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[pgh]

I'm looking into ripping my cd collection to a hard drive source(as flac files). I've read reviews about sonos, olive opus, transporter etc. I've learned a lot about the different systems and how they work but there are a few basics I'd like some help with. The DAC, or audio card, are obviously very important on how the digital file sounds when played back, but how important is the optical device in saving the binary down to the hard drive. I've started saving files to with my desktop (on a separate Iomega 500gb hard drive) using the Samsung 252S that came with my Dell Dimension 8400 and JRiver's Media Center. Is this sufficient for saving the files knowing that eventually I can get a better playback source - by replacing my audio card or getting a music server - or am I wasting my time saving the files with the desktop? The olive and similar music servers have their pluses with a built in cd drive (which I assume is high quality) but there's no room for storage growth etc. The sonos or transporter allow for flexibility around the house but rely on the desktop (and it's quality) as a source.  Lastly what settings should I use with MC12 to make sure I'm getting the best quality rip - I'm more concerned about quality than speed.

Thanks

[benn600]

Make sure you use secure rip if you want the best quality possible.  I also like the log file to be generated and I make sure that I get 100% everytime (and I have on 1000+ CDs) but many say you just need to get an acceptable read--no bad data reads.

I also like the highest quality FLAC.  It takes a lot longer to encode but ends up saving some data...maybe a few gigabytes on a big collection.  I like minimizing the data requirements completely.

Don't use the equalize options or anything like that.  I also prefer to rip then encode...not simultaneously.  It's in the settings.  2 Concurrent processes but only one of each type at a time.

If you want gorgeous cover art, you can scan it in yourself.  I scanned every CD in myself and store the cover art at 1200x1200.  Big disadvantage to this is that syncing to portable devices is horrible.  The entire 1-2 MB cover art jpg is copied to every mp3 file so it can take 1,000-4,000 MB on 1-2K song collection.  But the cover art looks amazing on a big monitor because you've got a lot more data than the tiny 300x300 or 500x500 cover art files you find online.  Plus, I have every CD...no problems with not being able to find a certain CD or the same cover art.

My entire collection consists of 13,244 songs---all directly from CDs I own and have stored in our spare room.  That takes 337 GB.  I have a 7 TB RAID6 server with separate backup for this type of data.  I have about 5 CDs ready to rip...another 50-100 songs.  I find that CDs average 13 songs each.

Addition: I am very pleased with my library overall.  I feel good knowing I paid for everything and my hand scanning of the cover art is really great.  One disadvantage is that I had to buy a few replacement CDs where the cover art was missing or damaged--but only a few.  I also bought a few new CDs to replace damaged CDs I already owned.  99.9% of my library was ripped at 100% success based on the .log files.

The key for me is rating music.  I keep 4/5 star songs synced and build my main playlist based on that info.  I have about a fourth of my collection rated.  I was rating 100-300 a day for a while but got real sick of that.  I usually rate a song after 1 minute of listening.  Good to rate while you work so you don't get really bored.

By the way, I did a very similar thing with my DVDs.  I did not scan the DVD cover art though, except for a few I couldn't find online, because it's not really going to be viewed full screen like CD cover art would be.  The DVD has good video to display full screen!

[JimH]

You're safe to do your ripping now and worry about playback later.

If you haven't found the FLAC plug-ins, check user scthom's posts on the Third Party board here.

[pgh]

Thanks for your thorough response.  Much appreciated.

Philip

[pgh]

benn600

I finally had a chance to apply your recommendations and things have gone haywire.  All of the sudden any new files I rip the cue file is not readable! I can find the single file in the folder double click and play it but the cue doesn't work at all.  Nor is the new file showing up in the I've tried all kinds of variables but can't isolate the problem.

Any suggestions?   I've searched but haven't found a similar problem.

Thanks,

[jgreen]

pgh--

You mentioned a problem with cue files.  I reviewed your both your original question and benn's post and could find no mention of cue files.  Were you intending to rip to cue all along, and do you have specific need that requires cue files?

Because my strong recommendation is to forget cue files and rip to tracks.  This is how 98% of digital audio is handled.  MC will catalogue your tracks and let you see them and play them as if they were contiguous albums.  As jimH alluded, there aren't a lot of tough choices at the head end.  MC will rip with the industry's best ripping engine, and with a lossless format such as FLAC or APE, all decisions are reversable (stay away from normalizing).

[benn600]

I also looked through my post and didn't find any mention of cue files.  I do not recommend them, either.  I don't use them, that's for sure!  I'm confused of the advantages...they just are minor and not worth the extra effort.

[pgh]

Sorry I wasn't clear.

I am ripping to a single FLAC file for the complete CD to keep the continuity of the music so that the harddrive doesn't have to go searching for the next song and create an unintended break.  It has been my experience that MC12 then creates a CUE flie for the individual tracks on the CD to be referenced in the music library.

Once ripped when I click on the track name in the "Recently Ripped" playlist I get a pop up that says MC12 can't read the file.  Nor do the indiviual tracks show up.

[jgreen]

pgh, I have no experience with CUE's.  There are a handful of users on the forum who use them, but I don't think they'll find your question unless you post a new one to the Media Center 12 fourm and put the word "CUE" in the subject.

As for your reason for using CUE files, I think you're on the wrong track, FWIW.  I have NEVER known MC or any player program to stall between tracks because it's looking for the next one.  Mp3 files, which are entirely new lossy versions of the original track, have been known to have noticable gaps between contiguous tracks.  The reason has nothing to do with the player, and most particularly NOT with disk access, but rather with the difficulty of lossy formats properly accounting for leading and trailing silence (AFAIK).  To the best of my knowledge, CUE files are mainly used by those still clinging to lossy formats (we have a few here).

I'm sorry, pgh, but you seem to be making a VERY simple task into a rather complex one.  I suggest you try as JimH recommends:  rip the CD's using MC's secure ripper, and then try playing them. 

[benn600]

You've got to use secure rip.  I used to use normal mode with iTunes or any other number of programs I used to use to manage my media and it often revealed issues with the media tracks.  Using secure rip can really help reduce or, potentially, just eliminate problematic areas in media as long as the physical media is in reasonably good shape.

[jgreen]

pgh--

Rereading your second post, it occurs to me that the issue may not be cue-related.  Try going to "documents" in the tree (upper left side).  Do you find your FLACs there?  If so, you need to enable the FLAC format within MC.  Do this in "tools/options/file associations/audio."  If you don't find "documents" in your tree, don't sweat.  But do ensure that "FLAC" is enabled under "tools/opitions . . .".

Try playing the file.  if it works, yippee!  if not, you likely need to download the FLAC decoder from the same place you got the FLAC encoder.

If none of this helps, well, I tried. 

[pgh]

jgreen/benn

thanks for your help

i went back to MC12.0.219 and the previous FLAC En/In coders (the versions i ripped my last cd on) everything worked fine when i ripped at normal as before but when i switched to secure ripping the CUE file was unplayable. 

the FLAC file is being created and plays just fine only problem is a don't have access to the individual songs. 

i've ripped quite a few cd's as single files with a CUE and like the performance but definitely want to take your advice and use a secure rip.

i'll post on the MC12 forum and see what i can find out

thanks again

philip

[pgh]

Follow up

I did some more testing  -  the problem is that the "Encoding on-the-fly while ripping button was not checked". 

So basically I can do a "secure" single FLAC file rip with cues if the "on-the-fly" button is checked but if it's not check the cue file that is created is unreadable however the FLAC file is fine.

[benn600]

There are some bugs in the non-default ripping settings.  For example: I have it set to rip and then encode (but keep ripping while encoding).  This causes problems with the eject feature.  It will only eject after a song completes encoding--almost like it checks to see if the CD is finished between rips.

Plus, auto rip gets really confused in some situations.  It won't open the drawer until an entire CD is finished encoding or won't accept more tracks to queue up.  Just a bit confusing and definitely some underlying issues but since most people use the default rip mode, I don't mind.  I prefer my settings because it provides some separation from the two very different procedures and allows them to go at their own rate to a certain extent.

[pgh]

benn

"I prefer my settings because it provides some separation from the two very different procedures and allows them to go at their own rate to a certain extent."

I definately agree with you there.  Back before you notified me of the importance of the "secure" rip I was using "normal" and separating the procedures.

Regardless it seems to be working fine at the moment.  Admittedly I was only ripping 2 or 3 songs when I was doing the testing.  We'll see how a complete cd goes over the weekend.