RealJukebox (from the same folks who brought us RealAudio) lets you create, play back, and manage personal collections of digital music in a variety of formats. Snag tracks from your audio CDs using digital or analog methods and encode them in RealAudio or MP3 formats with bitrates of up to 96 Kbps stereo. Unlike most "rippers," RealJukebox lets you play your CDs while you record them, even in digital recording mode. The program provides CDDB support, and can automatically store the artist, album, and track names of each CD in your music library. Other features let you create custom playlists from your recorded tracks; add previously saved RealAudio, RealMedia, or MP3 files to your RealJukebox Music Library; and download music from the Internet. While MP3 purists won't care for the program's 96 Kbps bitrate limit (128 Kbps is considered the minimum rate for CD-quality .mp3 files), RealJukebox is a nice choice for most users for recording and organizing digital music. Note: The program is currently in beta release and could be buggy and/or unstable. The developer welcomes your comments.
Reviewed on May 03 1999.
System Requirements
full duplex sound card and speakers, 16-bit color video card, 200 MB HD, 32 MB RAM, Pentium 200 MMX, and Windows 95, 98, or NT
