Ripping speed

[dave2010]

I've been ploughing on with ripping CDs, and since I have an iMac I've been using iTunes. Mostly it works OK, and I put discs which don't work on one side for later treatment. Some do have problems - perhaps due to a problem with iTunes 10.5, and there have been other glitches, but on the whole I seem to be getting over 90% success rate on CDs - particularly from major labels.

What I have noticed though is a considerable variability in ripping rate. I'm ripping to ALAC, and the speed varies between 16 x (peaks of 18x ) to 6 x approx.

I wonder how much of this is due to the drive and disc condition, and how much is due to the complexity of the music. Currently I'm doing Mahler 2 (Klemperer, EMI) and that's down at 5.7 to 7 x, whereas the Haydn string quartets (Quartetto Italiano, Philips) I just did were very fast - around 16 x average.

If the time is dominated by I/O, then the processing will be largely irrelevant, and vice-versa, though ripping may be an activity where both I/O and processing are roughly balanced equally - on my machine at least.

Next year I might buy a new computer, with a significantly faster processor, so could check then, but not yet.

Does anyone have any views on how much impact processor speed has on the ripping process?

[Stratmangler]

One thing's for sure - it's got nothing to do with the complexity of the music.

[Vincent Kars]

Sounds like you have set iTunes to rip in secure mode.
Speed is then dependent on the quality of the CD and the condition of the optical drive.
If reading errors are detected, the sector is re-read hence the performance drop.

[StanleyB]

The ripping speed is highly dependent on how hot the disc gets from the high speed rotation. I normally get about three discs out of a session before I need to get the disc drive to cool down.

[WAD62]

Get yourself a decent 'full sized' optical drive, more accurate and quicker ;)

[Welder]

You decided to completely ignore the ripping guide then :lol:

Now if you had used EAC or dbpoweramp you couldn’t help but notice that they both (I think) either have an auto cool down period or recommend you pause ripping for a period of time.
Basically, the drives don’t like excessive heat and as mentioned by Will an external drive will give you far better results if you have a lot of CD’s to rip.

Anyway, looks like you’ve done it now so I’ll leave you to “i” error :eyebrows:


(sry, couldn’t help myself :doh:)

[WAD62]

Anyway, looks like you’ve done it now so I’ll leave you to “i” error :eyebrows:


You may have coined a new phrase there John, "iError", quick get it copy-written before apple do...;)

[Alex_UK]

I noticed this variability in speed over 2,200 FLAC rips I did since August - to be honest, I couldn't point my finger at any one thing - though strangely some older CDs flew through the process, whereas some brand new ones took ages - doesn't seem to directly relate to CD condition either. But then I was using EAC in secure mode, which generally took about 10 times longer than itunes (or so it felt) only resorting to itunes on really "dodgy" CDs that wouldn't rip in EAC. I think there were only one or two CDs that wouldn't rip at all - although quite a few tracks are missing on some CDs where there was a really bad scratch or mark - EAC generally did the job though.

[WAD62]

I noticed this variability in speed over 2,200 FLAC rips I did since August - to be honest, I couldn't point my finger at any one thing - though strangely some older CDs flew through the process, whereas some brand new ones took ages - doesn't seem to directly relate to CD condition either. But then I was using EAC in secure mode, which generally took about 10 times longer than itunes (or so it felt) only resorting to itunes on really "dodgy" CDs that wouldn't rip in EAC. I think there were only one or two CDs that wouldn't rip at all - although quite a few tracks are missing on some CDs where there was a really bad scratch or mark - EAC generally did the job though.

Alex, the overall ripping speeds do vary between disks, regardless of age, I've done over 2.5K cd's and as you said some new ones can be slow, probably depends on the type of disk used by the pressing plant.

But I still can't stress enough how important a good quality high speed optical drive is, particularly if you're using dBpoweramp, or EAC in secure mode. If you've got it configured correctly it will re-read the offending 'frames' N times, and between each re-read the buffers need to be flushed, otherwise you're just re-reading the exact same 'frame' image, and wasting electricity...this process will be exponentially slow on a laptop drive, and if you're looking to rip a lot of CDs this does mount up :)

P.S. If it won't rip in secure mode it ain't worth having, and using iTunes instead would be an 'iError' IMHO ;)

[dave2010]

Alex, the overall ripping speeds do vary between disks, regardless of age, I've done over 2.5K cd's and as you said some new ones can be slow, probably depends on the type of disk used by the pressing plant.

But I still can't stress enough how important a good quality high speed optical drive is, particularly if you're using dBpoweramp, or EAC in secure mode. If you've got it configured correctly it will re-read the offending 'frames' N times, and between each re-read the buffers need to be flushed, otherwise you're just re-reading the exact same 'frame' image, and wasting electricity...this process will be exponentially slow on a laptop drive, and if you're looking to rip a lot of CDs this does mount up :)

P.S. If it won't rip in secure mode it ain't worth having, and using iTunes instead would be an 'iError' IMHO ;)This morning I updated iTunes to 10.5.1. At first there was an installation error, so I had to go and fetch a new .dmg file and reinstall. I really don't know whether the iTunes version makes a difference, but I did then try to rip an old CD - Dvorak Symphony 9 by Rafael Kubelik - DG 427 202-2 recorded 1973. It flashed through at over 20x speed - peaks over 21 x. Then I tried a couple of Bruch CDs - part of a CD box from Philips - 462 164-2. CD 1 - with Symphony 1 ground along at about 5x speed. I assumed that CD 2 would be similar, but no - it went at over 10x speed. I wondered if it would make a difference if I cleaned the disc, so I went back to CD 1 and cleaned it with a moist micro-fibre cloth (Lidl have these - rather good - not too expensive). It's not a clear result - as the first tracks were still rolling slowly at 5x speed, but there was a pick up towards track 8, and peaks of just over 10x were achieved on tracks 7 and 8.

Whether the cleaning made a difference is rather uncertain - it may have. The Dvorak CD, which has not been played for quite a while, was simply taken out of its box, put in the drive and ripped without cleaning, and it still gave the fastest ripping speed of anything I've seen in the last week or so.

[Stratmangler]

This morning I updated iTunes to 10.5.1. At first there was an installation error, so I had to go and fetch a new .dmg file and reinstall. I really don't know whether the iTunes version makes a difference, but I did then try to rip an old CD - Dvorak Symphony 9 by Rafael Kubelik - DG 427 202-2 recorded 1973. It flashed through at over 20x speed - peaks over 21 x. Then I tried a couple of Bruch CDs - part of a CD box from Philips - 462 164-2. CD 1 - with Symphony 1 ground along at about 5x speed. I assumed that CD 2 would be similar, but no - it went at over 10x speed. I wondered if it would make a difference if I cleaned the disc, so I went back to CD 1 and cleaned it with a moist micro-fibre cloth (Lidl have these - rather good - not too expensive). It's not a clear result - as the first tracks were still rolling slowly at 5x speed, but there was a pick up towards track 8, and peaks of just over 10x were achieved on tracks 7 and 8.

Whether the cleaning made a difference is rather uncertain - it may have. The Dvorak CD, which has not been played for quite a while, was simply taken out of its box, put in the drive and ripped without cleaning, and it still gave the fastest ripping speed of anything I've seen in the last week or so.

Is secure ripping enabled?

[WAD62]

This morning I updated iTunes to 10.5.1. At first there was an installation error, so I had to go and fetch a new .dmg file and reinstall. I really don't know whether the iTunes version makes a difference, but I did then try to rip an old CD - Dvorak Symphony 9 by Rafael Kubelik - DG 427 202-2 recorded 1973. It flashed through at over 20x speed - peaks over 21 x. Then I tried a couple of Bruch CDs - part of a CD box from Philips - 462 164-2. CD 1 - with Symphony 1 ground along at about 5x speed. I assumed that CD 2 would be similar, but no - it went at over 10x speed. I wondered if it would make a difference if I cleaned the disc, so I went back to CD 1 and cleaned it with a moist micro-fibre cloth (Lidl have these - rather good - not too expensive). It's not a clear result - as the first tracks were still rolling slowly at 5x speed, but there was a pick up towards track 8, and peaks of just over 10x were achieved on tracks 7 and 8.

Whether the cleaning made a difference is rather uncertain - it may have. The Dvorak CD, which has not been played for quite a while, was simply taken out of its box, put in the drive and ripped without cleaning, and it still gave the fastest ripping speed of anything I've seen in the last week or so.

Cleaning will indeed help, often the rip will slow down if it finds issues...

P.S. The ripping speed will always increase from track 1 onwards, as CDs are read from the centre outwards, so more data is read per second as you travel out from the centre...;)

[dave2010]

I think there were only one or two CDs that wouldn't rip at all - although quite a few tracks are missing on some CDs where there was a really bad scratch or mark - EAC generally did the job though.Alex

I generally feel that either CDs work, or they don't. I did have one though, which I bought from a charity shop - Idil Biret playing Chopin. It was difficult to play (on my CD player also - which often copes very well) and also to rip. I rather liked it though, so initially I simply got what tracks I could off it, but it was problematic as, IIR, it went wild about half way through the ripping process. I finally decided that since it didn't cost much anyway, and since I'd hopefully only have to copy it once, that I could resort to using Brillo pads (er - no) - ooops - sorry Brasso on it, so I spent some while with Brasso, and then water and vodka to clean off the abrasive cream, and after considerable vigorous polishing - took a while - I was able to play and rip the CD. I'd only recommend this in extreme cases where the alternative is to consign a disc to the bin or for use as a coaster or in a modern art form.

I did get this CD to the point where all the tracks would play, so maybe you could try this for those CDs where you have missing tracks in your rips.

[Alex_UK]

Cheers Dave - Tim uses T-Cut with similar results, I think. :)