Ripping HDCD audio

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by markshan, Dec 30, 2011.

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  1. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Does anyone know of a program that will rip an HDCD and yield the decoded 20 bit WAVE file as opposed to the encoded 15+1? Thanks.
     
    Sapagrino likes this.
  2. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    hdcd.exe will decode ripped HDCD-encoded 16/44 WAV files to 24/44 WAV (20-bit audio padded to 24 bits).
     
  3. HiFiGuy528

    HiFiGuy528 Formerly Dj_AmTraX

    Location:
    Bay Area
    What are you gonna use to play it back?
     
  4. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    My EMu 1212 sound card.
     
  5. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Thanks! I didn't know there was such a thing, but a quick Google got me what I needed. Off to try it.
     
  6. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    It's a command line utility for Windoze, so prepare to type smth like:

    hdcd.exe -o track1_hdcd.wav track1.wav

    several times at DOS prompt to get all of the tracks decoded ;)
     
  7. boots

    boots Chokma!

    Location:
    Madill,OK,USA
    It's not free but dbpoweramp is great for all your audio ripping needs.:righton:
     
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  8. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    You can also use foobar2000 with HDCD plug-in which will decode HDCD-encoded tracks on the fly during playback (no offline HDCD decoding is necessary this way) or you can use foobar's convert feature and decode the HDCD tracks too.
     
    Sapagrino likes this.
  9. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    I use CUETools. Rip the CD to a CUE file with EAC then process the CUE with CUETools. Go to the options settings in CUETools to set how it processes HDCD.

    Unfortunately versions 2.1.1 and 2.1.2 have broken the HDCD detection. So I stick with version 2.0.9.

    Direct download for 2.0.9 from the CUETools web site (this will download a RAR archive): CUETools 2.0.9 download

    The hdcd.exe program also works if you want to go that route. It's also possible to get foobar2000 to process HDCD and export. I've not tried the Foobar route yet.
     
    Monrophonic likes this.
  10. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I put in the HDCD plug some time ago but it doesn't seem to work.
     
  11. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    ^ there may either be something wrong with your CD rip then (you have to have the exact copy of the encoded CD tracks, no volume or any other changes) or the tracks you think are HDCD-encoded in fact are not...

    Running:

    hdcd.exe -i track1.wav

    will tell you whether your track has HDCD encoding or not.
     
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  12. D Schnozzman

    D Schnozzman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I have never figured out how to make that work. I have installed the decoder but it doesn't appear as an option in the 'Additional Decoding' dialogue.
    Is there a step-by-step guide on the internets somewhere (assuming for the sake of argument that I am a complete doofus).
     
  13. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

  14. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    Never really tried it myself, since I prefer offline decoding with hdcd.exe to using foobar's HDCD plug-in...
     
  15. D Schnozzman

    D Schnozzman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I will try that out, but I figure Foobar would retain the tags if you did it from a 16-bit flac file. :shrug:
     
  16. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I can't make heads or tails of the command prompt hdcd.exe, but CUETools seems to be working. Is there an installer or do I just run the .exe every time? Thanks.
     
  17. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I didn't realize I had to rip first. I was trying to make it run directly from the CD.

    I am certain that the CD is HDCD (The Smile Sessions box set).
     
    Sapagrino likes this.
  18. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Download the hdcd.zip file at Post #13, use the convert.cmd
     
    Sapagrino likes this.
  19. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
  20. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    You're welcome
     
  21. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    There is no installer for CUETools. You run the EXE each time. Or you can manually create a shortcut to the EXE file and manually put the shortcut in your Start menu or on your desktop.
    CUETools also requires the .NET Framework, so you'll need to install that as well if you don't have it.
     
  22. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    What about on a Mac? What should one do with HDCDs? Must we convert in Windows? And currently do the iDevices play something like 24 bit 44k?
     
  23. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    I also told him about the hdcd.zip file (posted at post #13) which has a convert.cmd file as well as the hdcd.exe
     
  24. D Schnozzman

    D Schnozzman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I don't know the answer to that, but bear in mind that Microsoft now owns HDCD.
     
  25. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    That's the same boat I'm in. I'll get around to trying and experimenting with the Foobar HDCD plugin eventually to find out what it does. Foobar is neat, but isn't my primary music player.
     
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