Looking for Advice on Ripping my CD Collection (1 Viewer)

[Traveling Matt]

All a FLAC file is is a compressed WAV file. EAC does those with ease so if your car plays them you could avoid the whole compression part completely and not have to double encode/convert.

I've watched the folder when a disc is ripped. EAC rips it to a WAV file and then converts, or rather compresses, it to FLAC.

WAV is an uncompressed audio format. FLAC is a lossless container format that can be used to compress and decompress (zip and unzip) another format like WAV. But they're not related to each other like you're suggesting. FLAC can be used to compress AIFF, for example.

How EAC works depends on how you have it set up. I use it to rip WAV and don't use FLAC at all.

 

[Mike Frezon]

EAC is popular because of its accuracy, but with that comes the issue of time commitment. It has different Extraction Methods, which can vary the length of time it takes to rip each disc. You can use it in Burst mode, which is probably as fast as a quick rip in iTunes, or you can use Secure mode which takes longer. Secure goes over a disc twice to ensure it's ripped accurately. Burst doesn't do any error correction (I believe). Since you have hundreds of discs, you may want to determine which approach is best for you. Or maybe prioritizing your titles to use both methods would work.

I did download EAC (because of those who recommended it here) and did a test rip of the new Diana Krall CD--which happened to be nearby. I was surprised that the single rip (to .wav) took as long as it did. I used secure mode. I figured it would be best to make sure it was "right."

I'll have to try out burst mode and experiment with it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Here’s my two cents on that:

Burst mode should be fine. What’s the worst case scenario? That you discover in six months or a year that one of your rips has an imperfection and you need to grab the CD and do it again? The time saved ripping faster will more than make up for any fixes you have to make down the road.

 

[jcroy]

You can use it in Burst mode, which is probably as fast as a quick rip in iTunes, or you can use Secure mode which takes longer. Secure goes over a disc twice to ensure it's ripped accurately. Burst doesn't do any error correction (I believe).

IIRC, burst mode doesn't always check for jitter problems. (Back in the day, jitter was the bane of the hardcore cd ripping folks).

If you want to understand how the hardcore cd ripping folks handled jitter back in the day, take a look at the source code for the open source cd ripper program "cdparanoia".

Modern computer cdr drives can handle jitter issues automatically, such as in EAC secure modes.

 

[OLDTIMER]

I still don't mind playing real CDs. Problem is that new cars don't have CD players any more so I rip (MP3) to a USB stick which plays in the car.

 

[farnsbarns]

Using the free Audiograbber program for many years but was recently forced to find new software when their freedb function was halted. Kinda wish that had happened sooner now that I found a great program called fre:ac. Loaded with features and configurability though it took me a bit to figure it all out. I definitely recommend.

I usually "Encode to single file" for OTR programs and spoken word,
usually use '<album>\<track> - <artist> - <title>' format for various artist collections
& '<albumartist> - <album>\<track> - <artist> - <title>' for single artist albums, sometimes ditching the artist entry. But any of that can change depending on the particular project.
And most of that doesn't matter to me if I'm just pulling a couple tracks and won't be saving the folder.

 

[DaveF]

1.) How best to organize the CDs on the HDD? Should I use folders based on artist? Just assign each disc to its own folder? Genre folders? [I always find genres difficult to classify.]

2.) Software? Just use Windows Media player? I have a program called "Express Ripper." Or is there something that's WAY better and perfectly developed for this task (that you recommend)?

It's daunting. I've got hundreds and hundreds of CDs. And it's going to take a while. That's why I want to do it right from the beginning and not have to go back and do it all over.

I am looking for any and all suggestions of how to achieve the end result of porting all my music over to HDD.

1) Let the software do it. You should give zero thought as to the behind the scenes organization of the CDs. This question is like asking, "How should I organize the XML data that comprises my Word document?" Software has been dealing with this for 20+ years. Don't waste your time on it. Don't make this hard

2) Use iTunes. Or whatever you want for the devices you'll be playing it on. Use whatever you have on your computer and currently use for listening to music. Don't make this hard.

3) Don't make this hard.

 

[DaveF]

If you want screenshots to illustrate:

Use the rippers default music settings.

Don't use lossless. Don't use FLAC. All of that is for crazy people* for whom managing and ripping and fondling digital audio files is the hobby itself. Normal people who want to listen on their smartphone, and not have a hobby of maximzing their FLAC-osity, just rip as MP3 or AAC.




* I have an HTPC. I'm a crazy person who likes fondling his digital media files. That's why I urge normal people to not do it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’d argue that hard drive space is cheap enough now that it’s worth selecting the WAV or AIFF encoder over MP3/MP4, particularly if it’s for listening on the home system. Other than that, I really do think the iTunes interface makes it as easy as it can be.

 

[Wayne_j]

I always use EAC ripped to flac.

 

[DaveF]

I’d argue that hard drive space is cheap enough now that it’s worth selecting the WAV or AIFF encoder over MP3/MP4, particularly if it’s for listening on the home system. Other than that, I really do think the iTunes interface makes it as easy as it can be.

No. Absolutely not. Not unless you're a crazy person who likes fondling his digital audio files and managing multiple digital audio libraries. Normal people should not do this.

Everything a normal person uses is made to work with MP3 or AAC. This includes dealing with metadata and cover art. And listening in a car, which Mike says he wants.

And storage on mobile devices is still pretty constrained which is what matters for most people.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Maybe I’m missing something but from Mike’s initial post I got the impression that he wanted to put his CDs at CD quality onto an external hard drive he already had.

 

[Mike Frezon]

You should give zero thought as to the behind the scenes organization of the CDs. This question is like asking, "How should I organize the XML data that comprises my Word document?" Software has been dealing with this for 20+ years. Don't waste your time on it. Don't make this hard

This scares me, Dave. When I performed my one test rip, it threw the dozen or so Krall songs from that one CD into a main folder. If I did four more rips right now, I'd have a single folder with a mish-mosh of disorganized songs. artists, etc.

In fact, the EAC software asked specifically how I wanted it to handle the file names. It gave me a jillion options involving the string of artist's name, song title, album name, etc.

 

[Wayne_j]

To organize cds I have folders for artists with folders for albums inside the artist folder.

 

[DaveF]

My HT can play FLAC. I LOVE high-rez music (I have numerous SACDs, DVD-As, Blu-ray audio discs, etc. in my collection--but I'm not worried about ripping those) and I have downloaded tracks from HDTracks. My car does NOT recognize FLAC files, however. So, if I do FLACs for the HT, I will need to double up and create a prallel database of mp3 files. Or, maybe .wav files would be a reasonable middle ground? I will have to be sure the car will play .wav files (but I expect that it would).

If you rip lossless, then you need to separately compress to MP3 or AAC. And you need to then manage two separate libraries and integrate that into your audio listening and music management and ratings process. Everytime you rate music, you have to rate it twice. Everytime you search for album art, you have to apply it twice.

Don't do this. Unless this is your new hobby.

If you really want to go full metal jacket on this CD ripping affair, then have at it. I'll help. In fact, we can help you set up a media server to have your own DIY cloud streaming service that will play to every device in your home and to your iPhone.

But I don't think that's what you want. I think you want the Easy Button:

1) Insert CD into computer.
2) Play music

 

[DaveF]

Maybe I’m missing something but from Mike’s initial post I got the impression that he wanted to put his CDs at CD quality onto an external hard drive he already had.

He also wants to play them in his car which doesn't support FLAC or WAV.

Everything about dealing with a personal music library is optimized for MP3 or AAC. Breaking from that adds complexity that I recommend against, unless the person explicitly says they want to do it the hard way.

And here's the reality: he can't tell the difference between original bit-perfect quality and an MP3. (Neither can I. Neither can, I expect, anyone on this forum over the age of 40.)

 

[DaveF]

This scares me, Dave. When I performed my one test rip, it threw the dozen or so Krall songs from that one CD into a main folder. If I did four more rips right now, I'd have a single folder with a mish-mosh of disorganized songs. artists, etc.

In fact, the EAC software asked specifically how I wanted it to handle the file names. It gave me a jillion options involving the string of artist's name, song title, album name, etc.

Then use iTunes.

If your software is making you think about filenaming and organization, you've got the wrong software.

Unless you actually want to think about this. If you do want to groove on naming conventions and folder hierarchies, and how to organize it on your Z-drive, and etc..., then you can go nuts.

But I'm suggesting, do this the easy way normal people have been doing it for like 20 years
1) Insert CD and let software rip, name, organize
2) Sync to iPhone
3) Listen

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I thought the car did WAV, I must I’ve missed where it didn’t. I don’t disagree with any of that, I was just interpreting the parameters of the assignment differently. I think EAC is fine enough but I really think whatever they’re calling iTunes these days is the gold standard for this sort of thing.

 

[DaveF]

My car does NOT recognize FLAC files, however. So, if I do FLACs for the HT, I will need to double up and create a prallel database of mp3 files. Or, maybe .wav files would be a reasonable middle ground? I will have to be sure the car will play .wav files (but I expect that it would).

I thought the car did WAV, I must I’ve missed where it didn’t. I don’t disagree with any of that, I was just interpreting the parameters of the assignment differently. I think EAC is fine enough but I really think whatever they’re calling iTunes these days is the gold standard for this sort of thing.

What I see is the car doesn't support lossless, or it's support is unknown.

So, I'm saying, do the easy thing that is definitely supported.

 

[Mike Frezon]

We don't know yet if the car supports .wav

We had the grandkids this weekend so I haven't had a minute to check.