EAC fresher

skip DOEs NOT = Error

The "skip" is on the CD. It is not a error in reading.

It is an error in the digi mastering or original master tape, or eq'd tape that was used for CD mastering etc....

There was a prominent "skip" in almost every CD pressing of Coletrane's Love Supreme. I cannot remember off the top of my head which one addressed/fixed this issue.

There was another on a particular Jimi release as well.

Thanks for the reply Patrick. EAC's help menu suggests using "accurate rip" for scratched cds. The cd was scratched and it didn't help me. What is the point of it? iTunes is perfectly capable of replicating a scratch/skip 100% accurately.

Accurate Rip does not magically fix scratches. Some scratches are so deep it will not allow for perfect reading by the laser.

My guess, if the iTunes and EAC rips were identical, is that the skip is "in the music" not from ripping errors.

I cant speak to how iTunes does anything. All i know is that I wouldn't use for a variety of reasons.

quote:

My guess, if the iTunes and EAC rips were identical, is that the skip is "in the music" not from ripping errors.

It was from a gouge in the clear side. The only way to repair this is to polish it out. Fortunately the micro thickness label side (data side) is totally intact.

AccurateRip is great. It tells you if your rip matches others. It would be extremely unlikely if surface wear on your copy and someone else's had exactly the same imperfection. So if it comes out the same as others in the database, you know you got all the data on the cd.

If you get an innaccurate rip or not in database, you don't know whether the rip was accurate or not.

That's where EAC comes in, as it will read each sector enough times to get a verified result for each.

PC, perhaps you could link him to your settings advice. A disc like that would never read as accurite for me. Guess I didn't take the bait in the MM thread.

I am thinking it is possible that the skip is not due to the physical scratch(es).

If there is a genuine physical issue, there is no way it would be "No Errors Occurred" in the EAC log. In fact I would be surprised if it would even be able to finish ripping the track.

Also, it is doubtful that both iTunes and EAC would audibly manifest the same error/scratch identically.

In any case.... here is the link to properly set-up EAC.

Very worthwhile. Quick and easy. Takes 3 minutes max.

http://www2.firehose.us:81/~jiggafellz/eac/index.html

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the tip. I took some time and set up my Windows XP PC as per your guide. It takes alot longer than 3 minutes!!!

I re-ripped this particular cd and got exactly the same result. No errors were reported in the log and it has a skip in exactly the same place. Actually to be totally accurate, both the EAC rips have two skips whereas my iTunes rip only has one skip as does the original CD.

Make what you will of the above. Hopefully my experience of EAC isn't the norm.

Keith

Interesting Keith...

And just to clarify.... it is not "my" guide.

When you say the "original CD" has a skip, do you mean when played on a CDP?

I would be most surprised if there is not some digital artifact in the data itself. Something that occurred in mastering.

I cannot, most often, get EAC to rip the track if it encounters uncorrectable errors. I am guessing it is NOT an error. It is audio just like anything else on the disc.

Yes, the original cd skips once on track one when played on a cd player. This disc has many scratches and some very deep. It needs T-Cut (car polish), not EAC.

So what is the point of EAC? iTunes copes better with a less than perfect disc.

quote:

Originally posted by Keith L:
So what is the point of EAC? iTunes copes better with a less than perfect disc.

The point(s) of using EAC are numerous. In comparison to iTunes, the MOST important are:

- CORRECTABLE DRIVE OFFSET SETTINGS!!! Without this you cannot achieve a bit-perfect rip, except through blind luck.
- Secure mode ripping - TEST and COPY
- Gap detection
- Pre-track information, whether silent or not
- Log file with time positions of all non-exact corrections
- Rips to FLAC
- Creates CUE sheet which includes all gaps, indicies, track attributes, etc...for an EXACT copy.
- WAV editor "de-popping", trim, interpolation etc.... usefull for doing vinyl rips.
- Uses CDDB for tagging. I have only ripped about 100 out of thousands of VERY obscure CDs that did not return perfect tags.


Just to name a few. EAC might not be the ONLY option out there. I have found it to be the best for my needs. If I was to move away from EAC it wouldn't be to go to iTunes.

iTunes CANNOT create a "proper" rip.

Read the white paper on the HDX.... Very little difference in what the HDX does and EAC. Although I personally do not make use of C2 error correction.

If you trust Naim, trust the HDX, you should use EAC.

If you only own a Mac, I would use XLD. FAR, far better.