What file format for digial ripping ? [Archive]

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steveinspain

10-03-2010, 21:41

So as I am about to embark on ripping 3000 cd's I am faced with that decision that many of you have already dealt with - what format to choose.
AIFF and Flac seem to be the 2 most chosen - I am planning to get a Sonos system to play it through, and need album art to show, and have limited internet access, meaning the easier it is the better. I also have a lot of cover-mounted magazine cd's (The Word, Uncut etc) that I would like track detail and cover art if possible. Storage space is not a big issue, as I plan to buy a 4 bay NAS with 2x1.5tb drives to start with, and then add another 2 when I can afford them..
If any of this makes sense to anyone, then please put me straight !

Themis

10-03-2010, 21:51

Sonos have some network problems with AIFF (or any uncompressed format), mainly due to it's ad-hoc wireless connections. Keep it with FLAC, unless you use iTunes for ripping : in that case, use ALAC.

Stratmangler

10-03-2010, 21:59

Wot Dimitri said.

If you're using a PC Steve you could use EAC for ripping (free) or dbPoweramp (free trial but ultimately need to buy).
Either way, it's possible to add your own tags if there are none in the comparison databases.

Chris:)

The Vinyl Adventure

10-03-2010, 22:02

I have a rather tasty tutorial for setting up dbpoweramp to library your files in a very intuitive way if you go down that road...

Stratmangler

10-03-2010, 22:14

Wouldn't mind seeing that Hamish, just in case I missed something.
Your lass still watching the idiot lantern ?

Chris:)

The Vinyl Adventure

10-03-2010, 22:16

Yes mate... :( I do like the film though so all good!
Il dig it out now... it's only short, I posted it on here before but I can't find it now... Gimmi a sec!

The Vinyl Adventure

10-03-2010, 22:21

it was writen for use wih linn ds so there is referance to it in there but if you read it it does apply to any system

Hello

Installation Of dBpoweramp:

Download the CD Ripper program from www.dbpoweramp.com and install the program. Then on their website, download and install the FLAC codec. Also, download and install the DSP Effects too.

Do not rip a CD until you have followed the setup below.

Run the CD Ripper application and click on the Options button. A dialogue box will appear. Under “Ripping Method” select the Secure button. Under “AccurateRip” ensure tick box is ticked next to “Query Ripping Results with AccurateRip”

Under “CD ROM” tick the tick box for “Prevent auto-run on all CD drives” then click the OK button.

At the bottom left of the window is a box named “Rip To” click the dropdown and select Flac.

To the right of this section will be 3 vertical tabs, click on the “Encoder” tab which will show [Flac Encoder Settings]

Click the drop down and select Compression Level 8 (Best)

Then click on the DSP tab

Click on the “Add DSP / Action” button move the mouse pointer over “Add DSP Effect” and select ID Tag Processing

A dialogue box will appear. Click on the “Deletions” tab. Click on “Single Tag” button, a line will appear:

Single Tag [type or select tag element] [Remove]

Move the mouse pointer over the [type or select tag element] and click, then a drop down will appear, click on this and select “Title” then click on the OK button.

On the bottom left, of the dBpoweramp CD ripper window, is a box named “Path”, click the SET button and select where you want dbpoweramp to save your music to. i.e. the music folder on your PC or NAS drive but make a Folder called “CDs” so the path looks similar to:

Music Folder\CDs

Below this box is one named “Naming”, click on the SET button and a dialogue box will appear.

At the top is a box named “Naming”. Click on the box and it will highlight the text, then press the Delete key on your keyboard, then copy and paste the code below into the now clear box and press OK button

[IFCOMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],Various Artists[]\[album]\[IFMULTI]\Disc[disc][]\[track] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI]\Disc[disc][]\[track] - [title][]

On the bottom left, of the dBpoweramp CD ripper window, is a box named “Profile”, click the drop down arrow and select [Create Profile] then type a name, for the Profile, i.e. Contemporary or Modern ensure “Copy Settings From Profile: Default” is ticked then click Create button.

The Profile enables you to set different methods of ripping for different types of CDs. The above Profile, Contemporary, structures your music in a specific way. When you insert a CD, say Dire Straits Brothers In Arms, a folder will automatically be created called “Dire Straits” unless it already exits, in which case it will open the folder. Then within the “Dire Straits” folder it will create a folder called “Brothers In Arms” and then it will copy the tracks and cover art into that folder. This enables the LinnGUI software to display all your music as your CDs are, Artist then Album title, i.e.

Artist Folder\Album Title\Tracks & Cover Art

If it’s a compilation CD, the Compilation tick box must be ticked and the following will be created:

Various Artist\Album Title\Tracks & Cover Art

If the CD is a multi disc CD then the following will be created:

Artist Folder\Album Title\Disc ?\Tracks & Cover Art

With Classical CDs you may want this to be different. I have my Classical CDs sorted out as follows:

Composer\Conductor\Musical Piece\Tracks & Cover Art

To Achieve this, click the drop down arrow, on the Profile Box, and select [Create Profile] then type “Classical” for the Profile name ensure “Copy Settings From Profile: Contemporary” is ticked then click Create button.

Then on the “Path” box click Set button and Make a folder called “Classical” in your music folder then click OK button, so that it looks similar to:

Music Folder\Classical

Then in “Naming” box click Set button and a dialogue box will appear. At the top click in the “Naming” box to highlight the code in the box and press the Delete key. The box should now be empty. Now copy and paste the following code into the empty box then click OK button.

[IFCOMP]various\[IFVALUE]conductor,[conductor],Various[]\[album]\[IFMULTI]\Disc[disc][]\[track] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]composer,[composer],[album artist][]\[IFVALUE]conductor,[conductor],Various[]\[album]\[IFMULTI]\Disc[disc][]\[track] - [title][]

You may wish your Classical CDs saved in a different way. Let me know how and I will send you the code to do it.

You have now setup the software ready to rip. First select the correct Profile, Contemporary or Classical, then load a manufactured CD. Not a CDR or a compilation CD, so that AccurateRip can correctly set itself for your Drive. Make sure the CD loaded is identified. i.e. the Artist, Album, Year, Track data and Cover art etc… is correct. If not try another CD or enter the information manually. Then click the Rip button.

The very first CD you rip is used by AccurateRip to identify the correct settings for your drive. All other CDs will be ripped normally.

When ripped, a dialogue box will appear to confirm the Accurate Rip setting. If all is well click the OK button. If an error is displayed, follow the instructions, you may need to try a different CD or a different Drive. If you think it is the drive, try installing the software on a different PC.

You are now ready to use dBpoweramp to rip you CD collection. Load a CD wait for the information to appear then check it is all correct including the Track information.

If the Cover Art is not displayed, try looking on Amazon website for the CD and if the cover art is there, copy and paste the Image to your PC and then click the + button above the Cover Art Box and select “Load (From File)”. If you cannot find the image on the internet, then you can always Scan the CD Cover in instead.

If the CD is a compilation, make sure the tick is selected on the Compilation setting.

If the CD is a multi-disc CD, then make sure the “Disc” box contains the correct Disc info for the CD i.e. 1/5 (disc 1 of 5) or 3/4 (disc 3 of 4).

When all info is correct, click the “Rip” button.

Stratmangler

10-03-2010, 22:27

Muchos gracias, amigo

Chris:)

The Vinyl Adventure

10-03-2010, 22:29

i fully recomend dbpoweramp and the above tutorial, its served me very well... as i understand it dbpower amp also rip hdcd (;))

Themis

10-03-2010, 22:34

Nice guide, Hamish. ;)
Don't forget to add ReplayGain (not ReplayGain (apply)) and HDCD DSPs, btw.

The Vinyl Adventure

10-03-2010, 22:41

What does that do, is that for the HDcd thing? I only just found out it did that today... You fancy writing down what you told me about hdcd chris?

Stratmangler

10-03-2010, 22:43

Thanks both Hamish and Dimitri - I've now got my dbPoweramp set up exactly as I want.
It was close before, but now I've managed to get it spot on for me.

Chris:)

Themis

10-03-2010, 22:44

It converts HDCD CDs (and only HDCD CDs) to 24/44.1 FLACs.
Because HDCD is recorded and pressed in 20/44.1 format, not 16/44.1

The Vinyl Adventure

10-03-2010, 22:46

Where are the relevent boxes for selecting such things?

Themis

10-03-2010, 22:49

When you choose the format (FLAC), on the window that opens, you have (below) a space to add DSP effects.

Stratmangler

10-03-2010, 22:51

The thing that made me buy dbPoweramp was the HDCD ripping capabilities.
By that I mean it is able to decode and extract the additional data found on HDCD discs that gets ignored when a non HDCD capable player/program reads it.
It is found in the DSP files, and simply needs to be added in the DSP box and left - if you put an ordinary CD there is no HDCD information, so the HDCD DSP cannot be applied.

The files are output as 24/44.1 files for HDCD.
Standard CD files are 16/44.1 .

Chris:)

I see you beat me to it Dimitri ;)

dave2010

10-03-2010, 23:24

I have wondered about similar problems myself. By my reckoning with 3000 CDs, in the unlikely event that each could be processed in 1 minute, that'd take 50 hours. Is it worth it? It is of course likely to take rather longer.

I also thought that maybe a practical solution, other than giving up the attempt, would be to use one of those Brennan JB7 devices. I've no idea how good or bad they are, but they may be good enough for at least casual listening, and my understanding is that they can rip a CD to an external drive. One limitation may be the format though as they have a limited range of target formats. However I think they can rip to WAV, from which presumably it would be possible to convert to FLAC. Maybe to make that work one would have to use Linux or a similar system which could work with script files to reformat the generated files in offline mode later on.

If that is a viable way to do this, then I might even consider it myself, even though the asking price of the JB7s is over £300. Comments?

Stratmangler

10-03-2010, 23:42

You could contact Ripcaster and get them to give you a quote for the job.
I'm not sure whether they would expect you to load the bulk disc carriers yourself, although this might be included in the quote cost.

Chris:)

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 06:40

twelvebears

11-03-2010, 07:28

Brilliant Hamish - many thanks !
I'd not heard about the Brennan or Ripcaster, and as my experiences of ripping show it can take a HUGE amount longer than a minute (some taking 30 minutes or so) it may be worth looking into.

Which exactly why it's important to make the right choice of format AND ensure it's properly backed up!

As long as you go with a lossless format you're good. Just remember that any ditched data ain't never coming back without a re-rip. ;)

Ripping services are great because you will get the whole job done for you and all the files correctly tagged BUT it really doesn't come cheap. The best I've seen is around 50p per CD, which is a lot of cash for a 3000 disc collection....

Themis

11-03-2010, 08:23

It takes six minutes for one CD. And you can add 2 more minutes for each additional output format used.

twelvebears

11-03-2010, 11:01

It takes six minutes for one CD. And you can add 2 more minutes for each additional output format used.

OK, that is a lot of 'Gnome Time' i.e. time spent hunched gnome-like over the computer feeding it CDs....

Last time I did an extended batch of ripping, Susy started calling me Golum...

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 11:43

I have already ripped a few of my less than perfect cd's (ie ones that the kids have played in the car stereo - they always seem to emerge covered in scratches, so none of mine now make it into the car..)
They did take about 30 minutes using secure rip and emerged very hot to the touch.
I took a quick look at Ripcaster, who want 80p for runs of over 500, meaing I would be looking at around £2000 to get mine ripped. Think I'll be doing it myself then..
Makes me thing of having a cull of some of the less-liked ones (Alishas attic anyone ? I was given 2 of their albums by a friend who clearly either didn't know my at all or who was taking the p*ss !)

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 12:50

..and I am now ripping my first since setting it all up - a new cd, and it has taken 27 minutes to do the first 3 tracks out of 16, so this may be a slow process....

Themis

11-03-2010, 12:57

27 minutes !!! Do you rip locally ? I mean, the output file is local or remote ?

Stratmangler

11-03-2010, 13:13

I also thought that maybe a practical solution, other than giving up the attempt, would be to use one of those Brennan JB7 devices. I've no idea how good or bad they are, but they may be good enough for at least casual listening, and my understanding is that they can rip a CD to an external drive. One limitation may be the format though as they have a limited range of target formats. However I think they can rip to WAV, from which presumably it would be possible to convert to FLAC. Maybe to make that work one would have to use Linux or a similar system which could work with script files to reformat the generated files in offline mode later on.

If that is a viable way to do this, then I might even consider it myself, even though the asking price of the JB7s is over £300. Comments?

I can't find any decent spec on the thing, which from my point of view is not good, as it usually means that you are locked into one or two formats.
From the Brennan website I can see that it does very lossy (mp3 ?), lossy (mp3 at higher bitrates ?) and uncompressed (probably WAV).
I can't see the point in archiving to a lossy compressed format such as mp3 - I just don't see the point in chucking data away.
WAV rips might do it, but you might encounter tagging issues. Can't really comment further on the tagging thing, as I have my material ripped to FLAC, which has no issues with tagging. If you have WAV files then you can convert to FLAC with an add-on compressor.

Chris:)

DanJennings

11-03-2010, 13:14

..and I am now ripping my first since setting it all up - a new cd, and it has taken 27 minutes to do the first 3 tracks out of 16, so this may be a slow process....

That's insane. There's something wrong there.

Stratmangler

11-03-2010, 13:16

..and I am now ripping my first since setting it all up - a new cd, and it has taken 27 minutes to do the first 3 tracks out of 16, so this may be a slow process....

What program are you using, and is it on a laptop or desktop machine ?
What format are you ripping to ?

It shouldn't be taking 27 minutes to do 3 tracks:scratch:

Chris:)

Peter Galbavy

11-03-2010, 13:17

For me a "good" takes 3-5 minutes. A "bad" CD can take half an hour or more. Some are so bad they cannot be successfully ripped.

By "good" I mean a CD that has clean metadata from FreeDB or similar, is in AccurateRip DB and is clean enough to rip at full speed with matches for all AccurateRip checksums.

Things that make a CD "bad", "badder" and "baddest" include:

* No or poor metadata, meaning I have to enter tracks by hand. Especially annoying on compilations where each artists is also required. I also like capitalisation and spacing to match my personal "ideals".

* No AccurateRip DB entries, means having to rip at least twice - even if there are no C2 errors, just to be sure the bits are constant

* Dirty or scratched CDs that result in slow ripping or multiple passes required. This then is compounded by the above - i.e. no AccurateRip entries to verify the slowly ripped stuff is good or not

* Really badly scratched or bit-rotted CDs that run at < x1 speeds. May be worth trying for a while but most of the time they go in the "try on a different drive" or "buy again 2nd hand" piles.

This is all using dbPoweramp mind.

Stratmangler

11-03-2010, 13:30

................... This is all using dbPoweramp mind.

It's similar with EAC.

I have 2 optical drives in my PC - one is CD-RW, t'other is DVD-RW. If I encounter speed issues with one drive, then I try the other, and more often than not it solves the problem.
Maybe it's due to issues of disc thickness, and reflective layer depth ?

Chris:)

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 14:20

Well, I have just skipped track 3 as it still had 23469 frames to re-rip. Took 1hr and 45 minutes to get that far, but the last 2 minutes has seen2 further tracks done..
dbPoweramp ripping to flac on my desktop with a core duo wolfdale 8400 chip, 8meg of ram etc and storing the files on the internal hard drive....
I guess I need to try that track in a different way !

Stratmangler

11-03-2010, 14:37

Try using window cleaner on the disc and clean gently with kitchen towel - it can make a difference.
I've also used Duraglit wadding on occasion to reduce the effect of scratches - rub on and polish off with a soft cloth.

You could also try to rip the track with EAC and see what happens.
I've done rips with EAC and dbPoweramp, and they come up with the same checksums for the data - ie the data is identical.

I guess that your experience just reinforces the fact that the phrase "perfect sound forever" was just marketing bollocks:rolleyes:

Chris:)

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 14:41

OK, CD 2 done, taking 16 mins and 47 seconds.
So what am I doing wrong than ?

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 14:45

Chris - the disc is new and unused bar one play - no marks on it.
I'll clean it and try again to rip track 3 in just a mo..

DanJennings

11-03-2010, 14:48

what machine are you using to rip these Steve? what speed drive is it?

Stratmangler

11-03-2010, 14:48

OK, CD 2 done, taking 16 mins and 47 seconds.
So what am I doing wrong than ?

Try dropping the compression level down to 5 ?

Chris :)

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 15:02

Ah Hah !
Seems my optical drive was set (in dbPoweramp to a max of 4X.
Currently ripping another dics and it has taken 2 mins 23 seconds.
Result !
At this rate I'll be done in next to no time (Hmm - 3 down, 2997 to go..)

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 15:08

twelvebears

11-03-2010, 15:12

Regarding these ripping services, I don't believe for one second they will put the CDs through the meticulus process that takes and age to read and re-read marked discs. I will bet my left leg (or any other limb for that matter) that they will slap it through a super-fast bog-standard ripping process which would knock out a CD in 2-3 mins.

I which case you may as well dump they through iTunes with error connection turned of and save yourself a stack of cash.....

Peter Galbavy

11-03-2010, 15:20

Try dropping the compression level down to 5 ?

Nah, stick to 8. On any modern CPU this saves a couple of seconds at most but can save you 5% or so in size in some cases.

DanJennings

11-03-2010, 16:02

Cd drive is a basic Optiarc lightscribe £20 jobbie and it is smokin'
Going to try a compilation cd now - anyone here read The Word magazine - if so, is there an easy place where might I find the cover art ?
I'll take a look at the Word website first, but am happy to be pushed in the right direction !

magazine coverdiscs are a pain. if it has a title ie Classic Rock 'sons of guns' not 'The Word 01/03/2010', google images is probably a good bet...

I have every single coverdisc for Classic Rock magazine since issue 1, I got so fed up looking for them that I plumped for a stock logo for all of them

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 16:16

Dan - I hadn't even thought of Google Images - there are some of them there, so many thanks !
Looks like I'll be scanning some of them though - I do need the covers as I know so many by the cover, and have no idea when they came out or whatever..

dave2010

11-03-2010, 16:28

Are there any CD juke boxes which could be used to speed up/automate the process? There used to be some available, though you might have to tinker with them to make them programmable, and attach them (say) to a machine running Linux or Apple OS X with a script. I'm sure that such things ought to be available. Then you could just put 100 CDs in at a time, and leave it running for a while.

Peter Galbavy

11-03-2010, 16:39

If you are real desperate for cover art then take a photo and trim it to size ? Only needs to be max 500x500 in size - any camera phone in good light with no flash should do it...

The Vinyl Adventure

11-03-2010, 17:19

if you got thaty many to do an easy option is just buy a scanner ... you could prob get a epson v100 for £20-£30

steveinspain

11-03-2010, 20:25

Hmm, but with postage out to me in Spain it is more like £50 !
I do have a scanner, but since upgrading my pc to windows 7 it is such a faff to use the scanner, as it is no longer supported..
Still ripping cd's nicely now, and am almost 1/8th the way through the 'A's................

The Vinyl Adventure

11-03-2010, 20:39

Bloody windows... I have just ordered 2 new desk top pc's worth of bits and widows 7, I'm not looking forward to the incompatibility issues that I'm bound to suffer

Themis

11-03-2010, 20:57

Bloody windows... I have just ordered 2 new desk top pc's worth of bits and widows 7, I'm not looking forward to the incompatibility issues that I'm bound to suffer
Inompats With Windows 7 ? I doubt. I installed 5 PCs without any. I've never migrated my OSs so quickly. ;)

steveinspain

12-03-2010, 06:43

My sound card (M-Audio 2496) is not supported by W7, though they were working on getting a fix sorted, nor is my scanner (An Epson of some sort) but I can use it via ACDSee, which I use for photo editing. I also used to use a program called Roxio EMC for making compilation cd's and that doesn't work - I tried it in the XP virtual pc feature and had to do a re-install !

Good luck Hamish !

Peter Galbavy

12-03-2010, 08:42

Steve, sounds like you have about the same number of CDs or maybe a few more than I have. One other piece of advice, that was implied but no one said clearly, is that if a CD fails to rip or slows down *don't* waste time on it - just extract, put on a "revisit" pile and move on to the next one. Get the low hanging fruit done and the overall job will appear to move quicker. Then you can come back and apply some more special care to the % (about 10% in my case) that need it.

steveinspain

12-03-2010, 12:14

Peter - we seem to approach things from a different angle - I am trying to do the worst ones first, before I get my Sonos, as then I will want to play !
I am going to do a batch more today if there is time and treat myself to some fast-rippin' after a few more slow ones - my 'Word' magazine cover-mounts are the ones I want to get sorted most as there is so much that gets forgotten about so quickly..

Alex_UK

12-03-2010, 20:12

Stratmangler

12-03-2010, 20:36

Not that I am in any way being a fanboy, but itunes ripped my collection of 2,200 CDs and I can honestly say I did not have a single problem disc. Of course, this is to Apples own AAC/ALAC codecs, so might explain it.

Ah, but did you do secure rips ?

Up until today I would have very strongly advised anyone ripping a CD collection to HDD to rip to FLAC, as it's supported more widely than ALAC, because FLAC does not require licensing.

Today I checked the settings in my Squeezebox Server client, to find that it now supports ALAC natively.
In the recent past there used to be a server side conversion from ALAC to FLAC. I can almost guarantee that this ability to handle ALAC natively is down to reverse engineering - I can't see Logitech investing money needlessly on an open source software project.

The upshot of this is that it is now of no consequence to me whether a file is FLAC or ALAC, either will do.
What's more I can't hear any audible differences between the two file types either.

steveinspain

12-03-2010, 21:24

Stratmangler

12-03-2010, 21:34

For what it is worth, my hard-to-rip cd's are either copies made on a pc, badly scratched or compilations that require me to find and copy artwork in. It is amazing just how much faster it is when the software is correctly set up............
Thanks to Hamish's guide I am now ripping a cd in 3-4 minutes, secure, at the best compression level, and am into the 'B's already (got a couple of hundred compilations that will slow me down slightly though..)
Jeff Beck - Blow by blow coming up next..!

I've had copied CD's that have literally become unplayable because the disc has simply deteriorated over time. If I remember correctly the brand of CD-R was Emtec.

Jeff Beck is probably my most favourite guitarist ever - seen him live a couple of times and I still can't believe how he manages to pull the sounds and notes out of a guitar that he can. Truly amazing player.

steveinspain

13-03-2010, 07:01

Chris - I used mo make compilation cd's for a bunch of friends on an almost weekly basis - it was a way to expose each other to new music, and resulted in us all buying so much music - I also spent hours making covers too. Sadly, most if them are unplayable, and as the software only works with XP I may need to set up a computer especailly with XP so I can then burn new copies and then rip them. Tracks were cross-faded, chosen with such care and then they just fade away. Its a real bummer. The coverwork is still fine, and tells so much the story of my life as it was then. Another job for when I have the time and money...
Never seen Jeff Beck, but 'Blow by Blow' is one of my all time favourites. I discovered it at about the same time as I discovered amphetamines, and it accompanied my morning 'snifter' many many times in the late '70's..

electric beach

19-03-2010, 14:44

Wooooh, slow down boys!

Sorry to drumb the thread down but I'm just making my first experiments with quality disc copying to HDD. I think I understand that a lot of the discussion above relates to the need for a fully organised collection with cover art, etc.

At this stage I would just like to get a couple of basics right, to rip with a laptop to an external hard drive then play from that via PS3:

1. What / Why / why not rip to WAV? Is the use of FLAC mainly for storage and compression reasons. I'm not talking about a great number of CDs.

2. Can I not simply rip with Windows Media player, or is that the most basic heresy? :lol:

Stratmangler

19-03-2010, 15:07

Can I not simply rip with Windows Media player.....

Get behind me Satan !!!

Some kind of lossless compression is preferred, as you'll find that all sorts of information can be tagged onto the files.
WAV does not have a commonly accepted tagging standard - you may well be able to tag with a WAV tagging capable program, but whether or not media players can read them is another matter.

If you want to rip to FLAC then use EAC - Exact Audio Copy - it's free, and it will securely (ie. error free) rip your CD's.
If you want to rip to ALAC (Apple Lossless) then you'll need to use iTunes, which you can also set up to rip securely.

Stay away from lossy codecs such as mp3 - they are the work of the Devil !

All of the above file types are read by Foobar2000, which is a pretty well bare bones media player - it's quite popular because it requires next to nothing in system resources. I use it myself.

Hopefully I've managed to guide you towards the right path;)
If you have questions please do not hesitate to ask.

electric beach

19-03-2010, 15:24

Well that was relatively painless Chris. Thanks. :)

Use FLAC because of tagging info but not WMP to rip because it will not rip error free?

What do I use if I do want to rip to WAV?

Playback is on PS3, which does not support FLAC, so needs converting to WAV? How and with what?

I don't really care about playback on the laptop or other portable device, only the home system.

Stratmangler

19-03-2010, 15:39

Well that was relatively painless Chris. Thanks. :)

Use FLAC because of tagging info but not WMP to rip because it will not rip error free?

Correct.

What do I use if I do want to rip to WAV?

EAC - it rips to WAV before any FLAC compression is applied. You have the option to simply rip to WAV and have done with it.

Playback is on PS3, which does not support FLAC, so needs converting to WAV? How and with what?

I'm not familiar with PS3. Sorry - can't comment.
However, if at some point later in time you decide to move your music files onto another device that can support FLAC then you can convert the files later on

Ian Walker

19-03-2010, 15:45

Playback is on PS3, which does not support FLAC, so needs converting to WAV? How and with what?

Hi Steve,

Download PS3 media server and it will do it for you.

Ian.

steveinspain

19-03-2010, 16:39

OK, time to 'fess up here.
I had actually ripped my entire collection of 3000 or so cd's to WAV before I discovered that tags, which I hadn't realized were so important were not supported, so am now re-ripping them all. Having followed Hamish's link on how to set up dbPoweamp I am now ripping securely, with all album art. I cannot check yet if it will work with my Sonos as I don't have it yet, but have checked with my man who tells me it is all fine. Currently up to the 'L's so going well. I take great pleasure removing the WAV file each time a cd is ripped to flac - gives me an enormous sense of well being as well as helps pass the time between cd's.

dave2010

19-03-2010, 19:06

OK, time to 'fess up here.
I had actually ripped my entire collection of 3000 or so cd's to WAV before I discovered that tags, which I hadn't realized were so important were not supported, so am now re-ripping them all.
Surely there must be an easier way! If you've got the 3000 CDs already ripped, is it not possible to use a batch process to get this sorted, and the tags put in? I can't believe it's not feasible - rather than doing another 3000 or so rips.

electric beach

19-03-2010, 19:34

Download PS3 media server and it will do it for you.

Ian.

Thanks Ian.

I was going to ask you about your own set-up, process and the downloading again but thought I'd just start with a simple comparison of a quality file against CD through the PS3 in the context of my system. Already a WAV file ripped with WMP (sorry!) is a little better, whereas the same CD played through the PS3 is definately worse than through the Consonance transport, both through the Brasso Dac; obviously it's not the optical versus coax link.

I'll get the EAC and wring it out with that Mr Mangler! ;)

nonidentity

19-03-2010, 23:07

Well if you are working with Linux, if I remember correctly, you can consider a utility that will auto tag each file. I think I used for bulk updating was QTag; however there are several and it quick - I tagged approx 15K songs in a short time. There are several similar utilities.

Also you could consider ffmpeg to convert all to FLAC from WAV if that is the sound quality you are working with. It converts video formats as well.

Stratmangler

19-03-2010, 23:12

Hi Steve

The simplest way to set up EAC is by using The Wizard.
After setting things up there, click on EAC in the top left hand corner, the click on EAC Options. Under the Filename tab put the following character chain into the left hand box %A\%C\%N - %T.
Under the Directories tab you enter the location where you'd like to send the files.

That's about it really.
One last thing - if you use The Wizard at some point you'll get asked to enter an email address - do it, as it allows you access to the AccurateRip database, so you can get an idea as to how accurate your rip is - the higher the number the more entries in the database correspond to your rip.
I have not been spammed as a result of this - I think it's fairly safe to assume that you will not be.

If you're wondering what the character string means it is this.
Create Artist Folder.
Create Album Folder
Track number, space, hyphen, space, Track Title

With the character stream in place then all of these commands automatically execute and organise your music for you - minimal input is required.