..maybe you can reccommend a setting in goldwave that i wont have to worry about the highs in the file
itself.
The only setting is the recording volume. When you overdrive the ADC (analog-to-digital converter) you have a clipped (flat-topped) waveform, and there's nothing you can do.
There may be some software with automatic volume control (not GoldWave) but you usually don't want the volume "pumping" up down during recording. Plus, you'd still get
some clipping because the software can't know there's a problem 'till
after the signal comes out of the ADC, and by then its too late...
With 16 bits (and one bit used for the +/- sign) you can "count" to: 111111111111111 (binary) = (32,767 decimal). A 16-bit ADC simply
cannot count any higher. (FYI - Professionals use 24 bit ADCs, and they keep the levels well below clipping.)
...thats what im trying to do...the dvd in question was made by a friend of mine in texas...there r 2 musical shorts on it...
With short non-encrypted videos
there might be a much easier way! If you open the DVD with Windows Explorer you will see a VIDEO_TS folder (and usually an empty AUDIO_TS folder). Inside the VIDEO_TS folder you will find audio/video files with names like "
VTS_01_0.VOB". (VOB files contain MPEG-2 video along with audio in one of 3 different formats.)
Copy the .VOB file(s) to your hard drive an rename them to .MPG. Now, try opening the MPG files with GoldWave. If your friend used LPCM audio, the files should open and you can re-save (the audio only) in the format of your choice!
Now, there are a couple of reasons this might not work... By default, GoldWave can't open Dolby audio, so if the DVD has Dolby (instead of LPCM) you probably can't open it. Also, VOB files are a maximum of ~1GB each and a song/track/chapter can be split-up between two or more VOB files. (The DVD player doesn't care about this, but it's a problem if you try to edit.)
i can rip them but its harder with this new exterior sound card...
FYI - The soundcard is not used for "ripping"! When we say "rip" we are talking about a digital copy...
Data is read directly from the CD or DVD and written directly to the hard drive (perhaps with a format conversion)... We are
not "recording'" audio or "capturing" video. Ripping is usually
much faster than real-time recording. And since we're not recording,
we don't have to worry about setting recording levels!
With DVD ripping software the 1GB VOB files are joined together and the audio/video is often converted to another format. For example, there is a very popular freeware program called
Handbrake that converts (non-encrypted) DVDs to a format that plays on the iPod.
CD ripping programs like
EAC or
Audiograbber (or GoldWave) can read the CDDA format on a CD and convert it to WAV, MP3, etc.