RIP cd,s ..?

darthed1981

Grumpyrocker said:

I always rip to FLAC; because that makes making lossy copies easier and better. If I ripped to V0 then I'd be making crappy copies if I want to create smaller files from those. 

That principle is sound, though in reality you would be unlikely to be able to notice a problem.

If you were to reencode a file then take the resulting  file and reencode and so on, I'd actually be interested to find out how many generations you could do it for before creating a file where artefacts are magnified to a very noticeable level.

Reverend

I use iTunes as I use an iPod. Have maybe ripped less than a third of my cds as I also download a fair bit from haulix. 
Spotify is popular but not much use to me as every time I've tried it I've only found half of what i was looking for. 

funkyfraz

What's wrong with Windows media player? I've done that, straight to high quality mp3. Seems to work perfectly well! 

blobb

Freerip

guitartango

I use audio grabber which is now free, you still have to use lame to encode to MP3 at 320 bitrate
https://www.audiograbber.org/

steveledzep

Just as an aside, I spent a great deal of time recording my vinyl records to FLAC a couple of years ago.  I used "VinylStudio" which was a free download at the time and it worked a treat.  I can recommend it if anyone is contemplating doing the job.  It takes ages of course, but I did enjoy it.....far better than the telly. 

Snags

I use an old copy of WinAmp still.

guitartango

Snags said:

I use an old copy of WinAmp still.

Wish they would bring WinAmp back, loved it together with Winmx and Napster .... happy times

DaveMon

EAC for Windows. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/
Or XLD for Mac. https://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html

Adds all of the ID3 tags and album art.
And checks the rip against the AccurateRip database to ensure there's no issues.

Pick your format and a choice of plugins to encode with LAME/FLAC etc.

spark240

DaveMon said:

EAC for Windows. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/
Or XLD for Mac. https://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html

Adds all of the ID3 tags and album art.
And checks the rip against the AccurateRip database to ensure there's no issues.

Pick your format and a choice of plugins to encode with LAME/FLAC etc.

That looks kind of complex?

prowla

Roysterdoyster said:

I remember seeing Judith Hann on Tomorrow’s World spreading jam on a CD,washing it off under the tap and then playing it. I remember thinking “ my god,this is perfection, but surely it can’t be real?” 

I moved house about 4 yrs ago and turfed all my cds in the bin (hundreds of them). #downloads

I then heard a Linn LP12 blow the doors off a CD player.

Wazmeister

I use iTunes but rip mine to the superb and excellent Brennan B2

Blueingreen

sw67 said:

I used to use iTunes and ripped all my cds. Still have it on a portable drive but for me its now spotify and sonos for music. I have a loft full of vinyl and cds that the wife refuses to get rid of even when we have nothing to play them on

Yep Spotify for me.  I also had a huge collection of cds.  Haven't played one in many years. My missus got fed up of them taking up space and stuck them in a garden shed where they've been mouldering away.  Should have done the smart thing and got rid when they were still worth something.

Philly_Q

Wazmeister said:

I use iTunes but rip mine to the superb and excellent Brennan B2

I like the look of that thing, but does it do anything you couldn't do with some kind of software on a PC, Mac, laptop etc?

Phil_aka_Pip

prowla said:

Roysterdoyster said:

I remember seeing Judith Hann on Tomorrow’s World spreading jam on a CD,washing it off under the tap and then playing it. I remember thinking “ my god,this is perfection, but surely it can’t be real?” 

I moved house about 4 yrs ago and turfed all my cds in the bin (hundreds of them). #downloads

I then heard a Linn LP12 blow the doors off a CD player.

It would. Mine does. CDs can be a lot more convenient though and not all of them are crap. You need a top notch CD player to beat a Sondek - IMO most of those say Rotel or Marantz on them

steveledzep

Yes, my Gyrodec will trounce most cd players.  I agree, Rotel and Marantz are excellent players, the best in the early days were Meridian.  I went for a Roksan, somewhere in between.  1970s records are mostly excellent pressings, it went downhill in the eighties.  The cd medium was a missed opportunity.  It had truly excellent potential, but was spoilt by greed.  Check out "loudness wars".

ICBM

steveledzep said:

The cd medium was a missed opportunity.  It had truly excellent potential

It still does. It’s simply a means of storing digital information. If the music is recorded and mastered correctly, and the playback system is good, CD is a completely transparent interface between the two - the frequency response and dynamic range of the standard format is greater than that of the human ear.

The problem in the beginning was that the mastering wasn’t done properly to take advantage of that - it was still done the way it was done for vinyl - and then later the problem was that it was done wrong on purpose, in the ‘loudness wars’. But if it’s done right, those problems don’t occur.

steveledzep

ICBM said:

But if it’s done right, those problems don’t occur.

That's precisely my point...it wasn't done right !  Therefore a missed opportunity !

ICBM

steveledzep said:

That's precisely my point...it wasn't done right !  Therefore a missed opportunity !

True - but that doesn't mean it can't be done right now. Despite the naysayers, the rise of streaming, the supposed vinyl revival and the apparent re-demise of HMV there is still a large market for CDs - it's still the most popular music purchase format.

Whether it will survive when CD-quality downloads are universally available, I don't know - but I'm fairly sure there will still be people who want this quality level.

Winny_Pooh

I still like CDs, especially as the cd liner sleeve still hasn't made it into digital downloads. I'm a bit mystified by that but I guess the largest part of music buyers must obviously not care.