Aiff or mp3

[doubter]

Using Spin Doctor to copy my vinyl/cassettes music, is it possible to do this into mp3 files instead of aiff files which Spin Doctor seems to do each time? Thanks for any help in getting this done--Tom

[tsantee]

No. Spin Doctor only works with AIFF files. There is nothing in the Toast package that will create an MP3 file.

[doubter]

tsantee, thank you for confirming my fears. Tom

[snark2]

Why would you WANT your initial rip from vinyl to go to a LOW QUALITY playback format like MP3? I'd recommend making your vinyl-to-digital rip in the high-quality AIFF format (so that you can burn a reasonably good AAD [Analog original recording, Analog original media, Digital finished copy] CD for your permanent music library), and then using iTunes to swap the songs down to MP3 format for your iPod (it'll take at least four minutes to copy the files into iTunes, but that gives your computer something to do while you're going to the bathroom anyway). The loss of high-fidelity sound that occurs when you go down to MP3 from AIFF is SEVERE, and although you probably won't notice it when you stuff a pair of iPod ear buds in, if you try playing that same music file through a decent home stereo you will hear a marked loss of quality. Sure, you can store and play back a gajillion MP3 songs on a standard CD-R, compared to the normal ±80 minutes you use when you burn a CD-R from AIFFs, but there is a HUGE playback sound quality difference (all that extra capacity HAS to come at a price, and that price is paid by eliminating a large quantity of the sound itself, not simply as a result of file compression).

 

tsantee, thank you for confirming my fears. Tom