So I finally got REACT working with EAC (I just had problems...) I'm using the SS Mod REACT mainly to just rip my audio files in two formats: FLAC and MP3. I do have a few concerns, though...

1. My FLAC files are encoding noticeably faster than my MP3 files. I have FLAC set on --best, even... just wondering if this is something to worry about. I really want to have an excellent archive of my music collection.

2. How do I embed cue-sheets in the FLAC files? Or even get cue sheets at all? Like I said, I want a flawless collection.

3. Is there any way to flag my media as "read only" after it's been written? I've heard of some programs automatically embedding album art into audio files. I don't want that. I simply want my album art to be a file within the folder.

4. Speaking of Album Art, where did it go? My Art Downloader was running... but now for some reason it doesn't run any more. I start my ripping process by clicking the 'mp3' button on the left. Should I be doing something different? Is it not running because a setting saved somewhere that it already ripped it for this CD? (I've been practicing on the same CD to try and get things working)

Also, for kicks, here is my INI file. I would love any recommendations.

I can easily answer part of this question. In your react.ini, you can specify cue sheet creation by changing the CreateAllCuesheet line. You need to have it say this:

Lossless is lossless... the only difference is the size. Granted I haven't used FLAC for over 7 months now, but I could have sworn it was slower than MP3 encoding.
EDIT: You could set the INI Debug=1 so that you can manually check that the WAV tracks are being losslessly encoded into the FLACs with shntool.

There is no point to embedding CUEs when you aren't ripping to images

Good question. Mine stopped working too. I just installed the latest album art downloader from SourceForge and it worked fine.


And you should be hitting either F4 or F5 to properly engage REACT ripping for track mode, as far as I know.

My encoding speed is much faster with Wavpack than for mp3 so its probably ok.Unsure whether flac would be the same but I would assume that its encoding should be "about" the same. However
I rip to wavpack images so that might also play a role....

Could you explain this a little more? I don't understand... ripping to images?

An image is referred to here as a single [contiguous] media file containing all tracks of a CD. For practicality, a CUE sheet contains all the track and time data for that CD. This used to have advantages for preserving correct gap information, however EAC's non-standard CUE sheets can handle this properly. For convenience, users will embed the CUE into their *-image (FLAC, WavPack, and APE support this) so that players like FooBar2000 can play the image as if it were single files.

When one uses individual files per track, the CUE sheet becomes nothing more than a playlist (except for burning purposes). The CUE would point tracks, and points of time that do not exist in the single track file.

I recommend further reading the Wiki on CUE Sheets.

There's a newer mod you might want to use: Akkurat's Mod.

Do you want to add "read only" TAGS (do these actually exist and if they do, are they any good?) or do you want to protect the files on the filesystem level? You can add read-only attribute to files using ATTRIB. Here's an example for FLAC tracks (in REACT-track.cfg):

Remember to add the ATTRIB command also to your Mp3 section (which is couple of lines below the lines in the example code above).


Actually it's just F4 for tracks and F10 for images.

"F4 = Activates Shift-F5 in EAC (Copy selected tracks - Compressed). Optionally, it also starts CoverDownloader\albumart. You may edit REACT.ini and set TracksHotVal=+{F6} if you want to do Test & Copy instead of Copy only. If the INI key CreateAllCuesheets=1, all four cuesheet types are saved as different files as well." <-- from REACT wiki article.

Note that the Test=0 INI setting is doing the same as the TracksHotVal=+{F5}. I myself use the TEST setting (it's faster&easier to change) if I need to have a secure + copy&test rips for "not-AccurateRip'd" CD's.

Maybe it would be worth keeping specifically for burning the FLAC back onto a CD if I needed?


After a closer look, that seems to be the one I'm actually using. Not sure why I thought I was using the other one...


This is actually exactly what I wanted. Thank you!


Well, Using F4 I run into some problems that maybe you can help me with.

After pressing F4, the Album Art Downloader now seems to run correctly, however, it doesn't go much past that. After selecting my preferred album cover I get a prompt to save a .cue file, which I just take the default path (somewhere in My Documents) and then EAC seems to just do nothing for a short time... and then eventually I get a REACT: Missing Cue File error that says "Unable to move cuesheet. File does not exist. Canceling will abort the rip." Even if I click Retry and point it directly the the .cue I just 'saved', it still comes up with the error box.

I really appreciate everyone's help. I swear, I'm usually pretty 'tech savvy'. I don't know why I'm having a hard time with this...

This is a well known bug currently in the mod. It's in my TODO list. It's also listed in my Akkurat's REACT mod download/info/etc. thread as "Cuesheet generation problems when "Standard directory for extraction: Ask every time" option is set in EAC.".

You can bypass this by changing that option in EAC options -> Directories -> Use this directory.

Correct. However, I only trust images with CUE sheets for reburning my CDs. Now a days, there are no reasons for this as my standard other than my preferences and prejudices.


My preferences and prejudices (skip if you don't care):

Thanks for all the help.

I now seem to have REACT working 100%. I think.

I want to thank you two especially, Akkurat and SamHain86. I have my files come out as read-only, and I've decided to just not bother with embedded cue sheets.

Though everything is working, I have never been satisfied with "well enough". I have a few more questions in hopes to make my music archiving experience even better.

1. Why does the album art get copied to the folder as the file name "folder.jpg"? I would almost rather prefer "Artist - Album.jpg" unless there is a specific reason for calling it folder.jpg.

2. I'm not sure if I want the album art copied to both the FLAC and the MP3 folders. I'm thinking I'd rather just have it copied with the FLAC files since that is going to be my primary library.

3. I'm choosing to rip in both FLAC and MP3 to have both an excellent music library and also a format for portable media players. I chose MP3 because I don't know what media playing device I'll eventually buy and that MP3 is likely to be compatible with everything. After research it a little more, I'm almost wondering if there would be a better format... maybe AAC? What do you think?

4. Any other tips or advice for having the perfect music library?

I really appreciate all the help, guys!

Edit: I just realized my MP3's aren't getting tagged. Looking through the config file, it seems it uses a program titled metamp3.exe to tag them - which I do not have. Where is the best place to get this program?

Google is your friend, check Windows XP Tips 'n' Tricks, scroll down to Add album art to any music folder.

Are you familiar with Dos batch language? All these fine tunings can be done to the REACT-track.cfg.

Find IF NOT @Flac@==1 GOTO end_flac_tracks in your REACT-track.cfg file and couple of lines below that you'll find:

Change that to:

And if you really don't want to copy cover to Mp3 folder, find the IF NOT @LameMP3@==1 GOTO end_lame_tracks spot in the same file and edit the same line as in Flac part to:

So you don't want cover images in your Mp3 file folders? And you don't embed cover images into files. Don't you want to see the cover images in your portable device when you play your Mp3 files? I recommend embedding the images to the files. It's the best & easiest way to make sure that cover images are always with your music.


IMHO you can't go wrong with Mp3, I think it's the absolutely most supported format today.. and I believe that's not going to change soon. Also Flac is very well supported and it's popularity is growing.


Well since you are saving a cuefile for possible later CD burning, you could check REACT:Amending Cuesheet File References wiki guide.

Also you might like to create playlists? Check REACT:Creating A Playlist.

Want to "backup" the data tracks in CD's? Check REACT:Backup DATA Track. (it basically copies the files available in windows filesystem)


You should have it if you have downloaded the original REACT!! It includes all the other tools also (though some little bit old, but you can update them manually). The tools are in *doh* tools subfolder. Please check REACT 2, EAC plugin.

On a side note, this is what I worried about back then when I suggested some changes to how to provide/introduce REACT to new users. The information and downloads are badly scattered around HA Forum and Wiki.

Yeah, I figured that's why they would be named folder.jpg. I am moderately familiar it batch files and I was going to go make that change. After having your input, I will. Thanks!


It just seems like a waste of space. I have ten songs all from the same album, and all have a copy of the exact same image file. Nine of those are wasted space.


I'll stick with MP3 then. Thanks.


I actually wasn't planning on saving cuesheets... think I should?


Yikes! I didn't download the original REACT. I went and downloaded it now just for the tools folder. Think I would need to REACT now or anything? Seems to be working fine now, but yeah, I only downloaded the mod... I think.


Yeah, I'm not sure why it seemed so tough. Maybe just because there isn't a great single source of documentation. I also think I had the problem that I would run into old or obsolete information when looking for help.

Also, REACT doesn't seem to be tagging my FLAC files quite right. I see they have a "Track Number" tag and a "Total Tracks" tag. Track Number is set to 1/12 leaving Total Tracks completely blank. Wouldn't it make more sense to put a 1 in Track Number and a 12 in Total Tracks? I assume it can be fixed in the ini or config files, but I just thought I'd put that out there.

Thanks again for all the help.

Of course it's your decision what to do but I see it like this: example, my "The Return Of The Space Cowboy" (japan) album by Jamiroquai in Flac (-5 encoding) takes about 411 MB, the cover image is 164 KB (very good quality 500x500px), total of 13 images (1 folder.jpg & 12 embedded) are about 2 MB. So, the images are just ~0,5 percents (2*100/411) of the whole thing. You have a collection of 300 CD's -> that's about 100 GB in Flac, images would take about 600 MB, the percentage stays about the same of course. Too much? Hard disk space is cheap. I don't use --best (or -8) encoding of Flac files because I tested that the gain from -5 to -8 would only be 1-2 MB per CD, BUT, the encoding would be noticeably slower... AND the decoding (playing) is heavier on the battery of portable device.

Of course the ratio is different in Mp3's but I still wouldn't worry because SSD hard disk are coming and I bet that soon you can put your complete big collection of FLACs to a portable device.


Well, I don't know, it's up to you. You already talked little about this with SamHain86. Couldn't hurt to do it. It's harder to do after you have ripped your CD's. So think carefully what you want.. couldn't hurt to include even the smallest piece of information.. even things that doesn't make sense to you now. E.g. saving information (text) to tags takes up very little space but could turn out to be VERY useful in the future.


What do you mean "REACT now or anything"? I'd follow the 4 step instructions painted in red (in the download thread).


The tracknumber/totaltracks (to TRACK tag) is the default scheme in REACT and most people use that. You can change it if you want by editing the REACT-track.cfg file. By default, there's no "Total Tracks" tag in REACT configs, so I don't know where got that tag from (did you look at the actual tags of Flac file or did you look at some empty field in e.g. Winamp?). Actually, is there a supported "total tracks" tag in Flac? Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think so.

Alright, how do I save and embed the cue-sheet in my FLAC files? I asked earlier and don't think I ever got a straight answer.


Sorry, I must have been tired while posting. I meant to ask if you think I should reinstall REACT, since I never got the original and only got the MOD.


Yeah, when I open it it in Foobar there is a Total Tracks tag. I uploaded a small screen shot so you can see what I see: http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/4761/fo...metadatazj4.jpg

Are you ripping as one file per track or one file per disc?

It sounded like you're ripping one file per track. If this is true you already got a straight answer. It only makes sense to embed cue sheets when ripping one file per disc.

I don't like to use the term "image" to differentiate since multiple files can still consistute a lossless image.

Set the CreateAllCuesheets=1 in INI file and follow the instructions in REACT:Amending Cuesheet File References guide. This way you get cuesheet with corrected file references copied to your destination directory.

And if you really want to embed it to Flac files, see Flac documentation for metaflac (search for --import-cuesheet-from=FILE) and edit your config accordingly.


Hmm, have you configured EAC for use with REACT? Did you get this prompt when you started the first time? If not, you can do it by pressing CTRL+F2. I think that you should be ok if you have done this. But, if you're unsure, reinstall the whole thing by following the 4 step red colored instructions in the REACT download thread.


Well, it clearly shows just some selected default tags, NOT all the actual tags of that file. In example, there's COMPOSER and PERFORMER tags, these are not tagged with REACT. Also it doesn't show the ReplayGain tags. So REACT is doing nothing wrong. Winamp has this "basic info" tab which shows also only selected tags when viewing file info. But when you navigate to "Advanced" tab, it shows you all the tags the file has. Maybe the "Properties" tab in your Foobar screenshot shows all the tags too?

Thanks for all the help!

I am also a first time user of REACT2 and your mod. It all works so well and is such an improvement over plain EAC, I am so glad I got it working after looking at lots of posts and threads. Thank you in advance. My problem is the album art work. I have the latest version of AlbumArt.exe, I have the .NET 3.5 framework, the coverdownloader works by itself apart from EAC. It is not being called by REACT I think.

Another thing, I don't understand and can't find info on the hotkeys. I am starting my ripping in EAC with the "Mp3" button. The hotkeys of REACT don't seem to do anything. I don't understand why the hotkeys are not visibly working.

In the .INI file is below:

Please help

Moderation: INI placed in a codebox.

Hmm, I'm not so sure about this but could you try to change the

line in INI to:

This is a example to test if this is the cause of your problem (This will open Album Art Downloader XUI, using any JPEG in "C:\Documents and Settings\Alan\My Documents\Music" and its subfolders as a potential source.). Read the [Settings] CoverDownloaderLocalPath Wiki info for more details.

If this doesn't work, check that the CoverDownloader=C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\REACT2\AlbumArtDownloader\AlbumArt.exe setting in INI points to the correct place (e.g. you installed the new version to other program folder).


Have you read this: REACT? You should NOT start rips with EAC buttons! Use only F4 (track) or F10 (image). Make sure that the EAC window has focus when pressing these buttons. Also, you did start REACT with REACT 2 shortcut, not EAC shortcut, right?

P.S. Use CODEBOX tags when posting large (file) listings.

This explains why the cover downloader is not running.

Dang! Of course! Thx Synthetic Soul.

You guys are great! I had loaded REACT a few times, had to downversion EAC, had the wrong shortcut(insert embarassed emoticon). I made the .INI change. Everything is working, there may be a tiny hitch still but I will check better later.


A final THANKYOU for creating such a great piece of software.


There is a small hitch, I am getting "missing cue sheet" errors. I noticed a thread on that problem in REACT and so moved my comment there:

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=62631&hl=REACT*++Replaygain