Convert your CDG Discs to MP3+G with Audiograbber for Windows.
One of the first steps in taking your karaoke business into the digital realm is ripping your existing CDG disc collection to MP3+G.
Providing it’s a one-for-one conversion, meaning if you’re a multi-system operator you must have one copy of the original purchased CDG disc per karaoke computer you plan to put into the field, this is a perfectly legal way to utilize the CDG discs in you’ve already spent a small fortune for. A converted CDG is an MP3+G, which can be used in any professional karaoke software like PCDJ Karaoki.
If you’re not familiar with CDG discs, here’s the description from Wikipedia:
CD+G (also known as CD-G, CD+Graphics and TV-Graphics[1]) is an extension of the compact disc standard that can present low-resolution graphics alongside the audio data on the disc when played on a compatible device. CD+G discs are often used for karaoke machines, which utilize this functionality to present on-screen lyrics for the song contained on the disc.
The digital equivalent is MP3+G, here’s how Wikipedia describes the format:
MP3+G is a karaokefile format that was created to allow CD+G karaoke to be played from a personal computer easily and quickly. MP3+G was created from the combination of the MP3 audio file (the CD audio is converted and compressed to MP3) and a raw CDG file which contains the RW subchannels from the CD+G track.
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s jump into utilizing Audiograbber to convert your CDG’s to MP3+G so you can start using karaoke software instead of those clunky and antiquated CDG disc players! First off, download the Audiograbber software below:
Here’s How You Use Audiograbber To Rip Your CDG’s To MP3+G
Launching Audiograbber:
Click: Start > All Programs > Audiograbber > Audiograbber
Configuring Audiograbber:
After you have successfully launched Audiograbber, you will need to configure Audiograbber to work right for you. Some of the major setting changes will take place in:
- MP3 Settings – In MP3 Settings, you can choose which encoder you would like to use while ripping (the LAME encoder will be selected by default – do not change this!). Different encoders offer different features, and different qualities. We highly suggest selecting 320kbps for the Mp3 encoding quality, the highest possible MP3 quality setting.
- General Settings – General Settings allows for you to choose the destination folder and organizational structure for all of your ripped music and karaoke tracks. You can specify if you would like to create a unique folder for your album based on the Artist and/or Album name (We suggest to NOT created artist and album folders for each disc ripped, but rather place all karaoke files in one folder on your hard drive or external hard drive)Also, for options under “Create File Names From” make sure you’ve only ticked the boxes for “Artist” and “Title”, you do not want “Track Number”
- Freedb – Freedb is a free online database that is maintained by DJs and music listeners from all over the world. If there is a CD that you have that doesn’t appear in the database, you can simply add the content to the online database yourself for others to use. Audiograbber will attempt to pull down the track information for you upon placing a CDG disc in your rom. If you don’t see the track information populate for your tracks on the CDG disc, you can manually click the “penguin” across the top Audiograbber tool bar to try to pull down and apply the track information. If Freedb doesn’t contain the track information for the CDG, you will want to type it all in manually at this point before you start ripping the CDG to MP3+G.
Ripping CDG’s with Audiograbber:
Once you have configured Audiograbber, ripping a CDG is pretty simple.
- Ripping Karaoke tracks: Click the menu option ‘CD’ across the top toolbar in Audiograbber and highlight the option for:Grab CDG tracks (Karaoke) to: Grab to .CDG + compressed file.
Audiograbber will now convert your CDG disc to MP3+G so you can import the files into your karaoke software and start hosting shows digitally!
