From: Grant Hardy <granthardy_at_gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:25:50 -0800

Thanks so much for your help John.

I will try out MP3_gain. About the HD though, I was looking for one
at a *local* retailer--not online.

On 2/23/06, Neon John <jgd_at_johngsbbq.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:45:17 -0800, "Grant Hardy"
> <granthardy_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Well, that's a good point. I actually can't find any 2.5-inch hard
> >drives at my local electronics store.
>
> We discussed hard drives and where to get 'em just last week. Pay
> attention!!! Cnet price shopper is your friend!
>
> >I wonder what I should search
> >for....by the way, where do I get this mp3_gain thing and how long
> >does it take to run?
>
> C'mon now, don't be lazy. Google is your friend.
>
> Oh, OK. http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/
>
> How long it takes depends on a lot of things. How many songs, what
> sample rate, how fast your computer is, etc.
>
> I've downsampled all the music on my JBR to 128kbps (good compromise
> between sound and battery life). On the 80 gig drive with about 5 gig
> free space and a 2ghz laptop, mp3_gain did the job overnight. IFF you
> get a more powerful wall wart (I use a Rat Shack #273-1772 9 volt, 1
> amp switchmode wartlet and the H tip), the JBR can get enough power to
> run more or less continuously without draining the batteries. At
> least with the Toshiba low power 80gig drive I'm using.
>
> MP3_gain is reversible. The bits can be stripped out of the MP3 file
> if desired. The MP3 playing program Fubar_2000 (use Google!!!) does
> it the easiest, as it has a batch mode. The actual adjustment is
> called RePlay_Gain, just to confuse things. MP3_gain is an
> implementation.
>
> For settings, I use "Track Gain" with a setting of 94db and turn it
> loose on my player's MP3 root directory. MP3_gain reports a little
> clipping on occasion at that setting but I can't hear it enough to
> matter, especially with headphones. 94db produces a reasonably loud
> volume in the PortaPro 'phones with the volume set in the 80-85%
> range. Since the gain change is not permanent, one can go back and
> change it at any time. If you find that one song clips too much, just
> rework it with a lower setting.
>
> Important note: After you set the directory structure to be processed,
> you have to give MP3_gain time to gather up all the files before
> starting the processing. If you don't, they all won't be processed.
> Watch the file counter in the lower righthand side of the window and
> wait for it to quit counting up. For a whole drive, this takes a bit
> of time. Go grab coffee or something :-)
>
> John
>
> >
> >On 2/23/06, Neon John <jgd_at_johngsbbq.com> wrote:
> >> On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 16:40:08 -0800, "Grant Hardy"
> >> <granthardy_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> >Ah heck, I don't care so much about backups. I've got all my music on
> >> >the computer. I just don't want to pay for another HD!
> >>
> >> Look at it this way. A HD costs about as much as a couple of tanks of
> >> gas and look how much more pleasure you get from it. Besides, just
> >> think how much time it'll take to reload everything.
> >>
> >> I have all my music on my file serve too, but losing my Archos HD
> >> would be a minor disaster. I've cut out songs that I don't like and
> >> I've run MP3_Gain across the whole drive so that everything plays at
> >> the same volume. I don't modify the original music files on the
> >> server so I'd have to do all that over. Then there are all the
> >> playlists. Every time I patch together a playlist that I really like
> >> I save it off. Dozens to hundreds of them. No way to replace those.
> >>
> >> I got the same warning you got from my 100gb Archos a couple of weeks
> >> ago after I dropped it. I took the warning seriously and had a new
> >> drive expressed in. I made a copy of my Archos onto the new drive and
> >> put the new drive in the fireproof safe. When this one quits, all I
> >> have to do is pop the cover and stick the new one in. No big deal.
> >> Spinrite found and fixed some weak areas so maybe it'll last a long
> >> time. Meanwhile I have a spare drive that I can periodically update
> >> as a live backup.
> >>
> >> John
> >>
> >> >
> >> >On 2/23/06, Ronald Teune <rtwolf_at_gmx.net> wrote:
> >> >> On Friday 24 February 2006 00:30, Grant Hardy <"Grant Hardy"
> >> >> <granthardy_at_gmail.com>> wrote:
> >> >> > So guys, the hard drive is working PERFECTLY for the past few days
> and
> >> >> > all the weird noises have stopped. Can I thus expect some more life
> >> >> > out of it? It's only a couple of years old.
> >> >>
> >> >> When I had just bought my unit, I've heard some squeaky sounds too
> (due
> >> to
> >> >> battery low or so), and since then had some more evil sounds out of
> it.
> >> >> That's about a year ago or so. Don't think it matters that much. But
> it's
> >> >> always good to have backups. Reminds me of something...
> >> >>
> >> >> Ronald
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> ---
> >> John De Armond
> >> See my website for my current email address
> >> http://www.johngsbbq.com
> >> Cleveland, Occupied TN
> >> A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.-Ralph Waldo
> Emerson
> >>
> >
> ---
> John De Armond
> See my website for my current email address
> http://www.johngsbbq.com
> Cleveland, Occupied TN
> A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
>
Received on 2006-02-24