EAC is (was?) the gold standard over at Hydrogen Audio, and I have been using it for many years:
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/index.php/resources/download/
Reviews seem to say that dBpoweramp reference R13 is better
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc-power-register.htm
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=47415
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/secure-ripper.htm
Seems that JRiver Media Center includes a ripper that is roughly a slimmed down version of EAC, but is integrated and is therefore easier to use:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t49765.html
I'm going to give the free JR Media Jukebox 12 a try, not sure if the ripper is exactly the same.
Any opinions on these or a better one, I've only used the free version of dBpoweramp and that was many years ago.
Pete B.
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/index.php/resources/download/
Reviews seem to say that dBpoweramp reference R13 is better
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc-power-register.htm
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=47415
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/secure-ripper.htm
Seems that JRiver Media Center includes a ripper that is roughly a slimmed down version of EAC, but is integrated and is therefore easier to use:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t49765.html
I'm going to give the free JR Media Jukebox 12 a try, not sure if the ripper is exactly the same.
Any opinions on these or a better one, I've only used the free version of dBpoweramp and that was many years ago.
Pete B.
Best CD Ripper
pb2
My posts as copied from Rock Grotto may hopefully be of assistance.
Re: Rippers Revisited
« Reply #69 on Oct 5, 2009, 2:42am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris
JeffC and myself find that EAC sounds better than DBPoweramp, despite being slower, and having less features.
All the figures in the. pdf become meaningless, if it doesn't sound as good as EAC. I guess the only way to find out for myself is to try it ?
Alex
Re: Rippers Revisited
« Reply #70 on Oct 5, 2009, 4:18am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ripstation Micro DS
Chris
I downloaded and installed the program. It is preset for .flac output, so I changed it to .wav output. Other than the annoying habit of creating lots of folders within folders, it worked very quickly, and I mean quickly ! It also showed a box with the artwork of the CD that was being ripped.
These features alone would make it very appealing for someone with a shitload of CDs, who just wanted to rip them to the HDD as .flac etc., and would undoubtedly appeal to people who don't demand the absolute best quality from their music playback.
As far as ripping .wav files at highest quality, it was O.K. but quite a bit below the SQ of the same "California Project-Papa Doo Run Run" tracks that I ripped a few days ago using E.A.C.
It didn't have the "light and shade", or the dynamics of the EAC rip.
BUT, IT IS DAMN FAST !
SandyK
P.S.
Perhaps there may be some settings somewhere to improve rips of .wav files, but TBH, I have no desire to look further.
I have saved the ripped files for comparison purposes with an EAC rip if requested, but the program itself is about to be uninstalled.
Basically, JeffC and myself found that dbpoweramp made the vocalist sound a little louder in the overall mix, but not where you could close your eyes,and imagine him/her standing in front of you.There was less separation between instruments and a poorer soundstage. HF detail did not seem quite as good.Many people seem to mistake a recording where the vocalist and musical accompanment sounds louder, as better. IMHO, It is usually the result of a poorer soundstage. HF detail and low level ambience play a prominent part in achieving a good soundstage .
pb2
My posts as copied from Rock Grotto may hopefully be of assistance.
Re: Rippers Revisited
« Reply #69 on Oct 5, 2009, 2:42am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris
JeffC and myself find that EAC sounds better than DBPoweramp, despite being slower, and having less features.
All the figures in the. pdf become meaningless, if it doesn't sound as good as EAC. I guess the only way to find out for myself is to try it ?
Alex
Re: Rippers Revisited
« Reply #70 on Oct 5, 2009, 4:18am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ripstation Micro DS
Chris
I downloaded and installed the program. It is preset for .flac output, so I changed it to .wav output. Other than the annoying habit of creating lots of folders within folders, it worked very quickly, and I mean quickly ! It also showed a box with the artwork of the CD that was being ripped.
These features alone would make it very appealing for someone with a shitload of CDs, who just wanted to rip them to the HDD as .flac etc., and would undoubtedly appeal to people who don't demand the absolute best quality from their music playback.
As far as ripping .wav files at highest quality, it was O.K. but quite a bit below the SQ of the same "California Project-Papa Doo Run Run" tracks that I ripped a few days ago using E.A.C.
It didn't have the "light and shade", or the dynamics of the EAC rip.
BUT, IT IS DAMN FAST !
SandyK
P.S.
Perhaps there may be some settings somewhere to improve rips of .wav files, but TBH, I have no desire to look further.
I have saved the ripped files for comparison purposes with an EAC rip if requested, but the program itself is about to be uninstalled.
Basically, JeffC and myself found that dbpoweramp made the vocalist sound a little louder in the overall mix, but not where you could close your eyes,and imagine him/her standing in front of you.There was less separation between instruments and a poorer soundstage. HF detail did not seem quite as good.Many people seem to mistake a recording where the vocalist and musical accompanment sounds louder, as better. IMHO, It is usually the result of a poorer soundstage. HF detail and low level ambience play a prominent part in achieving a good soundstage .
CDRecord: http://cdrecord.berlios.de/private/cdrecord.html
Yes, there is a Win32 binary too 🙂
Cheers!
Yes, there is a Win32 binary too 🙂
Cheers!
Thanks everyone.
Seems that if you use accuraterip, and the rip is good then it really doesn't matter what ripper is used:
http://www.accuraterip.com/
There are not too many compatible programs: http://www.accuraterip.com/software.htm
Seems that if you use accuraterip, and the rip is good then it really doesn't matter what ripper is used:
http://www.accuraterip.com/
There are not too many compatible programs: http://www.accuraterip.com/software.htm
I payed for this one...and still happy!
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm
(works well in shareware version too)
Arne K
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm
(works well in shareware version too)
Arne K
Yes, I think I'm going to get dBpoweramp since I have a lot of ripping to do. Might as well do it right.
I'm liking JR Media Jukebox, easy to use, supports every format I've tried with it, and rips fast in secure mode. However, I don't think that it supports Accuraterip which is the reason for dBpoweramp.
Just getting started on evaluating media players, not going to put a lot of time into this. I have to try JRMJ on some of our slower systems and I have a few others to try.
I'm liking JR Media Jukebox, easy to use, supports every format I've tried with it, and rips fast in secure mode. However, I don't think that it supports Accuraterip which is the reason for dBpoweramp.
Just getting started on evaluating media players, not going to put a lot of time into this. I have to try JRMJ on some of our slower systems and I have a few others to try.
OK, I got that backwards... I thought you meant writing.
Reading, I use cdparanoia ... a lot slower than cdda2wav, but can mostly recover even a CD found on the road 😱
Cheers!
How about someone take a reference CD with low-distortion sine waves, square, saw, etc and rip it with each ripper and see which ones don't distort?
- keantoken
- keantoken
Also the CD drive matters too. Plextor is generally regarded as the best for error recovery, etc. Look on the EAC site for comparisons between drives.
- keantoken
- keantoken
Indeed!
I have personally found LG drives to be the most reliable and flexible with media.
(Yamaha was the worst I've tested... and it was a $500 drive to the LG's $60 😱 )
Cheers!
Thanks Andy, your tests in that thread are very informative. I happen to have an LG drive on the system that I'll probably do most of the ripping on so I might just stick with EAC.
Further than that.... if these programs are capable of producing perfect rips it should be demonstrable that the same track ripped to what the programs agree is perfect, will have the same CRC/MD5.... regardless of which program/drive.
I use the following test under Windows with EAC to check bit-perfectness of ripping and burning. This procedure requires that the write offset for the drive be set correctly in addition to the read offset.
1.) Pick a popular music CD to rip. This will assure it's in the AccurateRip database and that there will be lots of submissions for a high confidence level.
2.) Rip the CD to individual tracks. Make sure you get a clean bill of health from AccurateRip for all tracks. Then delete the ripped tracks.
3.) Rip the CD again to a single WAV file image plus CUE sheet. Let's assume this WAV file is called file1.wav.
4.) Burn a CD-RW from file1.wav and its CUE sheet using EAC's CD burning utility. I use a CD-RW just so I can reuse the disc when done.
5.) Rip the CD-RW you just burned to a WAV file and CUE sheet. Let's assume this newly-ripped WAV file is called file2.wav.
6.) Run the Windows FC utility to compare file1.wav and file2.wav. This is done simply with:
FC file1.wav file2.wav
from a command-line window. The files should be identical. If the AccurateRip data is okay but the FC test fails, the write offset of the drive is probably not set correctly.
1.) Pick a popular music CD to rip. This will assure it's in the AccurateRip database and that there will be lots of submissions for a high confidence level.
2.) Rip the CD to individual tracks. Make sure you get a clean bill of health from AccurateRip for all tracks. Then delete the ripped tracks.
3.) Rip the CD again to a single WAV file image plus CUE sheet. Let's assume this WAV file is called file1.wav.
4.) Burn a CD-RW from file1.wav and its CUE sheet using EAC's CD burning utility. I use a CD-RW just so I can reuse the disc when done.
5.) Rip the CD-RW you just burned to a WAV file and CUE sheet. Let's assume this newly-ripped WAV file is called file2.wav.
6.) Run the Windows FC utility to compare file1.wav and file2.wav. This is done simply with:
FC file1.wav file2.wav
from a command-line window. The files should be identical. If the AccurateRip data is okay but the FC test fails, the write offset of the drive is probably not set correctly.