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[pschelbert]

I am wondering if CD de-emphasis is automatically applied if CD's are ripped with JRiver.

I heard iTunes does it, however it degrades quality.
dBpoweramp does not, just shows a flag that pre-empahsis is on the CD.

How is JRiver ripping in case of pre-emphasis?:
1) does nothing
2) does not apply de-empahiss but shows a flag
3) does automatically de-emphasis: this would be my preferre option.

Howwever I have not cvlue which CD's have pre-emphasis, only old ones fron the 80's or even new ones of today?

[Vocalpoint]

However I have not clue which CD's have pre-emphasis, only old ones fron the 80's or even new ones of today?

Only a tiny fraction of original very early 80's pressings had pre-emph. I believe the last documented ones were in the mid 80's and probably not something the average user would encounter. No modern CD (say 1990 and up) has pre-emph that I am aware of.

VP

[Frobozz]

The only "new" CDs you might come across that have pre-emphasis would be classical CDs from a budget label that is just reissuing old classical recordings from the early 80s.

JRiver does not detect pre-emphasis or allow you to apply de-emphasis during the rip.

My process for ripping and processing CDs that have pre-emphasis is described here: Ripping CDs that have pre-emphasis
I'm Ham Sandwich over on Head-Fi and the Steve Hoffman forums.
In the guide I posted on Head-Fi I used Foobar to split the CUE file. I now use CUETools to split the CUE files. CUETools does a better job for me and is an awesome tool.

Digital processing to apply de-emphasis does degrade the sound to a degree. The amount the processing affects the sound quality depends on the quality and style of the digital filter and digital processing used. Lower quality processing will result in a soundstage that sounds more constrained and less open. Higher quality processing will sound more open with a wider and deeper soundstage. This will be more evident with higher end audio gear than lower end gear.

I keep an archive of unprocessed pre-emphasis rips so I can go back and re-process them with a better digital de-emphasis if I find a process that does it better. De-emphasis was originally designed to be an analog filter. Digital filters to do de-emphasis are an approximation of the analog filter design.

[pschelbert]

thanks.

I am not really aware if I have such CD's. If I have, it should sound without processing thin and aggressive?

Okay, the there is no way to automatically get the CD's detected and ripped correctly. Just manual process to be involved.

However I am wondering why the sound should be compromised with digital processing of emphasis. As with digital you can be very precise in filtering it should not damage the sound, better said it should be better than any CD-player which used analog filters.

[Frobozz]

A CD with pre-emphasis without de-emphasis processing will sound bright. More noticeable on rock recordings due to percussion and cymbals. A little less noticeable on classical recordings because most classical does not have a lot of high treble energy.

Exact Audio Copy (EAC), dBpoweramp, and CUERipper are able to detect pre-emphasis. It gets more tricky if the pre-emphasis flag is only in the subcode rather than in the TOC. CUERipper and old versions of EAC can detect pre-emphasis that is only noted in the subcode.

It's a manual process that involves being observant during the rip of the CD to notice if the ripping software tells you there is pre-emphasis.

The pre-emphasis was applied to the audio using an analog process. The way to most accurately sonically do the reverse of that pre-emphasis filter is to use an analog de-emphasis filter.

A digital de-emphasis filter can very very closely match the EQ frequency curve for de-emphasis. But won't get the phase right the way it was with the analog filter. Digital filters also have their own sonic artifacts and personality. For example the difference between linear phase digital filters and minimum phase digital filters can be audible. Choosing whether to do the digital de-emphasis with a linear phase or with a minimum phase filter will make a difference. There are other choices in the digital filter design that can make audible differences too. A digital filter that exactly matches an analog filter isn't easy or really possible.

There is a list of CDs with pre-emphasis here and here. Those lists focus more on rock recordings than classical. There's a bunch of classical recordings with pre-emphasis that are missing from those two lists.