Converting CDs to FLAC/MP3

And given that there are studies (link is to a slide deck / summary - not the paper on which it is based) out there on exactly this topic...

Yes, but those "some people" are a pretty select (and small) group. From the linked study's conclusions:

 Trained listeners can hear differences between CD quality and mp3 compression (96-192 kb/s) and prefer CD quality.

 Trained listeners can not discriminate between CD quality and mp3 compression (256-320 kb/s) while expert listeners could.

 Ability to discriminate depends on listeners’ expertise and musical genre.

 Artifacts can be verbalized and do not depend on musical genre.

I've read the paper before. I need to track it down and do so again.

My guess is that, as a percentage, a minority (and perhaps a small one at that) of this forum's membership falls into the "expert listener" category. ("Trained listeners" in the study consisted of four musicians and nine sound engineers with a mean of six years of studio experience each.)

I further doubt that many of us have systems, or a listening room, that's even close to the quality of what was used in that study.

But yeah, I'm sure that "some people" can hear a difference. I'm not one of them and no, it has nothing to do with my lack of training, hardness of hearing, or quality of my listening devices.

Jeff

 

What Grant ment was that some people can't hear the difference though. Like most could.

 

Even if you don't hear a difference between MP3 and lossless with your current gear, you may buy better gear later that makes the difference more audible.

Back in the early 2000s I did the ABX test thing with my gear at the time to compare MP3 to lossless. Gear at the time was a Pioneer A-9 integrated amp, M-Audio FireWire based audio interface, and Sennheiser HD580, HD600 and Grado SR60 headphones. I didn't hear a difference. So I ripped all my CDs at the time to MP3. And LAME -V2 (~190 kbps) at that because because my ABX testing showed I didn't hear of doing -V0 compared to -V2 and even -V2 was overkill. Back then a 100GB drive was big and expensive. So by using MP3 and -V2 I was saving space and saving money (or so I thought).

Gear I own now and ears that are 20 years older are now able to hear a difference between MP3 and lossless. Funny thing is, if I were able to listen to my old gear now I probably still wouldn't be able to hear a difference between MP3 and losselss. But with the gear I have now the difference is there.

Now with the cost of storage being so inexpensive it does not make sense to rip to any lossy format. Rip to lossless. If you need a lossy version of your files because your car doesn't play FLAC or ALAC then convert those files to lossy as you need them, but keep the lossless versions. The difference in storage costs today to store your library as lossless vs lossy is like $20 or $30 today. Back in 2000 that difference was more like $600-$1000 so lossy made more sense in order to save money. Today it does not make sense.

 

My car plays a bluetooth feed from my phone, which is connected to my music server that transcodes to MP3 on the fly to my phone over the internet.
Makes my entire library available while on the road.

 

Wow! Ok lots of great replies here, and I need to give you all a bit more detail;

I have a Windows based laptop, but no CD drive on it, so I'll need an external drive to rip. I think I'm sold on dBpoweramp from all the detailed recommendations. Now, I need to look into a good external CD drive to get. As before, I'm open to your suggestions. Thanks again!

 

Hey guys, if I may make a humble request? Please lets not sidetrack this thread into debates of who can discern differences between MP3s/FLAC/whatever. I would really like to keep this on topic and I am now convinced that FLAC is the choice that suits ME best. Greatly appreciate you all for your informed responses.

 

This is worth a read.

CD/DVD Drive Accuracy List 2016

 

Good question. I plan to play them back either streaming (which requires new hardware for me), and directly on my home audio set-up. Streaming would be to several possible sources, none of which are of audiophile quality - car, bluetooth speaker, etc. As I've come to understand, there's no longer any benefit to converting to MP3, so I'll use FLAC as the file type.

 

Cheaply made, but for the price works great. I use it to keep wear off my TSST TS-H662A that I use for SUBQ detection.
https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electroni...qid=1536860151&sr=8-3&keywords=lg+cd+rom&th=1

 

Thanks for the list. This brings up a new question - How do you connect an internal drive, such as the ATAPI - iHAS124 W without actually installing it? Can I get an adapter to connect it to a USB port on my laptop?

 

Yes, they make adapters. I use one for my TSST
Take those results with a grain of salt. I have a IHAS124, some discs it does better, some the Amazon cheapy does better etc...
It's good to have multiple drives however if you have a few beat up discs

 

This sort of thing. I've used something similar for 2 1/2 years and connected both ide and sata drives with great results.

 

There are benefits to converting to FLAC and Mp3 as some devices portable and car devices will only work with Mp3. With dBpoweramp which I believe you are interested in, a Mp3 library can either be created at the same time, or from your FLAC files later.

 

Yes, that's a good point. I was surprised to find out recently that my car radio actually plays FLAC. It's in a Peugeot and it has it's own head. Doesn't show all files on a USB-stick. Doesn't recognize metadata sometimes. Cuts off long songs sometimes. And bluetooth streaming is even worse. But it plays FLAC now. Maybe a peace offer.

 

so you've been in a studio?


Working?


Just curious.

I've been in a whole bunch, as a recording musician, and I'm still not an audiophile. Its not like I dont care at all how it sounds... its just that I put a lot more of my cash into making music than listening to it.

 

My car Parrot handsfree doesn't recognise FLAC, but does MP3. FLAC goes onto the NAS, and Mp3 (320kbps) on an USB stick. I use Mp3 on my iPod too.

 

All of this but especially THAT.

 

I like using full size drives for ripping rather than the slim drives designed for notebooks. The full size are faster and more robust and will likely last longer.

You can get a USB enclosure to hold the drive. Like this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NST-536S3-BK-NexStar-External-Enclosure/dp/B01MRUN0HQ/
Then get an LG or Asus drive for around $20. Install that drive in the enclosure and you're set.

I use an older USB 2 version of that Vantec enclosure and an Asus drive for ripping. It works well.

 

I've also had quicker rips with the full size drives in comparison to a Samsung SE-208 slimline drive, so always use them, mostly reclaimed from old PC towers.

The Vantec enclosure looks very neat in comparison with the mess of wires that I use, which is cheap and effective rather than tidy, though very easy to change drives.

 

That's all I need to know. If scientists just relied on a set of data that was collected just once or twice, we'd still be living in the stone age. A real scientists never stops looking for answers.

 

I have never had problems with either type of drive.

 

The slim drives can work fine for ripping. I've just always used the full size drives.

 

+1 for dBpowerAmp - using AccurateRip if possible

Tag&Rename for tagging

I rip to FLAC and then after tagging also create MP3 version (LAME VBR "Extreme" - not 320k). There are lots of reasons why you still might want a MP3 version.

I use a laptop and desktop - with both internal and external drives. The internal drive on the desktop is the fastest by far. I also use a LG slim drive sometimes with an annoying laptop that doesn't have a internal drive. It works fine, but it a little slower. It's not that slow - it still rips up to 12x.

 

I haven't had problems with either kind of drive, but if you have a choice, my findings agree with the others. The Samsung SE-208 slimline is slower and it is fragile, it didn't break, but I used it twice and then swapped it for three full size internal drives!

 

Well said! So let's hope that future scientists will one day solve the greatest riddle of them all. Grant's ears!