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[bspachman]

Am I the only person in the world (perhaps besides Matt) who uses these?

I find them incredibly convenient even in the modern world of cheap storage to maximize flexibility and minimize backup time. Instead of backing up my full-sized APE files, I can back up the APLs and know that all I need to do is re-rip the CDs if something catastrophic happens.

However, I've been looking for ways to simplify my audio workflow, and still can't find a way to have MC create APLs. I've been able to eliminate EAC by using "Secure Mode" to rip a CD to an APE+CUE, but I still need to fire up Monkey's Audio to create the APLs, then import them into MC.

Is there a way to have MC take the CUE file and create the APLs?

brad

<oddbehavior>Also, the version of Monkey's Audio I've been using for the past several years throws an error when the CUE file doesn't have the full path to the .ape in the header. Neither MC nor EAC ever did that. I remember (vaguely) that this was a change Matt made several years ago to work around some other problem. I'm wondering if the logic isn't a little TOO strict now. Maybe Monkey's Audio can default to looking for the APE in the same directory as the CUE file, and if it doesn't find it, then ask for the full path...

[Matt]

It's funny you ask, because I never liked the idea of ripping to a single file or did so myself.  A good ripper like Media Center has seamless track boundaries, so I never really understood the point.  If I had it to do over again, I'd tell people to rip to individual tracks instead of encouraging CUE usage by creating APL.  

But that aside, you can drop a CUE directly into Media Center.  It'll make entries for each individual track.  This mostly removes the need for APL files, although APL files have the bonus that they are taggable and playable in other programs.

[bspachman]

It's funny you ask, because I never liked the idea of ripping to a single file or did so myself.  A good ripper like Media Center has seamless track boundaries, so I never really understood the point.  If I had it to do over again, I'd tell people to rip to individual tracks instead of encouraging CUE usage by creating APL.

True, but I started this process back on MC (well, MJ) 8, when drives were much smaller and keeping a full backup of all my media was a real challenge. It was definitely a more cost-effective way to have my digital audio: an image of the CD (the APE file of the whole disk) and all the APLs for individual track control. All I needed to backup were the APLs and the CUE files.

Nowadays, I keep up the habit, because backing up a multi-TB RAID on a budget is still a challenge! :-) Usually, my backup solution is about 1/2 the capacity of my main server.

But that aside, you can drop a CUE directly into Media Center.  It'll make entries for each individual track.  This mostly removes the need for APL files, although APL files have the bonus that they are taggable and playable in other programs.

Remember all the grand talk from forum members about extending the APL format?

brad