Ripping CD Collection

I use EAC on a PC and have set it up thusly:

Folder is named (example): Aerosmith - Big Ones (1999) [FLAC] or you might have a reissue of it and it would be named like this: Aerosmith - Big Ones (1999) [FLAC] {CK234678-1 remaster} - you use the {} for denoting special attributes like remaster, catalog number etc...

This is how I have my EAC configured:









more to come in following posts....

 

more to come in following posts...

 

more to come in following posts...

 

I'm sure this will go over well here.

 

Rippign a CD to FLAC using EAC:

step one after CD is inserted into drive:

Action --> F4 - detect gaps

Action ---> Create Cue Sheet ----> Multiple WAV Files With Gaps (Noncompliant)

shift + F6 will begin your rip.


After words you will have an m3u file, CUE file, log and FLAC rips.

 

I ripped my cd's to flac using the Vortexbox a few years back when I was at home with a broken ankle, filled up 1.8TB & play them on Sonos.
Only problem is the 65k file limitation of Sonos so I can't select from all my flacs.

 

All this info is very helpful. I just read in another thread (http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ripping-cds-with-pre-emphasis-on-a-mac.337627/) about pre-emphasis. I have never heard of this. Before I get my external and begin to rip my collection what do I do about this in simple terms? Will XLD automatically give me the exact sound I am used to on my CD's?
Thanks

 

What's a "tagging" issue with WAVs?

That's how I rip - lossless WAVs. Even my 96/24s are WAVs.

The only issue I have is I have trouble renaming individual files - let's say I misspelled a track name when editing it in Windows Media before ripping to WAV lossless. How do I amend it? If you right click the file, open "properties", it shows the info, but there's no additional right-click or anything to change it. In this example, let's say I want to title this particular track "True Love Ways (with session intro)?

Hmm. Seems I'm unable to attach the image of my desktop I just created (.jpg) because it doesn't have an online link to it?

Um, off topic, but when did that happen? How do you upload a non-hosted image here?

Thanks!

Jeff

 

I've got quite a ripping CD collection too, if I do say so myself.

 

My Server is an old MacBook Pro in a closet with attached 6TB (iTunes library, and also flacs) and 8Tb (backup) external drives. My lossless collection is also backed up remotely to Bitcasa (I got in early on their cheap unlimited storage plan that has been discontinued).

What you are talking about would be easy with a network storage device (NAS). But, your laptop has to be on with iTunes running for the AppleTV to access the library.

 

FLAC and ALAC are much better for tagging, since WAV supports no standard tagging schema. So, while some players have a scheme to tag WAV, if you ever move to a different player the WAV tags may be lost since they were never embedded using proper standard tags. Lossless formats with proper tagging, such as FLAC and ALAC, don't have that weakness as they support standard tags.

As for size comparisons, I ripped a Jess Stacy CD (jazz, much of it recorded in mono). Here's a size comparison of this album in four lossless formats, so music and quality are identical in all:

FLAC - 186 MB

ALAC - 188 MB
(Apple Lossless)

WAV - 742 MB

AIFF - 742 MB

For this CD, WAV and AIFF are almost four times the size of FLAC and ALAC, for zero quality benefit and, in the case of WAV, the loss of standard tagging.

There is no value to keeping WAV. As my tests above showed, WAV and AIFF can be almost four times the size of FLAC and ALAC, for zero quality benefit and, in the case of WAV, the loss of standard tagging.

 

Okay, here's image: Help? Thanks!

 

Windows Media doesn't have an option to rip to FLAC. I always have to convert FLAC to lossless WAV to be able to use it when the only option is to purchase a FLAC (like if I'm supporting an artist on Pledge Music and request lossless downloads).

WAV always seems to be the most universally accepted format to play back in from my experience. But this "tagging" - I still don't know what it means?...

Does my post above, now with image, clarify my issue better?

Jeff

 

Ah, I didn't realize that you did not know at all what tagging is. "Tagging" means the metadata, the information about the recordings that can be embedded into the audio files, such as track name, album name, recording date, artist name, genres, artwork, comments, etc. Many of us spend time ensuring that our tags are meaningful and correct, and we wouldn't want to lose them.

It makes no sense to convert from a superior format, FLAC, to WAV just to support a player that cannot deal with proper lossless formats. I would get a better player. WAV has absolutely zero advantages over lossless formats, and has disadvantages.

 

FLAC is great, but this 75% space reduction is a quite extreme example. The average (for stereo) is more between 35% and 40%.

 

I did make it clear that it was a mono CD, and I said "WAV and AIFF can be almost four times the size" of lossless. The point is that, even with only a 35% space saving, lossless is still miles ahead of WAV with smaller file size and standard tagging support.

 

Some people can hear a difference between wav and flac,to say otherwise is just an opinion.
I rip to wav with JRiver Media Center and get all the tags and artwork.I like having what's on the cd. Cd's are a comprimised format,why further compromise it?
I can and do copy to flac on the fly for music on my android phone.

 

Actually, those saying they can hear a difference are the ones expressing an opinion. The science is that the two sound identical.

 

I haven't compared the two myself but enough people I consider credible seem to hear a difference.Either they are lying or you scientists are the ultimate authority.I've made my choice.

 

I have heard clear differences between lossless formats.

However, these have been dependent on the software that plays them back. Even a software 'upgrade' can bugger this up. I agree that they all contain the same data and there is no data loss transferring between them. The problem comes when software developers think they are all the same and don't check that they have implemented the format correctly.

I would recommend doing a listening test on your own system before making a definitive choice.

 

This exactly. Just like how if I listen to a CD in my car it's going to sound different than when I listen to it in my house it doesn't make the sources different.

The data in a WAV is identical to the data in a FLAC. The FLAC is just packaged in a more efficient container. You can go back and forth between the two 101 times and come out with the same data as when you started. That's what lossless is. If there's a flaw in the way you get that data out of a FLAC and into your ears, then that's the flaw to address.

 

Audible differences between lossless formats are possible, but always occur due to your software and/or hardware, never due to one of these formats. And this is not even science, but a simple fact.

 

Can someone offer advice and suggestions to a simple mind.
I see the need for saving on an external drive my 75000 songs downloaded to itunes. All are from my cd collection.
I use the Apple Time capsule but do NOT back up my itunes library on it to save space on it since it acts as my router as well.
My issue is not worrying about re downloading if need be but I want just an isolated hard drive with enough capacity so I can have the whole library present and portable in case I need to replace my imac one day.
What is a recommend external hard drive that I can buy and add music to on an ongoing basis while keeping the Time Capsule on and working as the router? Can I keep them both on simultaneously and add to the library and save to a new device while computer and Time Capsule is on?
Any good book on ripping and saving I should read?
Thanks

 

I used one of Doug's Applescripts to embed the cover art in the actual file. (Obviously this will only work for Mac users.) If I have other scanned artwork (booklets, etc.) I store them in a folder in the album folder and iTunes just ignores them.