Music player advice

stjude1982

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New to linux and recently installed Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
Having a few issues with default Rhythmbox music player.
Want to rip all my CD's:
1st - for some reason I don't seem to be able to rip in mp3 format. They seem to rip in Ogg Vorbis ok. Never heard of that format so don't know if I should be trying another format or not?
2nd - there seems to be an error opening some CD's - is this likely to be an issue with CD or set-up.

Is Rhythmbox a decent music player or would another player be recommended?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 


The reason you are unable to rip to mp3 is probably because you don’t have an encoder installed. If you install lame - you should be able to rip to mp3.

However, vorbis ogg is a very good format. And also it’s completely free and well supported in Linux. Similar compression ratios to mp3. And like mp3, it’s a lossy format.

Another format that is used by audiophiles is flac, which is a lossless audio format. But being lossless, the file sizes are much larger!

But if you’re planning to put the ripped songs onto a device, like an MP3 player, or onto a thumb drive to use with a car stereo - these devices typically only work with a limited number of audio codecs/formats. So you may well just need to stick with mp3.
In which case, simply install lame!!


Regarding ripping software:
Asunder is another good graphical application for ripping audio cd’s.
Insert the cd, the program will read the content and look it up in an online database, before setting the track listing and then you just start ripping by pressing the rip button.
If the cd you’re ripping is not found in the database, or if it returns an incorrect track listing - you can manually set/edit the track list before ripping.

Also, the first time you use asunder, you might want to check out its settings and set your preferred output format/quality etc.
Your settings will be saved, so future rips just require you to hit the rip button when you’re happy with the track listing!
 
Asunder is also an alternative I use/have used depending on the distro.
ffmpeg is command line, as well, and is incorporated into most rippers able to convert formats.
In the past, I have always just downloaded and installed using the command at console as root
Code:
apt-get update && apt-get install asunder lame twolame ffmpeg ubuntu-restricted-extras sox mencoder
just to cover all my bases, then optionally installed handbrake if I wanted it, too. Maybe things have changed with the newer 'buntus, I am not sure.
 
The reason you are unable to rip to mp3 is probably because you don’t have an encoder installed. If you install lame - you should be able to rip to mp3.

However, vorbis ogg is a very good format. And also it’s completely free and well supported in Linux. Similar compression ratios to mp3. And like mp3, it’s a lossy format.

Another format that is used by audiophiles is flac, which is a lossless audio format. But being lossless, the file sizes are much larger!

But if you’re planning to put the ripped songs onto a device, like an MP3 player, or onto a thumb drive to use with a car stereo - these devices typically only work with a limited number of audio codecs/formats. So you may well just need to stick with mp3.
In which case, simply install lame!!


Regarding ripping software:
Asunder is another good graphical application for ripping audio cd’s.
Insert the cd, the program will read the content and look it up in an online database, before setting the track listing and then you just start ripping by pressing the rip button.
If the cd you’re ripping is not found in the database, or if it returns an incorrect track listing - you can manually set/edit the track list before ripping.

Also, the first time you use asunder, you might want to check out its settings and set your preferred output format/quality etc.
Your settings will be saved, so future rips just require you to hit the rip button when you’re happy with the track listing!
Thank you, I'll have a look at lame and asunder. Flacand mp3 were only 2 of options I'd heard of. How compatible is Vorbis Ogg across devices? I assume having android phone, that even if Google play music player doesn't support, it would be easy enough to find a player that did support.
The reason you are unable to rip to mp3 is probably because you don’t have an encoder installed. If you install lame - you should be able to rip to mp3.

However, vorbis ogg is a very good format. And also it’s completely free and well supported in Linux. Similar compression ratios to mp3. And like mp3, it’s a lossy format.

Another format that is used by audiophiles is flac, which is a lossless audio format. But being lossless, the file sizes are much larger!

But if you’re planning to put the ripped songs onto a device, like an MP3 player, or onto a thumb drive to use with a car stereo - these devices typically only work with a limited number of audio codecs/formats. So you may well just need to stick with mp3.
In which case, simply install lame!!


Regarding ripping software:
Asunder is another good graphical application for ripping audio cd’s.
Insert the cd, the program will read the content and look it up in an online database, before setting the track listing and then you just start ripping by pressing the rip button.
If the cd you’re ripping is not found in the database, or if it returns an incorrect track listing - you can manually set/edit the track list before ripping.

Also, the first time you use asunder, you might want to check out its settings and set your preferred output format/quality etc.
Your settings will be saved, so future rips just require you to hit the rip button when you’re happy with the track listing!
Thank you, I'll have a look at lame and asunder. Flac and mp3 were only two of options I'd heard of. How compatible is Vorbis Ogg across devices? I assume having android phone even if Google play music player doesn't work then it would be easy enough to find a player that did support?
 
Asunder is also an alternative I use/have used depending on the distro.
ffmpeg is command line, as well, and is incorporated into most rippers able to convert formats.
In the past, I have always just downloaded and installed using the command at console as root
Code:
apt-get update && apt-get install asunder lame twolame ffmpeg ubuntu-restricted-extras sox mencoder
just to cover all my bases, then optionally installed handbrake if I wanted it, too. Maybe things have changed with the newer 'buntus, I am not sure.
Thank you, appreciate all replies. Someone else also mentioned asunder/lame. I'll definitely try all options mentioned in replies.
 
I believe ogg is well supported on android too. Ringtones and notification tones are often .ogg files.

I use VLC media player on android and that plays virtually anything!

And on Linux I use cmus - a super lightweight, terminal based media player (music/audio only) and for video/dvd playback - I use mplayer or vlc.
 
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Is Rhythmbox a decent music player or would another player be recommended?

I haven't tried Rhytmbox in a very long time but I didn't like it when I did. I've been using clementine for quite some time and am happy with it; has all the features I need: smart playlists, convert tool, tag editing tool, cd ripper and a couple more. Here's a very nice article which goes on how to install media codecs, vlc player and clementine plus a couple of tips and tricks to use them on Ubuntu 20.04 https://linuxhint.com/install_multimedia_codecs_ubuntu/

Hope this helps! :)
 
Clementine, Strawberry, VLC are all good players.

There are lots of CD rippers in Linux.

Look in Synaptic or Muon for what's available in your package management system.
 
If you are looking for a good simple audio player for cds then deadbeef is a good option.
static option available so not so many dependencies to install.
Moc for a simple commandline player. Cd ripper - Ripperx.
 
Deadbeef? :D:eek::D

Strawberries are tastier and better for you than rotten meat o_O
 
Clementine, Strawberry, VLC are all good players.

There are lots of CD rippers in Linux.

Look in Synaptic or Muon for what's available in your package management system.
I can second on clementine, but haven't used it recently since all I use for music now days is spotify.
 
KISS with XMMS
 
Yeah mate, xmms an old favourite of mine. It is in Antix and still is very a very useful efficient audio player.
 
I haven't tried Rhytmbox in a very long time but I didn't like it when I did. I've been using clementine for quite some time and am happy with it; has all the features I need: smart playlists, convert tool, tag editing tool, cd ripper and a couple more. Here's a very nice article which goes on how to install media codecs, vlc player and clementine plus a couple of tips and tricks to use them on Ubuntu 20.04 https://linuxhint.com/install_multimedia_codecs_ubuntu/

Hope this helps! :)
About to look at trying to rip CD's again and this certainly sounds. Appreciate links to read up and understandwhat I'm doing/trying. Think I'll actually read a few of the articles 1st and then try a few in order of preference. Thanks for the help
 
I can second on clementine, but haven't used it recently since all I use for music now days is spotify.
And you can get to spotify inside clementine, probably strawberry, too.
 
I have used mpv as a command line music player and Lollypop as a GUI based one.
 
I like older music, mostly, and have a pile of everything from Roy Orbison, to Arrowsmith, to Sarah Brightman, to The Del-Vikings, to Dave Matthews, to Queen, and Santana. It's my mix, and it goes with me wherever I go :cool:
 
And you can get to spotify inside clementine, probably strawberry, too.
Really, never knew that haven't used clementine in some years. I may have to try this. for the sake of trying Thanks for the tip.
 
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