Extracting Audio from Video

Today, I'm going to post something which might help you all who tends to look for mp3 files and music. Have you guys ever felt kind of pissed... or annoyed when you can find the music video but not the mp3 to listen to from your iPods? If you have, then I guess we have something in common.

You see, the other day, my little sister asked me to download a classical piano song for her practice. Well, I immediately hit Google and searched for the song by bluntly typing the long title. And then, yeah... not many people actually recorded their playing, but there are lots of talented pianists who gave learners/newbies video lessons. Most of their videos were uploaded to YouTube, so that students can see which fingers are used for which tuts and see how the song is actually played, rather than focusing on songbook and a metronome alone.

So, I downloaded the video straight away... and you should know what I did next. The title should speak for itself, huh? Hehehehe. You can find out after the break.

And so, I did a little Google search for an instruction about how I can rip the audio out of the video. I actually have done it once, using Adobe Premiere Elements... but unfortunately, it was a long time ago and I had to delete the program due to harddisk free space problems. What's good is that I've found a much easier solution, rather than going through wave lines... and it's waaaaaay cheaper, too!

Ladies and Gents, I present you the AoA Audio Extractor. Don't ask me what 'AoA' stands for, since I'm not here for a business presentation :p. Just like the name stated, this program is used to rip the audio out of the video at a much lower cost (compared to Adobe, but I can't blame Adobe, since Premiere Elements is actually intended for something bigger than mere audio extraction) of FREE. There's a platinum version available to purchase for $29.95, but if you just want to have some normal extraction, the free one is enough.

If you're interested, you can download it here (direct download)

Okay, so... after using that program, I'm quite impressed. I'm not a software engineer, so I can't give expert opinions to you guys. However, here's my opinion about the software:

PROS:

• It's a freeware.

• Rips audio from a video without quality loss.

• Wide range of compatibility (AVI, MPEG, MPG, FLV (Flash Video, YouTube), DAT, WMV, MOV, MP4, 3GP)

CONS:

• Kind of slow (The paid version is claimed to do the same task 4x as fast, but that's understandable since this is a 'Lite' version).
• Interface is quite confusing.

VERDICT:

• Actually, AoA Audio Extractor is a great freeware, especially to those who tend find music videos more often, than the audio file itself. The usability might make users forget the cons of this product as it's actually minor. I'll post the tutorial on how to use it later, don't worry ;)

What do you think? Would you give this little piece of software a try?