Grundig L.E.D. User manual

Manual Software L.E.D.
Windows 95/98/NT
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Welcome!
We are happy that you have chosen a Grundig MPAXX MP3 Player, which is
supplied with the L.E.D. (Load. Encode. Decode.) software.
The Windows version of this software enables you to load MP3 music files from
your PC to a MultiMediaCard and to transfer music from audio CDs to the hard disk
of your PC. The integral encoder, which allows you to convert audio files to MP3
files is enclosed as a 30-day demo version. If you wish to continue using the enco-
der you will have to buy a licence key. You can do this at
http://www.cydanza.com.
Updates will be available – at irregular intervals – at our website
http://www.grundig.com. Here you can also find command line versions for Linux
and Windows which can be downloaded free-of-charge.
Grundig AG
wishes you a lot of fun with your MPAXX.
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Trademarks
Windows®is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Intel®Pentium®is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
All other trademarks are trademarks of the respective owners.
Grundig AG
D-90748 Fürth
Internet: http://www.grundig.com
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Table of contents
1. System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
2. Installing L.E.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
3. Using L.E.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
3.1. The Download/Play list window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
3.1.1. Making your own settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
3.1.2. Creating and editing a Play list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
3.1.3. Loading music data onto the MultiMediaCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
3.1.4. Creating and processing programs (MPAXX150 only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
3.1.5. The menus and the icon bar in the Download/Play list window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
3.1.6. Player/Decoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
3.2. CD Ripper/Encoder window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
3.2.1. Ripper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
3.2.2. Encoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
3.2.3. The menus and the icon bar in the Ripper/Encoder window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
4. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Appendix
Remarks about copyright laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
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1. System requirements
L.E.D. runs on any Windows PC with 16 MB RAM and 5 MB free hard disk space.
However, to ensure comfortable working, we recommend the following minimum
equipment:
PC ......................................with Intel Pentium®processor (with at least 100 MHz
clock frequency).
For the use of the Encoder software, we recommend an
Intel Pentium®processor with at least 233 MHz.
Main memory:....................32 MB or higher
Hard disk: ...........................5 MB free space at least on the hard disk (in addition,
you will need more space on your hard drive for the
MP3 files. The amount depends on on the number of
files you want to archive.)
Graphics adaptor/monitor: with a resolution of at least 800 x 600 and 256 colours
CD ROM drive ....................min. 8 x speed is recommended; The manufacturer of
your CD ROM drive will be able to tell you, whether
your CD ROM drive supports ripping.
Sound card .........................Windows®compatible sound card with loudspeakers (so
that you can listen to the music tracks on the PC before
you download them)
Supported operating systems:
Windows®95/98, Windows®2000, Windows NT®4.0
(Windows®3.1 is not supported!)
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2. Installing L.E.D.
Please terminate all active applications before you begin with the installation. Insert
the software CD in your CD ROM drive. If the “Autostart” function of your CD ROM
drive is activated, the installation program will start automatically. If it is not activa-
ted, proceed as follows:
Start Windows®Explorer and change to your CD ROM drive (normally drive D:
or E:). Start SETUP.EXE by double-clicking the drive icon with the mouse. During the
installation you will be asked in which directory you want to install L.E.D. Click the
“Browse” button if you would like to select a directory other than the default one.
L.E.D. will be automatically added to the Windows®Start menu. In addition, a sub-
directory named MP3 will be created under the same directory in which L.E.D. has
been installed. Here you can find examples of MP3 files.
When the installation has been completed, you should start Windows®again.
You must have administrator rights in order to be able to install L.E.D. correctly
under Windows NT.
Before ripping CD files under Windows NT you must install the ASPI driver first. In
order to do so, change to your CD ROM drive and run aspi_nt.exe.
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3. Using L.E.D. software
With the L.E.D. software, you can load MP3 files onto MultiMediaCards.
These files can either be downloaded from the Internet, or created by converting
the music off your audio CDs. In order to create files from your audio CD’s, the
music has to be read and stored on the hard disk of your computer in a PC compa-
tible format. This can be done with the CD Ripper integrated in the L.E.D. software.
A further component of the software is the Encoder. The Encoder converts the data
into MP3 files, which require about 1/12 the storage space of the original audio
files (see section 3.2).
You can archive your MP3 files on the hard disk of your computer, compile them in
the form of Playlists with the L.E.D. software, and load them onto MultiMediaCards
(see 3.1).
Also included within the software is a Player/Decoder, which enables you to listen to
music files on your PC. This makes it easier for you to choose the files that you want
to store on your PC.
3.1. The Download/Play list window
Click the Windows Start button; select Programs in the menu, and then L.E.D.
When the program has been opened, it is in the Download/Play list mode. In this
mode, you will determine which files are to be copied to the MultiMediaCard, and
also perform the download of the files to the MultiMediaCard.
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3.1.1. Making your own settings
The first thing you should do is adapt the software to your own personal require-
ments. In the “Settings” menu, under the option “General,” you need to choose
the device you are using under the “Device” menu:
a) MPAXX 150 (USB)
b) MPAXX 10 0 (serial)
c) Card station SR52 PPA
d) Card station SR54 USB
e) Card station (parallel)
If you choose b) or c) the heading “Port” will appear.. Here, enter the port the
device is connected to (COM1…COM4 or LPT1…LPT3).
Then select the language you would prefer for your L.E.D. software (English, French
or German).
All further settings can be made at a later date.
3.1.2. Creating and editing a Play list
You will see a window in front of you that is divided into four sections, similar to
Windows Explorer.
On the left-hand side, you will see the directories on your hard disk. On the right-
hand side – in the Selection window – the files in the selected directory are dis-
played. HINT: If you would only like to see the files with a .MP3 extension in the
Selection window, go to the “Settings” menu under the option “General” and click
the box that says “Display only files in .MP3 format.”
On the bottom right-hand side, you will see the Playlist window. The files You want
to copy to the MultiMediaCard must be in this window. You can transfer the files
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that you want to copy onto the MultiMediaCard by means of “drag and drop” or
by double-clicking the file name. HINT: To drag and drop an item, simply click the
item and “drag” it into the Playlist Window, and then click again.
In the Playlist Window, you can also change the sequence of the tracks (also by
means of drag and drop), as well as remove tracks from the list by highlighting
them and pressing the delete key on your keyboard.
In the status bar under the Playlist Window, you will see how much storage capacity
your Playlist requires, and whether the MultiMediaCard has enough free space to
load the complete list.
3.1.3. Loading music files onto the MultiMediaCard
Connect your MPAXX MP3 player, or your card station, to your PC via the appro-
priate interface (i.e. COM1…COM4 or LPT1…LPT3). Please read the operating
instructions for your device carefully, and make sure the appropriate drivers are
installed for the MPAXX 150 and card stations SR52PPA and SR54USB. If you are
using the MPAXX 100, make sure it is in “Download” mode before beginning your
download. Also, make sure only one MultiMediaCard is in the MPAXX .
If you click the “Check MultiMediaCard” option (from the “MultiMediaCard” menu
at the top of the window), the MultiMediaCard in your device will be identified.
The message “Online” will then be displayed in the lower left-hand window. You
will also see any saved files (if present) on the card, and the amount of used and
available space.
The music tracks in the Play list will be copied in the given order. Should the capa-
city of the MultiMediaCard inserted be exceeded, a message is displayed stating
that the card is full. Downloading is terminated.
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3.1.4. Creating and processing programs (MPAXX150 only)
The MP3 player normally plays pieces of music in the physical order in which they
are stored on the MultiMediaCard. The “Program” function allows you to store
additional information on the MultiMediaCard, which tells the MPAXX150 in what
order to play the music. You can also repeat individual pieces several times (e.g. 1,
2, 3, 1, 5, 2 etc.).
In the “Playlist” menu, go to “Display program.” The menu name changes, and is
now called “Program”. The “Playlist Window” at the bottom right also changes,
and is now called “Program window.”
At the bottom left you can see the contents of the MultiMediaCard, either in the
MPAXX150 or the card station, whichever is connected. Click the song you want on
the MultiMediaCard, and take it by the “drag and drop” method to the program
window. If you want that song more than once in your program, then drag and
drop it in the program window as many times as you want. Continue adding songs
to the Program List in whichever order you like. If you make a mistake, simply high-
light the song, and press the delete key on your keyboard.
To load your program onto the MultiMediaCard, select the command “Write
Program” from the “Program” menu.
Further functions of the program menu are described in 3.1.5 below.
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3.1.5. The menus and the icon bar in the Download/Play list window
● Menu: File
- New Play list Creates a new Play list
- Open Play list Opens a saved Play list
- Open recent Play lists Opens one of the last Play lists saved
- Save Play list Saves the current Play list
- Save Play list as Saves the current Play list under a different name
- Print Play list Prints the current Play list
- Print MultiMediaCard Prints a list of the titles of the current MultiMediaCard
- Start Ripper/Encoder Switches to the Ripper/Encoder window
- Exit Closes the program
● Menu: MultiMediaCard
- Check MultiMediaCard Identifies the current MultiMediaCard; the message “Online” will appear
in the lower left-hand window and a list of the tracks on the card
- Rename MultiMediaCard Renames the current MultiMediaCard
- Rename title Renames the selected file on the MultiMediaCard
- Delete all Deletes all files on the MultiMediaCard; this is only necessary if you pass
on the MultiMediaCard to someone else because data which are already
present on the MultiMediaCard will be automatically overwritten when
you rerecord it (via “Download overwrite”).
- Delete last Deletes the last music track recorded on the current MultiMediaCard
- Uploading Possibility of uploading files from the MultiMediaCard to the hard disk
of the PC. As the MultiMediaCard only saves the first 22 characters of
the original file name, the name may have to be completed manually.
● Menu: Play list Some functions in this menu are only available if a file is selected
(highlighted).
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- Display program Display “Program” menu (see below) instead of “Playlist” menu
- Download overwrite Loads the files in the Play list onto the MultiMediaCard and deletes all
existing files
- Download append Loads the files in the Play list onto the MultMediaCard without overwrit-
ing existing files
- Download title Downloads a selected file without overwriting existing files
- Edit title For renaming a selected file
- Edit ID3-Tag ID3 tag information for the selected file can be entered here. You can type
in the title of the track, the artist, the title of the album, the year it was
released, the type of music and any remarks. In addition, technical informa-
tion about the track will be displayed such as the bit rate and the frequency
- Delete all Deletes all entries in the current Play list
- Delete selected Deletes selected entries in the Play list
●Menu: Program
- Display Playlist Display “Playlist” menu (see above) instead of “Program” menu
- Read program Read program from a multimediacard
- Write program Write program on to a mulitmediacard
- Delete program Delete program on a multimediacard
- Delete all entries Delete all entries in the program window
- Delete entry Delete the entries selected in the program window
● Menu: Settings
- General The following settings can be made:
Device Select device, which MP3 player or which card station is connected to
the PC
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Port type Select type of port (COM1 to COM4 or LPT1 to LPT3) (only available if
you have selected either “MPAXX100 serial” or “card station parallel” at
“Device”.
Show only MP3 files Only shows files in the Selection window with the extension .MP3
Accept all files for the Play list Accepts other files for the Play list than just .MP3 files
Confirm when deleting If this option is activated, you will be asked to confirm as soon as you
the Play list try to delete a track in the Play list.
Use ID3 tag for title in Play list Here you can determine whether the ID3 tag of the file is used in the
display of the MPAXX
Remove Riff-Wave Header Removes the Riff Wave Header in some MP3 files. The MPAXX
before downloading cannot read files with this header. This function should only be activated if
necessary because the process of downloading will otherwise be prolonged.
Cut names to display length Restricts the length of the names of the music titles to 16 characters
(corresponds with the width of the display of the MPAXX).
Autoplay highlighted MP3 file Activates the automatic playback of highlighted .MP3 files
Display directory path Displays the currently selected directory in the title bar
Select language Here you can choose between the English, German or the French version.
- MultiMediaCard Shows name of the inserted MultiMediaCard and information about the
occupied and available storage capacity of the card.
- Play list Allocates a card name to the current Play list; this will also be downloa-
ded to the MultiMediaCard and shown in the display of the MPAXX.
- Save settings Here you can save your settings for future sessions immediately.
● Help Provides you with comprehensive help functions.
Many of the menu options listed here are also available in the pop-up menus which
you can activate by clicking the right mouse button in the individual windows
(Selection list/Play list/MultiMediaCard window).
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Icon bar
By clicking the appropriate icon you can trigger the most important functions
directly without having to make a detour through the menus.
3.1.6. Player/Decoder
You can also listen to MP3 music tracks on your computer if you have a sound card
with loudspeakers or headphones.
It works in the same way as a HiFi device with Play, Start, Stop buttons etc.
If you want to play a music track (which can either be in the Selection window at
the top right-hand side or already in the Play list) on the PC, select it first and then
press (>). If no track is selected, the playback will begin with the first track in the
Play list.
15
00:00 min Vol. max
Download
Play list to
the Multi-
MediaCard
Start Ripper/
Encoder
Playlist Save
Play list
Edit ID3 Tag
for selected
file
Edit card title
and show
card infos
Ceck
MultiMedia-
Card
Refresh
window
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3.2. Ripper/Encoder window
You can gain access to the Ripper/Encoder window by clicking the appropriate icon
on the icon bar, or via the “Start Ripper/Encoder” option in the “File” menu.
A new window will open. By means of the “Start Ripper” function, music files can
be read from an audio CD and converted into a PC compatible format. Please take
into consideration that “ripping” is not possible with some CD ROM drives, especi-
ally older ones. (If you are not sure whether your drive does support ripping, ask
the manufacturer of your CD ROM drive.)
The files which have been copied from the audio CDs will be in the .WAV format,
and have to be compressed (i.e. encoded) before they can be transferred to the
MPAXX. This is done by the L.E.D. Encoder.
3.2.1. Ripper
You will see a window that is divided into three sections. Similar to the
Download/Play list window, the directories on your hard disk are shown at the top
left-hand side. At the top right-hand side – in the Selection window – you can see
the files of the selected directory.
Insert the audio CD in your CD-ROM drive, and call up your CD-ROM drive in the
window on the left.
The tracks that are on the audio CD will appear in the Selection window at the top.
You can now make a Rip/Encode list (by means of drag and drop or double-clicking
the desired track). All the files you wish to encode should appear in the lower win-
dow of the screen.
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If all the tracks you want to rip/encode are listed in the lower window, you can
begin ripping. The “Start Ripping only” command in the “Encoder” menu only
converts the files form your audio CD into .WAV files. These will be saved in the
directory of your choice.
You also have the possibility of ripping and encoding the files at the same time, by
selecting the “Start Ripping/Encoding” option (in the “Encoder” menu).
3.2.2. Encoder
With the aid of the Encoder, you can convert the .WAV files into the MP3 format.
Add all the .WAV files you want to encode to the Rip/Encode list. Now, select the
“Start Ripping/Encoding” option (in the “Encoder” menu). The software automati-
cally recognizes that the selected files have already been ripped, and encodes them.
The MP3 files which are created, will be saved in the directory which you have spe-
cified.
Notice: The ripping and encoding can take considerable time. This depends upon
the speed of your computer and your CD ROM drive. The higher the bit rate you
have selected, the longer the process takes.
As a reference point: A Pentium processor with 233 MHz MMX should be able to
encode a data amount of 128 Kbit in real time, i.e. encode five minutes of music in
five minutes.
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3.2.3.The menus and the icon bar in the Ripper/Encoder window
You can make a variety of settings using the menus.
●Menu: File
- Go to Download Switches to Download/Play list window.
- Exit Closes the Encoder/Ripper window.
●Menu: Encoder
- Delete all Deletes all entries in the current Rip/Encode list.
- Delete selected Deletes the selected entry in the Rip/Encode list.
- Reload CD ROM drive “Rereads” the CD.
- Start Ripping/Encoding Rips audio files and then encodes them or encodes .WAV files which
have already been ripped.
- Start Ripping only Rips audio files (transfers them from the audio CD to the hard disk).
●Menu: Settings
- General The following settings can be made:
Show only Wave Shows only Wave and CD audio files in the Selection window
and CD-Audio files
Accept all files Accepts other than Wave and CD audio files for the Rip/Encode list
for the Rip/Encode list
Confirm when deleting If this option is activated, you will be asked to confirm as soon as you
the Rip/Encode list try to delete a track in the Rip/Encode list.
Autoplay highlighted Wave file Activates the automatic playback of highlighted Wave files.
Play Sound An acoustic signal will be played back when ripping/encoding is over.
You can assign a Wave or MP3 file of your choice for this purpose.
Directory to store Determines the directory in which the target files in MP3 format are
encoded [MP3] files saved
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Directory to store Determines the directory in which the Wave files are saved
ripped [WAV] files
- Encoder Determines the settings for the encoding:
Select encoder Select desired encoder software; you can choose between the Lame
Encoder (a good, fast encoder) and the Dialog Medien Encoder (you
should only use this if you have problems with Lame) You can also
install a different make of encoder as an external encoder. For this you
will have to enter the path to the program and various command line
arguments.
Select Bit rate Here you can determine the bit rate (between 32 KBit and 256 KBit).
The higher the bit rate, the better the quality – but also the larger the file.
Mono/Stereo Here you can switch from mono to stereo encoding. The default setting
is stereo. If you would like to reduce the amount of data or encode
speech, you can switch to mono. The amount of data will then be redu-
ced by a half.
Downsample to 22 kHz Here the sampling rate (see glossary) can be reduced to 22 kHz.
Delete wave files Here you can determine whether the original .WAV files on your hard
after MP3 is created disk are automatically deleted after they have been encoded.
Use external encoder Here the encoder of another supplier can be implemented as an exter-
nal encoder. In this event you must define a path to the program and
enter various command-line arguments.
- Ripper/CD ROM
Default filename Here you can determine the provisional name of the ripped wave files;
the tracks on the CD will be consecutively numbered (e.g. from wave-
dump1 to wavedump14). It is important to be able to change the default
name if you want to rip more than one CD at one go and the files are
to be saved in the same directory. By altering the default name you can
prevent the music tracks from the first CD from being overwritten.
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