CD Players

[manicm]

To be pedantic, ripping a CD is not copying it. It's just a method of extracting the audio on the CD.

Furthermore, technically ripping is not straightforward. If you read the dbpoweramp documentation, they suggest you capture the offset of your CD drive for best results for example. Which is all very well and good, but what if your drive is not listed? Which I can assure you is not for many laptops.

 

[andyjm]

To be pedantic, ripping a CD is not copying it. It's just a method of extracting the audio on the CD.

Furthermore, technically ripping is not straightforward. If you read the dbpoweramp documentation, they suggest you capture the offset of your CD drive for best results for example. Which is all very well and good, but what if your drive is not listed? Which I can assure you is not for many laptops.

The drive offset is only needed if you want to compare your rip with a rip database to check for accuracy. The problem is that different drive manufacturers can't agree where one track stops and the next one starts. For databases like accuraterip to work, the tracks must all start at exactly the same sample for the checking software to work. Knowing the drive offset allows the ripping software to compensate and start the track in the right place. For drives that aren't listed in the online 'offset' databases, programs like dBPoweramp can learn the offset of an unknown drive. You teach the ripping software by ripping a few CDs that are in the database and the software figures out the drive offset for itself.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

To be pedantic, ripping a CD is not copying it. It's just a method of extracting the audio on the CD.

Furthermore, technically ripping is not straightforward. If you read the dbpoweramp documentation, they suggest you capture the offset of your CD drive for best results for example. Which is all very well and good, but what if your drive is not listed? Which I can assure you is not for many laptops.

Exact Audio Copy has a function to determine the offset of your CD drive without the need to search endless drive lists. Give it a try *smile*

 

[record_spot]

You want a CD player? Buy one. Chances are it might well sound different depending on the DAC used as opposed to that in your streamer or amp. All this "it will sound the same" is off the pace. There are minor differences in DACs but some more noticeable than others. Whether you think that difference is worth the money, that's your call, but there's a good reason why I've got two players by different manufacturers. One's the AVI Lab Series CD player from around a decade ago, the other's the Cambridge Audio 752BD. Both use the Wolfson WM8740. Two in the AVI, five in the Cambridge. Both players sound terrific.

I have a collection of discs ripped to my laptop, but if I play one CD a year via that setup, or off my external hard drive, I'm doing well. Give me the physical disc anytime.

 

[MajorFubar]

I agree. Nothing wrong at all with just going with what you're happiest with. Some people like the tactility of CDs and records and the 'experience' and event of putting the CD in the tray or the stylus on the record. That most certainly is not wrong. Scroll through my replies to threads like this from 3-4 years ago: that was me.

Personally though, I'm glad to have left all that behind. Records still have their charm, but in just the two years since I ripped my CD collection, the thought of having to pish-about with a physical CD and a player when I want to listen some music seems like a chore from the stoneage, like having to walk over to the telly to change the channel. But other (equally valid) opinions are available.

 

[radiorog]

I use CD because the DACs in my player sound fantastic. A huge upgrade from the previous models DACs. DACs clearly sound very different to one another. I don't rip stuff yet because it seems a waste of money to buy a hard drive just to eliminate the risk of a player malfunctioning,which seems to be their main downfall. Plus the added time and faff to do the actual ripping, for no increase in sound quality. When streaming becomes higher quality then CD, then its time to change for me.