Great forums here. I am confident you guys can lead me in the right direction.

I'm a PC user and I use Itunes, an Ipod and occasionally Windows Media Player. I wouldn't consider myself a complete audiophile but more like 1/2 of an audiophile, if that's possible. I have a decent home theater/stereo system and enjoy my music. I am computer literate and have built many systems in the past.

I have about 300 Cd's that I need to rip. When I first decided that I was going to digitize my entire collection, I figured I would just use Itunes for ripping and everything would be fine. Then I started doing some research and several hours later, my head is spinning!

I found a guide on this forum located HERE and quite franky, it made my head spin. I thought this was going to be a simple process but apparently I was wrong and that's okay but I want to make sure I don't go overboard if I don't need to.

I also read about an all-in-one program called J. River Media Center and that seems like a decent option but I wanted your ("The Experts") opinions before I begin my endeavour.

I do think it important to archive the rips in a loss-less format the future but as I indicated above, that guide I located on these forums scares me!

So, any help you guys can give me would be really appreciated.

Exact Audio Copy with accuraterip plugin - will rip your CD's with measurable accuracy (if the disc is in the database).

Will encode using any command line encoder (LAME (for MP3), OGGENC, FLAC, TaK, etc, etc).

Should you wish at any time to transcode, I would reccommend Foobar2000 as it is more than up to the task (with relevant plugins if necessary).

I am ripping my collection to FLAC (lossless) and will transcode probably to LAME or OGG for DAP use.

You can even ditch EAC altogether and use foobar2000 to rip. I've yet to have a single issue with it, and it's quite secure. What's more, it's very automated and simple to set up. Since Peter implemented secure ripping functionality, I haven't used EAC once.

So is there a process that you guys would recommend for me?

Rip to Lossless codec of choice using EAC Secure Mode, using Freedb to tag all the tracks;
Store on large HDD and / or burn to DVD;
Transcode as needed for DAP use using Foobar2000.
Enjoy!

Thanks for the reply Nick but you're speaking Greek to me. Could you explain a little further?

Freedb to tag? Won't EAC do this?

Transcode? DAP?

Sorry.....

EAC will automatically search Freedb and find track listing information if it is there.

Encoder settings (found on this site) will append the relevant tags when EAC does the initial rip & encode.

(Store files to medium of choice for long term archive in lossless format here.....)

Transcoding is where you take a file in, say, FLAC format and convert it to, say LAME (mp3) format. This is a drag, drop, few clicks exercise in Foobar2000, again with the right encoder installed and settings in place.

DAP = digital audio player - iPod / mp3 player to the general populace.....

Would you be so kind as to give me some assistance in the settings I should use with EAC? Foobar2000?

What do you mean by having right encoder installed and settings in place?

I'm with Canar, foobar2000 gives great results and also has built-in GUIs for most encoders and their settings.

You should use foobar2000 for ripping. It's very simple. and the result in secure mode is as good as EAC.

You can start by download and install foobar2000. and download encoder of your choice and put it in foobar2000 directory.

Then open foobar2000. and go File > Open audio CD. You get the picture.

For EAC, check the relevant guides in the hydrogen audio wiki.

For foobar, the process is quite simple. If you're ripping to mp3, get the lame mp3 encoder from rarewares.org. Extract the zip file. Copy the lame.exe to foobar2000 directory.

Now insert a cd in your drive, open foobar. Use the "rip" option in the play audio cd to rip the cd. Be sure to enable Secure ripping.

(* If you're using flac/wavpack/ogg/aac/anything else, find the encoder .exe file and copy it to foobar2000 directory)

So are you guys suggesting that I just rip to MP3 and forget about FLAC altogether?

I truly am grateful for all of your guys help! What a great community!

What?

download foobar and install.

download flac > http://flac.sourceforge.net/download.html

get this one > FLAC for Windows (command-line tools only)

in sourceforge page get > flac-1.2.0-win.zip

unzip it. then move Flac.exe to where you installed foobar. and you are good to go.

and who said "just rip to MP3 and forget about FLAC altogether" ?

@realdeal99

I think you should keep a couple of things in mind:

You're ripping a sizable amount of cds (300). So, i think you should try to get things right the first time, than reach a point in the future where you say to yourself "damn i should have done it differently" and start ripping all over again.

With that said, i think the best way to go is to rip to some lossless format and either MP3 or AAC for your ipod. Now, i know people will say you can rip to X format (where X is usually OGG or MPC) and use Rockbox on your ipod. It's up to you... just remember that MP3 MAY require a larger size to become "transparent" when compared to the more modern encoders like AAC or OGG, but when you use the -V2 preset (check the HA wiki so this doesn't appear greek to you ), i can guarantee that MOST of your music will be transparent. Plus MP3 is natively supported EVERYWHERE. That to me is a HUGE bonus. No need to tweak around or twiddle with things if you need to get MP3 working .

Now, you need to pick a lossless format. As you can see in the article called "LOSSLESS CODECS' in the HA wiki, there are a fair number of lossless codecs. However, I'd recommend you choose from one of:

* Flac: Has the most hardware support (in case you decide you need to play lossless files in your portable. why you'd want to do that is a different question ). However, Flac doesn't compress as well as the others in this list.

* Wavpack: Usually compresses better than flac, without being noticably slow to encode to or decode to. Is open source, is supported by a fair number of devices and programs.

* Tak: New kid on the block. This was the codec i used when i was ripping to lossless files. Has kickass compression, AND decodes fast. On the downside, is supported by few software programs and NO hardware at the moment. However, the codec is very new and will surely gain traction as time goes by.


Now ripping program. I know people have recommended foobar, but i think since it's something you do ONCE, you should use EAC. It's not rocket science. Print that guide and do as it says. As long as you can follow directions it shouldn't be difficult. However, an easier route might be to use dbpoweramp. Give the program a look if you decide you don't want EAC.

If i were you, i'd use EAC to rip to TAK. Then use foobar to convert all the TAK files to MP3. Or if you're bold enough, use REACT (see wiki for REACT guide) to rip to TAK AND MP3 at the same time!

Regarding ripping in foobar2000 vs. EAC. It shouldn't much matter if your discs are in good condition and your drive performs well. However, I have seen things EAC could rip correctly that foobar2000 could not; but never the other way around. Furthermore, foobar2000 does not have AccurateRip support (unless there's a new version available).

If your drive provides C2 pointers, dBpowerAMP R12 Reference is your best bet though it is not free of charge.

realdeal99,

If you find EAC or foobar2000 too technical and difficult to configure you could try J. River Media Center, as you mentioned in your first post. It might be a perfect solution for you. It is quite easy to use, it has a secure ripper and it can rip in various audio formats.

Personally, I use mostly EAC for ripping in the "disc image file & cue sheet" format and JRMC only for file database and playback, but I have recommended JRMC to many friends as an easier secure ripper program. It produces excellent results in the normal "separate track files" mode.

Two years ago I posted some useful ripping tips in this thread at J.River's user forum: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=29157.0

You can download the latest JRMC build from this link (currently v. 12.0.294): http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=41759.0. It has a 30-day try out period (fully working).

I think I will use JRMC as suggested. Once I rip to FLAC format, would foobar2000 be the best way to convert to MP3?

You can as well convert the files with JRMC. It uses the latest officially released LAME encoder (v. 3.97) and the HA recommended VBR options by default. It downloads the LAME encoder automatically when it is needed for the first time. Depending on what you want to do with the MP3 files you may find the on-the-fly conversion and MP3 cache features useful with DAPs.

For JRMC + FLAC you need to download the FLAC plugins (In_FLAC and Enc_FLAC) from here: http://mcplugins.sourceforge.net/files.html

Remember to enable the secure ripping mode & rip logging before starting (you can find instructions in the link I posted).


Edit: typo

Does JRMC support any type of replay gain for FLAC as well as the conversion to MP3?

If you use an iPod only iTunes is the only thing you need. You can rip to Apple Lossless for archiving and create extra copies in AAC lossy if you need more songs in your iPod. If more compatibility is necessary (other players) I suggest using Lame MP3 via Foobar2000. Foobar can convert from Apple Lossless to MP3 (via Lame) using a plugin DLL.

I agree with a lot of guys here, I used to use EAC a lot but then switched over to Foobar2000, this is a great all rounder player and encoder, also has some very impressive tagging and file renaming features.

In case you want to give EAC a try anyway I highly recommend the guide in my signiture.

I STRONGLY suggest using a program that uses AccurateRip, either EAC or dbpoweramp. This is more important then secure mode ripping for helping verify rips. My personal preference is to rip to lossless (FLAC), but your needs may vary.

Yep, why not? AccurateRip is an almost costless (in terms of time/effort) check.

A choice to be made, is tracks vs images. I have an images bias, others might disagree.

Something else I'd recommend if you don't have it already- a DIGITAL connection between your computer and your stereo. Since you say you have a home-theater sound system you most likely have digital audio input. If you get a sound card with digital output (USB cards are available if you don't want to rip open the case) and connect it to your system you can use your computer as a jukebox (itunes is fine for that) and have perfect distortion-free sound. The discussion of which lossless ripper is "more perfect" seems moot when you add the static and ground-loop hum of an analog connection to the mix.

Is that how most of you do it? Or do some buy amps with the capability of streaming MP3's from your network?

In my case, my stereo already had digital input, and my computer already had digital output, and the two were not that far apart, so putting the two together only required one cable (nothing to buy because I already had the cable laying around in spare parts). A lot cheaper than buying a special machine just for streaming. Your situation and your setup may be different.

Hey guys, I'm back. Just about completed with ripping my 300+ CD collection to the .FLAC format using J River Media Center and getting ready to convert to .mp3. Before I do so, I just wanted to check to see if you guys had any tips on the conversion to .mp3.

I was going to convert to .mp3 using VBR at high quality via Media Center using LAME.

Is this okay?

J. River Media Center: so easy a caveman can use it.

(Sorry, I just couldn't help myself!)

I think a little translation from the JR jargon to the HA lingo is needed before the members of this forum can answer your question.

Media Center MP3 VBR High = LAME 3.97 -V2 --vbr-new

It is one of the recommended settings and it should be fine if you intend to use this quality level.

Perhaps you could replace the release version of the LAME 3.97 encoder (= the lame.exe file in the [MC program path]/Plugins folder) with the latest 3.98 beta 5 version. Some HA users have reported that certain problem samples have improved. However, the possible quality differences are small and rare and it is not very likely that you would hear these differences in casual listening.

In any case you should keep the FLAC files in a safe archive so that you can easily convert new lossy copies using some other setting/encoder version/format if ever needed.