ScottFromWyoming wrote:

 
I have found this program to be very sophisticated.  First off, the DAC is not involved at all in ripping.  Everything remains digital until playback through whatever device you would be listening to.  In my case, the puter sends a digital signal to my receiver via a hard wired optical spdif connection and the DAC in the receiver does the final conversion.  The DAC in my receiver is a highly rated 24 bit with a THX certification.

The above only matters in playback though.  What is very significant about this program is that it compensates for the inherent transport error (clock error) of the ripping drive, which many new rippers will do.  The DAC is a separate issue. But this program goes much further.  It also compares known versions and what are known as offset errors in the actual disc pressing.  Sometimes there is nothing to compare, other times it will find a known pressing offset error and double check it against the final rip and in some cases, it has found and dealt with two offset errors and make a final comparrison.  So what you end up with is the most accurate reading of the disc possible.  There has been much audiophile back and forth about transport clock error and digital jitter that affects playback. All this is eliminated once and for all with this program and you end up as close a bit perfect rip of the disc currently or maybe ever possible.  And it will sound the same everytime you play it back, with the only artifacts added is with your receiver / amplifier.

The program will make one pass and if everything is hunky dory, its done.  But in some cases it will detect some anamolies and re rip up to three times at different speeds and in some cases,digital frame by frame.

What my ears have told me is that the clock and jitter has such a profound effect that all the crap removed or compensated for make for a remarkably noticeable difference.  Think in terms of those Claritin commercials where they peel away the filmy view to reveal a crystal clear picture.  And it is fast, with verifying the metadata a breeze before ripping.

Here is a print out of a rip report after ripping a disc.  Each track has one which I do save with the album folder.

Ripping with drive 'J:   ',  Drive offset: 6,  Overread Lead-in/out: No
AccurateRip: Active,  Using C2: Yes,  Cache: None,  FUA Cache Invalidate: No
Pass 1 Drive Speed: 8,  Pass 2 Drive Speed: 8
Ultra::  Vary Drive Speed: Yes,  Min Passes: 3,  Max Passes: 6,  Finish After Clean Passes: 2
Bad Sector Re-rip::  Drive Speed: Max,  Maximum Re-reads: 34

Information ripping to , 'Track 2' to 'G:DB WAV RIPSBrian WilsonSMiLE

Information ripping to , 'Track 2' to 'G:DB WAV RIPSBrian WilsonSMiLE2 Brian Wilson - Heroes and Villains.IGNORE'

Track 2: Ripped LBA 9687 to 31637 (4:52) in 0:38. Filename: G:DB WAV RIPSBrian WilsonSMiLE2 Brian Wilson - Heroes and Villains.IGNORE

AccurateRip: Accurate (confidence 149)

CRC32: 8977E540 AccurateRip CRC: E67454CF

AccurateRip Verified Confidence 149 , Using Pressing Offset +96

AccurateRip Verified Confidence 200 , Using Pressing Offset +96

AccurateRip Verified Confidence 143 , Using Pressing Offset +102

AccurateRip Verified Confidence 161 , Using Pressing Offset +102

And another time when it re ripped 7 frames ...

Track 15:  Ripped LBA 217160 to 234630 (3:52) in 2:06. Filename: E:DB RIP DUMPDB RIP WAVThe PoliceMessage in a Box; The Complete Recordings, Disc 215 The Police - Voices Inside My Head.IGNORE
  AccurateRip: Accurate (confidence 34)     Re-Rip 7 Frames>
  CRC32: 78E5E57A     AccurateRip CRC: 5CA9D427 (CRCv2)    
  AccurateRip Verified Confidence 34
  AccurateRip Verified Confidence 57
  AccurateRip Verified Confidence 22 , Using Pressing Offset -2330
  AccurateRip Verified Confidence 44 , Using Pressing Offset -2330

I heartily endorse this program.  Couldn't be happier.

 kurtster wrote: 
Why would that be? The DAC in the player you would use to listen to CDs vs what you have on your computer?

 bencat wrote: 
Welcome !

I have ended my search for the best ripper and agree with you about dbpoweramp.  I have used many rippers over the years, including some in pro music programs.  I am re ripping everything I have now and for the last time.

Have you noticed that the rips are so good that the music sounds as if it has been "remastered" in some cases ?  I have found that the clarity of these rips is simply astounding and good enough to no longer seek out subsequently re engineered albums and keep a lot of money which I don't have in my pocket. 

Well I have over 2000 CD's but these days use Media players such as Squeezebox Touch , Squeezeplug on Raspberry Pi and O2 Joggler to output digital into my various room systems DAC's for play back. So I need to rip all of the CD's (which I have bought and own) on to USB Hard Drive to connect to my Music Server.

While it is not free DbPoweramp is cheap and by far the best ripping software I have used . It rips most if not all discs finds the artwork , converts to the codec of your choice (or leaves it as WAV) singly or batch converts and also tags and loads all o0f this in to Dynamic Artist files which grow as you add further music.

Just having this all done every time and accurately is worth paying for and as the cost is very reasonable and the software works for many years I would strongly recommend it .

 RichardPrins wrote: 
Roxio is a good product.  Used it before years ago.

I like that you can use this to make ISO's.  Bookmarked. 

 Beaker wrote: 
That's what I was figuring.

 So you have a flac file(s) of an album ?  and you're in Windows ?  Then the stuff I put up should work fine.  In fact, I think the burner I put up will burn straight from flac to an audio CD, playable anywhere.  You would have to download the free version of their ripper though, but it is clean and lean, using a very low level of resources.

I admit that I am very new to flac.  I've accumulated a bunch of files over the years but always convert them to wav before burning a disc.  Switchfile does an easy conversion.  I also use it to covert wav to mp3 when I share thumb drives with folks.

 

 Beaker wrote: 
It's been a while since I have had that need, but this looks very capable.

 Beaker wrote: 
Well for file conversion, switchfile is great.  Been using it for years.  While the free version will not convert to flac, it will convert flac into just about anything.  Awesomely easy batch conversion.  Then use your usual burner.

Just went looking ... this might be the ticket.  If its as good as the ripper, which I'm thoroughly happy with, then its gotta be worth a try.

Edit: switchfile is clean, just avoid installing toolbars.  dbpoweramp is clean as well.

 Beaker wrote:
I use (and like) FreeRIP. It will output mp3, FLAC, OGG, WMA, or WAV, but beware: if you install the freeware version be very careful which install options you check. It installed the Spigot toolbar, an evil bit of malware that resets your search preferences every time you restart your browser. I was able to root it out but it was frustrating.

 Beaker wrote: 
I use Titanium. Its not free but older versions can be found for free.

 Pearhead wrote: 
Left to rely on Clear Channel for market exposure?   

From the It's Nothing New Dept.

Royalties? What royalties?

So if the artists aren't getting the money, who is?  

Steve Kilbey Furious Over Label’s Allegations: “I’m Leaving The Church Because Of You"

"Kilbey now says he’s prepared to return to his original decision to put the label’s royalty statements online 'or the whole world to see,' complete with 'annotations by an America Record Biz auditor.' Adding, 'if you don’t sort this out, I have some very interesting new allies who are prepared to help me get to the bottom of this once and for all. I am so f_cking sick of being ripped off and underpaid.'"

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Yep.  

To me the beefier side of the argument is akin to the CARP debacle and royalties vs. % of revenue.  And are the artists better off with or without streaming services?  I'm biased of course...but I lean toward better off.   

Here's the latest official dump on Spotify's books.  By my best guess they paid the "music industry"  approx. $212M (US) last year.  Artists woe and share aside, that along with what Pandora et.al. pay into the system these days would be sorely missed.  One look at any of these services bottom line says there's simply nothing more to give.  

 Pearhead wrote: 
Well that's good news and well explained here. 
 
The "lady gaga example" I was remembering had her getting some enormous amount of plays and a check for about $100, but as the article says, a million plays today and the check's for the vastly fewer plays several months ago, in the earliest days of Spotify. And what it doesn't say is how many of those plays came via the "free" service which is unlistenable to most people but probably just fine for Gaga's fans... commercials or promos or whatever. 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Conundrums abound, but to be fair..horses mouth data says 1M plays on Spotify would earn approx. $9,669.  

Funny....this related note just posted about 1 hr. ago.

 black321 wrote: 

I just listen to mp3s either on my computer or Ipod and in the car I have my trusty WRAS terrestrial radio so I have no need for CDs at all. I don't do any cloud players, Spotify or any of that crap.

 black321 wrote: 
Spotify has its own set of problems. Fine for around the house or maybe if you have an unlimited data plan and want to listen in the car, but it's a pay service and why pay again to hear music I own already? And remember, a million plays on Spotify earns the artist about 16¢ so it's not without that ethical conundrum as well. 

 black321 wrote: 
My bad, I read lossy as lossless.  Yeah, I agree why bother.

 kurtster wrote: 
Out of print sure, or transferring to a lossless format for easier management of your tunes ...but why bother going to a lower quality mp3 if you can get a similar quality stream of an album from spotify?

 black321 wrote: 
When you have a 1,000 or so CD's, many of which are out of print, its nice to be able to play them or songs from them without rummaging around looking for them.  And once ripped, just put them in a banker's box or something and forget about em, or sell them.