Ripping to MP3

[Karaokedude]

One of the problems I found was that a lot of my CDs wouldnt get the track info from online databases normally it would find the 1st cd iin a double set and fail on the 2nd CD

I found a very good ripper Express Rip CD Ripper from nch.com.au
although it checks online for the data it also reads the CD Text info from the actual CD

it will also name the files ideal for tagging
it tends to name the files artist title but it puts 2 spaces between the fields

I then use the program CKRename which allows for batch renameing ie you can replace characters with what ever you want so replace 2 spaces with a dash and the files are then artist - title . you can also put a string of characters at the front or back of the file name

As far as the hardware goes I used to use a Panasonic 535 Reader which used to rip perfectlly but as technology has moved on I think any reader will rip with no errors but  my preference now would be a plextor CDRW

[richms]

I have yet to have a disc fail to lookup on freedb - well a few locally produced ones were mis-identified but thats to be expected when there are less then a few 1000 made (I don't buy mass produced large record company CDs, just ones from bands at performances)

I have yet to come across a ripper that correctly sets the album artist field so have to do that myself. Doesnt help when half the idiots that submit to freedb put the artist for each track as ministry of sound or whatever and then put the actual artist into the title field.

[DrewKaree]

I have yet to come across a ripper that correctly sets the album artist field so have to do that myself.

?

I can think of several, EAC being the one I use.  The only thing stopping a ripping program from setting the album/artist field correctly is improper setup or not allowing you to change that setup.  The latter instance isn't even something I've come across in rippers, but that's the only other thing I can think of.

What programs have you used that incorrectly set these fields?

[DrewKaree]

One of the problems I found was that a lot of my CDs wouldnt get the track info from online databases normally it would find the 1st cd iin a double set and fail on the 2nd CD

As stated by richms, freedb is darn near infallible.  What online databases were you looking through?  Do you realize you can change/use multiple servers from freedb if you're not getting results you're happy with?

If your ripper doesn't allow you to set up the naming convention you desire (your "it tends to name the files artist title but it puts 2 spaces between the fields"), then I find it puzzling that you are recommending that ripper as "a very good ripper". 

I use EAC and have none of those problems you are describing, and if you choose not to use EAC for its accuracy, it can still be set up for speed and still retain the benefits you said you're looking for, as well as eliminate the need for yet ANOTHER program to rename files your "very good ripper" should have handled correctly in the first place. 

Sounds like your "very good ripper" is a very buggy program you've learned to deal with.

I have no idea what you're referring to about the Panasonic and/or ripping with no errors, since that's a fairly cursory explanation of something that could cover several topics and points, each of which are far more complex than the description you went over.

[richms]

I have yet to come across a ripper that correctly sets the album artist field so have to do that myself.

?

I can think of several, EAC being the one I use.  The only thing stopping a ripping program from setting the album/artist field correctly is improper setup or not allowing you to change that setup.  The latter instance isn't even something I've come across in rippers, but that's the only other thing I can think of.

What programs have you used that incorrectly set these fields?

EAC... Just tried ripping a compilation with the latest one and the album artist field was still blank, despite the cd artist being set to Various and grayed out when I ticked the various artists tick box. Same behavior I have had in the past which necessitates re tagging of the disc in foobar2000 before it will sort right. Also I don't like that it grays out as if the only possible disc artist is various artists, since I typically put who mixed it in there.

[Barry Barcrest]

For ripping i have always used audiograbber. It's free now as well which is always a bonus... As for it's tagging capabilities i couldn't tell you as i always use Tag & Rename and that does the job just fine.

[richms]

Yeah, but most of the cd's i borrow are lets just say, less then pristine so need the redundancy that EAC gives so that I don't have clicks and pops and other crap thru it...

[draginit]

musicmatch will rip a cd and fix any errors on "not so perfect cd's" up to a certain percentage of the song being damged. it grabs from another source to repair it..  ive borrowed many messed up cd's from friends that hardly play and they all play perfectly after ripping them with no cracks or pops... as for tagging i stopped using music match and found barcrests suggestion of tag@rename works far better.
-unfortunaly, musicmatch isnt free, but its worth it IMO when all your cd's are repaired and played pefectly after ripped.

[DrewKaree]

EAC... Just tried ripping a compilation with the latest one and the album artist field was still blank, despite the cd artist being set to Various and grayed out when I ticked the various artists tick box. Same behavior I have had in the past which necessitates re tagging of the disc in foobar2000 before it will sort right. Also I don't like that it grays out as if the only possible disc artist is various artists, since I typically put who mixed it in there.

Figured I'd run a test to see.  Threw in WOW Hits 2002 and ripped a song to see.  Note the first pic.  Same thing, ticked the various artists box. 

Ran Tag&Rename to check for certain that it sets the tags properly.  Note the second pic.  Everything right, everything in the proper place, and everything correct.

Methinks there's a problem with how you have it set up if it's a disc that EAC finds, as it uses freedb.

The reason it grays out the artist field on the upper right corner is to give an indicator that it will be using the freedb listing of each artist to fill in the artist field and not what's currently in the artist field.  If the album is not in the freedb database, it will not fill in an artist, which means you can select the various artists option right there, and instead of going in and manually retagging them in another program, you can set the tagging properties right in the ripping window.  You simply have to have the various artists option set up and remember to enter in the information in the tagging window like you have it set up in the various artists options.

Care to walk through it, or are there other variables that might be what's causing you this problem?

[DrewKaree]

musicmatch will rip a cd and fix any errors on "not so perfect cd's" up to a certain percentage of the song being damged. it grabs from another source to repair it

With the amount of bugs and problems with deletion of playlists in past versions, known issues with the encoders it utilizes, and the audiophile community's recommendation to stay away from it when there's a perfectly good free ripper that puts MusicMatch to shame (EAC), there's simply too many things going against it for me to ever re-install the bloated software (another issue) that is MMJB

I'd rather that EAC took a shot at it and worst-case scenario being that I'd have to re-buy something that EAC couldn't suss out than to trust MMJB - I'd compare MMJB to EAC's burst mode.  Also, where is MMJB getting their "other source" to repair it?  Sounds sketchy, or probably closer to the truth, they're interpreting or using some algorithm to fill in what seems to be missing. 

[kizer]

I as well personally use Audiograbber. I have for years and its pretty easy to edit something if you see it wrong. Sure its had a few mistakes in the past, but hey Im staring at the screen and I can easily re-tag a file or two before I hit the rip button.

[richms]

Figured I'd run a test to see.  Threw in WOW Hits 2002 and ripped a song to see.  Note the first pic.  Same thing, ticked the various artists box. 

Ran Tag&Rename to check for certain that it sets the tags properly.  Note the second pic.  Everything right, everything in the proper place, and everything correct.

Methinks there's a problem with how you have it set up if it's a disc that EAC finds, as it uses freedb.

The reason it grays out the artist field on the upper right corner is to give an indicator that it will be using the freedb listing of each artist to fill in the artist field and not what's currently in the artist field.  If the album is not in the freedb database, it will not fill in an artist, which means you can select the various artists option right there, and instead of going in and manually retagging them in another program, you can set the tagging properties right in the ripping window.  You simply have to have the various artists option set up and remember to enter in the information in the tagging window like you have it set up in the various artists options.

Care to walk through it, or are there other variables that might be what's causing you this problem?

Ok, I put in a disc to rip and tick the various artists tickbox, and let it do its thing, its ripping to mp3 so its writing id3 tags rather then using the command line to the encoder.

As you can see in the playlist in foobar2000, the discs are there with no album artist field, and in the properties its confirmed that its empty. Simply doing the properties on all the tracks and putting one in as you can see in one of the screenshots will fix the sorting of the list

And the annoying thing with the field being grayed is that I dont usually want the album artist to be set to various which is what the field defaults to when I tick the box.

[DrewKaree]

AAAAHHHH! NOW I see what you're saying!  Your third pic lays out exactly what you're referring to.  I wasn't understanding that you actually have an "artist" (I think that's what it is, or at least the company/group/whatever) that presses that disc.

I'll see what I can whip up.  That MAY be something you WOULDN'T choose the various artists box for, and simply have a secondary naming convention for those types of discs.  Now that I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down, I've got an idea of what needs to be done.

What ever happened to the good ol' days where kids were listening to that nice young boy, what was his name?  Glenn Campbell?  These kids these days with their rock and their roll....GIT OFFA MAH LAWN!

[DrewKaree]

its ripping to mp3 so its writing id3 tags rather then using the command line to the encoder.

I'm not sure about your setup, but under "Compression Options", do you actually have your Parameter Passing Scheme set up as "User Defined Encoder", or is it set up as the encoder you've got? 

The only reason it'll be using the command line for your options is if you have that set up, otherwise it does use the command line, but it's using the options you've set within the program.  I hope that made sense, but basically all it means is that if you don't have that set up properly, it still IS using the command line, but it's getting its directions from the default switches (which are the gui-based switches the typical person is familiar with).

I'm not certain if there's other switches, or if the gui-based switches are applicable as well, but here's a listing of what they have compiled in the FAQ's, mebbe that'll help as well

[richms]

I just let it find lame when I installed it, which is the same as I have done in the past. It cant be using the command line to tag since it is also putting in the total number of tracks.

Also, %a is listed as cd artist, theres nothing in the list for track artist so I dont know how it would tag a various cd at all without both fields.

[DrewKaree]

I just let it find lame when I installed it, which is the same as I have done in the past. It cant be using the command line to tag since it is also putting in the total number of tracks.

Where are you saying it's inserting the tags into the .mp3 file?

The tags aren't inserted on a .wav file, and the only thing turning that .wav file into an .mp3 is the command-line encoder, so I'm not understanding where you think the tags are being inserted, and by what.

Also, putting in the total number of tracks is quite easy with a few lines of code within the ripping program to get that pointer from the info you see on the gui.  In fact, in the pic above of command-line switches that are listed, the last one, %x, is just that - number of tracks on the album.

Also, %a is listed as cd artist, theres nothing in the list for track artist so I dont know how it would tag a various cd at all without both fields.

Again:

I'm not certain if there's other switches, or if the gui-based switches are applicable as well

PERHAPS there's another switch parameter that will work.

[richms]

I just choose lame, I had assumed it used the setting on the ID3 tag page rather then command lines. I know I stuffed up once and had it add id3 tags to an ogg file so it definatly wasnt using command line to the encoder in that case.