Ripping MY CDs for a jukebox project

[Generic Eric]

I have many mp3s ripped already, but I never got them all done, and I have bought more since.
I currently use windowsXP, but since it will be a new project, I will be considering using linux as well
So...

• What are other file types I could consider ripping to?
• What are their pros?
• What are their cons?

Thanks

[papaschtroumpf]

I'm looking for a good (freeeware?) ripping software suggestion too!

MP3 is definitely the way to go for portability, works everywhere. I wouldn't encode slower than 128kbps, I have a bunch ripped at 96kbps but on high end speakers you know the difference.

VBR saves you a little space but is less compatible and hard drives are cheap now.

[Fat-Johnny]

I'm looking for a good (freeeware?) ripping software suggestion too!

I have used Musicmatch or Audiograbber.  Both can be set up to rip whole albums, making new folders for artist and album, then naming the MP3's any way you wish.

Just FYI, I use 160kpbs for all my MP3's.  I think I can hear a difference from 128, but 160 also saves a lot more room than 192.  Its a good comprimise.

Have fun,
FJ

[GadgetGeek]

I've been very happy with CDex http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

[papaschtroumpf]

is there anything to know about ID3 tags? Are some rippers better than others at filling them?
I just know that some players and jukeboxes can make use of them so even though I don't really need them at the moment, if I'm going to re-rip my entire collection, I'd like to make sure it's as complete as possible.

[papaschtroumpf]

The following site :http://www.mp3-wma-recorder.com/mp3-recorder-bitrate.shtml has a quick rundown of bitrate vs quality.  I think I'm going to do mine as VBR between 128 and 160 since my equipment is not top notch.

[Paul Olson]

I use Exact Audio Copy to rip the cds,  then Razorlame to encode to MP3.  I like  VBR Extreme, it sounds great and I have been able to play them in any player.  Encode at least 192, you may not be able to hear the difference with your current system, but you won't want to reencode them if you upgrade.  Trust me on this, I've ripped over 400 albums, and there is no way I would go thru and redo all of them, it's just too much work.  Hard Drives are cheap, don't waste your time with low quality encodes.

You can generate id3 tags with EAC(exact audio copy), but I prefer to use a dedicated progam for that. I like Tag & Rename, it's not freeware, but you can get an evaluation copy that is fully functional.  You download the tags from freedb, then you can edit them if needed.

This method, although not the easiest, will give the best results.

I hope this helps,

Paul

[Generic Eric]

so mp3s are still the way to go? or is there a new standard?

[GadgetGeek]

Ogg Vorbis is big among the open source crowd.  They claim better sound for the same bitrate.  I have not compared them myself.

[papaschtroumpf]

If you're ripping only for a jukebox or PC app it's probably fine, but if you want tobe able to use the files for a portable player, or an "appliance" player like the Audiotron, you may be out of luck (although I think the Audiotron will play ogg, and some portable players do too).

[DrewKaree]

I'm not sure how "dead" this thread is, but Maximum PC has a setup guide for Exact Audio Copy w/Lame as the encoder.  Check it out, or let me know...mebbe I'll type up the article for ya.  It's the BESTEST way to get mp3's from your CD's, and it's pretty much automated if you set it up right.  

My current setup to rip CD's:

1.  Make sure I'm connected to the net
     (do this to get ID tags, CD names, Song names)

2.  Start EAC & insert CD

3.  Press mp3.

It can't get easier than that, right?

[Minwah]

No-one use WMA's?

I just got a portable MP3 player and have been using Media Player 9 to rip my CD's to the highest quality variable-bitrate WMA.  WMA claims to be able to give the same quality as an MP3 encoded at twice the bitrate (or something like that anyway).

So far I've been very happy anyway, I can barely tell the difference from the original CD's.  Just 90 or so albums to go...

[DrewKaree]

m$ commie bast...whoops, almost sucked me in there!  If  that's what works for you, that's what you should use.

IIRC, if you want to play your wma's on someone else's computer or even another computer you possess, you need a license (or the CD; kinda defeats the friggen purpose of ripping em, don't it?) on each "unit".  

Why M$ wants to babysit us and what we do with our PC's is beyond me, but that's MY reason for using mp3 vs. wma.  Once they figure out a way to charge us for creating mp3's it's all over.

[Minwah]

m$ commie bast...whoops, almost sucked me in there!  If  that's what works for you, that's what you should use.

IIRC, if you want to play your wma's on someone else's computer or even another computer you possess, you need a license (or the CD; kinda defeats the friggen purpose of ripping em, don't it?) on each "unit".  

Why M$ wants to babysit us and what we do with our PC's is beyond me, but that's MY reason for using mp3 vs. wma.  Once they figure out a way to charge us for creating mp3's it's all over.

I didn't know that...

I just rip them, transfer to my player and they work fine.  So you're saying if I copy them to a different PC they won't work without the CD??

...Actually, I know that is not the case:  I brought my player to work the other day, mentioned a CD that I had on it to my colleague - he asked if I had a particular tune, and I did, so I just dragged it from the player to my work PC and then stuck it into his shared folder.  He listened to it straight away with no problems.

FWIW I'm not MS's biggest fan either, but IMO for quality vs size WMA's are definately an improvement over MP3's...

[arcadecab]

Which issue of Maximum PC was that in?  I am a subscriber for a couple of months, but I didnt catch the article.  Wondering if I do or dont have that issue--interested in it and the process you explained.
Thanks.

I'm not sure how "dead" this thread is, but Maximum PC has a setup guide for Exact Audio Copy w/Lame as the encoder.  Check it out, or let me know...mebbe I'll type up the article for ya.  It's the BESTEST way to get mp3's from your CD's, and it's pretty much automated if you set it up right.  

My current setup to rip CD's:

1.  Make sure I'm connected to the net
     (do this to get ID tags, CD names, Song names)

2.  Start EAC & insert CD

3.  Press mp3.

It can't get easier than that, right?

[DrewKaree]

It's in the latest, greatest issue of MaximumPC, April 2004, the issue with the cover "The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Guide!", p.36 to be exact.  I'm a-gonna type it up in a short second or two so as to help someone else.  It ain't that big, if I just give the pertinent details.

AFAIK, the .wma issue could have just been with this guy's computer.  He was running WinME, which was "all about" media, and I know for certain that after copying a CD full of wma's to his computer (AND making sure all of the files were NOT "read-only" files), he couldn't use a single one of them.  I figured he had media player, wma's were smaller=more files (same reasoning as you there), so go with that.  It popped up a little box about the license, and that little episode was enough to curse m$ yet again, and swear off using them for music.

I don't disagree completely with using wma's, just my bad experience.  I'm not a fan of M$ at all, and if there's something else out there, I AL-WAYS recommend that.  

BTW, please note the intended humor directed at you in calling you an m$ commie! I  

[Generic Eric]

<snipped> Once they figure out a way to charge us for creating mp3's it's all over.

Or back to audio tapes  

[DrewKaree]

You are referring, OF COURSE, to 8-tracks, right?

[Generic Eric]

I think I have made up my own mind.  I got an Ipod this am from what I have read, the native format that iTunes rips in is AAC.  Winamp plays those files as well.  I will try it out, if I like it, I will do the rest of my cds in AAC.  Then I will "re-rip" my cds that currently make up my mp3 collection.

I'd like some comments from ya'll.  Do any of you have any expierience with AAC?

[krick]

MP3 is the de-facto standard in compressed music formats.  I recommend that you stick with MP3.  Who knows if other formats will be supported in the future.  I'd hate to rip my whole collection of 800+ CDs to some format and find out years later that the format has been abandoned.

For my ripping, I have always used Audiograbber (now freeware)...

http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/

...combined with "LAME" a free MP3 encoder...

http://jthz.com/~lame/


One handy setting for audiograbber...

go to:  settings -> general settings -> naming tab

make sure "artist as directory" and "album as directory" are unchecked,
then check the "advanced" box, and enter this string (without the quotes)...

"%0 - %2 - %3 - %4|%2 - %3 - %1 - %4"

What this does is configures how audiograbber names your files...

...for single artist CDs, it uses the first half of the pattern...

ArtistName - AlbumName - Track# - TrackTitle.mp3

...for compilation (multi-artist) CDs, it uses the second half of the pattern...

AlbumName - Track# - ArtistName - TrackTitle.mp3


I keep all my MP3 files in one directory using this long filename system.  It makes it really easy to use filename sorting to find what I want.  I can also do a search on keywords in the filename to find all tracks by a certain artist for instance.

[Spaced Invader]

It's in the latest, greatest issue of MaximumPC, April 2004, the issue with the cover "The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Guide!", p.36 to be exact.  I'm a-gonna type it up in a short second or two so as to help someone else.  It ain't that big, if I just give the pertinent details.

AFAIK, the .wma issue could have just been with this guy's computer.  He was running WinME, which was "all about" media, and I know for certain that after copying a CD full of wma's to his computer (AND making sure all of the files were NOT "read-only" files), he couldn't use a single one of them.  I figured he had media player, wma's were smaller=more files (same reasoning as you there), so go with that.  It popped up a little box about the license, and that little episode was enough to curse m$ yet again, and swear off using them for music.

I don't disagree completely with using wma's, just my bad experience.  I'm not a fan of M$ at all, and if there's something else out there, I AL-WAYS recommend that.  

BTW, please note the intended humor directed at you in calling you an m$ commie! I  

When ripping with Windows Media Player you need to make sure "Copy Protect Music" is unchecked under the "tools/options/copy music" pulldown. Otherwise, you can't play it on other computers.  

[allroy1975]

boy this thread got long, so I appologize if this was covered.  I got bored and quit reading.  

I have used Audiograbber for YEARS.  a couple of the BEST features of it are:

it allows you to run multiple instances of the program.  If you have 2 CD rom drives (or 3 or 4) you can be ripping that many CDs at the same time.  Yeah it slows down more than if you're just doing one, BUT, you can watch TV, or sleep or go to work while it's ripping a bunch of CDs for you.

You can use external codecs.  I have always loved the sound of the Fraunhauffer codec, but I know a lot of people are partial to VBR with LAME.  It'll use either of those.

speaking again to running multiple instances of the program at the same time.....it has an option to copy all the wavs to the hard drive, THEN start encoding.  So, when it's done copying the files to the hard drive, you just open another copy of the program, throw in another CD and start the next one.  So, even if you only have 1 or 2 CD drives, you can still be ripping/encoding like 10 CDs at a time.  

I had to do this when I was building my mp3car.  The program was VERY important to the initial push.  Of course now, I hardly ever rip more than 1 CD at a time because I don't get them that often, but I still love AudioGrabber.

And it's written by Jackie the Late Night Hacker.

how cool is that?  

Allroy