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[basabasa]

I have about 40 gig of music in my music library. Now, ripping this music took me some time to do. But playing back some of them, I realised there are jumps and skips (discontinuities), etc. I don't know how many of them have these skips and jumps, so I am leaning towards reripping my entire collection again. Can anyone help me with a way to determine that a ripped file is ok without having to listen to the entire song. Or is there another way to locate the bad files and rerip them or fix them.
The other question is: what is the best format to rip a music file in, MP3 VBR or WMA lossless etc.? Please help.


Basa....

[Alex B]

I have about 40 gig of music in my music library. Now, ripping this music took me some time to do. But playing back some of them, I realised there are jumps and skips (discontinuities), etc. I don't know how many of them have these skips and jumps, so I am leaning towards reripping my entire collection again. Can anyone help me with a way to determine that a ripped file is ok without having to listen to the entire song. Or is there another way to locate the bad files and rerip them or fix them.

You can only listen to them. Perhaps you should re-rip them all.

In MC options you can enable the Secure-ripping mode together with the Rip Logging. Then MC will retry to read bad sectors on audio CDs. From the log display (and log file) you can always check if the rip was successful.

Sometimes even this secure mode cannot fix all errors if the CD is badly damaged. The good thing is, you will know that and you can immediately check if the results are good enough. If not, you may want to buy a replacement CD (if available).

The other question is: what is the best format to rip a music file in, MP3 VBR or WMA lossless etc.?

There is no single best file format. It depends on many things.

If you have enough HD space you should use a lossless format. You can always convert lossless files to other lossy or lossless formats without a generation loss. You will never have to rip your CDs again. (Just remember to backup your valuable work. An external USB2 or Firewire HD is good for that.)

The lossless Monkey's Audio format (APE) works fine in MC. You can also use WMA lossless if you like that better or FLAC with third-party plug-ins. (The free FLAC plug-ins are available on the plug-ins download page.)

[jgreen]

I like to think that I win the prize for "re-ripping", or for that matter, "re-doing" in general.  My motto in life is "Ready, Fire, Aim," and "Act in haste, Repent at leisure" seems like a fair trade to me.  Therefore I bring a special expertise to the subject of fixing screwups.

My advice is, do everything Alex B recommends, only first make sure it's your files and not your playback.  The easy way, of course, is to play a song through looking for a blip, note the timecode in the progress bar, then play it through a second time.  Blips in the same places are actually there.   Any other blips are in your playback, and you should adjust the output settings.

[basabasa]

Thank you all very much. Alex B, I will use the Monkey's APE lossless format. jgreen, I think I know it's the file b'cos when I burn music files on cds and playing back on a walkman or stereo I notice that same skips/jumps/blips. Thanks a lot.

Also before I start re-ripping could anyone recommend the filename rule and directory rule to use? I always use [track #] [name] for filename rule and [artist] [album] for directory rule.

can I also play back APE formats on ordinary DVD players or MP3 players?

[Alex B]

Thank you all very much. Alex B, I will use the Monkey's APE lossless format. jgreen, I think I know it's the file b'cos when I burn music files on cds and playing back on a walkman or stereo I notice that same skips/jumps/blips. Thanks a lot.

Here are the two advanced settings you need to set:

Also before I start re-ripping could anyone recommend the filename rule and directory rule to use? I always use [track #] [name] for filename rule and [artist] [album] for directory rule.

That is fine. You don't have to repeat the artist & album info in the filename because it is already written to the folder path. A shorter filename path is always better. MC has plenty of tools for renaming files & folders later if needed.

I use currently this: X:\[Artist]\[Album]\[Track #] - [Name]
( X: is a virtual drive letter, but my real base path is quite short too: D:\M\ )

can I also play back APE formats on ordinary DVD players or MP3 players?

Unfortunately lossless files don't work with MP3 players. Some play WMA, but not WMA lossless (there can be rare exceptions). There are a few devices that can play FLAC.

MC has good tools for file conversions, but of course the conversions take some time.

You could consider ripping in VBR MP3 format (using High or Extreme option in MC11). It is a good all-round choice if you use MP3 files a lot with other devices.

However, if your archive consists of lossless files instead of MP3 you can safely make lower bitrate lossy files in all current and future formats. Transcoding from an already lossy format will always result a lower quality.

Also, lossless files act as backup copies of your CDs. Possibly some of them are not in perfect shape anymore. That will not change to better. It is the other way round.

[basabasa]

Thanks a lot, Alex. I tried the APE yesterday and boy, it's too large. I'd rather go with MP3 VBR. Thanks again.

[hit_ny]

You never did mention what format your collection is in currently ?

If it's mp3s, you could use MP3 Utility. This will help to catch any sync errors that can cause skips. It does recursive checking for directories but you need to set that in options.

If however the ripping was at fault, there is no choice but to re-rip those again (securely now that you know better). There is no product on the market that can automatically and reliably detect this than you.

You also do not mention whether these skips creeped in, meaning they were fine when you heard them earlier but now that is no longer true. I usually listen carefully for this on the first listen and make a note in the comment tag if there was any problems. Revisiting later when i have time to make a substitution.

Skips can have many causes, not all necessarily related to the media ie soundcard drivers, inadequate memory, disk fragmentation etc.

[basabasa]

Thanks a lot hit_ny. My collection are some in MP3 and some in WMA. I don't think the skips creeped in. I heard them when I first listened to them. I am going to start re-ripping this weekend. This time I will get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and clean all my CDs before ripping them.

[Alex B]

This time I will get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and clean all my CDs before ripping them.

Alternatively, you can use plain water with a drop of hand dishwashing liquid for cleaning greasy fingerprints etc. I have done that for years.

Remember to handle the printed label side very gently. Don't try to clean it at all. The audio data layer is just below it.

[johnnyboy]

If your going to re-rip your whole collection some suggestions I'd make before you do it are:

1. Really work out what format, settings, etc your going to use for your ripping.
2. Test 3 or 4 CD's on this setting and make sure your happy with the settings and sound after you've done this as well as with the space used.
3. If you are then rip your whole collection like this if not, go to step 1.


Personally if you dont want to use up all the space lossless requires I'd say rip using either MC or EAC (try both - each performs better on different CD's), encode using nothing other than LAME (if your going to rip lossy then mp3 is pretty much the best and only decent format to use) - rip using LAME's preset for VBR Extreme if you want maximum quality otherwise rip to either 192 or 320.
Dont waste your time doing 128, its not worth it for all the time your going to have to waste ripping all your CD's.

Also - when doing the file name settings - make sure you dont do things like [Artist] [Track], you need to make sure you have a seperator in there so that later if you need to you can work out track details from the filename. Without a seperator it has no way of knowing which part is which.

[Alex B]

If your going to re-rip your whole collection some suggestions I'd make before you do it are:

1. Really work out what format, settings, etc your going to use for your ripping.
2. Test 3 or 4 CD's on this setting and make sure your happy with the settings and sound after you've done this as well as with the space used.
3. If you are then rip your whole collection like this if not, go to step 1.

Personally if you dont want to use up all the space lossless requires I'd say rip using either MC or EAC (try both - each performs better on different CD's), encode using nothing other than LAME (if your going to rip lossy then mp3 is pretty much the best and only decent format to use) - rip using LAME's preset for VBR Extreme if you want maximum quality otherwise rip to either 192 or 320.

Dont waste your time doing 128, its not worth it for all the time your going to have to waste ripping all your CD's.

This is generally good advice. Some notes though:

I think basabasa has already settled to use VBR MP3. MC11 uses the recommended LAME settings, --preset standard for "High" and --preset extreme for "Extreme". The --preset standard setting is designed to make transparent MP3 files (= indistinguishable from the original source). That has proven to be usually true in many listening tests. "Extreme" gives a bit more safe margin (and the famous fuzzy warm feeling...).

MC's secure mode is very good and much easier to configure than secure ripping in EAC.

Also - when doing the file name settings - make sure you dont do things like [Artist] [Track], you need to make sure you have a seperator in there so that later if you need to you can work out track details from the filename. Without a seperator it has no way of knowing which part is which.

True. However, it is a trivial job to change the names with MC tools if or when needed.

[modelmaker]

I think I'll stick my 2 cents worth in here as well: If you don't have a lot of ram, try not to run any other apps while ripping. They can steal enuff memory to cause problems in your rips.

[basabasa]

Thanks to all of you. I have definitely learnt a lot.

[htpc_user]

Is there an option when ripping in MC11 using Secure mode to *stop* or "fail" if there are errors?

I have experience using EAC, but am looking to move to an "all in one" solution for managing, ripping, etc, etc.

Anyway, if one of my discs has errors, is there a way to be proactively notified during the ripping process instead of having to manually check the log after each disc?  Yes I'm crazy, but if I disc I own can not be ripped in secure mode without errors I'd like to put it in a seperate stack and deal with it later.

(I own about 300 CD's and want to rip them all to FLAC)

[Alex B]

Is there an option when ripping in MC11 using Secure mode to *stop* or "fail" if there are errors?...
Anyway, if one of my discs has errors, is there a way to be proactively notified during the ripping process instead of having to manually check the log after each disc?...

I don't think MC has that option, but it shows the log in a separate display window after ripping so you don't have to open the log file.

Actually, there is a small glitch in the logging function. You need to press "Close" after ripping for getting the log generated. If you select "Click here to restart ripping" MC will continue with the next inserted disc without showing and writing the log. I forgot to mention this earlier. It is not a biggie, just one click more to do, but it is good to know that before ripping hundreds of CDs.

[basabasa]

Very useful discussion going on here. What is EAC? I know MC is Media Center.

[brossmac]

Very useful discussion going on here. What is EAC? I know MC is Media Center.

Exact Audio Copy

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

[gpvillamil]

Thanks a lot hit_ny. My collection are some in MP3 and some in WMA. I don't think the skips creeped in. I heard them when I first listened to them. I am going to start re-ripping this weekend. This time I will get a bottle of rubbing alcohol and clean all my CDs before ripping them.

No, *don't* use alcohol, in some cases it can cloud the plastic, that would not be good. Water and a bit of soap is much better. Toothpaste can be useful on scratches, but go easy on it.

[htpc_user]

Hi,

Has the option been added to cancel a rip in secure mode if an unrecoverable error during reading occurs?

2nd, has the small glitch below been fixed?

Thanks!

I don't think MC has that option, but it shows the log in a separate display window after ripping so you don't have to open the log file.

Actually, there is a small glitch in the logging function. You need to press "Close" after ripping for getting the log generated. If you select "Click here to restart ripping" MC will continue with the next inserted disc without showing and writing the log. I forgot to mention this earlier. It is not a biggie, just one click more to do, but it is good to know that before ripping hundreds of CDs.

[Alex B]

I am bumping this up. This thread contains useful info and very little has changed. Some encoding options are now even better than before and the FLAC plugins have been included in MC12 and MJ12 for some time.

(...and yes, the small glitch has been fixed.)

[HiFiTubes]

Why should one use MC Secure Rip vs. AccurateRip?

Accurate is touted as superior but I know there must be downsides...

[JimH]

Please use the similar thread on the Hardware Board.