Ripping Software

[jockey.wilson]

Hi Folks,

Need some straightforward advice on what software I should use to rip my CD's to a Dell Laptop, before storing them on a NAS. I intend to use a Naim NDX streamer once I have re-mortgaged the house!! Unsure about what NAS to use at this time...

Firstly, am I right in saying that WAV files can't have album art and track info embedded? If so I will rip to FLAC.

I have heard about dbpoweramp and EAC. Anyone have any preferences or opinions? I know a bit about hi-fi but not much about software and networks unfortunately.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[Alec]

jockey.wilson:Firstly, am I right in saying that WAV files can't have album art and track info embedded?

Yes you are right.

Personlally I prefer DBPoweramp as its easier to set up for me, and it can rip to 2 formats at a time, if you feel the need to make a lossless copy and, say, an MP3 copy.

EAC does, of course, have the advantage that it is free.

EAC is also known for its accuracy. However, I have heard of people saying EAC has refused to rip things or taken far to long and they have tried in another ripper, and got a copy with no audible errors. Though I have used it and it seemed to do what it does well once set up.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

Another vote for dbPoweramp from me.

 

[Anonymous]

Same. Db poweramp for me, with Lame for mp3 and Flacs.

 

[Lee H]

dbPoweramp or Mediamonkey for me

 

[Anonymous]

Ripstation Micro is doing the job for me. It's free and find >95% of the albumart.

 

[Anonymous]

Lee H:dbPoweramp or Mediamonkey for me

Both for me. DBpoweramp for ripping - MM for tagging and retagging existing rips or downloads. DB is worth the small license cost for it's functionality and ease of use, MM is free anyway.

 

[jockey.wilson]

Thanks for the replies.

Ok, assuming I go for DBpoweramp to rip, will this then automatically find album art/info, or do I then need something like Media Monkey to do this for me also?

Thanks

 

[Lee H]

Pelagi:
Lee H:dbPoweramp or Mediamonkey for me

Both for me. DBpoweramp for ripping - MM for tagging and retagging existing rips or downloads. DB is worth the small license cost for it's functionality and ease of use, MM is free anyway.

This is what I do too. Although I have the gold version of MM as it'll synch to mobile devices and convert on the fly.

 

[Anonymous]

jockey.wilson:

Thanks for the replies.

Ok, assuming I go for DBpoweramp to rip, will this then automatically find album art/info, or do I then need something like Media Monkey to do this for me also?

Thanks

With DBPoweramp is great at finding art and id3 tagging info using 3 online databases. It's also pretty quick at ripping tracks with Accurip and can make best use of multiple CPU cores. ie quad care rips 4 tracks at a time. Average CD take 2-5 mins to rip and tag.

Media Monkey is particularly good when you have untagged downloaded music, or if you wish to re tag/edit existing music in your collection once ripped. You can basically right click and auto tag from web. It is clever enough to place artwork in Artist folder, LP folder and atttach to individual tracks where possible, so this helps keep uniformity throughout ones library. Using MM, I auto-retagged my entire itunes library, effectively removing Apple's way and replacing with industry standard id3 v3. Editing tags vis itunes is clumsy and slow by comparison. Hard to believe that with Apple, i know.....

 

[Anonymous]

I tried EAC and dbpoweramp and found dbpoweramp faster and more accurate with the tagging. Worth the cost when you do a whole collection. The other good thing you get is the batch converter in dbpoweramp which has organised everything into folders sorted by albumartist/album. Make sure the tages are correct first though. Also converts the whole collection to a different format in one go.

For tagging I use MediaJukebox from JRiver which is brilliant and free

 

[Alec]

Mp3tag is free.