Converting file mp3

Dusting off those moldy vinyl oldies

Still have those vinyl albums stashed behind your stereo like relics of an ancient era? Now there's a way to get those old grooves into a convenient digital format without having to replace them with compact disks.

The option is made possible by MP3, the digital wonder forcing music into the Internet age. It allows you to plug your turntable (assuming you still have one) into the computer, run the tunes through MP3 software, and end up with a music file you can play on a laptop, PC, or Walkman-like gadget.

MP3 is a type of computer file that can be stored on a computer's hard drive or on a floppy disk. It was developed to crunch the large amounts of data stored on music CDs to less than one tenth of their original size. The shrunken files of music can then easily be sent over the Internet or stored on computer drives.

This has made MP3 quite popular with tune-loving techies and other music fans, because it makes it easy to download songs from the Web. A Walkman-like device, the Rio, freed MP3 from the confines of PCs and laptops earlier this year, introducing it to the larger world of music lovers. Now, the newest software and gadgets are offering a long- awaited option to music fans who are stuck in the vinyl valley and don't want to buy the equipment to make CDs from their albums.

Free software. To start converting albums, download MP3-playing software, usually called a jukebox, from a Web site. Make sure the program offers a "line-in" recording option, as MusicMatch's Jukebox does. (It's available at www.musicmatch.com. The standard offering is free; a $30 version provides slightly better recording quality.) With the program installed, plug your turntable into your PC's audio input-- the rarely used hole next to where you plug in the computer's speakers- -with an RCA-to-PC connection cord that you can buy at the local electronics store. Run the MP3 program and you can record your albums in much the same way as you record a cassette, storing the tunes on your hard drive or on a diskette. What you're really doing is converting an analog file (the album) into a digital one.

Those hoping to make MP3 files out of albums without using a PC shouldn't have to wait much longer. Plans to market MP3-powered stereo components are already taking shape. ReQuest Inc. wants to be first, with Audio ReQuest. The New York company says its component, scheduled for sale this fall, is capable of making MP3 files out of albums or compact disks, with enough memory for up to 150 hours of music. Audio ReQuest's anticipated $600 price may seem hefty compared with Jukebox's free download, but it eliminates the need for a computer. And they both beat buying CD versions of albums you already own.