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[MediaMD]

So I’m taking the plunge.

 

I’ve got twin 250 Gig drives, and have started ripping in .APE format. I want to maintain as much of the original integrity of the CD recordings as possible. What would be the optimal settings, and how do I determine the “Read offset compensation”?

 

I have a Plextor PX-708a, and I have been to the EAC website and read the offset page; I take it that I have to run at least a couple of reference disks, and get a consistent offset measurement and apply it in this box; Is there anyone who has done this that has some practical feedback?

 

If I disregard the offset, will it make a noticeable difference?

 

The sound level appears to vary somewhat also….what are the pros and cons of “Normalize before encoding”?

 

 

I have to say, it is not all that bad to invest the time to rip. To have everything so readily available, and not have to hassle with some archane interface is wonderfull!

[Alex B]

I guess that this needs quite a long answer and nobody else had the time, so I'll try. You could have found these answers by searching here, but I admit that it is not as easy as it sounds.

First of all, I am not sure what are going to use for ripping: EAC, MJ8 or even MC?
In my opinion if you are using Media Jukebox 8 you should upgrade to Media Center 10. It is in many ways much better including the ripping engine. The upgrade price is only about $15 if you have a v.8 license. It is an insignificant amount of money when compared to the value of your work and hardware investments. MJ v.8 is good as it is, but J River is not actively developing it.

I use MC 10 for ripping. In secure mode its ripping engine is comparable to EAC secure. With MC you don't have to do any extra steps. You put the CD in. MC tries to find the album and track information from the online database. It gives you an opportunity to add/edit the information. Then MC rips and saves the tagged APE files to your preconfigured folder structure. That's all.

I may use EAC in secure mode if I have a very badly scratched CD. Then I try both programs. Sometimes EAC is better, sometimes not.

I have configured EAC to compensate the read offset error, although the error is not usually audible. In my opinion it can make any difference only with e.g. live or DJ mix albums if there are no silent gaps between the tracks. Usually the error is only about some milliseconds, so you can't hear it.

Also MC has a read offset compensation, but it works differently and you cannot use the EAC value there. I think that in MC it is meant only for extreme cases when you have a very bad drive and you can really hear the tracks starting and ending incorrectly.

You should not use normalizing if you are going to make perfect reproductions of your CDs. Normalizing alters permanently the music data. With MC you can enable "Analyze audio during ripping" and use "Replay Gain" on playback. That does the trick without altering the music data.

Happy ripping!  

Edit. I forgot to mention that in my opinion the best compression setting for APE is Normal. It is quite fast and you don't get much smaller files with High or Extra High.

[MediaMD]

Thanks very much for the answers!!!!

[boliver]

How is the ripping engine in MC better than MJ?  Am I not getting the same quality rips with MJ in secure mode?