Baslinux mailing list

[baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org]

On 30 Oct 2009 at 12:38, baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org (probably Sindi) 
wrote, AT LEAST IN PART:

> It took about 2 min to rip a 6-min track to wav

I guesstimate about the same on my 450MHz desktop with Feurio under 
Windows 98SE (sorry, have let most of my BL knowledge rust).

> and then about 4 min to convert the wav to mp3, on a 1GHz desktop. 

It's quite slow encoding on this computer, using Lame (with RazorLame GUI)
Seems to take about the same time to encode WAV to MP3 as the length of 
the music; eg, 60 minutes of audio takes about an hour.

However, I finally got around to trying what I'd been thinking about:  
copy some WAV files to the new (reconditioned) Acer Aspire One mini laptop 
with 1.6GHz processor.  Encoding with the same default Lame settings took 
roughly 15 minutes for WAV files representing an hour of audio.

> Default settings for bladeenc reduced the size to 10%. 

Yep, that's about what the default settings of Lame do.

> The MP3 player would work better if we put in a battery.  There is
> an online manual.  Unlike the iPod, it is easy to move files to and
> from the computer and the manual even says linux is supported (after
> spending 10 pages described how to copy files with Windows).  I printed
> pages 5-13 with ghostscript.  This model comes in 512MB (ours, 1GB and
> 2GB, plays mp3 or wav or txt files (they suggest using it to read 
> e-books, with a short 1-line display!), and you can record your voice
> so perhaps the line out of a receiver could be plugged in directly to
> record (not sure how you record - via the headphones or perhaps there is
> a built-in mike).  Any other ideas?

What make and model of player?

My 2Gb Sansa (C250, I think) with 1 AAA battery can still hold files, but 
the LCD display became invisible, so it's kind of useless as a player.

Now I have a 4Gb Sansa Clip. It has an essentially nonreplaceable battery, 
which is charged through a mini-USB port from a computer or a separate 
charger.
It supposedly can play a few kinds of files; it seems to do MP3 and OGG 
fine, and I just tried a couple of chapters of audiobooks.
Haven't tried text yet; thanks for that idea.

Yes, it's easy to move files to and from the computer; will try under 
Linux.  Since MS-Windows recognizes it as a logical drive, I suppose it's 
in some MS-DOS or MS-Windows "disk" format?  FAT16 or FAT32?  What would 
happen if I connected it to a Macintosh laptop?

I think it records voice via a built-in mike (through a pin-sized hole!), 
and can record FM broadcasts.

Thanks again,

Sheldon Isaac
sheldonhisaac AT gmail.com