Rip CDs in MP3 or FLAC?

Hi Mike -

My vote is to rip to FLAC (you can easily and automatically convert to MP3 afterward to build a separate smaller library for portable devices or whatever else you want/need to). 

I don't have a MuSo, but if there is really no difference at all, it might be worth triple checking that you are truly streaming FLAC files when you think you are - some streamers do a sort of "internal" down conversion for you and might be sending MP3 content. I'm not sure if Windows Media Center does this as a "convenience", but have a vague recollection that it might. Is there a "stream info" display on the MuSo? Can you try using a different "known good" streamer on your PC (Asset, MinimServer, etc.)? Could you do a "really low" bit rate MP3 rip to be sure you hear degradation when you drop to 96k or 64k from 320k (or 196k if that's what you're using)?

TL;DR: double check you're really streaming and hearing the file formats you think you are.

Regards alan

Definitely you should choose FLAC not MP3. The former is lossless and the latter is lossy. Storage is cheap and if you soend time and effort ripping CDs, it's better to do it lossless and you can always transcode to MP3 if you want to later. But you can't go from MP3 to FLAC.

i've got old ears too, but it was the discovery that despite that, some 320kbps MP3 rips were to my ears horrible compared with the CD that started me off buying Naim equipment.

best

David

Mike

for me FLAC, I use lossless for my NDX and transcode to WAV 

Rip a couple and check all work and the meta data is correct then you can go

dont forget to get a separate back up, your CD is the final back up but would advise separate 

FLAC, there is no point in ripping to a lossy format. Best, nbpf

As above, rip to Flac and only do it the once, you can always convert to MP3 if you need it for mobile use etc.  Personally I would use Exact Audio Copy (EAC) which is free and excellent rather than pay 50 odd quid too 

If you ever upgrade from a MuSo to a Unity or separates system you'll really appreciate the difference between MP3 and FLAC.  MP3 throws away detail and you can never get it back again.

Well, thats a pretty overwhelming vote in favour of FLAC!

Just to respond (and ask more questions.....)

1) The information on the MuSo app, when playing the aforesaid "Ticket to Heaven" was as follows: When playing MP3 file: 44.1kHz 128kb/s and when playing FLAC (from dbPoweramp, it just says "44.1kHz. I don't really know what that means!

2) Has anyone else got views on the free ripper referred to in the thread (Exact Audio Copy)?

3) Mention was made that Windows Media Player might sort of cheat when asked to rip to FLAC...anyone else had experience of that or any comments?

4) Alan33 - I already use Asset (on the advice of Naim Support) but it is only the "free" basic version. I'm happy to cough up for the full version if people tell me that would be a good thing (and why!) but will probsbly hold back ftb until I decide on the NAS situation...

5) Finally.....I woke up this morning to a warning on my laptop that it had been infected wioth a trojan and did I want the Windows removal tool to deal with it? (Urm, there's a silly question if there ever was one!). The point is that the only thing I have downloaded recently is the dbPoweramp trial CD Ripper....

Thanks again

Mike

The trojan was probably loaded by a webpage in a 'drive by attack'.  What anti-virus are you using (if Windows Defender, then this shows why you need a proper anti-virus package).

DBPoweramp is known clean if downloaded direct from Illustrate's site.

EAC is fine, but DBPoweramp's handling metadata and album art is better.

There are plenty of reasons to use a DLNA server on a NAS, some are
24x7 availability
Reduced wear and tear on the laptop
Won't run out of steam if you do a heavy processing task on the laptop
Probably quieter than the laptop (newer NAS enclosures are very quiet even if they have a fan - the HDD is often the noisiest part)

Thanks Huge, Yes, it is Defender although, touch wood, it's been good so far....apart from this one time! Any recommendations for alternatives?

You don't have to rip twice to get FLAC for you and mp3 for your mates; dbPoweramp lets you rip to two different formats simultaneously if you wish. Alternatively you can rip to FLAC, and then batch convert your FLACs to mp3s, using dBpoweramps batch conversion module and taking the option of keeping the originals. FLAC is a lossless format with great tagging so as everyone has said is the safest and best way to go.  Set aside a few dark wintery nights to experiment before launching off .. things to pay special attention to are boxed sets, compilation albums, classical music, the difference between Artist and Album Artist ... - make sure your music appears where you want it to in your chosen player.

I generally don't recommend a specific AV package, as things change every few weeks, and so the controlled environment test results are inconsistent.

Personally I use Kaspersky (oddly, you can often buy a physical disk cheaper from shops than downloading online!), but the free AVG, AVAST and Panda packages are also quite good.

Even the free ones are a LOT better than Windows Defender - which is primarily designed as a 'minimum effort' 'just deal with the worst' solution, to ensure herd immunity from the worst and most common viruses.  You actually may also have other malware that Defender hasn't yet detected.  It's also worth using Lavasoft AdAware and Malwarebytes to scan for other (non-virus) malware.

Thanks Huge. I've used Avast before so installed that - happily, no problems detected! So, either Defender is doing a decent job or I've been lucky....

Why would you consider mp3?

Bulletdodger posted:

Why would you consider mp3?

Because when it was produced, it was clearly stated that it produced much smaller files with no perceptible loss of quality.
The part about loss of quality, when is listening is done critically with good enough equipment, is patently untrue.

However a lot of people haven't yet caught up with that information.

On Windows, EAC for ripping and mp3tag for tagging (it does FLAC etc too) are both free and excellent. No need to spend money unless you want to.

In my experience DBPoweramp's CD ripper gets better quality metadata a bit more often than EAC, hence requires less manual fixing after the event.
Other than that, I agree, the data riped from either are just as good as they both use AccurateRip to check for veracity.

The other tools in the DBPoweramp suite are also useful (I find the tag editor is a little easier to use than MP3Tag and MusicConverter is a good semi-batch format converter)

Thanks guys. I've looked at EAC but it only seems to rip as wav files ? Maybe I'm missing something ( very likely given my newness to all this!):

Victorthesecond posted:

Thanks guys. I've looked at EAC but it only seems to rip as wav files ? Maybe I'm missing something ( very likely given my newness to all this!):

 

 

 

No it also rips in Flac. On the left push the button I think it's called cmp...., just have a look.

WAVE files are fine, they contain all the same data as FLAC, but are about 1.6x the size as the data in a FLAC file is losslessly compressed.  You can losslessly convert WAVE to FLAC and vice versa.

Crikey you guys are fast..... And good!!!

antony d posted:

Mike

for me FLAC, I use lossless for my NDX and transcode to WAV 

Rip a couple and check all work and the meta data is correct then you can go

dont forget to get a separate back up, your CD is the final back up but would advise separate 

Slightly different subject but can you transcode FLAC to WAV on the Core?

Victorthesecond posted:

Thanks guys. I've looked at EAC but it only seems to rip as wav files ? Maybe I'm missing something ( very likely given my newness to all this!):

 

 

 

EAC can rip to FLAC but to do so you need to point it to your flac.exe executable file. The easiest way is to keep a copy flac.exe file in your EAC program folder.

Daveas posted:

antony d posted:

Mike

for me FLAC, I use lossless for my NDX and transcode to WAV 

Rip a couple and check all work and the meta data is correct then you can go

dont forget to get a separate back up, your CD is the final back up but would advise separate 

Slightly different subject but can you transcode FLAC to WAV on the Core?

At the moment so far as I can see you have to decide, when you setup which you want the Core to rip into and there are no subsequent transcode arrangements. This may be on Naim's development road map, but I wouldn't know about that.

best

David

David Hendon posted:

Daveas posted:

antony d posted:

Mike

for me FLAC, I use lossless for my NDX and transcode to WAV 

Rip a couple and check all work and the meta data is correct then you can go

dont forget to get a separate back up, your CD is the final back up but would advise separate 

Slightly different subject but can you transcode FLAC to WAV on the Core?

At the moment so far as I can see you have to decide, when you setup which you want the Core to rip into and there are no subsequent transcode arrangements. This may be on Naim's development road map, but I wouldn't know about that.

best

David

Thanks David. It would be nice to know if this is planned Phil.

Dave