• Introduction • Using ATRip • Extraction Properties • Output Properties • Audition Segment Dialog • Extracting Audio Files • Error Messages

Main View

•  Introduction     ^ 

Thank you for using ATRip. ATRip allows the extraction of audio segments from a .wav file, separated by intervals of silence. Individual audio segments are written to their own .wav or .raw file.

The input .wav file is intended to be from "Loop" or "Sample" CD's, although .wav files which contain segments of silent audio may also be used.

You specify of silence interval, as well as the silence level, as various CDs or .wav files require, as they can have different levels of audio quality.

You can "Audition" your settings before writing the actual output files. When auditioning, you may play them looped, as well as adjust the starting and ending sample positions of individual segments.

We hope you find ATRip a useful utility.
 

Using ATRip is a simple and straight forward process, with a little trial and error involved. The steps listed below, will get you started. 

Select an input file.

Click the "Browse" button on the main screen to browse for a 44 kHz, 16 bit stereo .wav file.

A file of this type can be extracted from an Audio CD, using various utilities available, including CD-R software which comes with CD Recordable drives. Please see the Extracting Audio Files section for more information.
 

Scan the input file.

When you click the "Scan" button, the input file will be scanned for audio segments separated by intervals of silence. A list of segments found will be shown in the Audition/Ripped Segment listbox after scanning is complete. 

If you only see one or two segments listed, you may need to adjust the Silence Window and/or Silence level. Decrease the Silence Window, Increase the Silence Level, and re-scan the file until more segments are identified. See Extraction Properties for more information.
 

Audition the segments

By double clicking on a segment displayed in the listbox, you can preview the audio segments identified. You can play the audio segment one-shot, or play it in a loop. You can also adjust the head and tail of the segment to remove unwanted audio if needed.
 

Rip segments to files

Once you are satisfied with your settings, you can "Rip" the segment to .wav or .raw files. .wav files are the standard Microsoft Windows .wav file, where .raw files contain only audio samples, without any header information.
 

You are done

You have just read the basic steps required to use ATRip. Please read the following sections to learn how each feature can enhance the usability of ATRip.

•  Extraction Properties     ^ 

Silence Window
This setting allows you to specify the period of silence, to be used, to delineate audio segments.

The value is in milliseconds ( ms ). There are 1000 milliseconds to a second. The default value is 2000ms ( 2 seconds ), which should be applicable for most input files containing segments to be looped. Files containing only drum or other instrument samples may require a lower setting.

The slider control allows you to adjust the silence window to values between 450 and 5000 milliseconds. You may, however, enter any value desired directly into its corresponding edit box. 

Silence Level
This setting allows you to adjust for background noise in the silence periods.

The value is for the maximum sample value to be considered "noise". The allowable range is from 1 to 32767, although the slider adjusts from 1 to 100. The default value of 50 is suitable for most purposes.

Noisy sources ( for example, LPs ) may require values around 255. Values lower than 50 are rarely useful, except for some particular cases where the source was generated using purely digital equipment.
 

•  Output Properties     ^

Output Properties View

Out Directory
This value indicates the directory where files containing the ripped segments will be written.

To change the directory, select the "Modify Output Properties", and then "Browse" to select an existing directory.

Prefix
Each segment will be written to a file, whose name is specified by Prefix, with an index number appended.

To change the name of the prefix, select the "Modify Output Properties", and enter the desired prefix into the "Filename prefix" edit box.

.wav File Output
When this option is selected, the segment files generated will be Microsoft Windows .wav files, usable by many audio applications for Windows.

.raw File Output
When this option is selected, the segment files generated contain raw audio samples, usable by many audio applications and equipment which may not be able to utilize Windows .wav files.

Input File
This option specifies the .wav containing segments to be extracted. This file must be a 16 bit stereo .wav file.

Scan
This button causes the input file to be scanned for segments. It is only enabled after an appropriate input file as been specified.

When scanning is complete, the Audition/Ripped Segment listbox contains a list of the segments that can be auditioned or ripped.

Rip
The button causes the scanned segments to be written to .wav or .raw files, as specified in Output Properties.

This button is only enabled after Scan has been run.

Audition/Ripped Segments
This is a list of scanned segments that can be ripped or auditioned.

Double-click on an entry to audition or edit the segment using the Audition Segment dialog.
 

This dialog allows you to preview ( audition ) a segment, in either one-shot or looped mode.
You can adjust the head and/or tail of the segment, to remove unwanted audio.
When your adjustments meet your satisfaction, dismiss the dialog using the "Save" button. If you wish to revert to the original setting, dismiss the dialog using the "Cancel" button.

Play/Stop
Use the play button to listen to the segment. If loop is checked, use the Stop button to stop playback.

Loop
When this option is enabled, the segment will be looped during playback. Use the Stop button to stop playback when this option is enabled.

Head Trim
Allows unwanted audio at the beginning of the segment to be removed. As this value is the number of samples to be removed, values of 100000 and greater are not uncommon.
To remove wanted audio from the beginning of the segment, increase this value and playback the segment until the sound of the segment meets your satisfaction.

Tail Trim
Allows unwanted audio at the end of the segment to be removed. As this value is the number of samples to be removed, values of 100000 and greater are not uncommon.

To remove wanted audio from the end of the segment, increase this value and playback the segment until the sound of the segment meets your satisfaction.

Save
If you are satisfied with the adjustments made in the Audition Segment dialog, dismiss the dialog with this button.

Cancel
If you are not satisfied with the adjustments made in the Audition Segment dialog, dismiss the dialog with this button.
 

Audio with segments to be extracted must be in .wav file format. There are several way to get .wav files: 

From non-CD media:
Microsoft Windows, as well as other sound card applications, allow the creation of .wav files from the line input jack of your computer’s sound card. By connecting a turntable and pre-amp, tape recorder, or other device with line level outputs and running appropriate software, you can create .wav files.

When creating .wav files using this method, be sure to record the input using 16 bit stereo, as a recording rate of 44.1 kHz. 

From CD media:
Most CD-ROM drives manufactured after 1997 have the ability to read CD audio track as a data file. This feature is called "Digital Audio Extraction" or DAE.
Most CD-R ( Recordable CD ) drives have this ability.

With the appropriate software, .wav files can be created directly from CD audio tracks. These files are usually generated at 16 bit stereo files, at 44.1 kHz, the standard format of CD audio tracks.

Most CD-R drives come with software that can perform this. One example is Easy CD Creator, from Adaptec ( www.adaptec.com).

Here are some other links to popular DAE CDRippers:

• CDFS is one of our favorites. This very tiny, transparent & unobtrusive alternate CDFS.VXD written by Cyber7 adds several subdirectories to Explore with the wave files from the tracks sitting right there, ready to use or copy to your hard drive. CDFS download (39KB)

•  Audiograbber is another favorite full featured shareware program.
http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/

•  MP3Software - CD Rippers is a great source.
http://www.mp3software.simplenet.com/cdrippers.html

•  Hitsquad - Shareware Music Machine is another good source.
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/CD_RIPPERS/

If your drive does not have DAE capability, then the method for non-CD media must be used, however, you should select CD input rather than line input, using the sound card’s mixer application or settings in the application software.

Note: Many programs that can perform DAE require the use of an ASPI device driver. If your CD-ROM drive and extraction applications have DAE capability, but doesn’t work, the ASPI driver may be needed.

This driver can be found by searching for APSI on the web, or try visiting Adaptec’s web site. 

From MP3 Files
Some MP3 players have the ability to export .mp3 files to .wav files. Usually, this can be performed by use of the player’s "Export" function. 

From other audio files
There are numerous audio file formats in use. Fortunately, there are applications out there which can convert them to .wav files. Check out multimedia and utilities area of www.winfiles.com, as there is probably something there which will meet your needs.
 

During the course of ATRip usage, you may at one time or another, be presented with an error message. A description of each message you might encounter is listed below: 

Cannot open source file.
The input .wav file specified cannot be opened. This message might occur under the following conditions:

• File in use by another program. Exit the other program and try again.

 
• File is no longer available. The file may have been deleted, or the media removed from the system.

 
• You may not have permission to read the file, which can occur of you’re trying to access a file from the network, or someone else’s computer or account.

 

Cannot allocate work buffer.
This error will occur if there is not enough memory available to process the file. Since the work buffer is small, this error should occur only under extreme conditions. 

Source file too short to process.
This error will occur if the source file is less than 256 bytes. A file which contains less than 256 is pretty much useless anyway. 

Cannot find .WAV file header.
An important piece of information is missing from the .wav file. The file may have been corrupted, created incorrectly by an application, or, may be a non-wav file which has been incorrectly renamed. 

Cannot find start of .WAV file data.
The .wav file contains no audio information, or has been corrupted. 

Cannot create output file.
ATRip cannot create the file in the directory or drive specified. Make sure you have write permissions 
(Properties – Read Only not checked ) to the drive or folder. You will get this error if you try to create an output file on a CD-ROM drive. 

Unable to open browser.
The registry is missing information ATRip needs to launch your web browser. Either install, or re-install a web browser in attempt to correct this situation. 

Any other errors.
Any other error you might encounter would be generated by Windows itself. Consult Windows Help, or the whiz kid down the street.

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