Article: Computer Audiophile CD Ripping Strategy and Methodology

[JimS]

question on Windows/Mac ripping configuration for high end music server project<br />

<br />

First - thanks Chris, great site, great resource!!<br />

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I'm planning on re-ripping my CD/DVD (SACD will wait) collection (first time was many, many years ago in mp3) following the above method and 1) keeping FLAC or ALAC files on existing XP machine running itunes/squeezeserver for whole house/background listening 2) sending FLAC to backup drive 3) sending AIFF to Oyen 1TB Firewire HDD (thanks again chris, it just got here today) to be used as storage/playback for new mac-mini (or macbook pro) music source for high end system.<br />

<br />

There will likely be other questions, but to start:<br />

<br />

Oyen HDD will need to download files from XP machine and playback on mac - is Fat32 configuration best approach for long-term use/stability of playback HDD or is different approach better (i.e. Macdrive or possibly freeware version)? I don't believe this has been directly addressed although there have been hints about stability issues. Thanks.<br />

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Jim - Thanks for the kind words.<br />

<br />

FAT32 will be the best choice in this situation. I use an Oyen drive on the road formatted in FAT32 so I can access the music from my MacBook Pro whether I'm running OS X or Windows 7 via Boot Camp.<br />

<br />

I recommend formatting the drive then reading and writing to it from both operating systems before ripping a bunch of CDs just to make sure it's working perfect.

[JimS]

Thanks for the quick reply<br />

<br />

That's what I thought, but wanted to confirm to "do once, do right" for step 1.<br />

<br />

PS - I got turned onto this site by jonmarsh at HTGuide and am running a pair of full range dynamic dipoles of his design (MTMWW) which are transparent enough to cause me to (unfortunately) have to re-asse$$ my upstream direction!!

[dummy]

Hello Chris,<br />

<br />

I did follow to a T your instructions and everything works fine and It's much easier that I thought. A few glitches though that I don't know what do to with. <br />

<br />

First, what do I do If the metadata is not found? Happened twice so far. Once, couldn't find the cover art but did found the songs and the other time, no art nor songs. I did wrote It myself but then JRMC15 doesn't recognised It. As you said previously somewhere, I now understand the nightmare It can be to find the right track then. I found It (the aforementionned cd) since I don't have much rips yet but still, could be quite tricky in the future.<br />

<br />

Any ways I can create my own metadata and have It glued/incorporated (I don't know the right word for that obviously!) to the song?<br />

<br />

Also, If the cover art doesn't appear, how can I add It?<br />

<br />

If you already answered those questions somewhere else, I would appreciate If you could send me there. Or show me the way.<br />

<br />

Also, perhaps not the right thread for that but this very cd that isn't recognised with the metadata, once I play It with JRMC15, all I heard was distortion. Tried It on my Oppo and It played fine. What's up with that?!<br />

<br />

Thanks in advance!<br />

<br />

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi dummy - If the metadata isn't found you just have to add it yourself by clicking on the tracks and album area etc... Missing cover art I usually ad by downloading from the image from Amazon and using the + button next to where the cover art is supposed to be in dBpoweramp.<br />

<br />

I've never seen J River not be able to read the embedded metadata from dBpoweramp. I wonder if your adding metadata incorrectly some how. Do you just click on a track title and change it or are you using another method?<br />

<br />

Are you positive the CD that has distortion is a Compact Disc? There are tons of variants of the CD that don't meet the Compact Disc standard and I wonder if this is the case here.

[dummy]

Thank you for the timely answer.<br />

<br />

Regarding metadata, what I did is rip the cd with dbpowered as is, without the metadata found (thus unknown everything all the way) and then, once ripped, manually changed and added the titles in my windows folder where the cd was ripped to. Then, I hit library on JRMC15 and added that folder. What showed (on JCMC15) was unknown artist, songs, etc. Maybe It isn't the correct way to do It?<br />

<br />

As for the distortion, I just double-checked before answering you here. It's a genuine bought-at-the-store cd. It plays perfect on my Oppo. It plays perfect on WMP through the rDac, It even plays perfect when opened/read with JRMC15 as a cd on the computer. The distortion is only there when I play the ripped cd through JRMC15. I don't know why obviously.<br />

<br />

If you have any suggestion, I would appreciate It very much.<br />

<br />

Thank you again Chris.<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi dummy - It looks like you just changed the names of the files in Windows Explorer. Next time add all the metadata within dBpoweramp before ripping and you'll be good.<br />

<br />

I'll have to think about the distortion issue.

[dummy]

I did manually write the titles in dbpowered before ripping and It works. It is now embedded. Looks perfect in dbpowered but once It's ripped, It appears odd once it plays, the words are all there but all together no space or anything, unlike how they show before ripping in dbpowered. Oh well, maybe I don't have the hang of It just yet...<br />

<br />

As for the distortion, I deleted the cd from the library, from my windows folder and ripped it again, this time with multi-encoder in all types; FLAC, WAVE, AIFF, mp3 to make sure.<br />

<br />

All types file sound distorded with JRMC15 still. Yet, with WMP and RealPlayer, all types (except FLAC not supported on either WMP nor RP) sounds perfect. So the distortion problem is only with JRMC15. <br />

<br />

Maybe distortion is not the right word, It sounds like a loose cable on a speaker, like white noise over the music, a kind of "crshhhhhh", like if you play with a loose cable while music is playing and you get bits of sounds with electrical distortion or something. Very odd indeed. <br />

<br />

I don't know If that makes any difference but I have the JRMC15 trial version for now.<br />

<br />

I went the JRMC route because It seems to be the player of choice around here and while I don't find It naturally intuitive, It does have many options and possibilities. I am not sold yet, espacially since It seems that you have to pay for every uptades. Since It is the only player that have that distortion... I am not sure. To be fair though, only 2 cd's so far have that distortion problem. But I only rip 15 cd's so...<br />

<br />

Any ideas?<br />

<br />

Thank you.<br />

<br />

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi dummy - Can you send one of the smallest tracks to me using [email protected] ?<br />

<br />

I'm interested in figuring this one out.<br />

<br />

JRMC does require payments for major upgrades like v14 to v15 but that's pretty fair in my opinion. The J River guys work really hard on the app and put out free updates a couple times per week for anyone interested. <br />

<br />

I'm willing to bet you paid more in sales tax for your computer than the cost of J River Media Center :~)

[dummy]

Let me know what happens on your end.<br />

<br />

Thanks a lot!<br />

<br />

[dummy]

Hello Chris,<br />

<br />

I don't know If you ever received the music file you asked me to send you but I think I solved the problem.<br />

<br />

Seems that Wasapi was the issue. I switched to Asio4all and all distortions went away. So It wasn't a JRMC15 issue after all. It was the only player sensitive to It though. Don't know why.<br />

<br />

Everything plays perfectly now.<br />

<br />

Can't say I understand why or understand that whole Wasapi/Asio4all thing but It works now so I am happy.<br />

<br />

Thank you for the help.<br />

<br />

[Humzet]

Hi Chris<br />

<br />

I am very new to this so sorry if this is a dumb question! <br />

When using dbpoweramp to rip a disc as a FLAC file format, does the software automatically embed the metadata? I assume that once metadata has been embedded then if the files are converted to another format later on such as WAVE or AIFF the data always remains embedded? Many thanks Humzet.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Humzet - Yes, the metadata is embedded into the FLAC files by default. However, if you convert to another format the new format must also support embedded metadata. AIFF is good, but WAVE will be a constant fight to get embedded metadata to work with many applications.

[Humzet]

Thanks Chris.<br />

<br />

I assume then that this is partly why you recommend copying to FLAC WAVE and AIFF thereby elimination any conversion problems between FLAC and WAVE?<br />

<br />

Regards<br />

<br />

Richard

[MusicTrax]

<em>Kirkmc asked: "Is there any reason to rip mono discs (in this case, the Beatles set) in stereo?"</em><br />

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No. All this does is double the storage space. A mono FLAC or mono WAV file will be half the size, but in playback, you'll hear the same channel reproduced equally through two speakers.<br />

<br />

Apple does not implement mono Apple Lossless through iTunes, but you can force true mono encoding through dBPowerAmp. I think their encoding is smart enough to adjust the storage so that the mono encoding file size is almost (but not quite) half the size of a stereo file.<br />

<br />

<br />

<em>Humzet asked: "I assume then that this is partly why you recommend copying to FLAC WAVE and AIFF thereby elimination any conversion problems between FLAC and WAVE?"</em><br />

<br />

There should be zero difference between a lossless FLAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, or WAV created from the same source. The guys on the Hydrogen Audio Forum have endlessly debated and tested this, and as far as I know, nobody has ever heard or measured a real difference. This is assuming a recent-vintage computer, modern codecs, and good-quality rips. As the saying goes: "Lossless is Lossless." <br />

<br />

The only advantage one lossless format has over another is playability on different operating systems and portable players. To me, Apple Lossless makes the most sense, but I don't pretend it's right for anybody. If Apple went out of business tomorrow (unlikely, since they have about $50B in the bank), I'd just batch-convert all my files to a different lossless format with dBPowerAmp. As long as all the embedded metadata is retained, and the conversion is perfect, there's no issue.

[rmwjr]

If I understand your recommendation, you are ripping in three different formats saved, respectively, on three different drives: NAS, local pc and G5. My current setup is using a mac mini as server with the music stored in an attached Drobo 4. My new setup would be to rip the cd's on a macbook pro in Windows using Parallels with FLAC files saved on an external hard drive and saving the AIFF files to the Drobo. I would skip the WAV files since I wont be using a pc as the server. The Basic question: how do I get the AIFF files to the Drobo?

[The Computer Audiophile]

You'll need to share the Drobo drive from within the Mac System Preferences Sharing section, then File Sharing.

[pianoguy]

Like many others on this site, i will have a dedicated macmini-based server - Mach2 with music library on external SSD. I want to follow your methodology so would like to set up a dedicated ripping station. Several questions i would appreciate answers or experience"<br />

<br />

1) any preference between a pc laptop vs a netbook with external optical drive (like plextor 880) driven by usb power?<br />

2) any preference for battery power vs ac on the laptop or netbook?<br />

3) Is it possible to send both the FLAC archive and the AIFF working files to mac-based external HDD (for the archive file) or SSD (for the working file)?<br />

<br />

Thanks in advance for the help!<br />

<br />

Rick

[pianoguy]

Like many others on this site, i will have a dedicated macmini-based server - Mach2 with music library on external SSD. I want to follow your methodology so would like to set up a dedicated ripping station. Several questions i would appreciate answers or experience"<br />

<br />

1) any preference between a pc laptop vs a netbook with external optical drive (like plextor 880) driven by usb power?<br />

2) any preference for battery power vs ac on the laptop or netbook?<br />

3) Is it possible to send both the FLAC archive and the AIFF working files to mac-based external HDD (for the archive file) or SSD (for the working file)?<br />

<br />

Thanks in advance for the help!<br />

<br />

Rick

[jsa307]

I'm getting started on converting my library, and found this article to be very helpful. From my pressed CD's, I would be using dbpoweramp (as suggested above) to create FLAC, ALAC (iTunes user), and mp3 (for portable devices) copies. While this seem like a great and time-saving solution for my pressed CD's, I also have music that has been downloaded in various other forms (ie wav image+cue, flac image+cue, individual ape file tracks, etc etc) that needs to be converted. These files are currently stored as data on burned DVD's. Is there anyway to get dbpoweramp to take these files with cue sheets or files in other formats, and easily output them into FLAC/ALAC/mp3 the way it would for a pressed CD? <br />

<br />

Another option would be to burn the files to an audio CD and then let dbpoweramp handle it, but that seems quite time consuming and also introduces more of a possibility for error into the process. Or I could handle all of these files manually (ie convert to wav, split the tracks, convert to flac/alac/mp3 with separate programs, and then label all of the metadata by hand). But that seems VERY time consuming.<br />

<br />

Is there a solution to this problem via dbpoweramp, or any other program? Thanks very much!

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi jsa307 - dBpoweramp comes with a music converter as well as a CD ripper. I use the converter for music I already have on my hard drives. It should suit you well.

[jsa307]

Thanks Chris - after checking out the program a little more, it does seem like it will work well even for my non-pressed CD music files. My only remaining question: is there any concern about using dBpoweramp instead of iTunes to generate my ALAC files (i.e. my working music files)? I wouldn't be asking the question except that it's a closed source format. Have people examined if the ALAC files created by dBpoweramp are bit-for-bit replicas of ALAC files created by iTunes? It would take a lot more effort to manually create the ALAC files via iTunes, instead of just letting dBpoweramp create all 3 files sets at once -- but I do want to make sure the ALAC files it generates aren't inferior to an iTunes version. Thanks again, Jeremy

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Jeremy - I'm glad you brought this up. I am not a fan of ALAC. There can be issues converting to and from especially when the music is 24 bit. I believe 16 bit material should be OK.

[JR_Audio]

Creating ALAC with dBpoweramp is Bit True and this is with 16 and with 24 Bit data (no matter if the source in WAV, AIFF oder FLAC). But as Chris mentioned, I would stay away from ALAC and would take AIFF for listening.<br />

<br />

Juergen

[robertl]

The guys at Pure Music told me to use Apple Lossless for everything... interesting.