[Eroica4th]

Hello folks,
 
Finally my Ak240SS arrived i'm using it with Shure SE846 ( balance cable SD ). Given that these are my equipments, JH audio Layla is on the way, i did not like having my music in lossy format. GAD and some noise starts to be apparent. I'm not going to ask the common question " where can i find high quality music online?" because i couldn't find my favorite artists.
 
So what i'm planning to do is to get hard copy, CD's, and rip them to flac. But i need some answers
 
1- Is this the most efficient way?
2- Does EAC, exact audio copy, rip to flac 24 bit?
3- Would my ODD, Optical Disc Drive, effect the process?
4- Beside online DSD store, how can i get this format? 
 
Regards,
 
J M

 

[bgentry]

1. I can't find most of what I want in online stores. Ponomusic has quite a few, but the prices for the CD quality downloads are more than real CDs at around $15 per title. I'd rather have CDs. So, for me, yes this is the way. Though it *would* be more efficient to buy from ponomusic if they have what you want.
2. EAC probably doesn't rip to 24 bit, but even if it does, it doesn't mean anything. All CDs are 16 bit, with a very few HDCD encoded titles claiming 18 bits (or something like that *if* have an HDCD decoder/player). So 16/44.1 is the native format of CD and what you should rip to.
3. With EAC set to do a secure rip (error correction, plus checking the AccurateRip database), your drive shouldn't matter, as long as it's modern and not a total piece of crap.
4. No idea.

Good luck to you!

Brian.

 

[Eroica4th]

Hello Brian,
 
I appreciate your reply.
 
What is the point on having a high end music player without being able to have high end files then :/?
 
Regards,
 
J M.

 

[bgentry]

Full quality rips from CD at 16bit/44.1kHz can sound pretty damned good. Much better than most people who have only heard mid-bitrate MP3s would expect.

That said, there are several sources of high bitrate media. HD Tracks has a catalog of high res recordings. VERY few that I want, but they are there at resolutions up to 24bit/192kHz.

There are always DVD-Audio discs. Not to be confused with concert DVD-Video or something. Rather, the dedicated high resolution DVD-A format. I have some of these at 24/48, 24/88, 24/96, and I thought I had some 24/192, but I can't seem to find any of them. You need software like DVD Audio Extractor to rip the audio.

SACD is available also as the native DSD disc format. However, Sony has made it very inconvenient to rip DSD off of SACD discs. I only know of one way to do it, and that's with a specific hardware revision of the Sony PS/3 and some software. Not exactly practical or convenient.

Brian.

 

[bigshot]

More isn't better. Better is better.

 

[Lord Chaos]

1- Is this the most efficient way? 2- Does EAC, exact audio copy, rip to flac 24 bit?
3- Would my ODD, Optical Disc Drive, effect the process?
4- Beside online DSD store, how can i get this format? 
 

1. To get what you want, yes. I also have been disappointed by the selection available on download sites, such as HDTracks, Pono and others. I find the best selection at Amazon.
 
2. EAC is an accurate ripper of CDs, which are 16-bit, 44.1kHz. It extracts the files as accurately as it can, and saves the result as WAV files. You can use other software to convert to FLAC. I use EAC only for problematic CDs, as Itunes does just fine for nearly all purposes. Note that EAC won't know if there's a pressing error on the disc, and it will accurately rip the bad data. Where EAC excels is in getting the data off of a damaged CD. EAC also won't fix a badly mastered CD: if it has digital clipping or other distortion, it will be ripped accurately.
 
3. So long as your optical drive works, it will be fine. Digital errors are obvious (this may be controversial to some), and if you have problems on more than 3 discs in 100, your drive probably needs to be replaced. I've nearly worn out the drive in my Mac Mini; roughly half the time it won't read a CD, and it no longer reads DVDs at all. Note that no CD ripper is error-proof; even EAC makes mistakes. After you've ripped a disc, be sure to listen to the whole thing to make sure the copy is good. Also, save yourself many headaches by checking the tags when you rip, to make sure they're both accurate and consistent.
 
4. There are on-line sources for "hi-res" audio. HDTracks, Pono, Hyperion Records. There are also SACD releases of some popular records, and the occasional DVD-A release.
 
As for the point of a "hi-res" player when there are few sources for the files: I bought a Pono Player because of its high quality digital-to-analog converter and amplifier. A well-made CD has excellent sound; the CD is capable of far more than most recordings bring to it. The player easily shows the differences in how well discs are made. The only hi-res recordings on my Pono are some I've made myself, as I think the hi-res files are too expensive for the return.

 

[peterinvan]

  Hello folks,
 
Finally my Ak240SS arrived i'm using it with Shure SE846 ( balance cable SD ). Given that these are my equipments, JH audio Layla is on the way, i did not like having my music in lossy format. GAD and some noise starts to be apparent. I'm not going to ask the common question " where can i find high quality music online?" because i couldn't find my favorite artists.
 
So what i'm planning to do is to get hard copy, CD's, and rip them to flac. But i need some answers
 
1- Is this the most efficient way?
2- Does EAC, exact audio copy, rip to flac 24 bit?
3- Would my ODD, Optical Disc Drive, effect the process?
4- Beside online DSD store, how can i get this format?
 
Regards,
 
J M

I have about 300 CDs in my collection, and spent weeks converting them to FLAC (16/44).  I used EAC with the FLAC plugin (under Windows 7).  Placed all the files on a Network drive.  I was happy.  I was budgeting one or two new CDs per month.
 
Then I discovered Tidal HiFi.  For $25 CDN a month I am discovering at least one new album per day.  I can listen on my PC and stereo, on my iPad (into HP50s), or through an old iPhone 4s/Centrance M8 DAC amp that I have dedicated to Tidal (into LCD-2Fs).
 
Much more cost effective, and the SQ is just as good as FLAC files played through Foobar2000.

 

[bgentry]

^ ...and you'll never own a single album you hear. You're "renting music". ...and when they go out of business next year you'll be out $25 x 12 = $300 with nothing to show other than the enjoyment you got at the time. So is it really cost effective? Or is it just convenient and *disposable*?

Brian.

 

[peterinvan]

@brian

Each to their own. I am retired and we downsized to a small condo. We got rid off all our books and now use a Kindle. Got rid of all our CDs, and now use a NAS and Tidal. De-cluttering suits us.

We winter in Florida, and have access to our favourite music on-line.

I am confident that hi-res streaming will continue to be available in some form.

Regards,
Peter

 

[tlu55]

  Hello folks,
 
Finally my Ak240SS arrived i'm using it with Shure SE846 ( balance cable SD ). Given that these are my equipments, JH audio Layla is on the way, i did not like having my music in lossy format. GAD and some noise starts to be apparent. I'm not going to ask the common question " where can i find high quality music online?" because i couldn't find my favorite artists.
 
So what i'm planning to do is to get hard copy, CD's, and rip them to flac. But i need some answers
 
1- Is this the most efficient way?
2- Does EAC, exact audio copy, rip to flac 24 bit?
3- Would my ODD, Optical Disc Drive, effect the process?
4- Beside online DSD store, how can i get this format? 
 
Regards,
 
J M

 

@brian

Each to their own. I am retired and we downsized to a small condo. We got rid off all our books and now use a Kindle. Got rid of all our CDs, and now use a NAS and Tidal. De-cluttering suits us.

We winter in Florida, and have access to our favourite music on-line.

I am confident that hi-res streaming will continue to be available in some form.

Regards,
Peter

 
Good thread.  I'm newly retired from the tech industry.  Just starting my de-cluttering by putting the CD collection up on Discogs.  I'm using JRiverMedia Center 20 for my consolidation of audio and video.