What's the best way to rip CDs to a Mac?

[Speed Racer]

There are other ways to combine tracks, or whole albums, that you can do on a case by case basis.

[Speed Racer]

19 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

how does noise in the power supply affect the transfer of any bit on the CD to that bit onto the HDD or SSD?

 

It doesn't affect the data. The idea that power supply choices can affect digital data copied from a CD and stored in a digital format  file has no technical merit.  

[Ralf11]

Hey - don't kill the  thread with reality!

[William]

3 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

 

I fail to see how this method is better than using something like dBpoweramp with AccurateRip. In fact, it has the major draw backs of leaving you without metadata and no individual track files. 

 

I haven't said it was better than any other software in the market.
I just said the rip was perfect, everytime.  That's what I meant by " best ".

 

No metadata and no individual tracks is a major drawback for you, simply because we don't have the same listening needs.

[Speed Racer]

14 minutes ago, William said:

 

I haven't said it was better than any other software in the market.
I just said the rip was perfect, everytime.  That's what I meant by " best ".

 

No metadata and no individual tracks is a major drawback for you, simply because we don't have the same listening needs.

 

I would posit that DDP Creator acting as a CD ripper has unknown accuracy based on this from the DDP Creator manual:

 

DDP Creator depends on the error-checking capabilities of the computer’s optical drive to ensure that the audio data is read reliably with no errors. 

 

Since the computer's optical drive is never perfect and DDP Creator is not comparing against a known good master in any way, the rip may or may not be perfect and there is no way to know if it is or is not.

 

This is exactly why AccurateRip is such a good idea. Products that use AccurateRip can promise perfect rips while products that don't, cannot.

[Ralf11]

BTW, how do we know that the CD is bit for bit perfect w.r.t. a master?

[Speed Racer]

2 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

BTW, how do we know that the CD is bit for bit perfect w.r.t. a master?

 

Without access to the master, you don't. You can only assume that the record label's disc maker has done his job and verified the CDs they produce match the master they were given.

 

After the fact, all we can do is compare the checksums from tracks we rip from CDs to a crowd sourced database (e.g., AccurateRip).

[AudioDoctor]

There is nothing that some of you won't make as complicated as possible...

 

SMDH

[Ralf11]

c'mon - we haven't even gotten to gluing the mac onto the ceiling yet

[AudioDoctor]

9 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

c'mon - we haven't even gotten to gluing the mac onto the ceiling yet

 

There is less air to get in the way of the bits up there...

[audiventory]

I'd suggest to go from feelings to figures.

 

Total correct error-detection probability (CEDP):

 

• without the database: CEDPwod=CEDPcd
   
• with the database:      CEDPwd=CEDPcd * CEDPdb
   

CEDPcd = CD drive + CD ripper's correct error-detection probability (CEDPcd <= 1.0)

 

CEDPdb = the dababase's correct error-detection probability (CEDPdb <= 1.0)

 

1.0 is ideal theoretical value.

 

Multiplication CEDPcd to value, that lesser 1, reduce CEDPcd.

 

I.e. CEDPwd < CEDPwod.

 

We don't know, that is higher CEDP of CD+ripper or CEDP of database.

But simultaneous using both methods reduce total correct error-detection probability.

 

Thus need use one of these methods.

Though mistake in method choise cause lesser total correct error detection probability.

 

[Speed Racer]

But your assumptions are incorrect. You have used mathematics in the wrong way to fit your narrative.

 

A CD drive has error detection and correction. If there is a error detected, it may or may not be corrected. Errors may not be detected. Without something known to compare to, you have no idea how accurate your rip is.

 

If you have a CD that is in the AccurateRip database, the checksum is going to be 100% percent correct based on a huge number of tests. The vast majority of CDs people have are going to be in the AccurateRip database. I have yet to come across a CD that is not in the database. If the checksums don't match, the CD is reread until they do or the retry limits is reached.

 

So, without AccurateRip, the math is:

 

CEDPwod=CEDPcd

 

With AccurateRip and no database entry the math is:

 

CEDPwod=CEDPcd

 

With AccurateRip and a database entry, and conformation the rip is accurate, the math is:

 

CEDP = 100%

 

In other words, AccurateRip is a binary. The only way the 100% figure is not reached is if the CD is bad and the data cannot be read or the CD drive is bad and it cannot read the data properly.

 

 

[audiventory]

46 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

CEDP = 100%

 

No doubts.

[Speed Racer]

2 hours ago, audiventory said:

 

No doubts.

 

Not when checksums match, no. Well, there is a is one in 2^128 chance that a combination of bit errors could match the checksum. So, no, no doubts.....

[audiventory]

1 minute ago, Speed Racer said:

there is a is one in 2^128 chance that a combination of bit errors could match the checksum.

 

What is 2^128?

[Speed Racer]

1 minute ago, audiventory said:

 

What is 2^128?

 

Oh, I was assuming AccurateRip is using an MD5 checksum and MD5 is 128 bits.....

[audiventory]

And how the database give correct error detection probability of original studio content = 100%?

 

Let's show us calculations in details.

[Speed Racer]

21 minutes ago, audiventory said:

And how the database give correct error detection probability of original studio content = 100%?

 

Let's show us calculations in details.

 

We have gone over this multiple times. There is no way to know if the CDs made by the disc maker match the master. That test happens, or should happen, before the CDs are pressed in mass quantities. All we can do is work with enough released CDs to have confidence in the checksums in the AccurateRip database.

 

You seem to be doubting the validity of a checksum database. Using checksums is the most common way to verify the data in a file is accurate for mission critical firmware upgrades. They work and work well.

 

How many times does the same track across thousands of CDs need to generate the same checksum before you can have confidence in that checksum? I don't need to do probability calculations.  

Your clearly have a bias against AccurateRip and it is coloring your arguments. You are being ridiculous.

 

 

[audiventory]

I was expected math.

[kumakuma]

4 minutes ago, audiventory said:

I was expected math.

 

 

[Speed Racer]

25 minutes ago, audiventory said:

I was expected math.

 

How can you do math with unknown variables? How likely is 6,234,560 equal to X when X is unknown?

[Ralf11]

when you turn on the "Use Error Correction" check box in iTunes, what exactly does it do?

 

does it use checksum?

 

or does it do 2 reads and see if each bit matches, then do additional reads if they do not match?

[Speed Racer]

15 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

when you turn on the "Use Error Correction" check box in iTunes, what exactly does it do?

 

does it use checksum?

 

or does it do 2 reads and see if each bit matches, then do additional reads if they do not match?

 

It doesn't use checksums. Beyond that, I am not sure what that option actually does.

[audiventory]

5 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

CEDP = 100%

 

28 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

How can you do math with unknown variables?

 

This 100% based on unknown variable?

[audiventory]

27 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

when you turn on the "Use Error Correction" check box in iTunes, what exactly does it do?

 

does it use checksum?

 

I looked to iTunes help there nothing (at my computer) about how to work error correction there.

 

If CD ripper read raw audio stream, it can read error flags (algorithm based on checksums, capable to restoring, provided into CD drive): 1 flag per 1 byte.

 

CD ripper make several readings with buffer elimination (as possibly) to avoid same data re-reading.

 

After several readings information (audio data and error flags) processed to detect errors and attempt to restore. Details here.

 

Different rippers based on this principle. But the data may be processed different ways.

I don't sure about attempt-restoring stage only. Probably, other software (except our ripper) can do it too.