I just used the first mirror. It didn't put any viruses or anything on my computer, and I just did it about a week ago (for my new computer). The mirror shouldn't affect anything other than having a slight difference in speed. I have no idea what the authentication is about. When you first start it up, it will bring up a web page with a button "Start MediaCoder" or something like that (you can disable it from starting up that page, it will have a little check box under the button). Once you get it open, you drag the files you want to convert into the main box, choose your type of encode you want to make it in the lower left box (audio, video) and in that box you can change the encoder to what you want it to encode into. In the lower right box is where you change the quality of the encode. Once everything is how you want it, just click the "Start" button at the top. It sounds like a lot, but it really is simple once you see how things work.
Thanks. I also saw stuff for videos on their website. I'm going to try to convert mine to HD (< right word?) if possible. I can't see anything with all those pixels. :mad:
Eh, WInamp is aiyt. Personally I prefer the open source program: foobar2000 (
http://www.foobar2000.org/download). It'll playback just about any audio format! For the formats that it can't playback, however, there are plug-ins that can be installed to allow for playback of other non-native formats such as .ape, .tak, .wmal (all lossless formats). In my opinion, this is the best sounding media player as well. It uses a different kind of dithering technique which apparently sounds better then Winamp's dithering technique. You can also download a plug-in called Kernel Streaming Output which will bypass the mixer and play the audio directly from it's source for bit-accurate playback (Winamp has it's own version of this as well).
As for a standard format to choose for your audio files, it really depends on how you use them, whether for the computer only, portable players, storing and backup, ect.. Personally I prefer FLAC (free lossless audio codec) for playback and backups after it has been ripped from a CD using Exact Audio Copy. This will create a 1:1 copy of the CD also known as a digital CD. For lossy encoding (.mp3, .ogg, ect.), I prefer AAC format over mp3 because, with the right encoder (Nero > iTunes), I can create compressed files that are the size of high quality MP3s but with sound quality that is indistinguishable from the original source, in this case the CD.
Anyway, I hope that this was more helpful then confusing. :p Cya!
In my case, I'm trying to have everything in WMA format. I will also make use of MP3s for times when I don't have a laptop or CD player.
I'll have to think about my choices. Will these programs also unscramble "rar" files so that they can be played?
Thanks for your help everyone. :)