MP3 player software

We recommend you use RealOne which you can download from Real.com. There are many other MP3 players out there such as MusicMatch or MediaJukebox, however we feel RealOne is unquestionably the best for managing large MP3 collections. FM also supports the exchange of RealOne playlists (known as .RMP files).

Go to http://www.real.com/realoneplayer.html and download RealOne for a one time charge of $19.95. Note that this link changes often and is deeply buried in their website, since they would much rather have you sign up for their $10/month subscription service to get RealOne. But keep trying - it's in there!

Once you have RealOne on your machine, you need to make the following changes to RealOne's default settings as follows:

Go to Tools -> Preferences -> General and change the recorded music and default directory to the same "Songs directory" as your FM. If your FM songs directory is C:\My Music, then RealOne's recorded music and songs directory should be C:\My Music as shown below:



It is also a good idea to start up with "My Library" as shown above - what else would you want to see when you fire RealOne up? Go to Tools -> Preferences -> and click on the plus sign next to "My Library". Then click on "Advanced My Library". Then click on the button labeled "Change Sub Folders" and select the item called "" as show below:



It is very important that you do not use subfolders, especially if you plan on transferring some of your MP3s to a portable player like the Rio Riot or an iPod.

In the same "Advanced My Library" click the "Change Filenames" button and change the settings to look like this:



It is very important that you use the Artist - Album - Track Number - Track Name convention - otherwise your tracks will not sort well on the DOS level and it will be very hard to find songs when your collection grows very large.

Now go to Tools -> Preferences -> CD and change the settings to look like this:



When you save a CD to your library, it must be in MP3 format. FM does not support any other file types. We do recommend you select the highest quality level - if you have a good sound card, amp and speakers (see below), then you can really tell the difference between 320 Kbps MP3 and a 128 Kbps MP3. Disk space is so cheap these days, why not go for the highest quality MP3s?

To load a CD, press the CD button at the bottom of the page and insert a CD into your CD ROM drive. Assuming your internet connection is up, RealOne will go to Gracenote.com, look up your CD, and label all the tracks for you. It really is amazing to watch it do this! Then hit the "Record" button in the lower left corner and your CD will be loaded.

If you want to immediately share this CD with your friends using FM, right click on the FM note, go to preferences and press the "Rescan" button. Note that you music collection is also re-indexed at 4 AM and when FM is turned on.

Also, if you use FM to transfer tracks to your hard drive from your friend, make sure you remember to import your tracks into RealOne! Do this by going to File -> Scan Disk For Media. If you tell it where your MP3's "live" and that you are only interested in MP3s, then the import will run very quickly:



Once you have loaded a few CDs and /or transferred some songs using FM to your computer, you're ready to start listening to music. We recommend that you keep RealOne's organizer on at all times. To do this, click the little tiny folder in the far left corner of your screen - it's just above "Now Playing". Then click on "Audio" -> "Artist/Album" for the best presentation of your collection.

Buying a sound card for your computer

The other important component of a top shelf MP3 stereo is the sound card. We strongly recommend you DO NOT use the sound card that came with your notebook or desktop - it probably is not up to snuff. Here is a website where most of the major sound cards are rated: http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/index.htm

If you have a notebook, you might want to look the Sonica, which plugs into your USB port and costs about $60. (see http://www.midiman.net/products/consumer/sonica_page1.php). If you're a DJ with a notebook, you should definitively look at something more high end such as the Flying Cow.

If you have a desktop machine, then there are many more choices for sound cards - the Audigy Platinum or MAudio Delta DIO 2496 are both excellent sounds cards.

Once you have your sound card installed, buy a stereo mini plug male to male RCA cord. Plug the mini plug end into the sound card and the RCA male ends into the auxiliary input of your existing amp.