I need a Drive to Rip CD's on a Mac Mini

[alfe]

YMMV my advise is get a good drive and try Yuri's software if your discs are scratched.

 

Edit: sorry didn't see the question

So if you could be more specific about what you mean by the "quality of the rip," I think that would be very helpful. Thank you.

 

The answer is: I don't trust the reliability of the data base.

[tmtomh]

YMMV my advise is get a good drive and try Yuri's software if your disc are scratched.

 

Thank you, and I agree.

 

However, with all due respect, you don't need to be an engineer or hold patents in the field to know that getting a decent drive is a good idea. You shouldn't make overarching comments like "that's what you think" and "everything you wrote is wrong," unless you can back them up. It's inaccurate and not very civil.

[alfe]

Thank you, and I agree.

 

However, with all due respect, you don't need to be an engineer or hold patents in the field to know that getting a decent drive is a good idea. You shouldn't make overarching comments like "that's what you think" and "everything you wrote is wrong," unless you can back them up. It's inaccurate and not very civil.

 

Apologies but not the first time in CA that I see this type of advise

The software is more important than the drive

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That's not what the OP was looking for.

[17629v2]

Thank you for the explanation.

Correct me if I'm wrong but normally the calibration of the drive need a reference CD supplied by Philips with different signals.

From my understanding the drive read the information, not the software or it's the opposite?

 

I haven't setup EAC in a while, but I did dbpoweramp a few weeks ago and to calibrate the drive, it asks for a music CD (New/Pressed) in good shape. Also, I'm pretty sure it checked for the drive specs online and didn't need the CD.

 

To be honest, had I known if someone was going to need this info, I would have made a note of all the details. If you need more specifics, let me know and I'll run through the calibration procedure again.

[kumakuma]

I don't trust the reliability of the data base.

 

I'd be interested in knowing why not.

 

To me, the digital data obtained from ripping a CD either matches what is on the CD or it doesn't.

 

If the AccurateRip database says the ripped data on my HDD matches what 30 other people also have on their HDD, it's a pretty strong indication that I've got a good rip.

[tmtomh]

I'd be interested in knowing why not as well. If the AccurateRip database has more than a couple of entries, it's statistically very unlikely that your AccurateRip-confirmed rip would not be accurate.

 

If you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you're a hardware professional, it can seem like everything is about the hardware. Just because you know a lot about one aspect of the process, doesn't mean that aspect is necessarily the most important.

[Jay-dub]

In my experience, ripping with XLD and a SuperDrive is a PITA, five or ten times slower than using the same drive with iTunes, and more awkward for editing the metadata. I would certainly like to know specific drives (and ripping modes in XLD) that people have had good experiences with (say, 10x speed or better).

[semente]

I have used iTunes to rip all my CDs and have yet to find a rip that is not validated by Accourate.

[tmtomh]

In my experience, ripping with XLD and a SuperDrive is a PITA, five or ten times slower than using the same drive with iTunes, and more awkward for editing the metadata. I would certainly like to know specific drives (and ripping modes in XLD) that people have had good experiences with (say, 10x speed or better).

It's going to be slower with XLD and any drive, because XLD uses secure ripping and iTunes does not. If you go into XLD's preference and change the ripping mode to "burst mode," which is non-secure, you will probably find that the ripping speed increases to something very close to the speed with iTunes.

[17629v2]

In my experience, ripping with XLD and a SuperDrive is a PITA, five or ten times slower than using the same drive with iTunes, and more awkward for editing the metadata. I would certainly like to know specific drives (and ripping modes in XLD) that people have had good experiences with (say, 10x speed or better).

 

Its the drive that's slow. Those small USB powered ones are a lot slower than the standard size drives. I just get cheap Asus $25 drives from a place like Tiger Direst or Newegg and replace them as needed. Ripping is very hard on the drive, so it doesn't pay to buy something expensive to just beat the crap out of it. The speed with the full size drive should be about 2-3x faster, and the software verifies that the rips are OK. As for tagging, use a tagging program. There's plenty of free ones that are way better than iTunes or XLD. Also, iTunes doesn't support FLAC, and its probably the most popular lossless format.

[mrvco]

I have used iTunes to rip all my CDs and have yet to find a rip that is not validated by Accourate.

 

I had several scratched CDs that iTunes failed to read accurately, even with error correction on. iTunes didn't notify me or fail the rip. The only way I knew was from listening to the output file and hearing the skip or noise. dBpoweramp at least gives me the piece of mind to know when there is an issue (or isn't) so I can address it (or not).

[semente]

I had several scratched CDs that iTunes failed to read accurately, even with error correction on. iTunes didn't notify me or fail the rip. The only way I knew was from listening to the output file and hearing the skip or noise. dBpoweramp at least gives me the piece of mind to know when there is an issue (or isn't) so I can address it (or not).

That sounds reasonable.

I don't have any have any scratched CDs, I always handled them as I had handled vinyls.

 

R

[tmtomh]

I had several scratched CDs that iTunes failed to read accurately, even with error correction on. iTunes didn't notify me or fail the rip. The only way I knew was from listening to the output file and hearing the skip or noise. dBpoweramp at least gives me the piece of mind to know when there is an issue (or isn't) so I can address it (or not).

Yes, that's exactly the problem with iTunes ripping - you don't know there's an audible problem unless or until you listen all the way through every song that's been ripped. I would say more than a few folks (including me!) have first been introduced to secure ripping precisely because of this kind of experience: "I ripped 100 of my CDs a couple of years ago, and I just discovered that a few of them have audible glitches..."

 

That sounds reasonable.

I don't have any have any scratched CDs, I always handled them as I had handled vinyls.

I'm glad your CDs are in such good shape. But I do find it amusing that there's almost always someone who posts this kind of reply whenever someone else talks about ripping scratched CDs. I handle my CDs very well, but I buy used ones too - and you can't control what a prior owner did in the past.