The Microsoft Xbox 360 is an extremely powerful gaming system with many features that are often overlooked. Once such overlooked feature is the ability to store your CD collection on the hard drive. Not only does the Microsoft Xbox 360 have the ability to store you music collection by ripping it directly from a CD, but once this is done, you can use your stored music to create a custom soundtrack for any game.
Keep in mind that you will only have the ability to rip a CD if you have a Microsoft Xbox 360 hard drive installed in your console. You will also need adequate space free on the hard drive to store the music.
Turn on your Microsoft Xbox 360, and insert a music CD into the disc drive. Once the disc is done loading, navigate to My Xbox->Play CD and press the A button. From the Now Playing screen select Rip CD. At this point you will be able to select individual tracks you wish to copy to the Microsoft Xbox 360 hard drive, or you can press the Y button to toggle selecting all tracks. Once the desired tracks have been selected, highlight Rip CD and press the A button.
Once the ripping process begins, you will have to wait for the process to complete, which typically takes 20 seconds to one minute per song. Take this time to edit any of the information you want stored for each track, such as title, artist, track name, and genre. To do so, select the track you wish to modify and press the A button.
Once the tracks from your CD have finished ripping, you can either repeat the process for additional CDs to fully populate the Xbox 360’s music library, or you can press the B button to exit the music ripping utility.
To listen to you music, either from the Xbox 360’s main menu, or as a custom soundtrack for any game, press the illuminated Xbox Guide button in the middle of your controller to access the Guide Menu and press RIGHT on your controller to access the Media Tab. Highlight Select Music and press the A button. You will now be able to select your music by song, album, artist, or even playlists while gaming. At this point the Xbox 360 will mute the game’s original soundtrack so that there aren’t two music tracks playing at the same time. No need to worry about in-game dialogue being missed, as your music will be played at a reduced volume or muted at the same times when the original soundtrack would be.
Thanks for reading, and let us know any other Xbox 360 tips you might have in the comment section below.
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