The ripping option in Windows Media Player allows you to control:
- Where the music is stored
- The type of audio format
- What actions to take when inserting a CD and when a rip session has completed
- Encoded audio quality settings
Rip Music to This Location: By clicking on Change you can specify where your ripped music is stored.
Format: You can choose MP3, WMA, WMA Pro, WMA VBR, WMA Lossless, and WAV audio formats by clicking on the small down-arrow icon underneath the format heading. If you are transferring the ripped audio to an MP3 player then check to see what formats it supports; choose MP3 if unsure.
Rip CD When Inserted: This is a useful feature to use if you have a lot of CDs to rip in succession. You can tell Windows Media Player to automatically start ripping an entire CD when it is inserted into the DVD/CD drive. The best setting to select is Only When in the Rip Tab.
Eject CD When Ripping is Complete: Choose this option in conjunction with the above setting if you are converting a batch of CDs; it will save you time having to repeatedly press the eject button after every CD has been processed.
Audio Quality: The audio quality of the output files can be adjusted via a horizontal slider bar. There is always a tradeoff between the quality of audio and file size when dealing with compressed (lossy) audio formats. You will have to experiment with this setting to get the balance right as it varies drastically depending on the frequency spectrum of your audio source. If you're encoding to a lossy WMA format then choose WMA VBR which will give you the best audio quality to file size ratio. The MP3 file format should be encoded with a bitrate of at least 128kbps to ensure artifacts are kept to a minimum.
Once you are happy with all of the settings you can click Apply followed by the OK button to save and exit the options menu.
