Need FLAC ripping advice, Total newbie Options

[marvel]

Hi folks,

Years ago I ripped my entire CD collection to high bitrate VBR MP3 using EAC. These days drive space is dirt cheap and I have Squeezeboxes connected to some decent audio equipment, so I want to re-rip my entire collection to FLAC in hopes that I'll never need to rip these CDs again (lossless is lossless, right? So I can re-encode to anything else at will without pulling the CDs out of storage again?). I'm looking for some basic information:

1. A link to a good guide for EAC to FLAC ripping to help me get the various settings right.

2. I want to know more about ripping an entire album to a single file. I didn't even know this was possible until literally 5 minutes ago. How does this work? It sounds ideal but I still have some concerns, mainly:

2a: Can my Squeezeboxes see and play individual tracks this way?
2b: Can I drag & drop individual tracks into a program like Nero for making custom CDs?
2c: What other possibilities does this open up? Embedded album art, id3 tags, ??
2d: Other pros / cons to this method vs. individual tracks?

I thank you in advance for your responses to these generic newbie questions.

This post has been edited by marvel: Oct 19 2008, 00:26

[Synthetic Soul]

2. I want to know more about ripping an entire album to a single file. I didn't even know this was possible until literally 5 minutes ago. How does this work? It sounds ideal but I still have some concerns

I rip to single file (often called an 'image' here). EAC creates an image with an accompanying cue sheet. The image holds all the audio information, while the cue sheet records the meta data (artist, titles, etc.) and the track index points (where tracks start).

2b: Can I drag & drop individual tracks into a program like Nero for making custom CDs?

I don't think so. This method is purely for burning an exact replica of the whole CD. You can play individual files in supporting players like foobar. foobar would also let you extract a track to a single file to burn in Nero. You may be able to create a mix and burn it in foobar, using its cue sheet reading ability and burning component together (so that may acually be a 'yes').

2c: What other possibilities does this open up? Embedded album art, id3 tags, ??

You can embed album art and tag the image. Of course, you can do this with tracks also.

2d: Other pros / cons to this method vs. individual tracks?

Take a look at one of my older posts.

Pros:

• You do not need to consider gaps
• You do not need to worry about HTOA tracks (if your drive can rip them)
• If you embed the cue sheet in a tag you only need to worry about one file.

Cons:

• Not as flexible as separate tracks
• Limited number of burners and players

I use images for my lossless copy, as it is easier to archive, and will back-up the disc more easily. However, I use tracks for my lossy MP3 collection, as they are more flexible and far better supported.

Edit: Wow, how long did I take writing that post, I must have fallen asleep part way through. HotshotGG's link is even better.

This post has been edited by Synthetic Soul: Oct 19 2008, 08:22