Am I ready to start?

[gd0]

Hi.

Newbie alert: I’m completely new to this. I’ve never even ripped or maintained a library in iTunes. I’m here for confirmed better quality.

2013 iMac (loaded), Yosemite OS X 10.10.3, DSL connection, OWC optical drive. Installed the trial dBpoweramp v.15.

I read and implemented the CD Ripper setup guide, used recommended settings, ripped a few dozen CDs with varying characteristics, and re-read the setup guide. I’m nearly ready to buy. But I’d like to confirm a few details, with your kind assistance.

I will be happy to re-rip these few if I’ve missed something. I’ve got some 2500 CDs; I’m only going to do this once.

1. A setting detail I missed the first time was “Write Album Gain” and “EBU R128 Calculated Gain.” Now selected. Are those playback-oriented settings critical enough to justify re-ripping?

2. Testing for the C2 pointer thing (which I still don’t understand) caused dBp to freeze and forced a hard shut down. I can only presume I don’t have that, and have bypassed it in settings. Seems it’s for the few (professionals?), and could use a clearer explanation. Not a question, just sayin’.

3. Is it fair to say that I don’t need to scrutinize the information pop-up after a rip is complete? (Unless there’s an error, which is made VERY obvious with a separate pop-up, right? Error did occur a couple times, simply re-ripped.)

4. Related to 3, are the occasional Normalization Warnings something I should be concerned about?

5. I have some homemade compilation and/or “needledrop” CD-Rs that obviously don’t show up on AccurateRip. I fill in the metadata manually. Is the phrase “Secure” in the Ripper window sufficient confirmation of a successful rip?

6. Is it fair to say that these CD-R rips will routinely take somewhat longer to accomplish?

7. Is it fair to say that some (commercial) CDs just won’t show up in AccurateRip at all once in a while? (Acid Mothers Temple ‘Pink Lady Lemonade’ (2011) isn’t US mainstream but it’s not overly obscure either; other AMT discs showed up.)

8. Is it fair to say that classical titles routinely require extra scrutiny in the metadata fields? I only ripped a few, but all required considerable editing.

9. Is it fair to say that Choose Art won’t routinely offer up optimum-quality or optimum-size images as the first choice? I didn’t want to be too picky in this area, but I found myself looking for alternates about 80% of the time.

And finally…

10. I might be imagining this one, but I seem to remember reading a review, maybe a year ago, that gave me the impression that I could rip to 2 (or more) destination HDDs simultaneously, but I can’t find any documentation, at least in the trial version. Please wise me up.

Overall, everything seems to work fine. Maybe an occasional slow rip, but nothing hangs up. Titles seem to make their way to the iTunes Library appropriately (and hopefully to some alternate player in the future).

Thanks in advance.

Congratulations on rolling this Mac version out; I’ve been waiting ever since it was announced.

[Spoon]

Re: Am I ready to start?

1. No
2. It is safe to say c2 is not supported with your drive
3. You can go off the graphics display on the track listing, which shows if accurate or not
4. No
5. Yes for these cds
6. Yes
7. Yes, no database has everything
8. Yes
9. The list is not quality organized
10. Set the encoder as 'Multi Encoder'

[garym]

Re: Am I ready to start?

1. One can always add or redo replaygain tags post ripping.

[gd0]

Re: Am I ready to start?

You mean I'm doing everything right?

And actually sort of understand what I'm doing?

That's a first.

Thanks guys. Purchase pending.

[garym]

Re: Am I ready to start?

You mean I'm doing everything right?

Yes, you're interpretations of how things work are correct. You'll likely have more questions as you get deeper into ripping, but you're ready to start! p.s. rip a bunch of all types of CDs to get comfortable with differences you may care about (i.e., single CDs, CDs that are mostly one artist but some tracks have multiple artists, compilation CDs (e.g., soundtracks), multiple disk CDs, classical vs pop, "greatest hit" CDs, etc.

[gd0]

Re: Am I ready to start?

Thanx again.

Yup, tried all sorts of discs. Imports, foreign-language, gold 'audiophile', different genres, damaged discs, classical, old, new, multi-disc box sets etc etc etc.

I'm on my way...

[gd0]

Re: Am I ready to start?

You'll likely have more questions as you get deeper into ripping...

You're right.

Bought dBp, installed. It appeared to retain the settings from the trial version. In an effort to rip to 2 HDDs simultaneously, I attempted Spoon's instruction (10. Set the encoder as 'Multi Encoder'). Took a while to find it, but I set it and created two destinations via "Add Encoder". Did not add any other settings. Subsequent rips appeared in 2 HDDs (named 3 and 4, both ALAC), but Ripper did not create organized folders as it did automatically in the trial version with one HDD. Thinking Multi Encoder required more programming, I enabled all but the Advanced "Dynamic" settings in Output Location > Dynamic. No change. See attachment.

I wonder if there's a conflict between my 2 HDDs setting and the more basic Path setting (lower left Ripper window). Currently it and one of the 2 HDDs are named the same.

I'm sure it's me failing to define where stuff goes and/or how it's filed. I was unable to find online instructions, but I may not know what to look for. I have zero programming skills. If the answers are in fact on the "dBpoweramp Naming" page, then I will need some help; all of that defined coding and naming is beyond me. If there's a simpler explanation, can you link me to it, along with some terminology that I should look for?

Thx.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Am I ready to start?

Okay, I'm about to do that annoying forum thing where you offer a suggestion instead of actually answering the question....

Since you are essentially just making two sets of identical ALAC files, I think a better approach would be to rip one set, then copy to the second location. Here's why: You will...not maybe, not if, not perhaps....you WILL run into additional issues related to the metadata on your ripped files. These issues will require post-rip editing. Trying to fix these errors and omissions in two separate sets of identical files adds more work and more opportunities for headaches. A far more efficient approach, i.e., a shorter path to accuracy and consistency, would be to rip one set of ALAC files, review and correct your metadata, and when you're pretty confident that you've got it right, simply copy these files to the second location.

---

Alright, that said, here's what's going on with Multi-Encoder. For each encoder you are using, you need to specify the overall PATH information (checkmarked and specified in the Folder section), and then create the folder structure you want in the Dynamic Naming string. It's not really programming....that makes it sound harder than it is! It's a matter of stringing together variables in a way that defines a folder structure for your files and a template for their filenames. A simple example:

I want ripped files to go to the "Music" folder my E: drive. I want them organized into artist folders, with subfolders for each album.
I want the filenames to look like this: Bob Dylan - Desire (01) Hurricane.

So I check the "Folder" button and specify E:\Music.
In Dynamic Naming, I put [ARTIST]\[ALBUM]\[ARTIST] - [ALBUM] ([TRACK]) [TITLE]

This is a very simple example (and note that it's the way you define folder structures in Windows). The naming string can get much, much more complex in order to accommodate all sorts of contingencies and different types of albums. But this is the gist: you checkmark and specify "Folder," and then you set the dynamic naming string. You must do this separately for each encoder used by Multi-Encoder.

If the two sets of files are generally going to the right locations, your Folder specs are correct. But if the folder structures aren't what you want, your naming string just needs a little work.

If you can show us exactly how you want your folders organized, and the filename format you want, we can offer suggestions on how to fix your naming string.

[mville]

Re: Am I ready to start?

Okay, I'm about to do that annoying forum thing where you offer a suggestion instead of actually answering the question....

Since you are essentially just making two sets of identical ALAC files, I think a better approach would be to rip one set, then copy to the second location. Here's why: You will...not maybe, not if, not perhaps....you WILL run into additional issues related to the metadata on your ripped files. These issues will require post-rip editing. Trying to fix these errors and omissions in two separate sets of identical files adds more work and more opportunities for headaches. A far more efficient approach, i.e., a shorter path to accuracy and consistency, would be to rip one set of ALAC files, review and correct your metadata, and when you're pretty confident that you've got it right, simply copy these files to the second location.

No BrodyBoy, not annoying, rather invaluable feedback, based on your experience of the software and the quirks of ripping/tagging.

Also, I agree with the suggestion, totally.

[garym]

Re: Am I ready to start?

I 100% agree with BrodyBoy's suggestion. I don't use Multiencoder for that reason (Instead, I create my FLAC files, make sure they are exactly what I want in terms of tagging, etc., and THEN I create an mp3 mirror of these files for use in portables). For backup I simply COPY my FLAC files to other HDDs.

And additionally, multiencoder only ever made sense (to me) when one is ripping to two different filetypes (e.g., lossless FLAC and then a lossy mp3 version). If one is simply creating another copy of the exact same file type, ripping it a second time is overkill when one can simply copy the files to the second location. And there are lots of file utilities that can keep two harddrives syncronized automatically.

[garym]

Re: Am I ready to start?

This reminds me that you will also need to think about a good systematic backup plan when (not if) a HDD fails or gets corrupted. You'll need to think about having backups that are stored in different locations and not always connected to power or anything. (think of house burning down, or theft....I sometimes see people with their backup HDDs sitting right next to the main HDD!). You only want to do this once!

[gd0]

Re: Am I ready to start?

Okay, I'm about to do that annoying forum thing where you offer a suggestion instead of actually answering the question....... Since you are essentially just making two sets of identical ALAC files, I think a better approach would be to rip one set, then copy to the second location. Here's why: You will...not maybe, not if, not perhaps....you WILL run into additional issues

Not annoying at all. That was my acceptable Plan B going into this. Just investigating any possible streamlining.

So again, is it fair for this newbie to assume that Multi-Encoder may be much more trouble than it's worth for someone like me who 1) has relatively simple rip/store needs, and 2) would probably need a dozen attempts to get Path and Naming right? Especially when everything looks right when done automatically with a single Encoder destination?

You can downplay that "programming" aspect all you want, but it really is foreign to me. I've not written one AppleScript in three decades.

Sidebar: at a later date, once the rip is done, I may want to get yet another HDD to store the music in another format. ALAC to maybe AIFF for HQPLayer, or maybe mp3 for a smartphone. Easily done with Music Converter?

This reminds me that you will also need to think about a good systematic backup plan when (not if) a HDD fails or gets corrupted. You'll need to think about having backups that are stored in different locations and not always connected to power or anything. (think of house burning down, or theft....I sometimes see people with their backup HDDs sitting right next to the main HDD!). You only want to do this once!

Way ahead of ya. Two HDDs onboard here. I didn't mention the third HDD that will be transferred to and stored offsite – out of the state, even. This is earthquake country (though a fire is more likely). Already doing this with my professional work files.

Thanks again guys. Support on this forum is excellent.

[gd0]

Re: Am I ready to start?

Alright, that said, here's what's going on with Multi-Encoder. For each encoder you are using, you need to specify the overall PATH information (checkmarked and specified in the Folder section), and then create the folder structure you want in the Dynamic Naming string. It's not really programming....that makes it sound harder than it is! It's a matter of stringing together variables in a way that defines a folder structure for your files and a template for their filenames.

If you can show us exactly how you want your folders organized, and the filename format you want, we can offer suggestions on how to fix your naming string.

No need for that, but just out of curiosity, if I did want to attempt that, is there a way to simply reference the "default" naming string that seems to occur when using the single-HDD Encoder? I've never set up anything like this, don't have any pre-conceived preferences, and the default seems comprehensive enough.

[garym]

Re: Am I ready to start?

No need for that, but just out of curiosity, if I did want to attempt that, is there a way to simply reference the "default" naming string that seems to occur when using the single-HDD Encoder? I've never set up anything like this, don't have any pre-conceived preferences, and the default seems comprehensive enough.

default is pretty good. I use the following (and this automatically deals with compilations, multi disk albums, and situations with and without album artist.

[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album] [IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track]-[title]-[artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track]-[title][]

regular CDs

music/ARTIST (or ALBUM ARTIST if it exists)/ALBUM NAME/01 - track 1, etc.

Compilation CDs

music/Compilations/ALBUM NAME/01 - track 1 title - track artist

multidisk CDs, as above, but with Disk subfolders

music/ARTIST/ALBUM NAME/Disk 1/01 - track
....................................../Disk 2/01 - track, etc.

And some folks like to set up different "profiles" in the ripper and switch for ripping certain things. You might want a different profile for classical than for pop. In classical you may want to organize files by composer instead of artist, etc.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Am I ready to start?

So again, is it fair for this newbie to assume that Multi-Encoder may be much more trouble than it's worth for someone like me who 1) has relatively simple rip/store needs, and 2) would probably need a dozen attempts to get Path and Naming right? Especially when everything looks right when done automatically with a single Encoder destination?

It's not so much that Mutli-Encoder itself is more trouble than it's worth, but that creating multiple sets of files directly from CD Ripper can create more work for you. As I mentioned and garym elaborated on, files often need a little metadata "grooming" post-rip. I think it just makes more sense to do this with one set of files, get it right, and then make any needed copies or conversions.

You can downplay that "programming" aspect all you want, but it really is foreign to me. I've not written one AppleScript in three decades.

Haha, I hear ya. But going forward, feel free to ask here if you need to tweak your naming string. There are lots of experienced users who will be happy to help.

Sidebar: at a later date, once the rip is done, I may want to get yet another HDD to store the music in another format. ALAC to maybe AIFF for HQPLayer, or maybe mp3 for a smartphone. Easily done with Music Converter?

Absolutely! Music Converter makes amazingly quick work of these kinds of tasks. It's kind of fun to watch it work on a quad-core machine....8 CPUs humming along simultaneously....zip, zip, zip, done!