[Giogio]

Hi guys,
 
While improving my setup I notice more and more the faults of the CD rips I did maaaaaaany years ago when there was not even the dream of a terabyte, and I was travelling a lot, so I had to rip my CDs (lot of) in mid rate Mp3.
Now, besides ripping my CDs in max bitrate Mp3 with the better encoder of these days, I also would like to rip them in flac.
Mp3 for mobile phone, flac for hard disc.
 
Back then I have used at first Nero with Lame encoder, then Exact Audio Copy.
Now I use foobar as a player and I know many people use it to rip too.
And I see that EAC is still available.
But, what are the best (free) tools today? I may also buy a paid one if the difference in quality is REAL.

 

[Roseval]

A bit perfect rip is a bit perfect rip.
You can’t improve on it.
Hence every tool allowing you to verify the accuracy is the one to go fot.
As far as I know dBpoweramp , EAC and Foobar all support AccurateRip
 
My personal preference is dBpoweramp simply because of its excellent meta data.
 
Before you rip to both FLAC and MP3 (forcing you to maintain 2 libraries) have a look at transcoding.
Most media players offer you a sync option including conversion on the fly.

 

[NA Blur]

I have had issues with iTunes adding artifacts during the ripping process so be sure to check all the settings of optimal performance if you go that route.

 

[Giogio]

  A bit perfect rip is a bit perfect rip.
You can’t improve on it.
Hence every tool allowing you to verify the accuracy is the one to go fot.
As far as I know dBpoweramp , EAC and Foobar all support AccurateRip
 
My personal preference is dBpoweramp simply because of its excellent meta data.
 
Before you rip to both FLAC and MP3 (forcing you to maintain 2 libraries) have a look at transcoding.
Most media players offer you a sync option including conversion on the fly.

Well, many players are bit perfect and you know, they are not the same.
Anyway, I do not want to open a debate about very subtle differences between A and B, after all I am living with my bad rips since years, I will be fine with any perfect bit solution of these days, I suppose.
But, I had the impression that some programs had some functions which were meant to make their rips more accurate. Was I wrong?
 
Thanks for the Transcoding idea, but the need to have Mp3 is to save space on the mobile phone. It would not help having a player which can transcode flac. I just have too much music to put it in flac in a mobile phone.
But tell me, would I be losing much if I do my mp3 from the flac, instead of making them from the CD?
 
And, for Metadata you mean? As said I am out of the ripping thing since years. At that time metadata was CD-Text, and I had no CD with that function. Therefore I had to use Musicbrainz to tag all my Mp3.
 

  I have had issues with iTunes adding artifacts during the ripping process so be sure to check all the settings of optimal performance if you go that route.

That was my fear, that some programs could make strange things.
Anyway I do not have iTune, I am still a PC user.

 

[jcn3]

  Anyway I do not have iTune, I am still a PC user.

 
itunes is available for pcs -- has been for many years.

 

[Giogio]

   
itunes is available for pcs -- has been for many years.

I ignored that. Never felt any attraction for iTunes or anything else with a small i followed by a capital letter.

 

[Music Alchemist]

I recommend using dBpoweramp. With it, you can rip to FLAC and 256 kbps AAC at the same time, automatically retrieve tags and artwork, verify that your rip is identical to others, and much more. Although it's paid software, you get the full version for free at first, then the trial reverts to a more basic forever free version.

 

[Giogio]

Sounds good to me, if I am given the chance to test the full version for a while it cannot be negative.
 
I can of course compare it myself with EAC, but I may miss to notice some important differences. It could be good if somebody could point out the more important ones. Considering that I have suddenly changed idea about buying Fidelizer, dBpoweramp would be the first software I buy in my life. I would like it to be for something.
 
Being able to convert to two formats at same time is a nice thing, if instead of AAC could be Mp3. And if by that the double conversion does not last as much as two individual ones.
 
What about converting a flac into mp3? Would this give a less good mp3 than ripping a CD directly into Mp3?

 

[MindsMirror]

  Well, many players are bit perfect and you know, they are not the same.

The only way the "bit perfect sounds different during playback" argument is even remotely valid is because playback must ultimately involve a conversion to analog, and doing something different digitally can affect things like power supply noise or whatever (I'm not familiar with every supporting argument for it), that in turn could possibly affect the analog output. There is no conversion to analog when ripping a CD to your hard drive.
 
Even if you do support the "bit perfect can sound different during playback" argument, there is no way you can argue that a verified accurately ripped file can be different to another ripped by different software. If it were different, the software would not have verified it as accurately ripped in the first place.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Sounds good to me, if I am given the chance to test the full version for a while it cannot be negative.
 
I can of course compare it myself with EAC, but I may miss to notice some important differences. It could be good if somebody could point out the more important ones. Considering that I have suddenly changed idea about buying Fidelizer, dBpoweramp would be the first software I buy in my life. I would like it to be for something.
 
Being able to convert to two formats at same time is a nice thing, if instead of AAC could be Mp3. And if by that the double conversion does not last as much as two individual ones.
 
What about converting a flac into mp3? Would this give a less good mp3 than ripping a CD directly into Mp3?

 
Any old free CD drive/ripper can give you a perfectly accurate rip of CDs the vast majority of the time. That's not the issue. What you should be considering are the features. I keep both dBpoweramp and EAC installed because they have different error correction. Sometimes one program fixes errors on damaged discs better and sometimes it's the other. But I very much prefer dBpoweramp for its features, interface, ease of use, etc.
 
Spend some time on the website to learn about it. You'll need to learn how to use it most effectively if you want to rip tons of CDs to two different formats at the same time and have everything organized the way you want.
 
I recommend 256 kbps AAC because it gives you lower file size (for portable use) with no loss of quality compared to 320 kbps MP3.
 
If the same settings are used, then the file would be the same whether it's ripped from a CD or converted from a lossless file.

 

[Makiah S]

  Sounds good to me, if I am given the chance to test the full version for a while it cannot be negative.
 
I can of course compare it myself with EAC, but I may miss to notice some important differences. It could be good if somebody could point out the more important ones. Considering that I have suddenly changed idea about buying Fidelizer, dBpoweramp would be the first software I buy in my life. I would like it to be for something.
 
Being able to convert to two formats at same time is a nice thing, if instead of AAC could be Mp3. And if by that the double conversion does not last as much as two individual ones.
 
What about converting a flac into mp3? Would this give a less good mp3 than ripping a CD directly into Mp3?

I still use EAC my self honestly, rip to flac with logs ect... but I use dBpower for my transcodes, 
 
still though I don't recommend buying software to rip, I've used FooBar for transcodes as well and it works too :3 EAC an FooBar are enough imo, they take a little extra work but I think given the "free" price tag, it's not an issue 

 

[Music Alchemist]

Know what's really interesting? I talked to a guy who was able to pass ABX tests comparing 24-bit, lossless 16-bit, and 256 kbps AAC, meaning that he could reliably tell the difference. Upon further inspection, I discovered that he used foobar2000 to convert the files. I recommended that he use dBpoweramp instead. After he converted the files with dBpoweramp, he could not tell them apart at all! Go figure.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Just do what HD tracks and the Pono Store do.

Upsample everything to 24 bit - 192 kHz for a massive perceived perception of sound quality!

 

[TheTrap]

  Know what's really interesting? I talked to a guy who was able to pass ABX tests comparing 24-bit, lossless 16-bit, and 256 kbps AAC, meaning that he could reliably tell the difference. Upon further inspection, I discovered that he used foobar2000 to convert the files. I recommended that he use dBpoweramp instead. After he converted the files with dBpoweramp, he could not tell them apart at all! Go figure.

I guess I will have to give dBpoweramp a try instead of EAC...though if memory serves me right EAC has a plugin for dB?

 

[Roseval]

Thanks for the Transcoding idea, but the need to have Mp3 is to save space on the mobile phone. It would not help having a player which can transcode flac. I just have too much music to put it in flac in a mobile phone.
But tell me, would I be losing much if I do my mp3 from the flac, instead of making them from the CD?
 
And, for Metadata you mean? As said I am out of the ripping thing since years. At that time metadata was CD-Text, and I had no CD with that function. Therefore I had to use Musicbrainz to tag all my Mp3.
 
That was my fear, that some programs could make strange things.
Anyway I do not have iTune, I am still a PC user.

I'm afraid you don't grasp the concept of transcoding.
You rip to FLAC and store the files on a PC.
There you maintain your library.
You build a play list. The media player uses the playlist to sync to a portable. While doing so it convert to a format like MP3 or AAC on the fly
An example: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MusicBee/MusicBee_Sync.htm
 
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