Help! Skipping on ripped CDs

[matthewpiano]

I've finally got round to starting to use my Squeezebox and I'm thrilled with the sound quality when playing WMA Lossless files, even before investing in an external DAC.

However, when I rip my CDs using Windows Media Player, it occasionally appears to record a skip in the music. Is this just down to a poor CD ROM drive in my HP laptop, or is it a setting/software issue?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. I really want to utilise the Squeezebox as a central source now but I need everything to be right!!

 

[nads]

try EAC. sounds like poor rips.

 

[jerryyeatman]

Try using EAC or Audiograbber. Google them, both free downloads. They can generate a checksum which can be used to be verify you've got a bit perfect rip. Personally I wouldn't go near Windows Media Player. If you're still having problems it might be your CDROM drive or dirty/damaged CD.

Also, before investing your time encoding to WMA lossless, consider encoding to flac which is more prevalent.

 

[John Duncan]

matthewpiano:I've finally got round to starting to use my Squeezebox and I'm thrilled with the sound quality when playing WMA Lossless files, even before investing in an external DAC.

However, when I rip my CDs using Windows Media Player, it occasionally appears to record a skip in the music. Is this just down to a poor CD ROM drive in my HP laptop, or is it a setting/software issue?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. I really want to utilise the Squeezebox as a central source now but I need everything to be right!!

Most likely a disc problem, yeah. You can turn error correction on in WMA (though in Windows I get the impression it does it for the whole OS rather than just WMP), though I forget where - it's not obvious, if I recall. Furthermore, i think that it has a much more major effect on rip speed than it does in iTunes so be prepared for long rip times.

I'd echo the other poster's view that a FLAC/EAC solution would be more robust and futureproof though, unless you're totally stuck on using WMP as your player - though there may be a FLAC plugin for WMP, maybe others can advise.

 

[Anonymous]

If it is a disc problem and you have a few like it, it might be worth buying a device called a skip doctor, is a machine that re polishes the CD surface and so removes the scratches. I have never used one myself but have heard that others have and is quite good, I think Amazon flogs them for about £20.......

 

[matthewpiano]

I'm getting it even on brand new discs and ones which play perfectly on my Marantz CD player, so I don't think its related to the discs, unless the fast read times of the CD-ROM drive are picking up on miniscule surface issues.

I'm not stuck on anything at the moment. I'm new to the computer based music thing but I'm quite keen on going further with it and would love any advice on how to proceed. My amplifier and speakers are a given because I really love them, but I'm happy to take suggestions on the computer/streaming aspects. Is the S/Box the right solution or should I be looking at something else? Is using my Vista based laptop any good, or should I be going down some other route?

Thanks for the thoughts so far.

 

[nads]

the SB3 is a good option, the PC does not really matter as you could put the music onto a network storage device and install Squeeze center on it and the buy the SB duet controller and run it via that and not need the PC on at all.

Oh plans for next month....

 

[Gerrardasnails]

matthewpiano:I'm getting it even on brand new discs and ones which play perfectly on my Marantz CD player, so I don't think its related to the discs, unless the fast read times of the CD-ROM drive are picking up on miniscule surface issues.

I'm not stuck on anything at the moment. I'm new to the computer based music thing but I'm quite keen on going further with it and would love any advice on how to proceed. My amplifier and speakers are a given because I really love them, but I'm happy to take suggestions on the computer/streaming aspects. Is the S/Box the right solution or should I be looking at something else? Is using my Vista based laptop any good, or should I be going down some other route?

Thanks for the thoughts so far.

I reckon it must be something to do with the spinner in your pc. I haven't had any problems with WMP and ripping - I did try as JD mentioned, using the bit perfect check but it is like 10 times slower and I gave up. If I started noticing problems, I would use it though.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

I have had problems ripping brand new CD's even with dbPoweramp. It's worth cleaning them with isopropyl alcohol before ripping them. Maybe there's some sort of residue that needs wiping off.

 

[John Duncan]

Matthew, do you have Windows Zero Configuration on on your PC? I know it cause problems with iTunes when seeking out wireless networks, it may do the same to WMP...

 

[Tonya]

Hi there! When ripping from a CD using a PC it's important to stop any extraneous load on the processor that may cause "hiccups" in the data stream. For the best quality, turn off any running programs that you are not using such as your antivirus (presuming you have closed your internet connection first of course!) any instances of Interner Explorer, etc. Vista is great at deciding to do maintainance work and shadow copies of various files just when you don't want it to! Many people try to multitask out of boredom while the CD is being ripped and this can cause the skips and jumps you describe. Windows Media Player has in all reality become so bloated in recent years that it's no longer the slim, fast and mean app it used to be. As mentioned elsewhere on this thread, there are far better alternatives out there for free. I personally have a PC that I use exclusively for the job and that is running Windows XP and I've never had an issue yet.

Here comes the science bit!
Sometimes I'm asked to "rescue" a CD that's been rolling around in a car or some other similar hostile enviroment and has been badly scratched, however I haven't come across one yet that can't be repaired with some Brasso (or other slightly abrasive metal polish) and a soft cloth. Dip the cloth in the liquid then gently buff the playing surface of the CD in small circular motions. The actual CD information disc itself is sealed in the protective plastic sandwich and a deep scratch on this protective surface scatters the playback laser causing either error correction to kick in or worse still the dreaded clicks or stutters one hears. By buffing the deep scratches away, the laser usually gets to read the correct information instead of making it up from before and after the damaged data. After the treatment, just wash the CD in soap and water and play. It will be better but if you're still having problems, repeat the procedure. Hope this helps!

 

[fido87456]

I used DbPowerAmp for ripping CD's to FLAC for my squeezebox. The CD drive used does seem to make a difference too as I have had more problems with CD's ripped using my Laptop than from the ones I've ripped using my desktop. I ripped everything in burst (high speed) mode initially, and any that I noticed clicks or distortion on I re-ripped in accuracy mode. I'd estimate less tham 10 CD's out of my collection of 300-odd gave me any trouble though.

Oddly, the CD's that did take a few goes to rip properly had previously been ripped for my iPod using Itunes (at 320kbps), with no noticeable playback errors... I guess the compression process must get rid of minor errors.

 

[Anonymous]

WMP/MC unfortunately do not have an exclusive mode such as Foobar2k does, nor do they have replay gain (which is very useful imho), and finally... no WASAPI.

There is a plugin called Madflac which enables WMP/MC to play flac files but doing a direct comparison as far as sound quality goes does not compare to fb2k + WASAPI, the only thing WMP/MC has going for it is a great GUI, shame really that microsoft don't impliment exclusive mode.

As others here have said already, I would personally use dbpoweramp or EAC for quality backups.

If you drive is able, you can use the burst mode method with test+copy rather than secure ripping for much faster rips. As always though it helps if the media is scratch free from the start.

 

[matthewpiano]

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I downloaded EAC and I'm still playing with that but, for the moment, I'm ripping using iTunes in Apple Lossless on my other laptop and I'm no longer getting skips in my rips and I'm very pleased with the audio quality. I also like the whole GUI of iTunes so I may stick with it.

Will be looking into all the suggestions given over the next few days and any further advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

If you're happy with iTunes, stick with it. I've been round all the houses and still use iTunes.