Burn those Napster To Go songs to CD for free
posted Feb 15th 2005 8:20AM
So maybe you're already too tight with iTunes or allofmp3.com to bother, but if you've been looking for an excuse to
check out Napster's new $15 a month, all-you-can-download
Napster To Go service, someone's already found a way to
burn unlimited amounts of music to CDs for free. With Napster To Go you can download as much music as you want and
transfer it to a portable device, but it normally costs 99 cents to burn a track to a CD and if you stop paying the
monthly subscription fee you lose access to your entire collection. We're not going to advise you to do anything
untoward, but apparently if you install Winamp along with the Output Stacker plug-in you can convert those protected
WMA files to WAV files and then burn them to CD without paying a penny. Or at least an extra penny.
[Thanks, Dan]
Just noticed that Napster in the UK is £15 a month, which at current exchange rates is almost $30. Disgraceful. Even Itunes prices aren't that bad.
Haha!
This is fantastic... I wonder just how Napster will react to this.
They'll probably be happy cuz now more people will use their service. Well, happy until the record labels get pissed at them and force them to fix it.
This is nothing new. People have been using Audio Record Wizard to capture streaming audio from Rhapsody for years. This is just doing the same thing with a different service and a different piece of software. Any audio that comes out your PC's speakers can be captured and saved in an unprotected format.
How would they fix it? If they or MS do something in "play for sure" (or whatever its called) to not allow it to be opened in say winamp, wouldn't that make the whole idea of "play for sure" crumble?? :)
FYI My tunes also has a nice little program that lets you save shared music called my tunes redux. I was able to save about 1000 songs from my friend's computers. Only problem is the limitations of itunes sharing. See http://www.ipodhacks.com/article.php?sid=1051 for more info.
So, in essence, the new Napster isn't much different then the old except you are guaranteed good quality songs without any hassel. What do you think this is going to do to Napster? Can't imagine the record companies will be too happy.
FYI My tunes also has a nice little program that lets you save shared music called my tunes redux. I was able to save about 1000 songs from my friend's computers. Only problem is the limitations of itunes sharing. See http://www.ipodhacks.com/article.php?sid=1051 for more info.
I don't get the extra step of using WINAMP? You can just use dBPower AMP Music Converter and convert the Napster wma file straight to mp3. Am I missing something?
I agree with 'Pete'. This is not THAT new. The bundled version of Digital Audio Center that I got with my SB-Live-MP3 5+ years ago allows you to easily recapture the audio stream from these rented MP3's in real time.
And I echo the puzzlement of 'Tigidal', why are people re-encoding them as WAV's ? With DAC it's pretty simple to take a leased 320kb MP3 and recapture it into a license free 160kb MP3 of decent quality which of course you can then burn to a cd if desired.
I also theorize that if you take either 2 computers (or just one with a double ended cable), do a little 'optical out' to 'optical in' chicanery you can do this whole real-time recapture thing digitally from start to finish, and thus with no loss of quality.
Just a theory though. To be completely honest I haven't tried either of these things myself (though I have seen people get good results) because most of the music these days is pretty crappy to begin with and I have rather eclectic/eccentric tastes.
But I just can't resist a challenge...
total DL for the free trial = 11mb.
Quote: "I also theorize that if you take either 2 computers (or just one with a double ended cable), do a little 'optical out' to 'optical in' chicanery you can do this whole real-time recapture thing digitally from start to finish, and thus with no loss of quality."
The problem isn't line loss, it is loss from the compression. You lose sound quality when you go from CD quality to WMA, which you don't get back just because it is going out a digital optical wire. And when you compress from the WAV recorded off of your line out to MP3, you are going to lose a little bit more sound quality. If you can get a sufficiently high quality file from Napster, it is probably no big deal for the non-audiophiles.
Hey guys, this post was just mentioned on CNBC around 3:40 p.m. (I work on a trading floor where we have television screens on the walls and that "groovy" cat icon grabbed my eye), at which time the stock took a short nosedive before recovering, ultimately closing down only $0.01 from yesterday's close. Your reach extends farther than you may think engadget (well, maybe, I dont know how arrogant you guys are)
yes! PC rulez.
Mac rulez?
Pay.
8. Posted Feb 15, 2005, 11:54 AM ET by Tigidal
I don't get the extra step of using WINAMP? You can just use dBPower AMP Music Converter and convert the Napster wma file straight to mp3. Am I missing something?
Unless I'm missing something, the db poweramp program can't convert the files as they're encrypted..
will this automaticallt tag the files correctly? Seems pointless otherwise.
it may not be new, but it does have a ring to it, guys! it sounds like $15/month for a few months (max!) in order to steal tens of thousands of songs from Napster at once with hardly any effort...whereas iTunes music stealing requires actually paying for songs/albums individually, downloading them individually, and then running a hard-to-find program to strip the DRM to get your freedom, and risk the possibility that future versions of iTunes won't play it. (OK I know I'm bending the stick just a hair here, but you get my point.)
which idea do you think freaks out the music industry more?
k this thing work so well =D
k i downloaded all the required plug ins to work it. but instead of using winamp's plugin which dump a wav file. i use the lame encoder instead which dump out a perfect tagged mp3 files. without going through all the wav to cd and re ripping that is so horrible to think of it.
but another thing is that alot of people are jumping on to this. winamp.com have remove the stack plug in from their website!! it's been confirmed
using Audio Replay you can rip the streaming of itunes, too.
Ok so Winamp removed the plugin. Where can I get it? I searched google and all sites i found that mentioned it just had a link back to winamp. Anyone have a URL to get the Output Stacker plugin?
Ok so Winamp removed the plugin. Where can I get it? I searched google and all sites i found that mentioned it just had a link back to winamp. Anyone have a URL to get the Output Stacker plugin?
As the originator (as far as I can tell) of this method
proof: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p=830313&postcount=85
I must first say that I am a Napster Customer, have been a Napster customer for well over a year at this point, and I have bought well over $3000 worth of music from them in the 13 months I have had my subscription. I do not recommend people use this to bypass the DRM, I was just trying to accomplish something entirely different and stumbled across it, posted it to cdfreaks, and *bam* all of a sudden its a news article.
Quote your sources, fellas :)
You can get the Output Stacker pluggin here: http://forums.winamp.com/attachment.php?postid=1593266
DB Power Amp Music converter gags on the Napster files. And I tried burning some of them to a CD and playing on a Blaupunkt car radio that handles WMA's. It would show the title, and then skip to the next track without making a sound.
A patch to the DB converter would be great because it would be FAST; with the other schemes you'll have to sit through each track for the conversion.
Here's what I do to crack all the DRM systems out there:
1. Play the tunes in my sound booth, playing through Wilson Benesch Discovery's
2. Use my Sennheiser mic to record...
3. etched straight to nickel baby (just like Edison)
4. Press (vinyl) and repeat
Yeah, the version of Winamp I have came with the plugin. (I don't use it much, I'm not a Napster user) I can send it to anyone who wants it though. Email me - reverREMOVETHISTEXTsial@gmail.com
i love napster oh how i need music
where is the output directory?
Hey I am having problems with winamp. I just downloaded it tonite, and was just trying to burn a cd and it says I need Direct Sound output plugin. The program shows that it is included. Any ideas?
Hey I am having problems with Winamp. Downloaded it tonite, and when i try to burn cd it says i need direct sound output plug in.
Hi,
I'd like to have the Napster 14 days free-trial here in Germany. Anyone knows a way to register. It always tell me that I have to live in the USA or must be a soldier here in Germany (with SSN number)
Thanks a lot
Hello, I'm living in germany and want to have the napster 14 days free trial. But I can't register - because I#m living in germany. Anyone knows a way?
Thanks
converting in real time is not a practical solution when we are talking about 100s (1000s?) of tunes. get real. so forget about winamp. i have dbpower amp but from what i read here it won't convert napster wma's to playable mp3s. any other ideas guys? if i can find a workable solution i'll sign up for napster. i have no interest in renting my music. thanks!
converting in real time is not a practical solution when we are talking about 100s (1000s?) of tunes. get real. so forget about winamp. i have dbpower amp but from what i read here it won't convert napster wma's to playable mp3s. any other ideas guys? if i can find a workable solution i'll sign up for napster. i have no interest in renting my music. thanks!
yo.yo.yo
Thanks Engadget for this wonderful treasure hunt you sent me on. No sarcasm intended. By the end of my internet sleuthing I had downloaded Yahoo Music Engine, lame-eng.dll, and finally Tunebite. Tunebite verifies (in my search) that I would have to record my new Dbm in real time. For $7/month I get unlimited music forever on my PC (my 12hr haven) and thanks to analog recording I can iPod all my MP3s. The sound quality is pretty good for free and the more I fiddle with the settings, the better the quality becomes.
Now the only thing impeading my path is the "real-time" recording. It'll take me 10 hrs to record 10 hrs worth of music.* But that Tunebite prog. automates the entire process. Easy is an understatement. Just plug in headphones or mute(?) overnight and you'll never care.
* perhaps someone can program something that fast forwards the music (like an old cassette player that lets you hold down play and FF @ the same time) and the program would deconstruct and slow down the information for the sake of conversion. All autonamously and muted. I dunno.
yo.yo.yo
Thanks Engadget for this wonderful treasure hunt you sent me on. No sarcasm intended. By the end of my internet sleuthing I had downloaded Yahoo Music Engine, lame-eng.dll, and finally Tunebite. Tunebite verifies (in my search) that I would have to record my new Dbm in real time. For $7/month I get unlimited music forever on my PC (my 12hr haven) and thanks to analog recording I can iPod all my MP3s. The sound quality is pretty good for free and the more I fiddle with the settings, the better the quality becomes.
Now the only thing impeading my path is the "real-time" recording. It'll take me 10 hrs to record 10 hrs worth of music.* But that Tunebite prog. automates the entire process. Easy is an understatement. Just plug in headphones or mute(?) overnight and you'll never care.
* perhaps someone can program something that fast forwards the music (like an old cassette player that lets you hold down play and FF @ the same time) and the program would deconstruct and slow down the information for the sake of conversion. All autonamously and muted. I dunno.
Musicstacker will make a copy of those protected song to an unprotected file so that you can burn it or move it to any mp3 player
awerh
Go to http://freemymp3.com to learn just how to get free music from napster, rhapsody, and yahoo music services without paying the per song price. If you are having trouble burning the protected files from these services then the free step by step guide at http://freemymp3.com will show you how.
I tried to us winamp but i keep getting an error message. Any idea how i might be able to drag and drop my protected wma into intunes. Or a way to convert the proteced wma into a mp3?