Re: OT: CD Ripper

On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: >I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. I don't know if it does all you need, but CDEX is very good. -- Andrew. To email unscramble [email hidden] & remove spamtrap. Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevent text. Check groups.google.com before asking a question.

All, I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. I like it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features, and handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion. It is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictable times, and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. Time to move on. I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD's to WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit ragged. 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name the files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - Song Title. 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option of specifying the directory structure of the receiving folder. 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAV files (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # - Track Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note - MusicMatch excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability to use file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work with WAV files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the necessary tags for other formats. Thanks! -Larry

BTW... The ability to work 'hands off' for batch ripping of CD's would also be nice, as well as the ability to work with multiple attached drives. For example, I have three CD/DVD/CDR drives in my machine. I'd like to set options, mash the rip button, and then just sit there feeding CD's into the drives, with the program going from drive to drive and ejecting them as they are done. I would then remove the completed CD and replace it with a fresh one, which the ripper would then get to as it finishes other drives. I don't want to be prompted unless a) all the drives are empty or b) there is a need to resove a CDDB problem. Thanks :) -Larry "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06... > All, > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. Ilike > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features,and > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion.It > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictabletimes, > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > Time to move on. > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD'sto

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> WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > ragged. > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name

the > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - SongTitle. > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option of specifying > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAVfiles > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # -Track > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note - MusicMatch > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability touse > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work withWAV

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> files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the necessary > tags for other formats. > > Thanks! > > -Larry > >

On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: >All, > >I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. Winamp3 full install.

Use an older unbloated version of MM. IF it worked great for you in the past, why in the heck did you keep upgrading to their newer more bloated versions? "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06... > All, > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. Ilike > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features,and > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion.It > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictabletimes, > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > Time to move on. > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD'sto

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> WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > ragged. > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name

the > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - SongTitle. > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option of specifying > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAVfiles > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # -Track > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note - MusicMatch > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability touse > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work withWAV

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> files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the necessary > tags for other formats. > > Thanks! > > -Larry > >

Il Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, Larry ha scritto: >I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD's to >WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: I'd suggest you to use Nero. It may sound odd, but it has the best mp3 encoding engine I've ever tried, and it allows to do all the stuff you need. With one exception: >4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAV files >(as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. Actually, turning a wav into an mp3 in nero is a bit tricky with older versions (I think it involves recording a "virtual" audio cd with your wavs, and then ripping it to mp3....). If the latest versions allow a direct, and maybe batch-oriented conversion, then it is the program for you. P.

"Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06: > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. Larry, I think EAC (Exact Audio Copy) will do most, if not all, of what you need. Unfortunately, their main site seems to be down at the moment, but you can plug the name into Google and find some alternate download locations. -- Ped Xing

Andrew wrote:

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> On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >>I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > > I don't know if it does all you need, but CDEX is very good.

I'll 2nd that... I've been using CDex for quite a while now and it's worked great for what I use it for. It's very flexible with the directory/name structure, provides a host of options for ripping to .mp3, and has the batch conversion feature that you seem to be looking for. And best of all, it's free :) check out http://www.cdex.n3.net/ for more info

On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, Larry wrote: > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability to use > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work with WAV > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the necessary > tags for other formats. Hi Larry, you're not saying what OS you're using, so may I recommend "grip"? It's included with most modern Linux distributions and has most features (and then some) you mention in your post. And it's free. Cheers, uwe -- mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

> I think EAC (Exact Audio Copy) will do most, if not all, of what youneed. > Unfortunately, their main site seems to be down at the moment, but youcan > plug the name into Google and find some alternate download locations. The nice thing about EAC is that it makes perfect copies. No need to check for pops/clicks in the extraction. This does make EAC extract slower than others, but you always get a perfect copy. Norman

> I think EAC (Exact Audio Copy) will do most, if not all, of what you need. > Unfortunately, their main site seems to be down at the moment, but you can > plug the name into Google and find some alternate download locations. Yeah, EAC is the king of CD-ripping. Might be a bit confusing for newbies although I guess it does have a pretty good setup wizard. It's a tiny program but has a lot of options. I really like the CDDB options and the file naming and tagging options. Great for ogg vorbis encoding too.

In article <c2liqf$1v2s5u$[email hidden]>, "Damien Evans" <[email hidden]> writes: >Great for ogg vorbis encoding too. ??? In English, please... Eldred -- http://www.umich.edu/~epickett Screamers League IICC League GPLRank -6.0 MoGPL rank +267.80 Ch.Rank +52.58 MoC +741.71 Hist. +82.34 MoH:na N2k3 rank:in progress Slayer Spektera lvl 72 assassin Slayer Spectral_K lvl 38 Necro US East

On 10 Mar 2004 03:27:37 GMT, EldredP wrote:

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> In article <c2liqf$1v2s5u$[email hidden]>, "Damien Evans" ><[email hidden]> writes: > >>Great for ogg vorbis encoding too. > > ??? > > In English, please... >

Ogg Vorbis is the "better mp3" format for many reasons: better quality at higher compression rates for instance, but most importantly, it is unhindered by patents of any kind unlike the mp3 format. You'll notice that some recent titles have music tracks ending in ".ogg", these are ogg vorbis files. I think both xmms (Linux) and winamp (windows) already support this format via plugins. Greetings, Uwe -- mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Bug fixes. -Larry "Biz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:5ZJ2c.165741$[email hidden]...

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> Use an older unbloated version of MM. IF it worked great for you in the > past, why in the heck did you keep upgrading to their newer more bloated > versions? > "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06... > > All, > > > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. I > like > > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features, > and > > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion. > It > > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictable > times, > > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > > > Time to move on. > > > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips

CD's

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> to > > WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > > ragged. > > > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name > the > > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - Song > Title. > > > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option of

specifying

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> > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAV > files > > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # - > Track > > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note -

MusicMatch

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> > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability to > use > > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work with > WAV > > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the

necessary

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> > tags for other formats. > > > > Thanks! > > > > -Larry > > > > > >

I tried CDEX. It's pretty nice, but it does not set track tags from the file name :( It's also unbearably slow :( Thanks :) -Larry "Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > I don't know if it does all you need, but CDEX is very good. > -- > Andrew. To email unscramble [email hidden] & remove spamtrap. > Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, > please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevent text. > Check groups.google.com before asking a question.

<<shivers>> Thanks for the suggestion, but WinAmp 3 is an abomination that even the developers realized was terrible, thus the release of WinAmp 5 (skipping 4). I'm just now starting to play around with WinAmp 5. -Larry "Debug" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >All, > > > >I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > Winamp3 full install.

Interesting. I have Nero Ultra 6. I'll look into that! I never even thought of using Nero for this LOL! Thanks :) -Larry "Marco Pisellonio" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Il Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, Larry ha scritto: > > >I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD'sto > >WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > I'd suggest you to use Nero. It may sound odd, but it has the best mp3encoding > engine I've ever tried, and it allows to do all the stuff you need. Withone > exception: > > >4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAVfiles > >(as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > Actually, turning a wav into an mp3 in nero is a bit tricky with olderversions > (I think it involves recording a "virtual" audio cd with your wavs, andthen > ripping it to mp3....). If the latest versions allow a direct, and maybe > batch-oriented conversion, then it is the program for you. > > > > P.

I'll take a look. Thanks! -Larry "Ped Xing" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06: > > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > Larry, > > I think EAC (Exact Audio Copy) will do most, if not all, of what you need. > Unfortunately, their main site seems to be down at the moment, but you can > plug the name into Google and find some alternate download locations. > > -- > Ped Xing

I just did a batch using the LAME enconder, and I do believe it sounds better than the Fruehauf (or however that's spelled) encoding that most programs use. Ogg Vorbis has limited support in the programs I use unfortunately. -Larry "Uwe Sch�rkamp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On 10 Mar 2004 03:27:37 GMT, EldredP wrote: > > In article <c2liqf$1v2s5u$[email hidden]>, "DamienEvans"

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> ><[email hidden]> writes: > > > >>Great for ogg vorbis encoding too. > > > > ??? > > > > In English, please... > > > Ogg Vorbis is the "better mp3" format for many reasons: better quality > at higher compression rates for instance, but most importantly, it is > unhindered by patents of any kind unlike the mp3 format. > > You'll notice that some recent titles have music tracks ending in > ".ogg", these are ogg vorbis files. I think both xmms (Linux) and > winamp (windows) already support this format via plugins. > > Greetings, > Uwe > > > > -- > mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) > Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ > Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) > GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Windows XP. All the Unix I need I get from MacOS X :) Thanks! -Larry "Uwe Sch�rkamp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 10:43:22 -0500, Larry wrote: > > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability touse > > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work withWAV > > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create thenecessary

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> > tags for other formats. > > Hi Larry, you're not saying what OS you're using, so may I recommend > "grip"? It's included with most modern Linux distributions and has > most features (and then some) you mention in your post. And it's > free. > > Cheers, > uwe > > > > -- > mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) > Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ > Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) > GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:46:16 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: >I tried CDEX. It's pretty nice, but it does not set track tags from the >file name :( It's also unbearably slow :( Are you sure you have looked through the options? It seems to have most bases covered in terms of file naming that I can see, and I can convert an audio CD to MP3's in about 3 minutes which is hardly what I would call show. -- Andrew. To email unscramble [email hidden] & remove spamtrap. Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevent text. Check groups.google.com before asking a question.

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:50:45 -0500, Larry wrote: > Windows XP. > > All the Unix I need I get from MacOS X :) > Hee hee! I hope you fire up the shell every once in a while ;-) Uwe -- mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:47:27 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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><<shivers>> > >Thanks for the suggestion, but WinAmp 3 is an abomination that even the >developers realized was terrible, thus the release of WinAmp 5 (skipping 4). > >I'm just now starting to play around with WinAmp 5. > >-Larry

Didn't know it was out. Do now, thx. I've never used Winamp for cd ripping. Just seen others recommend it so thought it must be good. Only cd ripping I've ever done is using Roxio software and Windows Media Player into .wma format, oh, and a bit in Mandrake using some open source software. I only use Winamp to play internet radio stations, specifically: SomaFM, which doesn't work with MP.

I did, and I didn't see what I needed. Remember, the two _key_ tagging requirements are: 1. When the CD is ripped, the file name must be set as Artist - Album - Track# - Track Title based on information from the CDDB or FreeDB. 2. When converting the saved WAV file from WAV to MP3, etc... it must use the naming format of the file name to set the tags of the MP3 properly. #2 is what has tripped up every program so far. Remember, WAV files have NO tag data, that is why the #2 requirement is so important. MusicMatch still appears to be the only program available that does the both above properly. I tried EAC yesterday. It handles #1 ok, but like all the others cannot handle #2. If there was a way to incorporate FLAK and LAME into MusicMatch, I'd probably just live with the other things that bother me about it. Remember, MusicMatch does everything I want, I'm just looking for alternatives because I don't like the corporate direction MusicMatch is taking. It's not the tight, efficient program it used to be and it's only getting worse with each release. It also has been a lot buggier and crashier in later releases, but updating was always compelling because it fixed _other_ bugs. I'm finding FLAK very interesting right now. It supports lossless compression (around 40%) and has a tagging system. If I can find a FLAK based program that also converts FLAK into all the available compressed formats well, we may have a winner. -Larry "Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:46:16 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >I tried CDEX. It's pretty nice, but it does not set track tags from the > >file name :( It's also unbearably slow :( > > Are you sure you have looked through the options? It seems to have > most bases covered in terms of file naming that I can see, and I can > convert an audio CD to MP3's in about 3 minutes which is hardly what I > would call show. > -- > Andrew. To email unscramble [email hidden] & remove spamtrap. > Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, > please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevent text. > Check groups.google.com before asking a question.

Only when forced to at gunpoint :) -Larry "Uwe Sch�rkamp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:50:45 -0500, Larry wrote: > > Windows XP. > > > > All the Unix I need I get from MacOS X :) > > > > Hee hee! I hope you fire up the shell every once in a while ;-) > > Uwe > > -- > mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) > Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ > Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) > GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:50:01 -0500, Larry wrote: > I just did a batch using the LAME enconder, and I do believe it sounds > better than the Fruehauf (or however that's spelled) encoding that most > programs use. > Fraunhofer, Larry ;-) It's german science institute that apparently "invented" mp3 lossy compression and were awarded a patent to the method. cheers, uwe -- mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Update. So far, the best candidate so far is DBPowerAmp DMC. It handles FLAC nicely, and FLAC uses a tagging system. The only downside so far is I'd have to re-rip my entire CD library one more time to get them into FLAC format. There still is no way for me to convert my current WAV's to FLAC and have the file names translated into the necessary TAG's. MusicMatch doesn't support FLAC or I'd use that. Real close though :) -Larry "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8t%3c.54619$TT5.25613@lakeread06...

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> I did, and I didn't see what I needed. > > Remember, the two _key_ tagging requirements are: > > 1. When the CD is ripped, the file name must be set as Artist - Album - > Track# - Track Title based on information from the CDDB or FreeDB. > 2. When converting the saved WAV file from WAV to MP3, etc... it must use > the naming format of the file name to set the tags of the MP3 properly. > > #2 is what has tripped up every program so far. Remember, WAV files have

NO > tag data, that is why the #2 requirement is so important. > > MusicMatch still appears to be the only program available that does theboth

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> above properly. > > I tried EAC yesterday. It handles #1 ok, but like all the others cannot > handle #2. > > If there was a way to incorporate FLAK and LAME into MusicMatch, I'd > probably just live with the other things that bother me about it.

Remember, > MusicMatch does everything I want, I'm just looking for alternativesbecause > I don't like the corporate direction MusicMatch is taking. It's not the > tight, efficient program it used to be and it's only getting worse witheach > release. It also has been a lot buggier and crashier in later releases,but

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> updating was always compelling because it fixed _other_ bugs. > > I'm finding FLAK very interesting right now. It supports lossless > compression (around 40%) and has a tagging system. If I can find a FLAK > based program that also converts FLAK into all the available compressed > formats well, we may have a winner. > > -Larry > > "Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:46:16 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > > >I tried CDEX. It's pretty nice, but it does not set track tags from

the

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> > >file name :( It's also unbearably slow :( > > > > Are you sure you have looked through the options? It seems to have > > most bases covered in terms of file naming that I can see, and I can > > convert an audio CD to MP3's in about 3 minutes which is hardly what I > > would call show. > > -- > > Andrew. To email unscramble [email hidden] & remove spamtrap. > > Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, > > please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevent text. > > Check groups.google.com before asking a question. > >

Yeah, yeah. That's the ticket! -Larry "Uwe Sch�rkamp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:50:01 -0500, Larry wrote: > > I just did a batch using the LAME enconder, and I do believe it sounds > > better than the Fruehauf (or however that's spelled) encoding that most > > programs use. > > > > Fraunhofer, Larry ;-) It's german science institute that apparently > "invented" mp3 lossy compression and were awarded a patent to the > method. > > cheers, > > uwe > > > -- > mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) > Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ > Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) > GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:50:45 -0500, Larry wrote:

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> Windows XP. > > All the Unix I need I get from MacOS X :) > > Thanks! > > -Larry >

I hope you fire up bash every once in a while for your command line fix. ;-) I don't know who's read it, but I saw an article recently that claims the command line actually is the perfect interface... for newbies! http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6282 It's an interesting read to say the least. Cheers, uwe -- mail replies to Uwe at schuerkamp dot de ( yahoo address is spambox) Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/ Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E) GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

I use J River Media Center for my ripping and encoding. It supports the vast majority of file formats and as far as I can tell does everything you want it to do on your list. J River operate using a system of constant development and beta testing. This means that they always have a stable release version of the software and a current beta version. The current release version of the software (9.1.319) can be got from http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=19781 The latest beta version (10.0.90) can be downloaded from http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=19830 Personally I use the latest beta version as it has a lot more capabilities. 10.0 is almost ready to come out of beta (it has been in beta for around 5 months) and is a great piece of software. You can try it for 30 days then you have to register it to continue to use it. Cheers Phil Larry wrote:

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> All, > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. I like > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features, and > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion. It > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictable times, > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > Time to move on. > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD's to > WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > ragged. > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name the > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - Song Title. > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option of specifying > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAV files > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # - Track > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note - MusicMatch > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability to use > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work with WAV > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the necessary > tags for other formats. > > Thanks! > > -Larry > >

Ok, problem is solved! FLAC is one amazing piece of software. Full, lossless CD quality files at about 40% space savings :) AND the FLAC front-end easily handles setting it's tags from the file name, so I was able to convert my current WAV library to FLAC format without having to re-rip them all. Now I can use DBPowerAMP DMC to convert to nearly _any_ format in existance. Cool :) -Larry "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:Vwb4c.54689$TT5.14797@lakeread06...

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> Update. > > So far, the best candidate so far is DBPowerAmp DMC. > > It handles FLAC nicely, and FLAC uses a tagging system. > > The only downside so far is I'd have to re-rip my entire CD library one

more > time to get them into FLAC format. There still is no way for me toconvert

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> my current WAV's to FLAC and have the file names translated into the > necessary TAG's. MusicMatch doesn't support FLAC or I'd use that. > > Real close though :) > > -Larry > > > "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:8t%3c.54619$TT5.25613@lakeread06... > > I did, and I didn't see what I needed. > > > > Remember, the two _key_ tagging requirements are: > > > > 1. When the CD is ripped, the file name must be set as Artist - Album - > > Track# - Track Title based on information from the CDDB or FreeDB. > > 2. When converting the saved WAV file from WAV to MP3, etc... it must

use > > the naming format of the file name to set the tags of the MP3 properly. > > > > #2 is what has tripped up every program so far. Remember, WAV fileshave

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> NO > > tag data, that is why the #2 requirement is so important. > > > > MusicMatch still appears to be the only program available that does the > both > > above properly. > > > > I tried EAC yesterday. It handles #1 ok, but like all the others cannot > > handle #2. > > > > If there was a way to incorporate FLAK and LAME into MusicMatch, I'd > > probably just live with the other things that bother me about it. > Remember, > > MusicMatch does everything I want, I'm just looking for alternatives > because > > I don't like the corporate direction MusicMatch is taking. It's not the > > tight, efficient program it used to be and it's only getting worse with > each > > release. It also has been a lot buggier and crashier in later releases, > but > > updating was always compelling because it fixed _other_ bugs. > > > > I'm finding FLAK very interesting right now. It supports lossless > > compression (around 40%) and has a tagging system. If I can find a FLAK > > based program that also converts FLAK into all the available compressed > > formats well, we may have a winner. > > > > -Larry > > > > "Andrew" <spamtrap@localhost> wrote in message > > news:[email hidden]... > > > On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:46:16 -0500, "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > > > > >I tried CDEX. It's pretty nice, but it does not set track tags from > the > > > >file name :( It's also unbearably slow :( > > > > > > Are you sure you have looked through the options? It seems to have > > > most bases covered in terms of file naming that I can see, and I can > > > convert an audio CD to MP3's in about 3 minutes which is hardly what I > > > would call show. > > > -- > > > Andrew. To email unscramble [email hidden] & remove

spamtrap.

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> > > Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, > > > please don't top post. Trim messages to quote only relevent text. > > > Check groups.google.com before asking a question. > > > > > >

I'll check it out! Thanks :) -Larry "Phil Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c2smv1$m7j$1$[email hidden]...

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> I use J River Media Center for my ripping and encoding. It supports the > vast majority of file formats and as far as I can tell does everything > you want it to do on your list. J River operate using a system of > constant development and beta testing. This means that they always have > a stable release version of the software and a current beta version. > > The current release version of the software (9.1.319) can be got from >

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=19781 > > The latest beta version (10.0.90) can be downloaded from >http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=19830

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> > Personally I use the latest beta version as it has a lot more > capabilities. 10.0 is almost ready to come out of beta (it has been in > beta for around 5 months) and is a great piece of software. > > You can try it for 30 days then you have to register it to continue to > use it. > > Cheers > > Phil > > Larry wrote: > > All, > > > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. I

like > > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features,and > > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion.It > > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictabletimes, > > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > > > Time to move on. > > > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) ripsCD's to

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> > WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > > ragged. > > > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name

the > > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - SongTitle. > > > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option ofspecifying > > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAVfiles > > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # -Track > > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note -MusicMatch > > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability touse > > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work withWAV > > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create thenecessary

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> > tags for other formats. > > > > Thanks! > > > > -Larry > > > >

Ufony http://www.softe.net "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06>...

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> All, > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. I like > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features, and > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion. It > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictable times, > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > Time to move on. > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) rips CD's to > WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > ragged. > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name the > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - Song Title. > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option of specifying > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAV files > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # - Track > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note - MusicMatch > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability to use > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work with WAV > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create the necessary > tags for other formats. > > Thanks! > > -Larry

Looks interesting. I'll take a look! BTW... Has anyone taken a look at the new WinAmp 5.02 ? Like many, I was extremely turned off by 3.0 when it was released (what a dog!), but they have made amends with version 5.02. It's quite nice, and plays back about every file format there is including FLAC. I'm sold on FLAC as the format to maintain my master library in. -Larry "eric" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Ufony > http://www.softe.net > > > "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in messagenews:<bhH2c.46292$TT5.35362@lakeread06>... > > All, > > > > I'm looking for a new CD Ripper. > > > > For years (and years), I've been a registered, paid MusicMatch user. Ilike > > it mainly because it has very powerful ripping and conversion features,and > > handles ID Tagging better than anything I've used. > > > > But, MusicMatch has become a bloated, over-featured mess in my opinion.It > > is no longer fast, has bugs that causes it to crash at unpredictabletimes, > > and is turning into a commercial pot-porri. > > > > Time to move on. > > > > I'm looking for a Ripper that not only quickly (and accurately) ripsCD's to

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> > WAV files, but has the following mandatory features: > > > > 1. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use digital error correction to > > create absolutely perfect WAV files. Some of my CD's are getting a bit > > ragged. > > > > 2. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must use the CDDB Database and name

the > > files in a format I specify, such as 'Artist - Album - Track # - SongTitle. > > > > 3. When ripping from CD to WAV, it must allow me the option ofspecifying > > the directory structure of the receiving folder. > > > > 4. It must have the ability to Batch Convert thousands of ripped WAVfiles > > (as described above) from WAV to various other formats, such as MP3. > > > > 5. When ripping from WAV to MP3 (or other formats), it must have the > > ability to take the file name format (i.e. Artist - Album - Track # -Track > > Title) and set the ID tags of the created MP3 to match. Note -MusicMatch > > excels at this sort of thing which is why I've stuck with it so long. > > > > You get the picture. Strong support of tag handling, and the ability touse > > file name formats to generate those tags, is paramount. The replacement > > program must at least mirror MusicMatch's strong abilities to work withWAV > > files (which contain no ID tags) naming structures to create thenecessary > > tags for other formats. > > > > Thanks! > > > > -Larry

Is lossless compression like FLAC really worth the effort? You might as well just use uncompressed wav files. I'd recommend OGG if you're looking for audiophile quality with decent compression. Unlike formats like WMA it sounds absolutely pristine at high bitrates around 200kbit/s.

And yes, Winamp 5 is excellent. Nullsoft admitted that 3.0 was a flop and they've gone back to basics with version 5.

Yes, it is worth it! It turned my 70GB WAV file library into a 43MB File Library, with ZERO loss in sound quality, and it supports proper tagging which WAV does not. Absolutely worth it. -Larry "Damien Evans" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c32sa5$22t3tp$[email hidden]... > Is lossless compression like FLAC really worth the effort? You might as > well just use uncompressed wav files. I'd recommend OGG if you're looking > for audiophile quality with decent compression. Unlike formats like WMAit > sounds absolutely pristine at high bitrates around 200kbit/s. > >

Ogg doesn't run on my iPod. If it did, I'd give it a try. -Larry "Damien Evans" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c32sa5$22t3tp$[email hidden]... > Is lossless compression like FLAC really worth the effort? You might as > well just use uncompressed wav files. I'd recommend OGG if you're looking > for audiophile quality with decent compression. Unlike formats like WMAit > sounds absolutely pristine at high bitrates around 200kbit/s. > >

FLAC does? Didn't realise that....

Yep :) ~40 % reduction in file size, lossless, and tags to boot :) -Larry "Damien Evans" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c35sbe$23q83o$[email hidden]... > FLAC does? Didn't realise that.... > >