Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

[Max Dread]

Hi all

First of all, thank you so much to all who have helped me prepare for my ripping adventure. I really appreciate all the time and wisdom shared. I’ve finally started on the journey and have done my first handful of CDs. Many more to go!

I have some miscellaneous questions which I thought were best grouped together than asked separately. Hope that’s ok....

1. I’ve noticed that some CDs rip at a decent speed and the speed keeps increasing, e.g. from x17 to x25. Sometimes hits the x30s. But then others start and stay at x8 (always x8) consistently throughout the rip. Any ideas why? (I’m using a Plextor PX-716al).

2. Will DBPA warn me if the directory/filename combined is too long for Windows (I’m on XP)?

3. Can I add my own genres to the drop down list and/or delete some of the ones that are there?

4. Is there a setting to automatically delete folders when a track has errors (when using multi-encoder)? I’ve found settings to delete the file, but not the whole album folder and everything in it (for both FLAC and mp3).

5. When ripping albums, the program rips and encodes a track and then when it is finished it moves onto the next track. I thought that the next track was supposed to start being ripped whilst the encoding of the previous track was still taking place? Have I misunderstood?

Many thanks

Max

[mville]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

Most of these questions have already been answered on these forums. Try searching to get the answers.

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

Most of these questions have already been answered on these forums. Try searching to get the answers.

OK, I'll try... I'll report back if I cannot find answers to any of them.

Cheers

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

OK, so after some searching and googling I have found the following.... Please correct me if I'm wrong anywhere! Some points remain unclear to me (in bold).

1. It is down to the disc itself. When put into the drive, the SW looks at the disc and decides what speed to use, capping it if necessary. So nothing can be done to prevent the capping at x8 for some discs...

2. It would seem not. I could not find a relevant thread, so I experimented and found that the file would be written. But when I double clicked it would not play. And if I right clicked, I did not get the standard menu. So how do I go about preventing the total path from exceeding the 260 character limit? My ideal would be for DBPA to just tell me so that I could sort it manually. Second best would be to just have the ending truncated to a set amount. Not sure whether either of these are possible and if so how?

3. I came across someone with the same problem. On their advice, I was patient! I waited, then I re-booted and the custom genres have now miraculously appeared! Great stuff.

4. Cannot find an answer to this one. And not sure if it is possible

5. I think I get it (and I took a look at TM to see what was going on).... Because I'm using Multi Encoder, the 4 cores (quad) all work to do the encoding and therefore do not move on to the next track rip until encoding is finished. I've also seen that there is the Multi-CPU Force DSP. What I would like to know is how people with 4+ core processors have set up and whether anyone thinks it is worth setting things up so that two cores encode while the other one/two move into the next rip..... Does it save much time in the long run?

Cheers

Max

[Spoon]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

2. CD Ripper will reduce the length so under 260 chars automatically
4. No
5. Depends on which codec or multi-encoder is used and which ripping mode used.

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

Hi Spoon

Thanks for the reply.

2. CD Ripper will reduce the length so under 260 chars automatically

OK, I've tried it again. I can see that the filename has indeed been truncated so that the full path is now 256. BUT, the file will not play when I double click. And when I right click the only options available are "Open With" and "Send To". Nothing else. So Windows is obviously unhappy with the path length (or something).

4. No

Any plans to develop an option to do this? When I encounter an error, I tend to abandon the whole rip and put the CD into an "error" pile to be retried later, and/or to be replaced with another CD if I can get hold of one the same. I think a lot of people have a similar methodology from what I've read. Sp auto deleting the folders would be handy (esp. when using the multi encoder).

5. Depends on which codec or multi-encoder is used and which ripping mode used.

I'm using the multi to rip to FLAC and mp3. Secure ripping mode. Let meknow if further details are needed.

Many thanks

Max

[mville]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

I can see that the filename has indeed been truncated so that the full path is now 256. BUT, the file will not play when I double click. And when I right click the only options available are "Open With" and "Send To". Nothing else. So Windows is obviously unhappy with the path length (or something).

In Windows Control Panel>Folder Options, do you have Hide extensions for known file types ticked? If it is ticked, try unticking this option and ripping again. What happens?

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

In Windows Control Panel>Folder Options, do you have Hide extensions for known file types ticked? If it is ticked, try unticking this option and ripping again. What happens?

Hi

It was indeed ticked. I have unticked but unfortunately it has not changed anything (other than adding ".flac" to the end of the file).

Thanks for the idea though.

[Spoon]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

256 characters long is a legal filename, post the full filename here please (including path).

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

OK, here's an example.

J:\_FLAC\Iron Maiden\[2666] 11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555 66666666667777777777888888888899999999990000000000 \Iron Maiden - 11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555 66666666667777777777888888888899999999990000000000 - 01 - 1abcdez

That's with Hide extensions for known file types ticked. Let me know if you would like me to di it again with that option unticked in Windows (or if you would like me to try anything else).

Incidentally, the track name was just a straight alphabet repeating four times... I'm guessing the "z" at the end above has therefore been added automatically....

[Spoon]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

Post also your naming string, and the values for each tag in the naming string (full values) please.

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

I'm not 100% sure what you are asking for, so please let me know if I have missed anything...

Naming string:

[Folder] = J:\_FLAC\

[Dynamic] = [IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[IFCOMP]Various Artists[][IF!COMP][artist][][]\[[year]] [album]\[artist] - [album] - [track] - [title]

Tags:

[album artist] = Iron Maiden

[artist] = Iron Maiden

[Year] = 2666

[album] = 11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555 66666666667777777777888888888899999999990000000000

[track] = 01

[title] = 1abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz___2abcdefghijklmnopqrs tuvwxyz___3abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz___4abcdefghi jklmnopqrstuvwxyz

The title may have been ever-so slightly different to that (I can no longer access it to check)

Many thanks for your help.

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

Hi Spoon/Everyone else

Just wanted to bump this to see whether I can get an answer RE 256 character limit. I'm trying my best at the moment to look out for potentially long folder/filenames. But life would be a lot easier if I knew I could trust DBPA to take care of them if/when I miss them. I want to make sure I am ripping right first time and so don't want to discover months down the line that certain tracks did not work because the folder/filename was too long.

Secondly, any further thoughts from anyone on:

5. I think I get it (and I took a look at TM to see what was going on).... Because I'm using Multi Encoder, the 4 cores (quad) all work to do the encoding and therefore do not move on to the next track rip until encoding is finished. I've also seen that there is the Multi-CPU Force DSP. What I would like to know is how people with 4+ core processors have set up and whether anyone thinks it is worth setting things up so that two cores encode while the other one/two move into the next rip..... Does it save much time in the long run?

I'm using the multi to rip to FLAC and mp3. Secure ripping mode. Let me know if further details are needed.

Cheers

[Spoon]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

When I use your values I get:

Z:\_FLAC\Iron Maiden\[2666] 11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555 66666666667777777777888888888899999999990000000000 \Iron Maiden - 11111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555 66666666667777777777888888888899999999990000000000 - 01 - .flac

Which comes exactly to 259 chars

[Max Dread]

Re: Several miscellaneous questions about CD Ripper

Sorry, perhaps I was not clear... If you see post 12, this has the tag info that would make up the filename. The filename is truncated to what you quote above (which as you say, is below/at the limit). But with all that being so, the file will not play when I double click. And when I right click the only options available are "Open With" and "Send To". Nothing else. So Windows would seem to be unhappy with the path length.