Are the default Exact Audio Copy settings good enough for perfect rips?

The default settings of Exact Audio Copy include ripping in burst mode (instead of secure) and a gap detection setting of "inaccurate". I used EAC with a new optical drive and didn't realize that the drive options reverted to the defaults (instead of the drive settings of last optical drive used).

I didn't realize the settings were on the defaults until I had ripped 3 CDs. Here are the results:

CD1 (rare cd):
16 tracks, all with "Accurately ripped (confidence 2)" and a CUETools DB status of "(5/5) Accurately ripped"

CD2:
30 tracks, all with "Accurately ripped (confidence 5)" or "Accurately ripped (confidence 4)" and CUETools DB statuses ranging from "(25/25) Accurately ripped" to "(23/25) Accurately ripped"

CD3:
30 tracks, all with "Accurately ripped (confidence 15)" or "Accurately ripped (confidence 14)" and CUETools DB statuses ranging from "(29/29) Accurately ripped" to "(28/29) Accurately ripped"

Since the AccurateRip CRC codes match and since the CUETools DB status is "Accurately ripped", is it safe to assume that the rips were perfect? That all of the audio files were perfect?

So the CUETools DB comparison confirms that the gaps were accurate, right?

Since the CUETools DB comparison doesn't mention CRC comparisons, does anyone know what the CUETools DB comparison actually does?

Would you recommend doing a second rip using secure mode? Would there be any advantage in doing a secure rip for these CDs?

A secure rip with secure gap detection would generate the exact same audio files and cue sheets, right?

If 'burst" is just as good as "secure" unless the CD is heavily scratched, is it better to set the ripping mode to "burst"?

If you use EAC, which settings do you prefer?

 

Burst mode is fine if you’re using AccurateRip and the rip matches. The gaps should be right, too, because the CRC wouldn’t match if the length is different.

When I used EAC, I ripped in burst mode unless the AccurateRip check failed, then I used secure mode. (Now I use dbPowerAmp, which essentially does that fallback automatically.)

 

You're good.
If you set up EAC using the Configuration Wizard (EAC menu item >> Configuration Wizard...) then it is set up correctly.

There are guides out there that explain how to configure EAC with some custom settings and options. Don't follow those guides. They're written by pirate sites telling people how to rip and get their rips accepted to the site. You don't need to follow their rules. Some of their rules are silly to follow if you're ripping your own CDs for yourself.

The EAC Configuration Wizard will get things set up correctly.

It's nice to get big numbers of matches in AccurateRip and CUETools DB. The big numbers would seem to give more confidence. But the reality is that getting just one match in AccurateRip and/or one match in CUETools DB is good enough to be fully confident. The chance that someone else gets the same random error on a rip and that you also get the same random error is very small. So getting just one match against someone else's rip is high confidence you got a good rip.

CUETools DB has some advantages over AccurateRip. Both work fine and getting a match in one is good enough. One of the advantages of CUETools DB is that it handles drive offsets and pressing offsets better than AccurateRip. CUETools DB can handle larger offsets. So will be more likely to get a match against more pressings.

A burst mode rip that is verified against AccurateRip and/or CUETools DB is bit for bit the same as a secure mode rip of the same CD. A secure mode rip doesn't make the rip magically better. The advantage for a secure mode rip is that it is more likely to read through scratches and get a good rip.

If you have a stack of a hundred CDs you'll find that it is faster to rip the CDs in burst mode. The burst mode rips that fail AccurateRip and/or CUETools DB would be re-ripped using secure mode. You'll likely find that method of operation to be faster to get through the stack of CDs that ripping everything in secure mode. If you have a lot of burst mode rips fail and if the CDs are clean (not scratched up) then that is a clue to look for a better ripping drive. A good ripping drive should be able to do burst mode rips and have the vast majority verify correctly with AccurateRip and/or CUEToold DB.

 

I think setting it up is fine when you install it. But you should go through all the options and verify that it's going to do what you want it to do. I find that I don't want it to convert files to FLAC. I'd rather just rip to WAV. I can convert to FLAC with a parallel process. If you allow EAC to convert to FLAC, then you're tying up your optical disc drive needlessly. If you're just doing a single CD, then allowing it convert to FLAC is probably fine. But I'd still rather keep to a consistent workflow. This includes tagging the resulting FLAC files.

Here's my typical work flow:
Rip with EAC
Convert WAV to FLAC with Trader's Little Helper
Tag file with Mp3tag

I can do each of these processes with multitasking all at the same time. Although converting to FLAC is pretty fast, I'd rather have stuff cued up for tagging because after tagging I still have to move the files from my desktop over to my NAS.

 

If you are ripping to individual files and not using a cue sheet, if your discs have audio hidden in the pre-gap or in the gap between songs, you aren't getting a perfect rip. Here is an imperfect list of example CDs: List of albums with tracks hidden in the pregap - Wikipedia

 

Lots of great info here! Glad to hear that burst mode should be sufficient in my case. Thanks so much to everyone for the advice!