I'm using dBpoweramp's CD Ripper to rip a lot of CDs to FLAC files, which I will then convert to MP3s. Here's what I've found so far.

I'm using it in Secure Mode, and have my settings to abort after 100 frames, because I don't want it to go on and on over a song because I've found if after the abort I use Burst Mode, the song will rip (with errors) but have no audible difference when played back.

1- Is this "lucky" and sometimes I might get an audible error?

2- Is this like iTunes two modes, a standard ("burst") rip mode and a more intensive "use error correction" rip mode which I'd compare to dbpoweramp's "secure" mode, but is less thorough/less optimized?

Prior to finding this program I just used iTunes to rip everything, and even though some of my discs are scratched terribly, I rarely heard errors. I'd like to think I hear well, but I'm doubting this at present.

Maybe iTunes is always burst and the "Use Error Correction" is during playback?

Any input would be great, thank you!

Probably. If you're just ripping with burst and not heeding any error notices, then you won't have an idea of how bad the error was until you listen to it. This is one reason why apps like dBpoweramp and EAC use things like C2, Test & Copy, and AccurateRip so errors can be detected without listening to every rip as it is copied.

I don't know for sure, but I always assumed the error correction was just an interpolation over the problem samples, perhaps with a few extra passes to retry the problem.

Odds are any errors were either covered up by iTunes, the ripping hardware, or your faulty ears.

iTunes "Use Error Correction" takes effect while ripping. As the preferences indicate "This may reduce the speed of importing", not playback.

I understand more now, thank you. I suppose to indicate what I'm doing with burst mode I should find a "rolling the dice" emoticon.

You can always perform a test conversion on the tracks that AR can't verify to see if the checksums turn green. If they do then there's a good chance that there weren't any errors.

Thank you, how do I do that? That is the case for some of them, the "AR" is greyed out with "Inaccurate". A few tracks have the "AR" is greyed out with a green "i" and state "Secure" however.

I just converted one song to MP3 and played it, and it sounded fine, one slight "pop" but I'll sacrifice that for having to re-rip 1100 frames. (Which on my slow machine would take forever!) Maybe the problem is I need to get a faster computer to do this on. Very possible.

Change the "Rip to" drop-down to "Test Conversion"

Your ripping speed is far more dependent on your drive than the rest of your system.

EDIT: If there isn't a CRC column showing in the main window, right-click on the column headers and select it.

Thanks for your help greynol.

Ok, I did that, but then it just seemed to re-rip the track. Here is the message I received:

Information ripping to Test Conversion, 'Track 8' to 'E:\Music\FLAC Lossless\Compilations\Vhutemas Archetypi\08 End of the Present.IGNORE'
** Aborted: Have to ReRip 125 Frames, Re-Rip Limit Set to 100 Frames
Track 8: Ripped LBA 131542 to 155465 (5:18) in 0:35. Filename: E:\Music\FLAC Lossless\Compilations\Vhutemas Archetypi\08 End of the Present.IGNORE
AccurateRip: Inaccurate (confidence 3) Insecure [Pass 1, Re-Rip 125 Frames]
CRC32: 035BBC0A AccurateRip CRC: EB09807F [DiscID: 010-00108330-0082a32e-7a0a060a-8]
** Aborted: Have to ReRip 125 Frames, Re-Rip Limit Set to 100 Frames

Should I just set the ReRip to 2000 frames (sometimes I get cds that say they have to be re-ripped at 1100 or more) and deal with it?

Normally I would think that true, but my computer at home is a lot slower than my computer at work, both Dell 4300 (oohhh shudder).

Yes, I have that, and notice it's either black, red or green after the outcome.

I mentioned using test conversion because it seemed like you were thinking about using burst mode instead of secure mode.

For the color coding, black means the track has only been ripped once, red means the CRC is different from the previous rip, green means that the CRC is the same as the previous rip. IIRC, red and green CRCs will not carry over from previous sessions.

Right DUH! Sorry. I tried it in Burst mode and it just re-ripped the track. Clearly I'm doing something wrong.

Honestly, I'm wondering if I should just give up on this whole thing and rip to Apple Lossless using iTunes. I have spent so much time on this and I just can't get an efficient system going. In dBpoweramp I have songs that re-rip at 362 frames (for example) and still come back inaccurate. Not to mention when they're re-ripping the speed will drop to 3.5x. I do the same one in iTunes and it's done in nothing flat, even with "Use Error Correction" on.

Ugh. I want to use dBpoweramp. I don't even mind re-ripping frames. But when I'm re-ripping 1100 frames at 3.5x, I just want to pull my hair out. And if it's coming back Inaccurate anyway, why am I doing it? I just don't know.

Ok. I got up and came back.

It seems that when ripping in Secure mode to abort at 100+ frames, the track still rips, but evidently with errors in it. I encoded a FLAC file to MP3 using Lame v3.98 and replayed it in Windows Media player, and I can't hear anything wrong with it. It's computer speakers, so I'm sure somehow that makes a difference.

I also deleted a registry file by using this and rebooted the computer and now it's ripping at 14x. I swear I just don't know what gives.

I'll just clean/try to repair the ones that look bad, otherwise I guess I'm ripping inaccurate disks with re-rips over 100. *sigh

Edit: inserted the website

About that registry hack for dma-problems: From my previous observations, such drastic methods are not necessary. Just remove the entire channel via device manager, and let windows then redetect it.

WARNING: Do not do this if your drive is at the same channel as your system hdd! I dont know what happens if you do that, so i do not propose that.