:
Chapter selection
Basic subtitle support (burned into the picture)
Integrated bitrate calculator
Picture deinterlacing, cropping and scaling
Grayscale encoding
WHAT'S NEW
Version 0.8.5b1:
Added: iTunes-style chapter markers.
Added: 5.1 AAC surround sound.
Added: Dolby Pro Logic I and II downmixing of discrete surround sound.
Added: 1-channel AAC sound from monophonic sources.
Added: Advanced x264 options. (including High Profile support)
Added: B-frames in x264 + .mp4
Added: PPC Linux Support.
Added: Preserve language IDs from the DVD in .mp4
Added: Snapshot build method.
Added: Anamorphic video display in QuickTime.
Changed: Renamed back to HandBrake.
Changed: Libraries updated.
Changed: Enabled Update Checker.
Fixed: Multiple Audio tracks.
Fixed: Sped up DVD scanning time by being nicer to libdvdread.
Fixed: .dmg is now mountable in Mac OS X versions older than 10.4
Fixed: Proper output size from x264 in target size mode.
Fixed: Allows output sizes larger than 2 gigs in Linux.
Fixed: Several small memory leaks have been plugged.
Fixed: Fixes for 64-bit systems.
Fixed: Keep Aspect Ratio is no longer forced, so user-set height values are respected.
CLI Interface Changes
Added: Customize maximum width and height while keeping aspect ratio
Changed: Much prettier help screen
Changed: HBTest/MediaForkCLI renamed to HandBrakeCLI
Fixed: Better display of audio and subtitle ids
Mac GUI Changes
Added: Presets! Includes initial ones for AppleTV, iPod, and PS3.
Added: Preference option to auto-name output files with the DVD name and title number.
Added: Preset support for x264 options.
Changed: Remembers last destination path.
Changed: Remembers last source path.
Changed: Copy and paste in text fields.
Changed: Updates target size more quickly.
Changed: Mac GUI no longer retains target size values between enqueued jobs. (http://HandBrake.m0k.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249)
Fixed: Preview frames are no longer distorted in anamorphic mode.
Fixed: Mac GUI no longer floats above other windows.
Fixed: Browse by file no longer dims the browse button preventing you from changing browse locations without switching back and forth between it and drive selection. (http://HandBrake.m0k.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342)
Fixed: Makes sure destination directory is valid.
Fixed: Fills in the file save field with the current output name instead of leaving it blank.
Fixed: Update destination field with the current path instead of using the last one, which could have been a DVD.
REQUIREMENTS
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.

[Xairbusdriver]

Handbrake looks like an audio geek app looking for another audio geek! Your short history probably explains the lack of user-friendliness and ease of use. It may be great, but it's interface left me totally confused; unexplained technical terms, little, if any feedback as to what would happen with the various settings, so many settings that one could spend hours trying them all out.  I'm sure it's a great program, it seems to be well supported and does what it's supposed to do. But it's way more complicated than needed for simply saving the audio from a DVD.

Plug the DVD audio out into the audio in of the Mac, play the DVD, record with any of a dozen apps on the Mac. Save the file. End of story.

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ May 10 2007, 08:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Handbrake looks like an audio geek app looking for another audio geek!

Yeah ... I had trouble figuring out what all had to be in my apps folder.    

QUOTE

Plug the DVD audio out into the audio in of the Mac, play the DVD, record with any of a dozen apps on the Mac. Save the file. End of story.

Would that I could ... but the other player is plugged into the tv and built in sound system in the 'great room' and there's no way I'm shifting all that equipment around just for this.  

I got decent sound samples from audio hijack. I'll use that when the dvd arrives in my mail box.  I'm still begging the band to do a cd of the DVD ... but that won't happen unless the DVD sells big time ... and well ... anyhow ...

Thanks everyone!

[Xairbusdriver]

Does the DVD have a 'headphone' jack on the front? Of course, you'd still have to move the computer. I suspect playing the DVD in the Mac and capturing the sound is the simplest/easiest method. We're still noobies with DVD's, didn't even have a player until late last year. Din't even realize it was actually a DVD burner until a couple of months after that! And that's when I 'discovered' Handbrake, looking for a way to edit a recorded TV show. Never did get a nice looking/edited DVD. Most of that was due to the recorded/burned starting point, I suspect.

Handbrake just didn't appear to be aware of the "Mac Way". I'm sure it is a capable program, I just needed more 'hand-holding' It was difficult for me to even use iMovie/iDVD!

[RobW]

For me, I've used Audio Hijack for several situations. I've found it to be a very easy app to use. Just select (of add a new) app to "hijack" and you're good to go. When I've used it, the sound quality was fine.

As far as Hand Brake, well, Xairbusdriver said it best:

QUOTE

Handbrake looks like an audio geek app looking for another audio geek! Your short history probably explains the lack of user-friendliness and ease of use. It may be great, but it's interface left me totally confused; unexplained technical terms, little, if any feedback as to what would happen with the various settings, so many settings that one could spend hours trying them all out. I'm sure it's a great program, it seems to be well supported and does what it's supposed to do. But it's way more complicated than needed for simply saving the audio from a DVD.

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ May 10 2007, 01:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We're still noobies with DVD's, didn't even have a player until late last year.

Oh my word! You are ruining my picture of you as the gadget man.  

QUOTE

And that's when I 'discovered' Handbrake, looking for a way to edit a recorded TV show. Never did get a nice looking/edited DVD. Most of that was due to the recorded/burned starting point, I suspect.

I remember! I'll have to look up that thread. Might be insightful.

QUOTE(RobW @ May 10 2007, 01:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For me, I've used Audio Hijack for several situations. I've found it to be a very easy app to use. Just select (of add a new) app to "hijack" and you're good to go. When I've used it, the sound quality was fine.

Can't say it was super easy. Took several attempts before it actually "hijacked" DVD Player and they functioned together; but I managed to record the music from Music Man for fun and practice. I just paid the fee so I don't wind up with "noise" over my music.

Thanks for the tips!

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

I just paid the fee so I don't wind up with "noise" over my music.

In my opinion, and we all know exactly what that's worth, that noise might be better than some of what's called "music", these days!

[kimmer]

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ May 11 2007, 08:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In my opinion, and we all know exactly what that's worth, that noise might be better than some of what's called "music", these days!

I'd agree with you as far as all this new-fangled music    but the music I like is pure sweet sounds to your ears.