Ripping songs from a CD and turning them into MP3 files is easier than ever thanks to Windows Media Player. This is a fantastic way to preserve your music collection, particularly if you put your songs on the cloud, so they can be accessed anywhere you have an internet connection.
You’ll need to spend a few minutes in Windows Media Player’s settings to ensure you’re getting the correct output, as by default you’ll be getting WMA files which can’t be played on most devices.
If you’re not a fan of Windows Media Player, or you find that it has decided to take the day off from working correctly (not unheard of), you can also rip CDs with VLC Media Player which you can download for free.
How to transfer music to your computer from a CD
If you’re using Windows you can rip music from a CD using Windows Media Player which should already be installed on your system (if not you can download it here). Just follow these steps below:
- Insert the disc into your computer’s disc drive
- Open Windows Media Player. You can search for it through the Windows search function at the bottom left of your desktop
- On the left panel of Windows Media Player, you’ll find the disc you inserted represented by a small icon
Image from Sevenforums.com
- At the top of the application, select ‘Rip settings’ to open up the settings. Under ‘Format’, open the drop-down menu and select MP3
- You can select the audio quality just below too on the slider, the higher the quality the better the music will sound, but the file size will also get bigger
- Once you’ve adjusted the settings to your liking, click Apply, and then Rip CD at the top of the program
How to rip a CD using VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is free to download and is generally better and more reliable than Windows Media Player. To rip a CD with VLC follow the steps below:
- Download and install VLC Media Player
- Insert the CD into your computer’s disc drive
- Click Media at the top left and select “Convert/Save” from the drop-down menu
- In the window that opens up select “Disc” and then “Audio CD” under “Disc Selection”
- Click “Browse” and select the CD, then choose your starting position with the up arrow and when you’re done, hit the “Convert/Save” button
- In the “Convert” window, select “Profile” and then select the tool icon. Here you can select the audio codec, bitrate, channels and sample rate. Select Save when you’re done
- You’ll now find yourself back at the “Convert” window. Select “Start” to begin the conversation