New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

[allblues]

New to dBpa and about to begin ripping several hundred CDs. My goals:
1. Use nimbie and BatchRipper
2. Get best possible metadata and album art
3. Maintain consistent file naming scheme
4. Produce an exact replica (to be able to burn an exact replica later) for archival
5. Encode separate tracks in lossless and mp3

Is all of this possible? What is the best way to go about doing it?

Going through the forums, one of my concerns is this combination of (4) and (5).
To achieve (4), I assume FLAC+cue is the best option -- but supports only single file.
To achieve (5), I'd need Multiencoder -- but supports only two simultaneous encodes.

If FLAC+cue could produce multiple tracks, then I think my problem would be solved. But if I'm understanding correctly, if I want a cue sheet, and separate FLAC and MP3 tracks, I'd need to encode to FLAC+cue, FLAC, and MP3 -- which MultiEncoder won't support.

One concern about FLAC+cue as a single track is that I'd need a separate cue splitter which may not preserve all the metadata, and may not preserve the same file naming conventions. Is this valid?

Saw that some people use EAC for multi-track and cue, but will it do everything else 1-5?

Appreciate any advice.

[garym]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

You can do all this with the possible exception of *5. Then again, I'm not sure you'll want to do all that in step 5. Even with the excellent metadata sources, artwork, etc. that dbpa will provide, the odds of you being perfectly happy with all the metadata and art automatically provided is zero (I've ripped thousands of CDs with dbpa). I too want an mp3 version in addition to my FLAC rips, but I rip to FLAC, then take a look at metadata, etc. to see if I want to modify/clean up (change genre, choose different album artist name, etc.). Once I'm happy with the FLAC file metadata and artwork, then later on, I can select my FLAC directory, click on convert to LAME MP3, and let it run overnight with no intervention. You can set it to only create mp3 files for those that don't already exist. (Note, I don't use CUE files, as for me personally, the need for CUE files is no longer there, given that separate FLAC files play gapless, etc.)

[allblues]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

Thanks. Just so I have this straight...

A) I can batchrip to FLAC and FLAC+cue via MultiEncode?
B) When batchripping are you prompted to clean up the metadata at the end of the entire batch rip (i.e. choosing betwen the sources, modifying, etc)?
C) Are you suggesting that you can reconstruct an exact replica of the original CD from separate FLAC tracks without a cue sheet?

[garym]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

Thanks. Just so I have this straight...

A) I can batchrip to FLAC and FLAC+cue via MultiEncode?
B) When batchripping are you prompted to clean up the metadata at the end of the entire batch rip (i.e. choosing betwen the sources, modifying, etc)?
C) Are you suggesting that you can reconstruct an exact replica of the original CD from separate FLAC tracks without a cue sheet?

A. Not sure, I've not used dbpa for FLAC + cue
B. No, there is no prompting at all. the metadata automatically added will be perfect about 90% of the time. Less so when there are multidisk albums or box sets. When done with a ripping session, I look at the various ripped albums and I use either dbpa tag editing on the files (after the fact, when I'm looking at the rips) or in some cases mp3tag to do some FLAC file tag cleanup/editing.
C. Yes. Certainly the *audio* of the CD, including tracks being gapless (e.g., abbey road). Perfectionists will point out that there may be differences if you burned these separate flac files back to a disk in terms of minor things like the "negative countdown" a CD player might show before it starts the first song on the disk, etc. That doesn't affect the audio itself however. (and in my case, once ripped to FLAC, I never want to use the CD again (or a copy of the CD). I keep them, stored away, but don't ever play the physical CD. I buy lots of CDs, but in the last 5 years or so, the only time they are used is to open the case, rip with dbpa, but back in. Read the booklet, then store away. I have too many networked music players, DACs, etc. that have all my 75,000 track library at my fingertips without the need for any physical medium.

[garym]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

here's a good discussion on "creating original CD from separate flac files"

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=59345

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=59343

[allblues]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

B. So, there's no way to save or otherwise review the data provided by each of the sources (including the paid ones, if I have an account)?
Makes me wonder if there are other utilities designed to scan all the sources for meta data on a directory tree of already ripped albums...
C. But, as far as preserving even the minor things, will a cue sheet do the job?

D. I take it you have no idea if you still get all the meta data if you rip to a single FLAC+cue via BatchRipper?

[garym]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

B. So, there's no way to save or otherwise review the data provided by each of the sources (including the paid ones, if I have an account)?
Makes me wonder if there are other utilities designed to scan all the sources for meta data on a directory tree of already ripped albums...
C. But, as far as preserving even the minor things, will a cue sheet do the job?

D. I take it you have no idea if you still get all the meta data if you rip to a single FLAC+cue via BatchRipper?

B. Yes, it saves the metadata it gets from dbpa perfectmeta (it chooses the best match from 5 different sources, a plus for dbpa). My point is that the metadata it saves *may* not be exactly what you want. For me this tends to be genre (it may call something pop/rock when I want to call it "Blues Rock" or something "country" when I want it to be "folk". Track names are typically spot on. Some album names I edit (e.g., for The Beatles, Revolver I may want to be Revolver (Mono) or Revolver (Stereo)).

And another product of Spoon's besides dbpa is PerfectTunes. This will scan already ripped files and check against ACCURATERIP database to give you comfort that the rip is bit perfect compared to the rips of others (dbpa does this when ripping, but sometimes when I rip a brand new album, there is no match yet. But a month later I can use PerfectTunes to check the accuraterip matches of my prior rip). PerfectTunes will also look for better quality album art for existing rips. Finally, although not implemented yet, PerfectTunes will also check and update metadata. Do keep in mind that *none* of the metadata sources (paid or free) are perfect. So fine tuning tags is something that can't be automated.

C. Yes, a cue sheet will do the job.

D. No, never tried.

[allblues]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

Thanks.
B. To clarify- I mean does it save the info from ALL the sources so you can later see what was available when you go in and make your own edits? Or does it give you any indication for each disc which of the sources it ended up using?

[garym]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

Thanks.
B. To clarify- I mean does it save the info from ALL the sources so you can later see what was available when you go in and make your own edits? Or does it give you any indication for each disc which of the sources it ended up using?

No, it only saves what it decides to use (not all the data). It is not actually "saving" any data in that sense. Rather it is writing the data to the tag for each file. So it is writing only one of the possible options to each metadata field (track, artist, genre, etc.). I have it create a full ripping log when I rip and I just checked and there is NO indication of which database it ultimately used for the metadata.

[allblues]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

Thanks.

If anyone else has any experience- wondering if BatchRipper will work with the cue sheet image codec (assuming that's the only way to get dBpa to output a cue sheet). And, if PerfectMeta data is somehow embeded in the cue sheet image codec output...

[allblues]

Re: New ripping project: batch + perfectmeta + cue/flac & seperate flac & mp3

To answer part of my question-
the cue sheet image codec is not for use with the BatchRipper:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?18981-CUE-Sheet-Image-Utility-Codec/page6

So basically, everything but (4) is possible.
Anyone know of a ripper that will operate with a nimbie and write cue sheets?