[King of Pangaea]

So I got this Onkyo portable player and I though I would load a bunch of music onto 200GB micro SD cards in FLAC format.  I downloaded Jriver and started ripping CDs. I set the output type to FLAC and ripped and when I looked when it was done the file is labeled as an ape file. What gives?  Either......
 
1. How do I make JRiver save the file as a FLAC file or,
2. Convert the ape file to a FLAC file format.  Why should I have to do this?  It seems overly involved to rip to one format only to have to convert to another.
 
How do I make JRiver rip to FLAC.  I did Optons>FLAC___ and it rips to ape.  What gives?  Will an ape file automatically play as a FLAC file?  I see they are both lossless compression formats.
 
Also I tried to rip a two CD symphony.  The first  CD ripped ok______to ape of course, but the second CD just won't rip.  It is a continuation of the first CD with the same work/artist name.  Does JRiver think it has already ripped and is all done?
 
I tried googling questions but all I get is laborious method of converting ape to FLAC.
 
Any help appreciated.
 
Thanks,
 
Bill

 

[obobskivich]

I'm not familiar with JRiver, but why not just use EAC? It'll do what you tell it to do, and its painless to run to FLAC (or more or less whatever else you want). Should be nothing impeding playback of those rips in JRiver later either.

As far as the ape/flac thing, ape is not flac.

 

[Roseval]

Tools > Options > Encoding > 
See to it that you have CD ripping selected and choose FLAC
 
My experience is that the meta data suopplied by JRiver is often pretty poor.
It doens't support AccurateRip either.
I use dBpoweramp for ripping instead.

 

[FasterThanEver]

I've ripped about 3000 CDs to Flac files with JRiver.  Get the settings right and it should work for you too.
 
Click on Tools in the man menu, then Options.  In the dialog window that appears, click on encoding.  The screen shot shows the settings for "Encoding for" (CD Ripping) and "Encoder" (Flac encoder).
 

 
Be sure to click the OK button rather than the Cancel button on thew way out.
 
"Also I tried to rip a two CD symphony.  The first  CD ripped ok______to ape of course, but the second CD just won't rip.  It is a continuation of the first CD with the same work/artist name.  Does JRiver think it has already ripped and is all done?"
 
JRiver handles multiple CD sets as I expect.
 
If the symphony was the only work on the two CD set, you would expect the same work/artist names to be found.  The Name field should be different for each track showing that movement name.

 

[King of Pangaea]

Thanks loads.  I didn't see encoding before.  I selected and now I see a flac after ripping.
 
On the 2 CD issue, I can't get that one to rip disc 2.  It is a SACD, maybe that's why.  I'll try another 2CD SACD set and see what that does. A regular 2CD symphony tried ripped OK. 
 
Does it always take this long to rip?  It seems to rip in real time, almost as long as the work being ripped is. 
 
I remember when I ripped CDs to ALAC in iTunes it didn't take anywhere near this long.  Just wondering.
 
Thanks,
 
Bill

 

[FasterThanEver]

" Thanks loads.  I didn't see encoding before.  I selected and now I see a flac after ripping."
 
Good.
 
"On the 2 CD issue, I can't get that one to rip disc 2.  It is a SACD, maybe that's why.  I'll try another 2CD SACD set and see what that does. A regular 2CD symphony tried ripped OK. "
 
Two comments:
 
- JRiver rips hybrid SACDs (which have a redbook spec. CD layer) just like regular redbook CDs.  SACDs without a CD layer can't be ripped by JRiver or EAC or dBpoweramp or iTunes.
 
- Just saying "I can't get that one to rip disc 2." doesn't provide an adequate basis for comment.  If you want help, you should describe the SACD set and then describe what you did in detail.
 
 
"Does it always take this long to rip?  It seems to rip in real time, almost as long as the work being ripped is. 
 
I remember when I ripped CDs to ALAC in iTunes it didn't take anywhere near this long.  Just wondering."
 
Again, you supplied no detail.
 
There are several settings that affect ripping speed.  Look in the Tools/Options dialog.  Click on the CD, DVD & BD tab.  Under CD ripping, you should see one or more drives listed.  Under each one, there is one option for "copy mode".  Normal mode reads the data on the CD once. Secure mode reads the data twice to verify that it is  read correctly.
 
The Read speed option just below determines that maximum speed that JRiver will use.  You would normally want this option set to Max speed.
 
If you chose Normal mode and Max speed, JRiver should rip a CD in about the same time that iTunes takes.
 
 
In Secure mode, JRiver will take 1.5 to 2 times as long.  Of course, you will know that the data is read correctly.  Get the tags right and make a backup of your music files and the JRiver library files and you won't have to rip those CDs again.
 
As JRiver rips a CD, it shows the current speed at the lower left corner of the window.  Iin secure mode normally starts at 2-3x and speeds up as it goes along.  It often reaches 20x or more.  It learns how well your drive is doing as it goes along.
 
The CD/DVD/Blu Ray drive also affects the time needed to rip a CD.  Slim drives that fit in a laptop PC are about half as fast as taller drives used in desktop PCs.

 

[King of Pangaea]

Thanks again. I got the ripping formula down pat now. Last one only took a couple of minutes.
 
As to the SACD that wouldn't rip the second disc, it was a hybrid disc and it was a "Mahler symphony #2 by M T Thomas and the San Francisco symphony.  I also tried another 2 disc set, Mahler #9 by Lopez-Cobos with the Cincinnati S Orch. redbook edition on Telarc.  Disc 2 was properly identified but disc 1 was misidentified as the right work but by another performance.  I guess it went on-line and got the wrong message.  I deleted that and now JRiver won't re-rip the first disc. 
 
There is minimal operating info dispersed randomly in hard to locate order or continuity with JRiver.  I had heard it was the best app for music management but it seems the learning curve is unnecessarily steep.
 
Thanks again, and whatever further advice you can give will be appreciated.  I have been busy with other stuff lately so have not had time to pursue this as fast as I would have liked.
 
Bill

 

[Roseval]

Ripping classical using JRiver is imho a bit troublesome.
It uses its own database (YADB) and FreeDB.
YADB is rather limited in classical and FreeDB a unstructured mess.
 
I do think dBpoweramp a better choice.
It pulls its meta data from AMG, GD3, MusicBrainz and FreeDB
AMG and GD3 are much better structured and reasonably reliable in case of classical.
It also has AccurateRip, this allows you to compare your rip with those of others.

 

[bullitt5094]

I've used dBpoweramp with great success. You can rip to multiple file formats at the same time instead of doing a conversion from another format later, if you need it. I rip every CD to uncompressed FLAC, Wave and Apple Lossless. I then use FLAC and JRiver in my HTPC/Music Server. When I need to load onto a phone/portable device in a compressed form. You can do that within JRiver very easily. Starting with uncompressed FLAC seems to help the sound quality of these conversions/loads too. dBP works extremely well for me. I've done thousands of CDs in this way.