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Home >> Best MP3 Guide


You can access this page directly by using http://www.bestMP3guide.com

If you have any friends, family members, or co-workers that you think would be interested in learning how to create the highest quality MP3s on the planet, e-mail or send them an instant message and tell them to check out http://www.bestMP3guide.com


Remember it like this: "Man, that was the best MP3 guide I've ever seen in my life! You'll never forget it when friends ask why your MP3s sound so much better than theirs.

Step 1: Download and install EAC V0.9 beta 4. If the configuration wizard pops up, close it. If for some reason you get an error message, try downloading EACv0.9pb4.zip instead.[I need detailed help with this!]

Step 2: Start EAC. From the EAC drive selection pulldown box (right below the menu system) select the drive you want to use with EAC. (It may already be selected).

Beside the drive name it will either say Adapter: 0 or Adapter: 1 or Adapter: 2, make a note of which Adapter your drive uses. Also note which ID your drive uses, such as ID:0, ID:1, etc. Now close EAC. [I need detailed help with this!]

Step 2b: (For WindowsXP, Win2k, and Vista Users Only) Download the Nero ASPI Layer DLL You must place this DLL file in the directory you installed EAC. (Usually C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy).

Note: In Vista, you might get this annoying message saying you can't save to that directory. Save the file to a directory outside of C:\Program Files and then copy it to your EAC directory.

Windows 95/98/ME already has an ASPI layer built in. [I need detailed help with this!]

Step 3: Depending on which adapter and ID your drive uses (see Step 2) download one of the following .CFG profiles:

  • [Adapter0 - ID0].cfg     [Adapter0 - ID1].cfg

  • [Adapter1 - ID0].cfg     [Adapter1 - ID1].cfg

  • [Adapter2 - ID0].cfg     [Adapter2 - ID1].cfg     [Adapter2 - ID2].cfg     [Adapter2 - ID3].cfg

  • [Adapter3 - ID0].cfg     [Adapter3 - ID1].cfg     [Adapter3 - ID2].cfg     [Adapter3 - ID3].cfg

  • [Adapter4 - ID0].cfg     [Adapter4 - ID1].cfg     [Adapter4 - ID2].cfg     [Adapter4 - ID3].cfg

    and save it to your EAC Profiles directory (likely C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Profiles\).

    Note: In Vista, you might get this annoying message saying you can't save to that directory. Save the file to a directory outside of C:\Program Files and then copy it to your EAC profiles directory.

    Note: If you do not see your drive's Adapter and ID on this list, please click here.

    Note: If all you see is a bunch of garbled text when you try to download a .CFG profile, try right-clicking on the .CFG file in your browser and choosing 'Save Target As' (or something similar). Or, download MP3byMydenCFG.zip which contains all the profiles. UnZip the file, and place the proper .CFG file for your drive in your C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Profiles directory.

    Step 4: If you plan to create MP3s, download the best MP3 encoder on the planet, LAME 3.90.3 (by Dibrom). Save this lame.exe file to your EAC directory (Usually C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\). [I need detailed help with this!]

    Note: In Vista, you might get this annoying message saying you can't save to that directory. Save the file to a directory outside of C:\Program Files and then copy it to your EAC directory.

    Step 5: Put an audio CD in your CD-ROM drive. Open EAC. (Cancel the Wizard if it pops up). From the drive selection menu at the top, choose the drive you want to use.

    Under the EAC Menu, choose 'Profiles' -> 'Load Profile' and select the .CFG file you downloaded in Step 3.

    (If you put the .CFG file in your C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Profiles directory you can also select the profile from the menu at the bottom right, although some people say this doesn't always work, so try the first method) [I need detailed help with this!]

    Step 6: For those of you creating MP3s, you will now need to go to the EAC -> Compression Options -> External Compression tab.

    Click on the 'browse' button and point to the lame.exe file that you downloaded in Step 4.

    Important: Make sure that 'Parameter passing scheme' is set to LAME MP3 Encoder.

    Press 'OK'

    If you're hooked up to the Internet, hit ALT-G to name all the tracks for you. If you get a 'FreeDB server error', see below for the solution. [I need detailed help with this!]

    Step 7: Highlight some tracks and hit the MP3 button. EAC will ask you where you want to save your extracted files. Choose a directory and make a note of it, so you can play these files later!

    Click Save.

    EAC is now extracting the audio from your CD. Once the first track is complete, a black DOS window should open (that's your MP3 being created), don't close it, it will do that automatically once it's done.

    Congratulations, you are now creating the highest quality MP3s on earth! Wow, that wasn't so hard after all was it?

    Want some more help? Click here for additional tips to get going.

    Note: After extraction is complete, open the .LOG file it creates in your album directory (use a text editor), and verify that it was extracted in 'secure mode'. If it says 'burst mode' the .CFG file wasn't loaded properly, try re-loading the .CFG file again. If you plan on using a different CD-ROM drive later on, you will need to load the MP3byMyden[AdapterX - IDX].cfg file again.

    WARNING: Please note that the whole point of using EAC is to use it's 'secure mode'. For some users, this .CFG file will load all the options correctly with the exception of putting EAC in 'secure mode'. (Which is why I have you look at the .log file to make sure).

    Another way you can check is by going EAC -> Drive Options -> Extraction Method tab and selecting Secure Mode. You will want to place a checkmark beside the first two boxes ONLY. ('Drive has accurate stream' and 'Drive caches audio data'). If you are in burst mode using EAC is pointless!

    NOTE: If you tried this, and it did not work, I would appreciate you using my feedback form to tell me what the problem was. Thanks!

    Is LAME 3.90.3 really the best version of the LAME MP3 encoder to use? What about LAME 3.97b2 ?

    Hydrogen Audio now recommends that you use LAME 3.97b2 instead of LAME 3.90.3 (which I had you install above).

    Whether one version is 'better' or not involves so much subjective opinion, that it's not worth debating here, but you honestly can't go wrong with either version.

    Using LAME 3.97b2 requires a different command line, so click here for instructions on how to install it. Encoding should be faster with 3.97b2, and there are some fancy new command lines you can use with it.

    Is there an MP3 trading network for people who rip & encode this way?

    ÜberNet (note: they still recommend LAME 3.90.3)

    I think my friends, family members, and co-workers would like to know how to create the highest quality MP3s on earth, what can I do?

    E-mail them, send them an instant message, do whatever you have to do, and tell them to simply go to http://www.bestMP3guide.com and they will be brought to this page. Do it now before you forget! Help rid the world of MP3s that sound horrible!


  • Remember it like this: "Man, that was the best MP3 guide I've ever seen in my life! You'll never forget it when friends ask why your MP3s sound so much better than theirs.

    I Need Help!

    Common Problems

    "EAC isn't seeing any of the CDs I put in! (No tracks)"

    [Solution:] First make sure that you have placed the Nero ASPI Layer DLL in the directory you installed Exact Audio Copy. Now go into EAC, and from the EAC menu, go to the 'EAC Options' menu, and select the 'interface' tab. Try changing the interface to 'Native Win32 interface', and then closing and restarting EAC.)

    (Or if that is what you have selected, try selecting 'Installed External ASPI interface' and then closing and restarting EAC. If that still doesn't work, download the latest ASPI drivers, install them, and then retry the ASPI options in Exact Audio Copy mentioned above.

    If it still doesn't work, there is a large thread dedicated to this problem at the EAC forum.

    "I'm getting this error: Unhandled Exception at EACRead.1277 overflow"

    [Solution:] Unfortunately EAC has a problem with saving to hard drives with more than 200GB of space. Yes, it sucks. In Vista you could make a partition with a smaller size.

    "This black window keeps popping up after the track is finished ripping, why?"

    [Solution:] That is the LAME encoder window, which is creating the MP3. If you close the window, the MP3 won't be created! It will close automatically after the track is finished encoding.

    "I keep getting a FreeDB Server error!"

    [Solution:] Go into EAC, press F12. Beside 'FreeDB server' change it to: http://freedb.freedb.de:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi

    "It doesn't seem to be using the correct options anymore"

    [Solution:] Remember, if you use a different CD-ROM drive (or install a new one) you will need to load the EACByMyden.cfg option file again.

    "According to the external compression settings we're using 128kb/s (or 192kb/s). I thought we were creating VBR MP3s ?"

    [Solution:] Don't worry, the --alt-preset standard switch over-rides what is shown in EAC. You are in fact creating variable bit-rate MP3s, that fluctuate between 128kb/s to 320kb/s, depending on what is needed.

    Is there an MP3 trading network for people who rip & encode this way?

    ÜberNet (note: they still recommend LAME 3.90.3)