Figure 2.6

Fig. 2.6 (click image for full size)

· Click the Import button to start iTunes ripping your chosen tracks from CD into AIFF format. · Go to your music folder location and take a look to see that it's there. You now have happy uncompressed AIFF audio files ready for manipulating in any number of fun ways! In the following two examples, you'll convert a song from an audio source to a digital (raw, uncompressed) audio file on the computer desktop.

Note
Directly after completing either of the following two Step-by-Step tutorials, take a moment to remove what is called DC offset from your newly created digital file. DC offset occurs as low frequency inaudible noise resulting from equipment grounding problems. If present, DC offset can skew the results of subsequent digital edits. Use the DC offset removal function in Peak or SoundForge (or any other waveform editor) immediately after recording a digital audio file from an analog source.


Step-by-Step: Converting from an Analog Source to a Digital File Using a Waveform Editor (SoundForge for Windows)
· Plug your audio source stereo RCA outputs into the stereo 1/8'' miniplug input on the back of your Windows machine. (Refer to the section titled "Cabling" earlier in this chapter.)
· Stick the plastic piece of recorded audio into the medium's player.
· Open SoundForge on your Windows computer.
· Click the big glowing red Record button (Ctrl+R).
· In the dialog box that appears, look at Recording Attributes and make sure the settings read as follows: 44,1000 Hz (sample rate), 16-bit (sample size), and Stereo. If you want other settings, simply click New and set them accordingly.
Check the Monitor box to have the meters display the input level (see Figure 2.8).

Figure 2.9

· Click SoundForge's glowing red Record button to start recording.
· At the end of the song, stop the source audio and press the Stop button in the Recording dialog box. Save your completed WAV file to your music folder (naming it ending in .wav). The uncompressed WAV file is now ready to be manipulated in any number of clever digital ways.