Since this is my first post, mods: feel free to move/delete this, if necessary. Cheers.

I was about 1/10 of the way ripping my CDs to WAV files when I realized, "Wait, I should perhaps be using an encoder more precise than iTunes, and a format better than WAV." So, after a bit of research on the 'net and especially the HA wiki (which is awesome, by the way), I've decided to use FLAC, and I'm leaning toward EAC. Which brings me to a few questions, of which the second is probably the most important.

1.) Does anyone have any alternate suggestions for a ripping program (and possible reasons / advantages over EAC)? CDex was mentioned on the wiki...

2a.) Should I compress to FLAC a.) as I go (with, for example, REACT) or b.) later on (with, for example, Catwalk)?
2b.) If a., should I use FLACATTACK, MAREO, or REACT? (Do they all support encoding to two formats at once*? I'd like to encode to FLAC and MP3.)
2c.) If b., should I use Catwalk or another program? And, again, does it support encoding to multiple formats at once*?

3.) I've read that FLAC supports Vorbis comments; I've never used them, but I'm assuming they're fairly similar to ID3 tags. However, FLAC also supports cue sheets. I have a vague idea of what those are--txt files that have the track info. So why does FLAC use both, and which should I be using when I rip my CDs?

I hope that wasn't too much for one thread! Thanks for any and all help.


* by "multiple formats" I mean the ability to convert WAVs to two file types and save them in two directories, e.g. start with C:/WAVs/artist/album/*.WAV and end with C:/FLACs/artist/album/*.flac *AND* C:/MP3s/artist/album/*.mp3.

Wow, you're doing the same thing I'm doing..

but I just used this guide.. dunno if it'll help -- http://users.pandora.be/satcp/eac-qs-en.htm

I'd also like to know if you could convert one to flac and one to MP3 but I doubt it 'cause there is only one option for compressor

Hmm. So I could encode to FLAC with EAC and the codec and then batch-convert into a lossy format later on. That may be better than REACT/MAREO/etc.

Yeah, Vorbis tags store meta-data like id3. Cue sheets _can_ store track info, but it's not their primary purpose, and they're not best used as a total substitue for meta tags. Though if you rip albums into single file images, then cue sheets are very useful for storing individual track data. Another thing they're used for is burning copies, especially if you want to exactly replicate the original disc (including pre-gaps and all).

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Gap_settings
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=EAC_CUE_Sheets

{edit} Note that if you use EAC's default method of appending gaps to the previous track, then you get what is known as "non-compliant" cue sheets. Many burning (and player) apps do not support them. Though EAC (of course) and Burrrn do... And of course you can alway burn copies without a cue sheet, if you don't care about things like replicating the pre-gaps, or including CD-TEXT, etc...

Thanks for the clarification, Cosmo. I appreciate it.