How can I copy audio from DVD's on my computer?

[Chris Desjardin]

I want to copy the audio from concert DVD's (only the stereo portion) to my hard drive. Can this be done? I have tried to download Graphedit, but I could not get it to install. Is this the best thing to use? Can anyone tell me how to install it (the file is a .rar type)?

[Claviusb]

Chris, RAR files are archival files, like ZIP files that usually (cough!) pirates(cough!) use. (Don't ask how I happen to know that) Do a search for Winrar, and use it to extract your program. There are a couple of programs (I believe) that will convert a selected DVD audio stream into a .wav file, but I don't know what they are called.

[Drew]

TotalRecorder will save anything that gets pushed across the DAC's of your sound card to a .wav file, whether your playing your favorite first person shooter game or a DVD.

You might have to convert sampling rates from 48k samples per sec to 44.1 samples per sec using your sound editing software of choice if you intend to burn it to cdr.

[Sckott]

What the hell's an RAR file doing on a DVD?!

If the DVD is Dolby Digital, there is a way to extract the audio track digitally, but you need a DVD ROM drive and a few other audio tools, along with some knowhow. Sonic FOundry Soft Encode can control DD and also extract seperate wavs OUT of the DD code.

Other stuff can too.

[Claviusb]

Sckott, I think the copy of Graphedit that Chris has downloaded is archived in the RAR format. The file wasn't on the DVD, I don't think.

[Sckott]

Aaah... Yes smells like piracy. RAR is a great compression format, but is more apt to be used with pirated software packaged as WAREZ.

Sorry, Robert.

[Claviusb]

I may be off, but I think RAR is just popular with the hacker community in general. :)

[Sckott]

I love RAR. And PAR/SmartPar!

Used together they make a great pair! compression that works and great redundant data recovery when parts are missing/corrupted. Solid!

[Claviusb]

Most likely why they are so popular within that group eh, Sckott?

[SVL]

Evgeny Roshal's RAR has been around for a long time, in various iterations. It is popular because of its compression ratio that is superior to many other archiving utils.

It is used on many warez, but WinRAR itself is not freeware.

To copy audio from DVD, you need to extract the audio stream first, in either AC3 or PCM format. Smart DVD Ripper should handle that easily.

If it is AC3, you will need a utility to convert AC3 to WAV. Go to:

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/convert

and scroll to the bottom of the page to see a how-to guide.