Audio-extraction tool of choice?

[ddrueding]

CDex? EAC? Something else? Why?

 

[CougTek]

EAC with Lame 0.90 beta 4.

why.

 

[Groltz]

EAC 0.95b3 because it is free and it is the standard for high quality audio extraction.

 

[sechs]

I use CDex 1.60.

It doesn't have the accuracy that EAC offers, but is considerably easier to use. If you're going to be ripping a good disk to a lossey format with a reasonable drive, then you're unlikely to notice any difference between the two.

 

[CougTek]

EAC 0.95b3 because it is free and it is the standard for high quality audio extraction.

Since when? When did they finally replaced 0.90 beta 4 has the most accurate version?

I based my 0.90b4 recommendation above on the stuff written in the ÜberStandard 3.1 Specification. Has there been any updates I'm not awared of.

 

[Groltz]

Since when what?

When was the last version released? v0.95b3 was released on August 30 of last year.

Since when was it free? Well this is what the author states:

"As I mentioned before, this program is and will be Cardware. This means, using the program will cost you no money, but a nice picture postcard from your hometown or a beautiful countryside nearby (perhaps it will also be possible to use a nice stamp for sending the postcard). "

I just haven't got around to sending the guy a postcard of the Salishan (Tacoma) slum or a nice authentic Pierce County methlab.

 

[Stereodude]

I use the latest EAC with the accuraterip plugin.

 

[mubs]

I just haven't got around to sending the guy a postcard of the Salishan (Tacoma) slum or a nice authentic Pierce County methlab.

No matter what they say about you, you're all right, Groltz

 

[CougTek]

I meant since when version 0.95b3 is the standard?

The -alt presets have been made to give the best results with version 0.90b4. They are not optimised for 0.95b3 unless things have changed since last time I checked. There must be some improvements in 0.95b3 over 0.90b4, but these have changed the way the songs are encoded and hence, 0.95b3 won't give as good results with the -alt presets as version 0.90b4.

 

[CougTek]

Ok, now I'm all screwed up between the ripping and encoding programs and their versions. Pay no attention to the above. I need to sleep.

 

[CougTek]

EAC 0.90b4 to rip and Lame 3.90b3 to encode.

Read the f**cking Uberstandard link I posted above for the reasons as I'm apparently in no intellectual shape to post anything that make sense this evening.

Discs MUST be ripped with Exact Audio Copy.

* The version of EAC used SHOULD be 0.9 beta 4. Pre-beta versions (except 0.95 beta 2; it has not been tested and MUST NOT be used) 0.95pb4 and so on are unstable, have important features removed (for "legal reasons") and have known bugs involving the tags; you SHOULD avoid them but MAY use them. (You are responsible for ensuring the tags are OK if you use them as AQScript doesn't have fixes for their bugs yet.) If you wish to go back to 0.9b4 you will need to deinstall and then delete registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AWSoftware so that 0.9b4 doesn't crash.

* The Read Mode used MUST be EXACTLY: "Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache" as listed in the log (follow the ÜberGuide to learn how to set this, as it is not as obvious as it seems).

* EAC's ripping .LOG file MUST be saved to verify the integrity of the rip.

* All audio tracks (even silent tracks) MUST be ripped.

* Suspicious positions or sync or read errors MUST NOT be allowed (they indicate unrecoverable errors, try cleaning the CD and retrying, see DiscWontRip and the rest of the KnowledgeBase).

* You MAY rip with Test & Copy instead of just Copy (OPTIONAL).

* Read offset MAY be used (but MUST be correct if it is, MUST be 0 if unknown). Read offset SHOULD NOT be determined using EAC, but AccurateRip instead, EAC may well give wrong results! If using a read offset, Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out SHOULD be used if the drive can properly support it, but just Lead-In or Lead-Out is not enough (detect with EAC, double check by ripping something as a test - if you see clicks at start/end of tracks or disc, your drive does not support it), but MUST NOT be used if the drive cannot (do not tick that box if you are not **SURE** - Plextors are the usual ones that can). Combined read/write offset MUST NOT be used (but does no harm only if set to 0). See also: ReadOffset(?)

* Normalisation MUST NOT be used.

* The installed external Nero ASPI (WNASPI32.DLL), which should be saved to the EAC directory, SHOULD be used under Windows 2000, Windows XP or later (this prevents 99% of EAC-doesn't-work problems before they start).

* CUE files MAY be produced (if so, gap detection accuracy MUST be Secure - retrieval method does not matter), but are seldom used.

* Synchronize between tracks MUST be used.

* Skip track extraction on read or sync errors MUST be used.

* Error recovery quality MUST be set to High.

* Delete leading and trailing silent blocks MUST NOT be used.

* A compression offset MUST NOT be used.

* Rip as track, you MUST NOT rip as ranges.

* IFPI "Copy Control" Logo, roughly a circle with cut out triangle in it, and same again inside, broadly resembles CCYou are responsible for the rip's integrity.

 

[Groltz]

EAC is both a ripper and an encoder (when the appropriate codec is added).

The newest versions of EAC still have the "command line options" block that you can use presets in.

 

[ddrueding]

Wow, I guess I shouldn't ask unless I'm ready to get the whole answer. I did a double-blind listening test today and couldn't tell the difference between the latest version in "xtreme" and the "reference" version...


...that's it. I fail the audiophile test....

 

[Buck]

Wow, I guess I shouldn't ask unless I'm ready to get the whole answer. I did a double-blind listening test today and couldn't tell the difference between the latest version in "xtreme" and the "reference" version...


...that's it. I fail the audiophile test....

Time for another drink.

 

[Gilbo]

Since all my computers use Linux, I simply use cdparanoia, and flac on the command line. I rarely burden my main PC with the ripping. Instead, I pop the CD into one of the headless servers or even the old music playing boxes. There are various scripts available that will automatically look up freedb information, tag everything, and encode to various formats. I only use flac. Metaflac (a tool included with the flac package) sets ReplayGain values (a lossless normalization method that uses tags containing the max volume of the song, the whole album and the average volume so that decent audio players that respect ReplayGain tags can adjust their playback volume automatically).

For portable use, I actually moved back to tapes about a year or two ago so I haven't needed mp3s. One day, I'll buy an mp3 player. The Rio Karma (sorry for the IGN link full of advertising, but it's the most thorough review I could quickly find using google) was very interesting, but I never got around to ordering one for some reason. I particularly liked the web-based interface over ethernet feature.

For Windows, however, just these past holidays I setup music ripping software for my father who uses Windows (he got an IPod), so I got all reaquainted with it. I use EAC to rip. Mareo allows easy, automatic configuration of multiple backends, so it runs flac, as well as lame, and lastly mp3gain on the mp3s that lame outputs. This produces lossless archival files in one directory structure, as well as portable-friendly, normalized mp3s in another directory structure for iTunes to play with. It does all this with the click of a single button (once you get it all configured). Works great .