Linux and Headfi

[Digitalbath3737]

So I've decided to build a computer only for my music. I've decided to use Linux (Ubuntu) as the OS.

Now I'm a bit confused. I want to use EAC and Foobar 2000 on the computer. I thought these where both open source and cross platform programs. After reading their respective websites, I didn't see anything specifically saying that either of these programs could be used on a Linux machine. Could anyone shed some light on this?

Also if EAC and/or Foobar2000 doesn't work on Linux what comparable programs are there?

 

[asdf]

I use a linux box for my music. I have several different distributions installed on different partitions. I use Kubuntu, PCLinixOS, slackware, and an HD install of Knoppix. Lately I've been using PCLinuxOS more than the others.

Anway, you have many choices for music players, but most Headfiers seem to use Amorok or Quod Libet. Both are excellent in my opinion. If I were you, I'd try both of these as well as other to see for yourself. These two manage large libraries well and have most of the features that you would expect (either built-in or via plugins).

For ripping, I've found nothing to compete with EAC. Some run this with Wine (software to emulate a Windows environment). I have not used wine, so I can't say how well this works. I usually just rip in Windows (I'm not a hardcore linux user, obviously). One of these days I'll take time to install EAC and try it with Wine, though.

Good luck!

--asdf

 

[Arainach]

Neither one is open-source. They're free but not OS. The Linux equivalent to EAC is cdparanoia (paired with any one of a number of frontends), and the best audio player for Linux is Amarok, which I like more than foobar.

Be aware that the EMU series of cards is not Linux-Compatible, but the Chaintech AV-710 should work fine enough

 

[asdf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Linux equivalent to EAC is cdparanoia (paired with any one of a number of frontends)

I will give this one a try as well. How does it compare with EAC?

 

[Digitalbath3737]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll try the software out

 

[Arainach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asdf /img/forum/go_quote.gif I will give this one a try as well. How does it compare with EAC?

It does a similar function to EAC, re-reading damaged sectors. So far it's worked quite well with the few scratched discs I threw at it.

 

[Denim]

Please post your opinions and observations with the music rippers and Linux. I set out to do the same thing with Ubuntu but switched back to Windows 2000 for EAC. I like Ubuntu and have kept it on my primary PC. I just didn't like the software as much as EAC. I never tried it with wine, so that may have been a good setup.

I still haven't learned enough with Ubuntu to try it again. I hope you have a smooth journey.

 

[krrm]

I ripped several hundred cd's 4 -5 years ago with cdparanoia. Most of them was ripped flawless, but there was some that have some audible errors. Most of the errors was at the end of songs. Most of those errors are not very annoying. (I think I have a fairly detailed log at home).

I used a perl script called rippit.pl provided with Suse that controlled the whole process, (ripping, cddb lookup, flac encoding). It might not have a fancy interface, but it is was very efficient to use. Insert cd, arrow up and enter, wait for ripping to finish, insert new cd etc. All files was then neatly named and placed in suitable folders. I usually had 3 to 4 cd's under work at the same time (PC was a 400MHz P2, so encoding took some time). If irc only one cd was completly unreadable (not due to scratches), while a few more had so many scratches that they are almost unlistenable, but they are not good in my cd player either.

 

[sschell]

For ripping, I use a program called RubyRipper, which uses cdparanoia as a backend. The advantage of RR is that it rips each track multiple times and compares the tracks to make sure nothing changed between rips.

Amarok is a pretty nice player (a bit bloated). I use a separate linux server (3 ft from my main computer) which is hooked to my stereo. I use mpd for playback, which can be controlled by a USB remote I have.

 

[Fitz]

cdparanoia with kaudiocreator frontend FTW!!! If you run into any weird issues or bugs with kaudiocreator, let me know and I'll see if I can reproduce it and possibly create a patch for it. I stopped contributing patches once I fixed the bugs that bothered me, but I'm always willing to help out a fellow head-fier.

Before I got my squeezeboxes, I used the hell out of amarok too.

 

[krrm]

Forgot the new advances of Konquerer (web & filebrowser in KDE)

, it allows you just copy a cd to ogg, mp3 or flac just as ordinary files. Ripping and encoding are done on the fly. Very neat for ripping a single cd. Ripper would normally still be cdparanoia. I don't rembember when this feature showed up, but it at least exists in 3.5.6.

 

[Fitz]

Yeah, the ioslaves in KDE are pretty cool.

 

[goldenratiophi]

I use cdparanoia no matter what OS I'm on. I use it to rip CDs on my Mac. It corrects errors way better than iTunes. It's not technically advanced as EAC is, but for slight to moderately scratched CDs it works perfectly, and is much faster too. And it works on Linux (and pretty much everything else too).

In fact, due to my gradual shying away from iTunes and the huge improvements in office software since the last time I used Linux, I just might switch over this summer...

 

[pixelseventy2]

Try GRIP as a GUI interface for cdparanoia, lame, flac, freedb etc... I use it for all my CDs

 

[Cid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixelseventy2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Try GRIP as a GUI interface for cdparanoia, lame, flac, freedb etc... I use it for all my CDs

I also recommend this for people who use GTK (Gnome, XFCE etc) based desktop environments.