How to do a "BIT PERFECT" rip of my CD's ?

[Ham Sandwich]

CUETools isn't a ripper. It's a tool for working with existing CUE file rips.

So you rip the CD with EAC (or some other supported ripper that does CUE files) and then process the CUE file with CUETools.

CUETools will do things like split a CUE file into individual tracks. Or convert a WAV based CUE file to a FLAC or APE based CUE file. Or verify that the CUE file rip is accurate against AccurateRip.

 

[HeadLover]

Amm
But if I have used EAC and created a CUE file, do I still need CUETools? isn't EAC alone is good enough?
Beside, why is the CUE so important? I mean beside gaps, what matter is the quality and making sure the track is 100% accurate, not ?

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oxophone /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is there any EAC-like software for Mac OSX which is better than cdparanoia?

Worth a try:
Max from sbooth.org
Rip from sbooth.org
X Lossless Decoder: Lossless audio decoder for Mac OS X

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Amm But if I have used EAC and created a CUE file, do I still need CUETools? isn't EAC alone is good enough? Beside, why is the CUE so important? I mean beside gaps, what matter is the quality and making sure the track is 100% accurate, not ?

In your initial post you said you wanted to be 100.000% sure that the rip was exact to the redbook CD. The way to do that is to rip to a CUE file format. The CUE file preserves all of the gap information. So the CUE file format is the best way to archive a CD because you'll be able to recreate the CD again if necessary.

EAC is good at creating CUE file rips.

Now that you have a CUE file rip, how do you make use of it later? That's where CUETools comes in. It will allow you to split the CUE file and end up with individual tracks. It will allow you to verify that the CUE file rip was indeed accurate. It will allow you to convert the WAV based CUE file that EAC creates into a FLAC based one to save on space. It's just a handy tool for working with CUE files.

 

[HeadLover]

Yes I see, but if I am using a foobar2000 and it can read a CUE file with a single WAV or lossless format (FLAC) than using EAC alone should do it, right? and I will get 100% perfect, right?

BTW
One more thing, why is it better to turn off C2 error? seem that the process takes me with out it like 3x times slower!

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Oh, I see. Yes, if you are using Foobar to play the CUE files directly there is no need to split the CUE files into individual tracks. Foobar plays CUE files just fine and you're getting the full gapless experience and don't have to worry about the few CDs that have audio in the pre-gap.

Most people don't do it that way (play the CUE files directly) so I was making the assumption that you would need to split the CUE files.

Whether it is better to leave C2 error correction on or off depends on your particular CD drive that you use for ripping. Some drives do C2 error correction very well, some not so well, and some not at all. If you enable C2 error correction on a drive that doesn't do C2 error correction well (or not at all) you can end up with bad rips. You can have EAC test your drive for C2 error correction support. You'll need to supply a scratched CD (get a CD from your local library if you need a scratched up disk to test). Then try ripping that scratched CD with C2 correction enabled and disabled to test which works best on your drive.

 

[HeadLover]

But if I want 100% accurate, isn't it better to leave C2 off always? and not count on my CD drive? I know it can handle C2 (like most new ones can), but how good is not so easy to find out (even the TEST isn't accurate always)

 

[leeperry]

you should try to find a list w/ the best drives for audio extraction, they need to keep audio uncached and do proper C2 correction.

these are golden drives, that you can usually find on ebay for very cheap.

I used this one on +200 CD's :

it came from a Mac apparently, and worked just fine on PC! Apple always OEM's great optical drives

 

[HeadLover]

How do you know if a drive is good ?!

 

[leeperry]

I just explained it in my post above

and the GD7000 can be found for $10 on ebay.

 

[HeatFan12]

Hello HamS

The CueTools seem interesting if I can get it to work. I create a cue and rip fine (both in same folder), however when I go to use Cue Tools it gives me an error (something about indexes not being chronological)...This happens when I rip the cd to one wav or multiple tracks.
I guess I'll play with it some more....

Thanks for the heads up...

 

[craiglester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif you should try to find a list w/ the best drives for audio extraction, they need to keep audio uncached and do proper C2 correction. these are golden drives, that you can usually find on ebay for very cheap. I used this one on +200 CD's : it came from a Mac apparently, and worked just fine on PC! Apple always OEM's great optical drives

Yep I had a Hitachi DVD Drive too, they sure make good ones.