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[ckx]

 Hi,
      New to MC 10.  I tried to use the MP3 to rip my CD.  It was sooo-sloow.  It only ran around 1x speed.    I was using the FBR @128bit.

      Is this normal?    If not, how can I get it go faster?

      BTW, I was getting 10x speed even with a free MuiscMatch Jukebox at the same 128bit setting.    I am very disappoited with 1x of paid-for MC10. 

       Please help!

Chester

[Alex B]

No, it is not normal if you have a relatively new PC.

At first you could check that MC is not using "analog" mode for ripping. It's in Advanced Ripping Options. Analog mode rips as slow as the normal audio playback takes.

In secure mode MC extracts audio from CDs little slower than MMJB because it tries to make sure that everything is included and rereads questinable parts of the CDs. Also, the LAME encoder that MC has is optimized for the audio quality, not for the speed like the FhG encoder in MMJB. However the speed you get should not be that low.

You could check this thread. The thread was about MC11, but look for any similarities with your case: V11 slow ripping -- AKA MP3 encoding speed

Post here also your Systen Info from MC Help menu.

EDIT

CBR = constant bitrate, ABR = average bit rate, VBR = variable bitrate (this has usually the best audio quality), there is no FBR.

[risingdamp]

In the advanced MP3 encoder settings select custom and use the appropriate command line switch from this thread.  I think the one you want is:

--alt-preset cbr 128

[ckx]

Thanks all for your suggestion. 

Alex, I checked the encoder.  MC is in "standard" mode, Should I use the "Secure" Mode?   I certainly hope V11 final will fix a lot of this.  Following the thread you suggested quickly got me lost.

risingDamp:  I checked the advanced option for MP3 codec, but it only has "Normal", "High Speed" and "high Quality" seetings.  I was using "high Quality" which runs at slow 1x to 1.3x speed.  Switch to "Normal" really speed things up. I can get 7x to 8x.  This is a speed I can live with.

 
Here is my system info from MC help:

Media Center Registered 10.0.173 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2593 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 1308 MB, Free - 837 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2900.2573 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.041130-1729) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2900.2578 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.041130-1729) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.57 (1008) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1997 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.57 (1008)

Ripping /   Drive E: SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-252S   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive F:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: No /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: No 

Burning /  Drive E: SAMSUNG  CD-R/RW SW-252S    Addr: 1:1:0  Speed:48  MaxSpeed:48  BurnProof:Yes
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

[risingdamp]

You should see an option to select Custom and then you can specify the appropriate command line switch from the thread I gave you. 

[Alex B]

Have you changed the MP3 encoder (lame.exe)? MC10 should have LAME 3.93. That version should not have serious speed problems with the "High" quality setting. It is only a bit slower.

With LAME 3.95 and newer the switch used in MC10 with the "High" quality setting trickers a very slow experimental quality mode. That mode does not produce any better results than using those encoders with the "Normal" setting.

MC11 has completely redesigned MP3 options with a new user interface. It does not have that problem. It uses the latest LAME version, 3.96.1.

Here is a small tool that can tell what encoder version was used: http://www.burrrn.net/mrq/

[Alex B]

Alex, I checked the encoder.  MC is in "standard" mode, Should I use the "Secure" Mode?   I certainly hope V11 final will fix a lot of this.

Standard mode is faster.

Secure mode can be a bit slower or much slower if the CD is defective, but it can read bad CDs better. I use it, because I don't like to encounter read errors later when I listen to my audio files.

Following the thread you suggested quickly got me lost.

I think the thread evolved towards the end when the problem started to resolve.

[Alex B]

ckx,

I don't know your specific needs, but with many types of music a constant 128 kbps bitrate is too low quality setting for good reproduction. Usually the quality loss can be heard even with moderate audio equipment in critical listening.

For the best MP3 ripping results I would recommend using MC11 in secure mode and one of the new Quality options in it. Quality/Normal could be the one you would like to use. It makes files that have variable bitrate. With simple audio files the bitrate can average at near 128 kbps, but if the audio content is complex it tries to maintain the same quality level by using more bits.

P.S.

MC11 takes full advantage of the optimized LAME encoder switches. For example, Quality/Normal setting uses the "--preset medium" switch.

In my opinion the best universal setting is Quality/High that uses the "--preset standard" switch. The bitrate with it varies often at around 200 kbps (128-320 kbps). Many people have found that they can't hear any audio quality differences between the original CD and "--preset standard" encoded MP3 files.

[modelmaker]

If calculate Replay Gain is engaged while ripping it will slow down your total ripping time. It's usually quicker to do straight rips and then do the Replay Gain clacs in a batch afterwards.