How to Record Music from a Dvd Video to a Cd

Love the sound of a live DVD but are disappointed you can’t play the sound in your car? Want to put your DVD audio onto your iPod? I'll show you how to record the audio from your DVDs onto a CD, so you can play the music on any CD player, or even rip it onto your computer to archive as an mp3!

The most important part of doing this right is to make sure that all your electronics are properly connected. Double-check all your connections with these instructions to make sure you have everything connected before you begin recording. Do not plug in any power cords until all the other connections are made; this will reduce the chance for electrical shock.

Connect the DVD player to the amplifier . To do this, connect one end of an L-R cable to the OUTPUT jacks of the DVD player, and connect the other end of the L-R cable to a set of INPUT jacks on the amplifier. (Note: you can plug the cable into any set of input jacks on the amplifier, so long as when you begin recording, you set the amplifier to play music from that input)

Connect the CD recorder to the amplifier . To do this, connect one end of an L-R cable to the INPUT jacks of the CD Recorder, and connect the other end of the L-R cable to a set of OUTPUT jacks on the amplifier. ( Note: There is usually a specific set of output jacks for this step. They may be labeled ‘tape’, ‘recorder’, ‘burner’, or something similar.)

Connect your speakers to the amplifier in the manner proscribed in your amplifier’s instructions.

Plug in all three devices and turn them on .

Set the amp to play music from the DVD player . Test this by playing the DVD over your speakers. If the music is distorted or only coming in on one side of your speaker set, go back and check your connections.

Set up the DVD to play the song you would like to record, and pause it just before the song begins .

Insert a blank disk into the CD recorder .

Press ‘record’ on your CD recorder (this may also be labeled ‘manual record’ or ‘line-in record. Use the function that lets you manually control recording from a line-in)

Immediately after pressing record, start playing the DVD . The recorder will read whatever is being played on the amplifier and record it to the CD.

When the song ends, or when you would like to end the track, press Stop on the CD recorder and DVD player . Pay attention to the recording, because the CD recorder will record whatever is being played, regardless of when the DVD starts or stops.

Repeat steps 6 through 10 to record additional tracks . You can do this as many times as you like until the disk fills up.

When the disk is recorded the way you want it, finalize the CD. This step makes the disk readable in normal CD players.

And that’s it. You can repeat these steps as many times as you like to record all your DVDs onto CDs. You can then record these CDs onto your computer, effectively archiving all your DVDs as mp3 files.

Tips

• Each amplifier is different. Check your amp's instruction guide to find out what modes are used for recording devices, and hook your CD burner up to play in that mode.
• You may have to troubleshoot with your hookups, but this method of recording should work with any type of amplifier that has input and output jacks.

Warnings

• Don't plug anything in to the wall outlet until you've made all your stereo connections. This will reduce the risk of electric shock (although with most modern electronics, the hookups are usually built to be safe from shock)

Things You'll Need

• The original DVD
• A blank CD-R or CD-RW
• A DVD player with an L-R audio output (L and R mean “Left and Right channels.” This refers to the red and white wires that carry the information from one electronic device to another)
• A home stereo CD Recorder with an L-R audio input and an L-R audio output
• A stereo amp with a recorder input and output (this may be labeled ‘Tape’, ‘cd burner’, ‘recorder’, or many other things. What’s important is that there is an L-R input and an L-R output that go to the same device)
• 3 L-R audio cables
• Speakers
• Speaker wire