Ripping CDs

I asked and got some useful answers: http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,836.msg79919.html#msg79919.

 

So I'm trying out EAC right now, setting it up according to the guide in filesharingtalk that velvetx linked.

The immediate thing is that ripping CDs take a LOT longer. An album that took less than 5 minutes now takes over an hour and a half. Psalmanazar in the Changstar thread indicates that using a laptop CD drive is a big reason for this. I also think that I'd always been using burst mode on Foobar. Probably gonna play around with things a bit more and see if I can figure anything out. Might even consider picking up an external CD drive (probably a Bluray one).

One thing I really don't get though: the guide suggests that ripping to a named directory or to a nested folder is a bad idea. I can't for my life figure out why. Is this just a preference thing or is there something big that I'm missing?

 

The guide was written for certain websites.

 

I have a CD that visually looks pristine but had a lot of blips during playback (they're like tiny forward skips). They don't always happen so I could play a song 3 times and got errors in the first 1 or 2, and they could be in different places. Unfortunately, the CD is from Japan and is out of production. Creating an ISO image on a Mac failed completely. I tried ripping the songs using iTunes with error correction enabled, but the errors appeared in the resulting wav files (they were even more annoying that the real errors).

I'm now trying xACT, which runs Linux's cdda2wav probably with the -paranoia option. This option reads everything at least twice and empties the cache RAM of the CD-ROM drive. I can hear the drive moving back and forth and re-reading sections. It takes forever (hours for a CD), but if you have a damaged CD, this appears to be the way to go. It's not done yet, so I'll report back, but I tested some tracks that have already been extracted and they sound correct.

If this fails, I will try running cdda2wav from the command line (the application directory of xACT includes the command line utility) before succumbing to failure.

 

EAC Secure mode test and copy will probably end up like that too. I am guessing the CD has mastering or pressing flaws. Has anyone else ripped it in AccurateRip?

 

Unfortunately I don't have access to a windows machine; only Mac or Linux. I can run crdao and sox directly though assuming I can figure out the right flags.

 

I think the only reason for this recommendation is to avoid exceeding the max length for a path name (every OS has a limit to how many characters long a path can be). ie, sometimes the combination of artist/album/filename can get pretty long if you are in a nested folder structure.

 

Ah, that does make sense! Thanks.

 

This worked, but it's not flawless. Except for a couple of bad ones, the errors are mostly like crackles now. Perhaps there's not much that can be done with a bad pressing? Do you think crdao would do a good job?

 

If the issues keep moving around (never at the same time on a track) then I suggest doing multiple rips and splicing together good reads. Audacity is good to do this. Just make sure the timing of the cuts are pasted over the exact section of the waveform. I've done this once or twice on 1) a badly scratched CD and a 2) a badly manufactured CD.

 

When I use to run a Windows based computer system, dbpoweramp was pretty awesome. I now run Linux exclusively, and I use an old school way of ripping in a text window with a program called cdparanoia (created by the same individual that created the flac file format) to accurately rip tracks to WAV files. Then, I convert those files to flac, and I use a program called audacity (which is also available on Windows) to edit any flac files if needed. Nonetheless, for the last several years, most newer CD roms support a feature called something like Accurate Stream (some manufacturers might call it something else). Basically, that means that it will read the exact audio data from the tracks at a specific offset no matter how many times you read the data, and it is this that allows backend databases utilized by EAC and dbpoweramp to validate the rip. Basically they rely on this feature for consistent offsets and data. In short, consistent offsets are only important if you are attempting to validate against a single database to sync the starting point with which to validate the data, and every drive including normal CD players can start from a different starting point (e.g. offset). If you are using a more modern CDrom, it is probably less important to validate your rips against a database. It really gives people some piece of mind, and it might detect things like a failing CDrom which might be important to some.

 

Reviving a 7 year old thread! Has anything changed on the CD ripping front?

~20 years ago I used iTunes to rip my library in a lossless format because storage was expensive, and I couldn’t hear a difference on my gear at the time. Now that I can hear it, I’m re-ripping everything into ALAC files for roon.



@Merrick and @Inoculator suggested I look into dbpoweramp over using Apple Music again. AccurateRip helps with nervosa, however, not every rip is successful, even when the disc looks like a new mirror.


The optical drive I'm using right now is 8 years old, anyone have suggestions for better hardware?

 

I still use dbpoweramp. It’s good.

 

ASUS BW-16D1X-U
This one is quite good. I had issues with some of my older more used drives. particularly with bluspec(bluray equipment printed cd). Unsure what other alternatives exist, but it "measured" the best out of a few.

 

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?48320-CD-Drive-Accuracy-2022

And when you buy a new drive, make sure to go through the initial dbpoweramp calibration (with a scratched CD, etc.) to set the offsets and the error-detect configuration.

 

Another vote for dbpoweramp. Been using it for something like 10 years now.

 

I strongly prefer XLD (for Mac) or EAC (for Windows) over dB. Use the “test and rip” and log generation options for either XLD or EAC, and also make sure it doesn’t come up with any read errors. Ideally, you want zeros for “retry sector,” etc. But the key thing is that the rip not only matches the Accurip database, but also that the hash for your test run also matches the hash for the rip run.

Having a few drives at hand is also important. Some discs will rip perfectly on one drive, but not another. I have the Asus one mentioned above in my lineup, and it’s great. Echoing the above, I’d also recommend picking a highly rated internal drive on the Accurip accuracy list from another brand and putting it in an enclosure. I like the basic NexStar enclosure, and I’ve had good luck with the LG WH14NS40 drive.

Finally, use one of those “rocket” squeeze blowers or a can of compressed air to remove dust before ripping. If a disc has gunk on it, use some type of moist wipe and gas-station type towels to dry, wiping from the center to the edge.

 

Seconding some of the comments above.

I referred to the older 2019 dbpoweramp drive accuracy guide when choosing a new drive last year and it's a very useful resource. At the time there were pandemic supply issues severely restricting choice, but I ended up with an Asus DRW-24D5MT which I have been happy with after about 100 rips. Paid around £16 for the drive + about the same again for a SATA to USB3 adaptor to use with my Macbook pro.

Like @Josh83 I also use XLD on Mac and find it works very well as long as it's set up and used correctly.

 

XLD is more configurable and IMO powerful than dbpoweramp but can be a bitch to set up and is easy to mess things up accidentally. I use XLD as well.

 

dbpoweramp user here. I like it.
I bought this external drive since my latest build didn't have a slot for an optical drive.