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[HiRez_Lover]

A Newbie, but loving what I'm hearing so far. I have purchased some HD Tracks and other HiRez sampler music
but would now like to move some of my many CDs into the JRiver environment.

1. It seems like the consensus is to use DBPOWERAMP.  Does most of the community agree? Is there a trial or
lite version around?

2. I see it being mentioned as the most flexible and great for "tagging".  Could someone describe
what/why I would tag a CD? Is is just to categorize it as "Jazz" or "Folk"?

3. If I look at a music CD through FileExplorer I will see the file extension as .AUD or .WMA  Actually I'm at work
now and don't have a CD to verify what the extension is. But I guess the real question is can't I just drag the "raw"
CD to a JRiver library?

4. Will any software UpSample the redbook CD into something that actually sounds better?

5. As I'm typing a new-interesting question occurs to me. If you are a true audiophile and worry about every link in the
chain (I'm raising my hand) you would be worried about the quality of the CD or DVD drive in the computer that
does the ripping (right?).  So does this matter too? And.... could I use my Hi-end CD player (Primare 32 - COAX out)
to read/spin the CD.  Main obstacle, the computer won't recognize the Primare as a device.
So, back to the original question, if I'm going to launch an effort to rip over 1000 CDs, is there a higher quality USB
Optical Drive that folks recommend?

Long winded, sorry.
TIA,
Jay

[JimH]

You can use JRiver to rip with excellent results.  Here's another thread on the same topic:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92896.msg639939#msg639939

Don't try dragging files from a CD.  Just use the rip feature.

[gcoupe]

I may be in error here, but I get the impression that Jay is confusing digital with analog here, particularly in question 5.

As to why tagging is important - well it gives you metadata that can be useful to home in on the track that you want to play when you've got  tens of 1,000s in your library. The Genre tag ("Jazz or Folk") is just one of the categories supported in the ID3 tag standard (http://id3.org/).

I simply can't imagine being able to manage any of my media collections without the relevant metadata being available.

[glynor]

1. It seems like the consensus is to use DBPOWERAMP.  Does most of the community agree? Is there a trial or
lite version around?

No.  Most people here use MC to do ripping of discs.  There is very little reason to use anything else, unless you have some kind of specialized need.

MC's ripping is secure and just as accurate (or better) as any other similar product.

3. If I look at a music CD through FileExplorer I will see the file extension as .AUD or .WMA  Actually I'm at work
now and don't have a CD to verify what the extension is. But I guess the real question is can't I just drag the "raw"
CD to a JRiver library?

You cannot.  CD audio is stored in an entirely different format (optimized for playback from slow and unreliable optical discs), that is not inherently compatible with the way computers store and retrieve information.

Ripping the CD converts it from this weird format into a computer "file".  If you rip to a lossless format (FLAC, APE, ALAC, or PCM WAV) then the conversion is lossless and does not change the audio quality at all.

[HiRez_Lover]

Thanks so far for all the replies.

GCOUPE - Not that I am taking offense, I maybe talking apple and oranges, but I don't see it.  I was asking
if there was a recommended player (assuming the reading of bits from a disk can vary - and if you look at the
CD player market of a decade ago all aspects of the transport was up for much discussion).

This USB CD player (better quality or not) would be attached to your computer when making the rips. Not sure
how anything I envision is in the analog realm.

Please explain,
Jay

[glynor]

Reading of bits from the disc can only vary if the ripping application doesn't have a secure mode.  MC does.

[HiRez_Lover]

Ah. Beautiful. Thank you.
Jay

[dtc]

4. Will any software UpSample the redbook CD into something that actually sounds better?

Media Center can upsample your redbook CD files. Just chose the appropriate setting in DSP Studio. For example, input 44,100 and output 176,400. An integer multiple is usually the best.  I would stay away from the question if it actually sounds better or not. There are multiple opinions on that. So, just give it a try and see for yourself. You can do it on playback, so just rip to 16/44 and upscale on playback. You should check your DAC and see if it is upscaling the files already.

5. .... if I'm going to launch an effort to rip over 1000 CDs, is there a higher quality USB
Optical Drive that folks recommend?

In the past, there were tests and recommendations as to which drives to use, with old Plexor's usually being the drive of choice. Today, most people will recommend just using any decent quality drive. The hardware error checking and the software will pretty much account for any drive issues.  One advantage of the drive over a CD player is that the CD player typically does not have error correction, whereas the PC drive does.

[Vincent Kars]

Ad 4 Don't do this at rip time. As dtc stated, do it on the fly during playback and see what it does in your system.

Ad 5
It is possible but we don’t call it ripping, we call it recording.
If you have a soundcard with a SPDIF input, you can record straight from the player.

By design bit perfect reading of an audio CD is not guaranteed.
If there is an error all the transport can do is interpolate or mute.

In case of ripper (as nobody is listening) the sector can be re-read.
In secure mode often the CD is simply read twice and the results are compared.
One might argue that a PC with a good ripping software is better equipped to read a CD correct than a dumb transport.

[kstuart]

dbpoweramp is a promoted commercial product, what you are encountering is the promotion.

The standard of enthusiasts is Exact Audio Copy which is a free program developed by a German dude.  There are Guides all over the web (and the program is available from its own web site).

JRiver MC might work equally well, but I could not say, because it is too late for me to bother changing.

[bblue]

I'm sure that MC does a great job ripping, but I too am sticking with EAC for that function.  Mostly because several years ago I had to re-rip my entire CD library.  Since EAC maintains a nice database of everything ripped I have a nice library of everything I've ripped since then.  All in one place and easily accessible.  Otherwise, I'd probably shift to MC for ripping as well.

--Bill

[BartMan01]

I used to use EAC exclusively.  Once I started using MC secure rip mode, I never went back.  The only time I dig out EAC is if there is a problem disk and then I can never get a 'good' rip with either program but sometimes one does a better job than the other (it is inconsistent and may just be luck of the draw as to which one actually gets that specific read better).  I have had commercial CD's with 'bit rot' or the equivalent that will not rip 100% accurately with anything.

MC also maintains the library of every CD it has seen, unless you specifically delete that data.

[AndyU]

The advantages of dBpoweramp over MC ime are that: it is faster; it accesses several on-line tag and artwork databases and gives you an (overridable) choice from each, which is particularly useful for classical music; it populates tags which many people find useful like ComposerSort; it detects whether cds have been recorded with pre-emphasis; it detects HDCDs and rips the "extra" 4 bits.

(btw, the fact that it is a "promoted commercial product" as kstuart mentions is surely irrelevant. MC is also a "promoted commercial product" - either you think its worth paying the guys who develop these things or not; both products offer you trial versions, so you can make up your own mind. Both products are more than worth the money to me.)

[Bccc1]

Before I had MC and dBp I used EAC. Now, for "normal" CDs I use JRiver, just because it's always open and thus quite convinient. But as soon as classical collections or rare CDs have to be ripped, I use dBpoweramp and it's PerfectMeta feature (AMG, GD3, SontaDB, Musicbrainz & freedb).

[Frobozz]

The ripper in JRiver Media Center supports secure mode ripping.  Secure mode reads each part of the disc multiple times to confirm that the data is good.  It does a very good job of ripping and your rips are unlikely to have errors.  It is a good ripper.  It also imports the files into your library as you go.  Making it quite convenient.

With that said, if you're ripping 1000+ discs there are reasons why you might want to go with dBpoweramp instead.  dBpoweramp has some advantages, especially with bulk ripping and with getting consistent tagging data.

I've ripped a couple thousand CDs.  Many with dBpoweramp.  It saves a lot of time.  And the improved tagging in dBpoweramp saves my sanity, especially with classical music and pipe organ music.  It's the ripper of choice if you're planning on ripping 1000+ CDs.

Some drives are better at ripping than others.  Some are fast.  Some are very slow.  Some can rip scratched CDs easily.  Some can't rip scratched CDs well at all.  It's difficult to recommend a specific good drive because drive models change and go out of production quickly.  Try a couple different drives till you find a good one.  There are no sound quality differences for different drives when ripping.  Just speed differences and differences in how well they handle scratched discs and other challenges.