Optical player for PC

[midyim]

Hi,

I need to get a unit that is good for Audio ripping, don't need to burn.

Suggestions? Preferably available in Australia, but I will import if needed.

Thks....eng hoe

[dangus]

Models go in and out of production, so see what is available then google for reviews. Lite-on, LG, Pioneer, and Plextor are good bets. Or just test whatever drives are lying around the house or office and see which have the best features (like C2 error detection).

I believe there are significant unit-to-unit variations; I have one LG DVD rewriter that is particularly talented at reading damaged DVDs and CDs. If you run into a difficult CD (or DVD), try a bunch of drives and maybe you'll find one that gets a clean rip where the others fail. It obviously helps to have a convenient IDE to USB adapter and power supply. I tried a good dozen drives, including a couple of Plextors, and none were better than that LG.

[Wombat]

General recommendations are hard to make. There is a list with some accuracy results about different drives at the dbpweramp forum but it is not exactly a complete list of all drives around.
CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2012
It may give you a hint what to expect especialy when using dbpoweramp for ripping. It doesn´t take into account individual problem discs but it is most likely much more relevant as most user experiences that maybe know 5 different drives.

Since ripping results these days can easily verified against the AccurateRip database you´ll see it is very easy to do 100% correct rips with media in proper condition.
You can use dbpoweramp that has to be licensed or ExactAudioCopy and CUEtools that are free. All 3 check against the database.
I don´t know what OS you use so this may not be relevant to you.

[midyim]

Thank you for the suggestions.

It appears that PC units are pretty much of a muchness {at least statistically}.Unfortunately I cannot use AccurateRip as my CDs are analog rips {from vinyl}.

I am resigned to Real Time reripping hopefully the CD player {Pioneer PD-71} will last the distance.

I use Ubuntu Studio with Cdparanoia backend {Asunder & RipperX}

Thanks again...eng hoe

[Wombat]

Imho there is no need for realtime ripping. Just use CDparanoia in Ubuntu. It will tell you when it has problems reading a media, these you can check by ear and still try another way if broken.
I once ripped several dics with rubyripper under Ubuntu that uses CDparanoia. A very comfortable piece of software.

[midyim]

Originally Posted by Wombat

Imho there is no need for realtime ripping. Just use CDparanoia in Ubuntu. It will tell you when it has problems reading a media, these you can check by ear and still try another way if broken.
I once ripped several dics with rubyripper under Ubuntu that uses CDparanoia. A very comfortable piece of software.

Yes, I do Real Time when "normal" ripping fails. Thanks for alerting me to Rubyripper...will give it a go @ my next session.

[Pano]

I used to be a big fan of Plextor because they were "The Best". All the tests and reviews said so. But I had so much trouble with Plextor drives that I switched to Lite-On and never looked back. Never a problem, ever. And that's burning or ripping 1000s of CD-Rom or CDs.

I use dBPowerAmp for ripping under Windows. CDBurnerXP for burning (tho I have not burned a CD in ages)