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And it’s the same for symphonies, concertos and even rock and roll or folk music. You can’t easily get the tracks in the order you want them. What we’ve done is to invent and implement an elegant solution to this problem. And it’s not just available to you when you Rip CDs or manually when you burn CDs or load your MP3 Player. You just do this once using DAK's New Playlist Manager. So, your music will be in the order you want, sound the way you want and totally under your control 1) on your computer, 2) when you burn CDs and 3) when you transfer it to an MP3 player. OK that was the genesis, but there’s much more. There are more then 10 Unique Features you control. Here’s a brief list of 8 of the most important. Below you’ll learn all about using them to dramatically enhance the way you store, track and listen to your music. Click Each Link For More Details. 1. Preserve Playlist Order – (covered above) Windows wants to alphabetize all the tracks you put in your computer, burn to CDs and load in your MP3 Players. Now you can preserve the proper order so overtures come first, movements are in order and songs are in the order that they were intended. 2. Print Playlist- Sure you can print a list from some CD burner programs. But never before can you print a list of all or any of the tracks you’ve recorded, ripped or just have in a folder on your computer. Just load them and print them. Now for the car, for your MP3 player or for your CDs, you can print all the track names or import them into a fancy label printing program. 3. Normalize Tracks – When you record tracks from various records, cassettes and CDs, they tend not to be at the same volume so you end up adjusting and fiddling with the volume in your car or stereo at the beginning of every track. Now just pass them through Normalize and they will all be much closer to the same than ever before with the new enhanced normalizer. 4. Rename Files- When you record from LPs and cassettes the files aren't named, or they are just numbered. Now just click the file and instantly give it any name you’d like. Change a Name, lengthen it or shorten it. It's all easy and instant. 5. Convert Wave to MP3/MP3 to Wave- Got a batch of Files you recorded for CDs that now you want to put in your MP3 player? Want to convert some MP3s to Wav? No problem. It’s ultra fast and automatic. 6. Direct Export to MP3 players- No need to drag and drop. Just choose your MP3 player or other device and export the current playlist right into the unit. 7. Create Playlists- M3U playlists are the standard format for virtually all MP3 and Wave Players in your computer. All you do is load the tracks you want. Put them in the order you want and save the ‘Playlist’. Then whenever you click the Playlist Icon on any computer, Windows Media Player (or your default music player) will load and play all the tracks you put in the playlist in the order you choose. It’s very powerful, but for you, now it’s just one click. 8. MP3 TAG Editing & Creating- MP3 files allow you to add the track name, the artist and lots of other information to the actual file. Wav files only allow for a file name. Our new enhanced TAG Editor let's you control all the MP3 Tagging options with a simple click. Much more. OK, let’s get started with the tutorial. That's it. Let's go.
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| First, a quick word about Installation. There's really nothing
special to do to install the DAK Playlist Manager and CD Ripper. Download
the DAK_Playlist_Ripper and the ebook and you're all set. Look at the picture above. The Icon on the LEFT is the installation Icon. It's silver and has the arrows from left down to right. It doesn't run the program, it installs it. So, just double click it and follow the prompts. When it's finished it will place the Icon on the right with the cute notes and the yellow comet on your desktop. That's the Icon you double click to use the program. You can either delete the Silver Installation Icon now, or burn it to a CD if you want to keep a copy of the installation program. It's up to you. But you don't need to leave it on your desktop. |
Add Tracks - Open A File | |
| First, just open your files in the Manager. It’s
easy. Arrow 1. Right Click the Main Menu and select Add File Arrow 2. Navigate to the folder where the files you want to open are stored. Arrow 3. Click a file that you'd like to bring into the Playlist Manager. If you double click it will show up in the File Name Box at the bottom. Arrow 4. Click Open file. |
Add Tracks - Open A Folder | |
| To open one or many tracks in a folder, do this. Arrow 1. Choose Add Folder or Multi-Files Arrow 2. Navigate to where the folder is. Arrow 3. Choose the Folder You want to open Arrow 4. Choose to load Wav or MP3 Files. You must choose one or the other. Arrow 5. Here are all the files in the folder you have chosen TIP- By default, all files in the folder are selected. And that's what you'll use most of the time. But what if you want a few of the files. No problem. First, click anywhere within the selected tracks to deselect them. To select adjacent files click one and then HOLD DOWN the Shift Key and select the track or tracks next to it. This is for tracks that are next to each other. If you want some random tracks, click the first track you want. Then HOLD DOWN the Control Key and click any other tracks that you want, one at a time while holding down the Control Key. This lets you select any random tracks within the folder that you want. Arrow 6. Click OK to load what you've chosen into the Playlist Manager. |
Add Tracks - Open A Playlist | |
| OK, a Playlist is a standard Windows File that's actually called an
M3U Playlist File. In short it's a little piece of code that's used
internationally to identify a group of files and to have just about any
computer music player play it in the order you saved it. We support both the M3U files that we write and virtually all the files written by all the other Playlist Players on the market. So if you already have playlists on your computer, just use this function to open them in the Playlist Manager. Arrow 1. Right Click the Main Menu and Left Click Load Playlist. Arrow 2. Navigate to the folder (or your desktop) where the Playlist is stored. Arrow 3. Select the Playlist that you want. You can have dozens and the same song can appear in many depending on where you want it. You could have mood playlists or artist playlists and as stated, the same song/track can appear anywhere. Arrow 4 Here's the M3U Playlist File Type Box. Arrow 5. Here's the name you gave your playlist Arrow 6. Just click open. |
Clear Playlist | |
| Clear Playlist simply clears all the tracks loaded in the
Playlist Manger out of the Manager. It has nothing to do with creating or
opening playlists. It just clears the Manager. |
Auto-Convert Wave Files to MP3 & MP3s To
Waves |
| So you've already got Wave or MP3 files on your computer and you'd
like to change them into the other format. MP3 files are 1/10th the size
of Wave files and they are what you need for your MP3 player or iPod. Wave
files are the best to use for burning CDs, and for restoring or editing
music. So you usually want to start with Wave
files. Arrow 1. Right Click the Main Menu, then Left Click Convert to MP3/Wave Arrow 2. Choose the folder you want to put the converted files into. Note: 1 Till now we've been looking for folders with files to load into the Playlist Manger. Now we have the files we want already in the Manager and we are going to send the converted files out to a new folder. Note: 2.The Manager has built-in smarts. You don't need to tell it to make Waves or MP3s. It knows what they already are and will convert them to the other. And if you have BOTH Waves and MP3s loaded it will still convert each to the other format. Arrow 3. Click OK. |
Choose Your Bitrate (Optional) |
| For ripping MP3 files, some people like to choose a bitrate other than the
industry standard 128 kbit/sec. Why? Well MP3 files are 1/10th the size of the
standard Wave files that are used in the industry. You see there is no reason in the world to use MP3 rather than Wav other than to save space (OK you can carry title info too). But really, Wavs do sound better although most people really can't hear the difference. Anyway what you can do is increase or decrease the bitrate. Why? Well some people think by going to 192 or higher the sound is better. But the files are bigger too. So anyway, you can go all the way up to 320 kbit/sec if you want. But then you are just about as big as a Wav file. BUT, if you really do need to save space and if you are dealing with say spoken word, then by all means, cut the bit rate to 64 Kbit or even all the way down to 8 kbit/sec. The sound won't be very good, but you can fit hundreds of hours of sound into a very small number of megabytes by comparison. It's up to you. But you might as well do some testing to see what you think You can't hurt anything. Just remember to switch back to 128 when you're finished. Arrow 1. Slide the slider to the right for better sound which take up more space or to the left for less good sound that takes less space. Arrows 2/3. This is just showing you the max settings. Arrow 4. You can increase Incoder Quality. But this won't have as much effect with most computers today as arrow 1. |
The Converting Screen In Action. | |
| There's really nothing for you to do here. But I wanted you to see
what you'll see when the Playlist Manager is actually converting.
Arrow 1 shows the track being converted. This will start at the top with track one and move down one track at a time till it's finished. Arrow 2. shows the progress of each track as it's being converted. Arrow 3. shows the overall progress of the entire playlist being converted. NOTE: Should you wish to abort the process at any time, click the Cancel Action Button at the bottom left. It will stop the converting at the end of the current track after you click it. |
Export To MP3 Player | |
| Forget dragging and dropping a bunch of files. Just load your playlist
the way you want it for your MP3 player. Then: Arrow 1. Right Click the Main Menu and Left Click Copy Playlist to Media. Arrow 2. Navigate to your MP3 Player Arrow 3. Click OK. It's quick. It's easy and it's a direct digital transfer to your USB connected MP3 player. |
The
DAK MP3 Tag Manager Main Screen |
| This is the main interface. I just wanted to put it here so you
could see what it looked like. In the action section you'll see I've loaded the
tracks from a CD I ripped to MP3 of my favorite Group the Limeliters. The album
is called Harmony, and I'll show you how to use the MP3 Tag manager with one of
these tracks. The tagger also searches your hard drive for ALL MP3 tracks or Wav tracks. Plus it supports the new MP3 images and much more. Visit the DAK MP3 Tagger & Computer Search Tutorial. |
Remove A File From Playlist |
| Change your mind? Don't want that song? No
problem. Arrow 1. Highlight the track Arrow 2. Right Click the Main Menu and Left Click Remove File The file is gone. |
Name Or Rename Any Wave Or MP3 File
Instantly. | |
| Renaming files is a really big deal. Sometimes you'll only
have the track numbers and you'll want the names. Other times you'll want
to correct or change or modify the names of the tracks.
Unlike the MP3 tag editor, this Tool actually renames the file itself. And there's no limit to what you can change. You can add on a suffix, you can modify a name or you can start from scratch and dream up a new name. Just use the standard windows characters and you'll be all set. Don't use . , / > etc. Use Letters and numbers. Arrow 1. Highlight the track you want to Name or Rename. Note: You can't actually be playing a track while you rename it. Arrow 2. Right Click the Main Menu and then Left Click Rename File to get the pre-filled dialog box. It will have the current track name in it. Arrow 3. Type anything over or in addition to what's already there. Arrow 4. Click OK and the file is renamed. This is one of the most powerful tools you can use. |
Normalize ALL Your Track Volumes. |
| This is really important. Many of us create Favorites CDs and MP3
playlists. And because we take the tracks from many different records,
tapes and CDs, the tracks often have different volume levels. So, if you create a CD that way, you’ll constantly be fiddling with the volume as you move from track to track. Well no more. The sophisticated algorithms built into the Playlist Manager’s Normalizer tool go a really long way to making all the volumes for all the tracks in your playlist sound the same. There’s really nothing for you to do. You’ll see the Normalizer scan a file, then you’ll see it pass the file a 2nd time while it matches it to the prior tracks. This is a really big deal and it will save you a ton of time and really improve your listening experience from now on. To Normalize your playlist: Arrow 1. Right Click the Main Menu. Then Left Click Normalize Arrow 2. Choose the destination folder where your newly normalized tracks are to be stored. Click OK. |
The Track Normalizer In Action |
| You will really appreciate the normalized tracks. Those of us who have
created thousands of tracks the old way, have been pleading to get this
tool built into the program. Here it is in action: Arrow 1. This is the track currently being normalized. Arrow 2. This is the progress bar of the current track being normalized. You'll see it scan 2 times. Once for evaluation, and once for processing. Arrow 3. This is the overall progress on the entire playlist. Arrow 4. If you decide to stop Normalizing for any reason, just Click the Cancel Action Button to stop at the end of the current track. |
Arrange Your Tracks Easily And
Instantly | |
| If your tracks aren't already in the order you want them, no problem.
Just move them into order. Then EITHER save them as a
playlist or use the Preserve Playlist Order Tool. You'll find them both on the Main Menu which you access by Right Clicking anywhere in the white area of the Playlist Screen. Here's how to Move Tracks. Arrow 1. Highlight the track you want to move. Arrow 2. Use the UP or Down Buttons to put the track where you want it. Arrow 3. Just shows you where Track 15 Started. It's just this easy to put all the tracks exactly where you want them. Of course if you're ripping CDs, you'll use the Preserve Playlist on that tool to keep the tracks in order before they ever get to the Playlist Manager. |
| Preserve Track Order!!!! The Windows Alphabetizing Problem And What To Do About It  |
| OK, here’s the crux of the problem so you can see it
yourself in living color. The playlist on the LEFT is how Windows organizes your tracks. Everything will be in alphabetical order. AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. Till now. The CENTER Playlist is the result of DAK’s Playlist manager putting the track number in front so that even though Windows still puts the tracks in Alpha/Numeric order, the tracks stay in the order that they were planned. The 3rd Column Goes the Final step. Not only is it in the correct track order, but you can add a Suffix such as the Album or Artist's Name. Why is this important? We'll it's the critical last piece because if you want to load an MP3 player with 10 albums worth of music or burn CDs with several album's worth of tracks, Windows will sort it first by the Album name and finally by the track number. So you'll have all the songs from one album grouped together and in perfect track order from now on. And while in this list you might not see that there is an order that matters, in fact if you’re like me, you are used to hearing your tracks in the order they were originally put on your records, cassettes and CDs. Don't let Windows dictate to you how you are going to enjoy your music any more. AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. Here’s where the problem gets really bad. Issue 1.) You've got tracks from several artists or records. Windows will alpha/numeric sort them so they are all mixed. So Sinatra might be mixed with the Limeliters, with Beethoven’s 5th and Britney Spears. Now you'll be in control. Issue 2.) You have symphonies and concertos or operas. Don't you want to hear the First Movement or overture before the Finale? Issue 3.) Broadway musicals are the worst. Below you'll see my example of Phantom Of The Opera. But, it's the same for all of them. SO, FOR: Burning CDs Transferring files to your MP3 Player Listening to music on your computer. You need DAK's Preserve Playlist Tool to save your music the way you want it from now on. |
Another Example of Windows Track Order Major
Problems |
| Oh the poor Phantom. He'll be lost in the catacombs if he
has to rely on Windows to sort the music. You can see clearly that the overture will end up as TRACK 7 if you let Windows have its way. And just check out the order of the rest of the tracks. The new DAK Playlist Manager's Preserve Track Order is long overdo and sorely needed. |
The DAK Preserve Playlist Order
Wonder |
| Here you can see that the Limeliter's Harmony CD has been improperly
sorted in alpha order, not in the track order that it needs to be.
To fix this just put the tracks back in order using the up down arrows at the lower right and then Right Click the Main Menu and Left Click the Preserve Playlist Order Tool. |
Playlist Order Add the Prefix |
| Actually at this point there would be no Prefix or Track Number shown
as I have shown in the picture above, but I wanted you to see how the
prefix looks and how easy it will be from now on for you to organize and
listen to your music. Arrow 1. All you do is Type in a name in the Add Prefix box if you wish (it's not required) and then watch it all happen. Arrow 2. This arrow just shows you that while it's processing you'll see the blue highlighted track marker move down the playlist so you'll see your progress. It's super simple for you to use the Playlist Preserver, but it's a very powerful tool in the Playlist Manager's arsenal. |
Preserved Tracks Destination | |
| After you choose a prefix name, just click the Proceed Button and
select a folder to put your Perfectly Ordered Tracks so you can burn CDs,
put them in your MP3 Player or play them on your computer. Now they will
play in the order you want them to from now on. Arrow 1. Choose A Folder Arrow 2. Click OK |
Create an M3U Playlist
Automatically. |
| Forget Programming. There's really nothing for you to do to
harness all the power of the M3U playlists. The Manager does 100% of the
heavy lifting. All you do is: Arrow 1. Right Click the Main Menu and Left Click Save As Playlist. Arrow 2. Select a place to put your playlist. A folder or on your desktop is perfect. Plus, Note. You don't have to save it within the tracks it controls unless you don't want to. You can save it anywhere on your computer and it will control your tracks. Arrow 3. It knows where the tracks are stored. So all you have to do is give it a name. Arrow 4. Nothing for you to do, but this is what it's called. Arrow 5. Click Save. That's it. All the coding and programming is done for you. You'll never see a line of code. Just click the Icon you created and whatever default music player you have on your computer will automatically play your tracks and just the tracks you've put in the playlist in the just the order you've chosen. This is very powerful. Note: you can have lots of playlists and any track can be included in an unlimited number of playlists. |
It's Like Magic. Just Click The Playlist Icon And Your
Playlist Will Play Automatically | |
| Yes, right on your computer. Just click the Icon at the top. What you
see here is the free Windows Media Player that came with your computer.
And it responds flawlessly to our Playlists. There's nothing for you to do
but sit back and enjoy the music. Arrow 1. Click the Playlist Icon. Arrow 2. See the Playlist Name. Arrow 3. See the track numbers and names. All you've done will really pay off big for you now. The first time you click the Playlist Icon you'll be amazed and awed. |
PRINT!!! Your Playlist, CD, MP3 List Or Any
Folder |
| It's Nothing Short of Amazing. Sure there are burners that will let
you print playlists and even CD labels. But I've never seen anywhere that you could take 100 tracks you're about to transfer to your MP3 player and PRINT OR EXPORT a playlist. Or have you ever found a way to print a playlist of the tracks you have on your computer? Finally yes you can print the tracks you are going to put on a CD too. So now when you have 12 CDs in your car's changer you'll be able to see exactly what's on each with no muss and no fuss. Right Click To Get The Main Menu and Left Click Print Playlist. And you'll have an instant list in front of you which you can either print on a sheet of paper or save and import into a fancy label printing program. Plus you can just save the list for later too. This is easy, effortless and fast. |
Your Playlist Is Printed | ||
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And here's the paper printout of this playlist. From 1 to 1000 tracks.
You're just a few seconds away from all this
power.
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