Choosing a Lossless format for digital music reproduction

[Pere Barceló]

Hi there,

 

 

I'm in the process of digitalizing my music library. I've got about 400 CD's, some already ripped in flac, some in wav, some in mp3.

Well, right now it's all a mess. Did it mostly without thinking.

 

I'd like to do it properly for once and that's is why I ask for your help and expertise here.

 

Here are my requirements or preferences:

 

I) Don't have a reference media player. I'd like to experiment with Media Monkey, JRiver, Window Media Player, winamp, etc....pretty much anything other than Itunes, which I don't like or use. Eventually I'd like to settle on a player that can handle all types of content.

 

II) I use W7 64 bits.

 

III) For me the use of embedded tagging is a MUST. That is if my "crude" understanding of embedded tagging is correct! To me it means automatic recognition of the music and it's contextual data (covers for example) pretty much universally once properly tagged the fist time around. Basically, I'd like to be able to open these files in a variety of players and have them instantly pick up all the info, names, track numbers, covers, etc..without me having to do anything else. Hope this is possible! This is a deal breaker/maker for me.

 

So here are my questions:

 

1) Can I do this with FLAC? This would be my format of choice given it's lossless, open source and fairly space efficient. I've seen quite a few contradicting posts online.

 

2) Can someone work me through a basic example of how to do it from A) a CD and B) from an already imported file that is not properly tagged? Explainig which tools to use please?(EAC, mp3tag, etc).

 

I am not an advanced user and I'm getting lost as there seems to be SO many combinations, possibilities, solutions and differing opinions. Maybe someone can help me find a simple, logical path.

 

I would greatly apprecitated it.

 

Regards,

 

[JeffH]

I suggest starting here. It will answer many of your questions.

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Computer-Audiophile-CD-Ripping-Strategy-and-Methodology

 

[Rat44]

Kinda new to this myself.

I use a Win 7/64 machine also.

I started with MediaMonkey and moved on to JRMC.

They are both great programs.

I settled on Flac since it seems to be very well supported.

I use dbPoweramp for ripping to the hard drive.

It handles a lot of the tagging duties.

Good luck.

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

I recommend using dBpoweramp to rip to Uncompressed FLAC if using a Windows based machine.

 

 

 

[znorter]

Me, too.

dbPoweramp for ripping in .flac

Able to play all formats included HD 24/192. All metadata (pict,data) are there. And if you are on line, many you can get...

 

[MetalNuts]

I suggest to have a good look at the article as mentioned by Jeff about ripping which is very informative.

 

I myself use dbpoweramp to rip and JRiver as the player. In terms of format, I initially rip my CDs to FLAC but gradually re-rip them to WAV (which is very tedious). I used FLAC because I started CAS with Linn DS and Linn recommends FLAC over WAV. However, I myself find WAV sounds better so I re-rip them gradually to WAV.

 

FLAC or WAV or other format, it is one's own preference but consider carefully before you start otherwise you would have to do it again so a working copy as suggested in the aforesaid article is a very good idea.

 

Good luck.

 

[Pere Barceló]

Thank you all for clearing up a few things.

 

It seems there is a wide concensus on dbpoweramp for ripping. Software is a matter of taste but I see a lot of people on the JRiver camp.

 

As far as the format (I'm sure there is proper tech word for it...container?), FLAC also seems to be very popular. Didn't know (or think) uncomprressed could sound better than Lossless. Well, it's propably up to personal opinion, taste and hearing!

 

I'll look up Chris's article. Thanks for pointing that up. Wow! that must have been a lot of work. It seems extremely precise and thorough.

 

I guess it will tell me how to "embbed tag" properly so I can use the ripped music with a variety of players/scenarios without having to re-enter information.

 

Possibly more questions comming later on after I have a good read of the article and start the process!

 

Again, thank you all for pointing a proper path.

 

[One and a half]

Due to some inability of credit cards not working with dbpoweramp website, I tried Foobar2000 ripping system, which uses the AccurateRip same as dbpoweramp, freedb for tags.

It works out better tags than JRMC, which makes a mess of things, so be careful with that application. I would ripped about 500 CDs with it, no issue even sailed through ripping a few CDs with CD rot. Rips with Max took 4 times as long to complete, with inconsistent tag info.

 

You need to download LAME and the FLAC encoders so Foobar can rip to mp3 or FLAC respectively, but they are small files and readily available for free on the web.

A German magazine tested three rippers, iTunes, Foobar and Winamp(?)for SQ, overall performance and ripping accuracy. Foobar came out on top.

 

Checking tags in Foobar is transparent, with very good editing if the multiple selections on Freedb stuff up for some reason. If you are familiar with Excel, you'll get the hang of Foobar's Tag editor.

 

MP3tag editor isn't bad, I use it for imbedding Album Art from HDTracks files, as well as fixing up tags left over from the old days of free Napster. (http://www.mp3tag.de/en/)

 

 

[pacwin]

There is no correct easy way in this hobby. Only suck it and see works. To manage a couple of thousand silver discs I use a combination of four principal software tools: JRiver MC as player, this is essential if you have a reasonable sized collection I dont know of anything more competent and flexible but this is a geeks tool which needs to be customised to make it work, OrangeCD catalog database as a means to manage actual and desired recordings and the ultimate reference source for data, reviews etc, Tag&Rename for tagging and prissing and preening the files, DBPoweramp for ripping and transcoding. Im pretty sure all of this software can be trialled. In any ideal world I would have a tool which combined their competencies and strengths into one swiss army knife but no such thing exists.

 

Correct tagging is the key to using something like Jriver.

 

http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm

http://www.firetongue.com/

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

http://www.jriver.com/

 

Bone up on the ID3 tag "standard"

http://www.id3.org/History

and also how Flac handles metadata

http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation_tools_flac.html

http://xiph.org/vorbis/doc/v-comment.html

http://flac.sourceforge.net/faq.html#general__tagging

 

[Pere Barceló]

Pacwin,

 

Thank you for such a detailed explanation. In a way you are right all the way, I was(still am!)looking for an easy way of getting it done properly and there doesn't seem to be a simple way..or consensus.

 

If you think about it, this is one of the major barriers about computer hifi. It's a barrier for many people that might end up opting for a streaming service (all nicely presented with all data included) but in the process compromising the quality of music reproduction (at least for a few more years I'd guess). Usually convenience wins over quality, at least for non-niche propositions.

 

Anyways, I don't mind the work of ripping. I'll do it but I don't want to get it wrong and I absolutely want FUTURE SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY. As said, once properly ripped and tagged, I should be able to take these music files pretty much anywhere and have them work properly. I don't want to ripp 500 CDs just to realize that once I use another player it won't recognize/take all the tagging.

 

After reading Chris's article, I'll test this method with a couple of CD's and then open their files for the first time in a variety of players to see if metadata is infact embedded and picke up automatically. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress.

 

Since we are at it. Anybody knows why in Windows Explorer some files appear with all of the info in the proper columns (such as track number, album, year, format, etc.) and some don't? I know Window Explorer is not a player but this also bothers me and wondering if metadata can also solve this issue. Is only with FLAC?

 

Again, thanks all for the contributions so far.