Alternative to iTunes for ripping music?

[DeeBye]

I finally had a chance to sit down and rip a bunch of my old CDs to mp3s. I used iTunes for this task, because iTunes is amazingly easy to use.

I set it rip as mp3 at 192kbps VBR. I expected very good quality, but what I ended up with sounds pretty flat compared to other 192kbps VBR rips I've listened to. I'm pretty disappointed.

So now it looks like I need to find another utility to rip my music. Suggestions?

[the Langolier]

AudioCatalyst (fushion of XingMP3 encoder and audiograbber). Absolutely and unbelievably costumizable. You set up a file and directory naming convention and it will take care of the rest. If you wanted your files to be named (example of result): "DeeBye's Tunes - 01 - Eat It - Weird Al Yankovic - The Food Album - 1995 - PS Don't forget the track number is_03 - PSS DeeBye is super cool.mp3", you could do it*. Your directories can be by Artist -> Album, or whatever. It will retrieve CDDB information and complete the ID3 tags too. Excelent rip settings up to ~320 VBR encoding (setting you choose is always the minimum bit rate used). Will normalize files between percentage you choose.

It does cost $29.95 for a full license. There is a free version that will never expire. The only difference is the free version will only allow you to rip a random set of half the tracks. Each time you open the program you will get a new set, so you can open it 2+ times until you have had the option to rip every track.

*Poster makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the maximum characters allowed in naming conventions. All information valid through 12/31/04. Poster assumes no responsibilty for inaccurate, outdated, or otherwise inappropriate information. AudioCatalyst is copyright Xing Technologies, Inc. all rights reserved.

[Ashock]

>>>Alternative to iTunes for ripping music<<<<

Well, if you are strong enough, you can take a vinyl record and rip it in half with your hands. That does not require iTunes at all. I don't think it will work with CDs though, but you could try it. Let me know how it turns out.


-A

[NiteFox]

I'd provide an easy link to CDex for you, but I'm blocked by an institutional firewall.

Anyway, CDex is free, has online CDDB support, and works perfectly.

[Walkiry]

I'd provide an easy link to CDex for you, but I'm blocked by an institutional firewall.

Anyway, CDex is free, has online CDDB support, and works perfectly.
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http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos

Your institutional firewall blocks Sourceforge? Wow :)

[Concillian]

I use EAC for ripping and LAME for compression:

1) You can use LAME with EAC automatically, and LAME is simply the most flexible HIGH QUALITY encoder. Do some listening tests with other encoders at the same bitrate and you will likely come to the same conclusion I did. LAME sounds better. I use a very high quality VBR compression with LAME and a double blind test on my home stereo showed I couldn't tell the difference between a .wav and the .mp3... my brother, a self proclaimed audiophile was surprised when he also failed the double blind miserably.

2) EAC can tell when there is a digital error in a ripped file. If it detects one, it will re-try and re-try slower and slower until it gets something right. I've ripped CDs that skip in EVERY CD player I own, but EAC made clean .mp3s out of it. If you insert a CD all scratched to hell, it may take a few hours to rip it, but EAC will make clean rips. I've never heard a pop, click or snap, and I have about 20-25GB of .mp3s, all ripped from my CD collection. It will also tell you exactly where it encountered problems so that you can go listen to those areas yourself to verify they're clean.

I use the following options for LAME in the compression options for EAC under 'command line options':
%h--nspsytune --vbr-mtrh -V0 -mj -h -b96 --lowpass 19.5 --athtype 3 --ns-sfb21 2 -Z --scale 0.98 -X0%h %s %d

which produces VBRs in the 200-250-ish range that are from my standpoint, indistinguishable from .wavs -V1 or -V2 will lower quality (in small steps) and bitrate in place of -V0 for smaller files. Many people find -V1 comparable to .wavs. I didn't try -V1 because size wasn't a large concern for me.

I had used CDex before, but EACs 'never a problem with a rip' feature just blew every other ripper of the time out of the water. I must admit that it was over a year ago that I did this kind of research, and I'm not up on the current revisions of other high quality rippers, but EAC and LAME still work great for me.

[Alram]

I finally had a chance to sit down and rip a bunch of my old CDs to mp3s.&nbsp; I used iTunes for this task, because iTunes is amazingly easy to use.

I set it rip as mp3 at 192kbps VBR.&nbsp; I expected very good quality, but what I ended up with sounds pretty flat compared to other 192kbps VBR rips I've listened to.&nbsp; I'm pretty disappointed.

So now it looks like I need to find another utility to rip my music.&nbsp; Suggestions?
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I don't like the sound at 192. I use 320. Media Jukebox and Musicmatch Jukebox both have competent ripping tools.

[Roland]

I finally had a chance to sit down and rip a bunch of my old CDs to mp3s.&nbsp; I used iTunes for this task, because iTunes is amazingly easy to use.

I set it rip as mp3 at 192kbps VBR.&nbsp; I expected very good quality, but what I ended up with sounds pretty flat compared to other 192kbps VBR rips I've listened to.&nbsp; I'm pretty disappointed.

So now it looks like I need to find another utility to rip my music.&nbsp; Suggestions?
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CDex. Best program I've used. Works wonders.

http://www.download.com/CDex/3000-2140_4-10226370.html

[DeeBye]

I use EAC for ripping and LAME for compression
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Okay, I just tried CDex and ripped one of my CDs, but it still sounds pretty flat. I did not use LAME though. Could this be why?

Can anyone walk me through installing LAME?

[Concillian]

Okay, I just tried CDex and ripped one of my CDs, but it still sounds pretty flat.&nbsp; I did not use LAME though.&nbsp; Could this be why?

Can anyone walk me through installing LAME?
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Download LAME:
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?...e_Compiles

There is no 'installer' for LAME, it is a command line encoder. Just extract the files to a directory.

Then Download and install EAC:
http://www.exactaudiocopy.org/

The way to use LAME with EAC is to go into the Compression options and set it up for third party, then point it to LAME. I don't have the program in front of me right now, but I think it's pretty straightforward.

There is a list of reccommended command line options here:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=28124

My command line options are based on the 3.90 version, not 3.97 (came out fairly recently), so try the options in the link provided instead.

Be sure to setup EAC so you can connect to the CD database. Alt-G is the keyboard shortcut for getting CD info.

I haven't tried CDex since switching to EAC, but in my opinion, EAC runs rings around CDex in terms of functionality. Some people still like CDex. Regardless of which ripping interface you choose, LAME is the codec to use. I'm pretty sure CDex can be configured for a 3rd party codec as well.

[Artega]

I've ripped everything with Windows Media Player to WMA, though I think I'm going to convert them over to FLAC or re-rip them to FLAC, simply because WMA is a proprietary Windows format, and Windows Media Player can be a pain in the ass at times.

For normal listening, I'd use a mid-bitrate Vorbis.

[Walkiry]

Download LAME:
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?...e_Compiles

There is no 'installer' for LAME, it is a command line encoder.&nbsp; Just extract the files to a directory.&nbsp;

Then Download and install EAC:
http://www.exactaudiocopy.org/

The way to use LAME with EAC is to go into the Compression options and set it up for third party, then point it to LAME.
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AFAIK, it's the same in CDex, you can use LAME from inside it.

[DeeBye]

a bunch of useful stuff about EAC and LAME
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Thanks. This works fabulously. EAC + LAME is a nice combination. I'm definitely going to keep this on my machine.

I'm an idiot though. When I tried testing the audio quality of some rips I did with EAC, CDex, and iTunes, they all sounded very similar. The quality difference was not great enough for me to notice any difference whatsoever with my iPod.

The problem? I was initially comparing rips done from different CDs. I hastily assumed it was iTunes that sucked, but it turns out it was just a not-so-great recording of one particular CD I have. It was on the top of the pile and was the easiest to reach for :blush:

I've since done a few more rips of a few more (different this time!) CDs, and it turns out that iTunes does not suck as much as I initially thought it did. Rips I did using EAC+LAME sound the same as rips I did using iTunes when heard on my iPod (EAC+LAME rips sound better on my home audio system though, but I seldom use it to play mp3s instead of audio CDs).

In conclusion, EAC+LAME has a ton of great features and makes fantastic rips from CD. I'd use it all the time except that it takes about 10 times longer than iTunes to rip an audio CD. Since I can't notice the quality difference on my iPod, I think I'm going to stick with iTunes.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone :)