[KoshNaranek]

I will PM you when time allows.

Please just post it on another thread. It may not be appropriate here but just put it on the Vali tube roller thread. That thread jumped the rails a long time ago

 

[porchwizard]

^^ This is what I use. I believe it uses cdparanoia for the cd-ripping which will do multiple passes to verify, if it needs to, and is rather quick if things are going well. Make sure to scroll back and look for detected errors. It's usually pretty good and reliable, and it will let you know if it's hitting problems.

I'm with porchwizard. I like the command line. And it seems that cdparanoia is hard to find in isolation these days, so it makes a nice (command line) front end to cdparanoia. Just be sure it grabs a good cover art (if you care about that) with the '-G' option. Occasionally it can't handle the odd CD I through at it from my eclectic collection, and I have to download one from Amazon or discogs, but this is rare.

Also watch out for multi-disc sets. I like to use the '-W 1', '-W 2', etc flags when doing this. You may prefer something else. Sometimes it gets the artist/album name a little weird (and hence the directory name) and needs a little help, but this is not common.

As a final step, I've lately been playing with arverify, which I believe shares a back-end with accuraterip (mentioned by wout31). I don't think I'm using a sanctioned utility, I don't know if there is one for Linux. I think I've got some python script someone cobbled together (google for arverify.py) to interface with the accuraterip database.

If a disc is in the database it makes for a nice verification, but ocassionally I come across a disc that isn't in there, whether due to my odd musical tastes, or from getting an odd mastering off the used market. It's good positive reinforcement when you verify a good rip, but I don't fret too much when I don't get a verification, as long as abcde/cdparanoia was happy with the rip. I'm probably missing an option to upload my checksums to the AR database, I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me if I am.

Thanks for the additional info. It's funny. I've been using it for so long, without arguments, that it never occurred to me to check what might be available these days.
My older version (another reason to upgrade) doesn't have -G but it would save me the bother of scanning the covers. Never used -W... gee that sounds useful

 

[yonson]

^^ This is what I use. I believe it uses cdparanoia for the cd-ripping which will do multiple passes to verify, if it needs to, and is rather quick if things are going well. Make sure to scroll back and look for detected errors. It's usually pretty good and reliable, and it will let you know if it's hitting problems.

I'm with porchwizard. I like the command line. And it seems that cdparanoia is hard to find in isolation these days, so it makes a nice (command line) front end to cdparanoia. Just be sure it grabs a good cover art (if you care about that) with the '-G' option. Occasionally it can't handle the odd CD I through at it from my eclectic collection, and I have to download one from Amazon or discogs, but this is rare.

Also watch out for multi-disc sets. I like to use the '-W 1', '-W 2', etc flags when doing this. You may prefer something else. Sometimes it gets the artist/album name a little weird (and hence the directory name) and needs a little help, but this is not common.

As a final step, I've lately been playing with arverify, which I believe shares a back-end with accuraterip (mentioned by wout31). I don't think I'm using a sanctioned utility, I don't know if there is one for Linux. I think I've got some python script someone cobbled together (google for arverify.py) to interface with the accuraterip database.

If a disc is in the database it makes for a nice verification, but ocassionally I come across a disc that isn't in there, whether due to my odd musical tastes, or from getting an odd mastering off the used market. It's good positive reinforcement when you verify a good rip, but I don't fret too much when I don't get a verification, as long as abcde/cdparanoia was happy with the rip. I'm probably missing an option to upload my checksums to the AR database, I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me if I am.

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I've been using fre:ac for years, however the interface is quite frustrating and can crash several times before finally starting a rip on some CD's, then I can do 10 or so in a row without an issue.

I like the fact that it's command line, that streamlines it a lot. I don't really care about the album art since I playback on my Oppo 205, which doesn't even use it :rolleyes:

 

[Paladin79]

Please just post it on another thread. It may not be appropriate here but just put it on the Vali tube roller thread. That thread jumped the rails a long time ago

I am not posting it at all and I was talking about an experience with what I felt was a decent blind test the same topic others talked about including Jason.

 

[bboris77]

Are you (and @GumbyDammit223 ) sure it's the pot and not the knob itself coming into contact with the front?

Just to follow up on this - I got a brand new Asgard 3 a couple of days ago. I have been running it 24/7 on top of the Bifrost 2 which also runs warm. I am happy to report that the potentiometer keeps running very smoothly and there is no difference at all in the resistance it gives whether the amplifier is cold or warmed up.

 

[ev666il]

How do you find the Bifrost 2 and Asgard 3 synergize?

Unrelated—has anybody tried the Ragnarok 2 as an headphone amp and compared it to the Jotunheim? I’m curious how Pivot Point compares to its bigger brother Nexus.

 

[Odin412]

I'm too lazy to look this up: what makes so many fans of dBPowerAmp? When I decided to rip my CDs I picked MediaCenter, not as a ripping program, per se, but as my server/ library manager. I've had no trouble ripping CDs with it. So I wonder what dBPowerAmp has...

Storage is so cheap now I just ripped all my CDs to full resolution .wav files. I do convert them to .flac when I put them on a DAP, though.

My big mistake when ripping was not to pay any attention to database management. I had no file naming convention in mind. When I got done my files were a mess all over my hard drive. I spent several weeks cleaning that up. The good news is I learned a lot about some of MediaCenter's functions in doing so. Now my library is pretty clean and I can find stuff if I have to.

With kids in the house, I don't get to listen critically anymore. Even when I can have the house to myself I don't notice the difference between CD and ripped files. As others have said, having my entire music collection on a hard drive the size of a couple of jewel boxes is to convenient to make me want to go back. If I were to go back, I might digress all the way to vinyl. No, wait, I tried that and CDs were more convenient enough it made me not want to fiddle with vinyl.

I use dBPowerAmp to rip CDs and J River Media Center as the playback program. I like dBPowerAmp because it has error correction (which you can turn off if you like) and it handles cover art well. I've always found J River a bit finicky with cover art so I don't really trust it for ripping.

Like you I can't hear any differences between a CD ripped in a lossless format (WMA Lossless in my case) and the original CD. It makes life easier with one less source of worry.

 

[bboris77]

How do you find the Bifrost 2 and Asgard 3 synergize?

One word - amazing. I am using this combo with my HD800S, which is known to be a little on the sharp side when it comes to its treble. When I used it with the Modi 3/ Heresy combo, there were songs in which it was a bit too sibilant. All of that is gone with the Bifrost 2/Asgard 3 combo.

 

[ev666il]

One word - amazing.

Good to hear!

I've got my Bifrost 2 coming next week and I'll be pairing it with my Asgard 3, so I'm really looking forward to it

 

[Pale Rider]

Good to hear!

I've got my Bifrost 2 coming next week and I'll be pairing it with my Asgard 3, so I'm really looking forward to it

I’m curious why you didn’t get the A3 with built in DAC? After a lot of back & forth, that’s what I chose for my desktop. I wanted something very compact, preferably one box, to drive my Utopias while working at my desk, and my desktop is pretty cramped. Been very happy so far.

 

[Rensek]

Because Bifrost 2 is awesome. Unison is awesome.

 

[macdonjh]

I use dBPowerAmp to rip CDs and J River Media Center as the playback program. I like dBPowerAmp because it has error correction (which you can turn off if you like) and it handles cover art well. I've always found J River a bit finicky with cover art so I don't really trust it for ripping.

Like you I can't hear any differences between a CD ripped in a lossless format (WMA Lossless in my case) and the original CD. It makes life easier with one less source of worry.

Thank you for that. I haven't had too much trouble with MC and cover art. If it wouldn't show me cover art I liked, or didn't find any at all, I'd take the CD booklet to my office and scan it. Then I'd import the new cover art using Tools > Cover Art > Get From File. I may check out dBPowerAmp tonight while listening to some sweet IEMs since I'm out of town right now...

 

[ev666il]

I’m curious why you didn’t get the A3 with built in DAC?

I did. I'm running the Asgard 3 Multibit right now

 

[yonson]

I’m curious why you didn’t get the A3 with built in DAC? After a lot of back & forth, that’s what I chose for my desktop. I wanted something very compact, preferably one box, to drive my Utopias while working at my desk, and my desktop is pretty cramped. Been very happy so far.

Probably because there aren't Unison cards available yet... At least that's why I'm currently holding off on getting one.

 

[Rensek]

Let's not forget-

Power supply
Separate Case
Different/better output stage
Different DAC chips
The full Schiit 8x Megacomboburrito filter
More inputs, better flexibility
Phase switch
Remote
The cards are very nice.I have both modi 3 and modi multibit which the cards are similar too. I'm using modi multibit upstairs in a little listening nook the wife let me put together for the late nights I'm on Dad duty but still want to listen to tunes. Mimby is very nice. All of Schiits stuff is nice, some nicer then others.