So, I've been constantly recommended the Ring Cycle by my usual assortment of hipster wanna be cultured friends. I've got a torrent running of this in 192 kbps VBR and it sounds pretty awesome so far. The only issue being that I don't understand German at all, so how am I supposed to listen to this? Do I need to know the language to get the full experience, or can I get line by line translations somewhere or what? Or should I just pick up a DVD and watch it?

I wouldn't bother about the actual words too much - for the majority of operas the words suck. You're best just getting the overall 'story' (which also usually sucks) - the type I'm thinking of goes something like 'In this the duet, Sturmhilde is worrying about having missed her period, whilst Lotte tries to comfort her'

There are summaries in the wikipedia articles. If you do get a DVD, be sure to get the Metropolitan Opera performance. Otherwise it's likely to be a "modern interpretation" with the actors hopping around in unitards in front of an upside-down picture of George Bush.

Thanks much Anon popstar :D