yet another new user here. Didn't find this after much searching so...
I didn't phrase the title of this topic very well - I meant to get an opinion of s/w for ripping to FLAC, wondering if the different prgrams implemnet different verions of flac encoders, e.g., foobar's encoder vs EAC or dbpoweramp.

Is it ok - in terms of audio quality - to use foobar to rip a CD to FLAC or are there better apps? I notice some people use EAC. Is foobar's decoder or encoder or w/e different than EAC or dbpoweramp?

The reason many HA users use EAC is its error correction algorithm (plus gap detection, offset correction and pre-gap ripping capabilities). I don't know about dbPowerAmp, but in terms of error correction, foobar2000 provides about the same reliability.

Regarding FLAC: As it's a lossless codec, there are no audio quality differences between different encoders. Neither EAC nor foobar2000 have a built-in FLAC encoder, so both can use the same external encoder.


Both yes.

cool - thank you for the reply!

foobar has a FLAC encoder? Does it come with the standard foobar setup (as in, is downloading the FLAC codec off their website useless?)

Thanks

"neither nor" means that one doesn't have, and the other doesn't have. No FLAC encoders are included in EAC or foobar2000.

Ok, so I didn't download it for nothing.

As usual I found some more threads regarding ripping after posting my q- although (as usual) I cannot find them again. But one thread compared EAC and foobar for secure FLAC and concluded that it seemed a bit of a toss up - each had it's own quirks. On an EAC forum (I think) there was alot of discussion over the "accuracy" of the rips among sofftwares and even drives. In the end it probably doesn't make that big of a diff to the ears or to anything else, but I don't know if one can just say right it off that foobar, EAC, or dbpoweramp are the all the same. One might say that there are more important things in life to be concerned about