Sansa® Clip | Sansa® Clip+

[pinkhorse]

At first I had a hard time finding the clip on my computer.  It wasn't showing up, even though when I had it plugged in, it was charging.  So I put it on hold and held the center button in and plugged it back into the USB cord.  Presto.. there it is in my computer now.  But now what? =(  The Quick Start Guide is really vague.  I am trying to put music off of a disc onto the player.. for now.  Under the loading music part in the guide, #2 says to Select Open device to view files using Windows Explorer on initial connection.  Ok, I have yet to SEE that phrase anywhere.  And #3, Double click on Sansa device.. where? In My Computer?  Sorry guys if I am just dense.. it is 4 a.m. and I am tired and cranky.  I hope someone can help me with this.  I am heading to bed and will check back in the morning.

Also, is it possible to get songs that my daughter had stored in iTunes to her Clip?  

Thanks!!! 

[JustReboot]

Check out these How To Videos.  Look for your version of Windows Media Player (10 or 11).  If you are using Windows XP, then you may have Windows Media Player 10 and if you have Windows Vista, then you have Windows Media Player 11.

As for the iTunes songs, they can only be used if they are the DRM Free version of the songs and are in MP3 format.  If the songs were purchased for an iPod previously, then they will not work as they are protected files.

Apple Announcement

[sansamatt]

Not sure if this is in the video how-to, but a rather crude "convert" solution is to:

(1) Use Itunes to burn the tracks onto a CD (i.e., into WAV format), and then

(2) Use any old ripping program (e.g., MediaPlayer) to rip them off the CD in MP3 format.

AFAIK, this removes the Itunes DRM (at least none of the songs I bought from Itunes have complained).

I think for your normal audiophile this is far from lossless, but if you're using $10 earphones your converted songs will be none the worse.

-Matt

[pinkhorse]

Thank you for the advice.. I tried to view the videos, but I got some kind of error.. stating I couldn't view the video.  I am getting rather discouraged by all of this.  There seem to be so many variables involved.  All I want to do is pull songs from a CD and put them on the clip..   Isn't there anyone out there that can give me some simple instruction on how to do it?  Thanks.

[Miikerman]

1.  If your CD has music data files on it (as versus music audio files--that is, the original files as if you just purchased an audio CD at a music store):  put the CD into your computer and open up the folder holding them (likely the D: drive folder); connect your Clip to your computer; and then simply drag and drop the songs to your Clip, storing them in the Clip's Music folder or where you want (you can also store them in their own folder, to keep them separate from other music you add).

2.  If you are taking about music audio files:  (a) first you need to "rip" (in essence, convert) the audio files and create their equivalent as data files, for use on a digital audio player (DAPs play data files, not audio files); and then (b) drag and drop the data files to your player.  If you haven't ripped music before, you need to learn how to do it--it's easy, and CD rippers are available all over via the Internet, as freeware (try a search here or with a search engine for "CD rippers" ); you also can purchase CD rippers, in software suites such as Nero.  Windows Media Player includes a ripper (although I prefer others); I use CDex (freeware available on-line)--a bit more complicated than other rippers but nice and powerful.  Other popular rippers include Mediamonkey and Winamp.  The ripping process generally will do 3 things:  convert the audio file to a data file; compress the file size, as audio files are large (but note:  the greater the compression that is done (you generally can choose the degree of compression), the greater the loss of audio quality--it's a trade-off); and add "tags" to your music data files providing album, song title, artist, year and genre information for each song, which DAPs use to sort the music.

Sorry that it's likely not as easy as you thought.  But it's really not hard, and once you get a ripper and learn how to use it and set it up as you want (amount of compression to apply, etc.), it's a very easy and automatic process.

Message Edited by Miikerman on 08-15-2008 10:25 AM

[pinkhorse]

Thank you for that detailed response.. I do have a question though.. how do I know if my CDs have audio or data files?  The CD I have in my computer now has .cda as the file extension. 

Thanks again! =) 

[pinkhorse]

 And I have another question.. sorry. In Windows Media Player, how do I rip the songs?  What do I need to go under.. I have been browsing around under the File and Tools etc.. but see nothing about ripping.  Thank you. Again.

[JustReboot]

HOW TO VIDEOS

Check under WMP 10 or 11 depending on what you are  using.

[Miikerman]

---

@pinkhorse wrote:
 And I have another question.. sorry. In Windows Media Player, how do I rip the songs?  What do I need to go under.. I have been browsing around under the File and Tools etc.. but see nothing about ripping.  Thank you. Again.

---

The .cda extension is for audio files--you'll need to rip ...

I thought there was a "How to Rip" tutorial here somewhere.  WMP has good information under its Help screens.  Here's its How to Rip info.  I encourage you to change the options to what best meets your needs--e.g. the rip rate.  Many people, a first time, will rip a song at different rates and then listen to them, to see what is the best rate to use--a good idea. 

---

Rip music from a CD

Hide All

You can rip (or copy) tracks from your audio CDs onto your computer with Windows Media Player, after which the songs that you rip become files on your computer.

To rip music from a CD

1. Check that you are connected to the Internet.

   When connected to the Internet, the Player attempts to retrieve media information about the tracks being ripped from a Windows Media database that is maintained by Microsoft. The Player then adds the information to the files during ripping. If media information is wrong or missing, you can add or edit it after ripping, as described in the procedure below in this topic.

2. (Optional) To select a different format or bit rate for the files that are created during ripping, click the arrow below the Rip tab, and then make your selections from the Format and Bit Rate commands.

   You can also change the default settings later on the Rip Music tab of the Options dialog box.

3. Insert an audio CD into the CD drive, and then click the Rip tab.

   By default, the Player begins ripping the CD automatically when you are in the Rip tab or switch to it after the CD was inserted. You can also choose to have ripping begin immediately upon inserting the CD, or you can turn off automatic ripping. For information about changing these settings, see Change settings for ripping music.

4. (Optional) As the Player begins ripping the CD, clear the check boxes next to any songs that you don't want to rip. Or, click Stop Rip, make your selections, and click Start Rip to restart ripping. (Partially ripped songs are not saved.)

5. After the songs have been ripped, you can find and play them in your library.

6. In some instances, you may be prompted to manually add missing media information after ripping has completed. See the procedure on how to add or edit media information after ripping in this topic.

To add or edit media information after ripping

1. Connect to the Internet.

   If media information is missing because you weren't connected to the Internet during ripping, the media information typically will appear for the newly ripped tracks soon after you connect to the Internet. If it does not, or if the information is not correct, continue with the following steps to add or edit the information. If you do not have Internet access, you can manually edit media information.

2. Click the Library tab, and then browse to the album you just ripped.

3. Right-click the album, and then click Find Album Info.

4. If you get an error message that says you must change your privacy settings, do the following:

   1. Click the arrow below the Rip tab, click More Options, and then click the Privacy tab.

   2. Select the Update music files by retrieving media info from the Internet check box.

   3. Repeat step 3 to open Find Album Info.

5. Do one of the following:

   • If the correct album or artist information appears in the search results, select the correct entry, and then follow the instructions on the page to update the album art and media information automatically. If the correct album does not appear in the search results, follow the instructions on the page to search again using different search criteria or to add the media information manually.

   • If the correct album information appears with a generic music icon displayed as the album art, then album art is not available for download. For information about adding album art yourself, see the procedure about adding album art manually in Add or change album art.

---