RealJukebox: MP3 for dummies

April 3, 2000
Web posted at: 10:08 AM EDT (1408 GMT)

By D. Ian Hopper
CNN Interactive Technology Editor

(CNN) -- With so much attention given to Napster, Gnutella, and other MP3 tools that allow some users to pirate music, it's easy to forget that there are programs simply dedicated to managing an MP3 collection and making personal copies of songs.

RealNetworks, known for their eponymous and free RealPlayer and RealJukebox programs, also has a commercial version of its MP3-centric tool called RealJukebox Plus. You may recall reports of privacy concerns with RealJukebox. A function of RealJukebox automatically associates CDs with their titles and track names by reading information off the CD and downloading the data from the CD Database. Privacy advocates found that the information was also being sent to RealNetworks, along with the player's unique identification number.

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Some were concerned that the number could then be associated with the user. In November, RealNetworks issued a patch to the program that ensures that no private information can be transmitted, according to the company. A similar change was made to RealPlayer 7.

Before deciding if it's worth it to buy RealJukebox Plus rather than sticking with the free version, it's a worthy pursuit to go over the features of the program -- most of which rolled out one by one since its debut in beta form.

RealJukebox supports a great many file formats, including MP3, RealAudio, WAV, MIDI and Liquid Audio. To add music, most users will start with their own CD collection. Copying them onto a computer file -- also known as 'ripping' a CD -- is simple. Just place your CD in the drive, and the program will quickly see the artist, title, and track titles, assuming you're connected to the Internet. Then just place a checkmark by the songs you want to rip, and click record. The record speed is much higher than the play speed, but you also can record and play at the same time, with both functions moving at their separate speeds.

The program can manage a database of well over 5,000 songs, and can categorize them according to artist, record, or genre. You can make custom playlists, or just click the ever-popular "shuffle" button and listen to them randomly.

It's also very simple to get your music back out of RealJukebox. The program supports CD-R and CD-RW drives, Iomega (Zip, Jaz, etc.) drives, and several portable MP3 players. With just a drag and drop, the file goes where you want it to. Sending music over to a Diamond Rio player was even easier than with RioPort's own software. RealJukebox can automatically compress music files to save space in notoriously cramped portable MP3 players.

You're bound to find yourself battling between space and quality. RealJukebox can save music in the universal MP3 format or a proprietary one, and at many different levels of quality. But the more rich the sounds, the more space it will take up on your hard drive. The RealJukebox Plus version allows recording at up to 320 kbps, providing full CD quality at playback.

The program also makes it easy to download and buy music from CD retailers and MP3 merchants through its "Get Music" section. And during playback, you can customize the look of RealJukebox through downloadable "skins."

In addition to the better recording quality, the Plus version can also convert file types, and has a more robust database. There's also free phone technical support, but really there's not much to get confused with, the interface is so intuitive.

The only serious and constant issue with RealJukebox (free or Plus) is that it seems to be a resource hog. If you're at work, and already have multiple applications open, RealJukebox can skip, or worse, cause general protection faults and lost data.

If you're just starting with MP3s, RealJukebox is a perfect fit. It handles collections well and has a simple but powerful interface. Hard-core users, on the other hand, may be interested in Plus for the higher quality and file conversion capabilities.

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