CD Ripping, What to do???

[GVCCbob]

I am really confused about all this. I tried EAS, CUETools, etc, and I can not get what I need to burn my 750 CD's

The result of these apps produced numerous .flac files, .cue files with metadata, .jpg files with art.

Ripping that many CD's would cause me a file management nightmare.

What I want is to burn a CD in FLAC (not wav too big) with the art, and metadata, to a single file, or a self container folder.

Someone said Poweramp can do this.

Also I looking at the Bluesound Vault ($1,100) which claims it's ripping does all this and more.

I have an iMac, but I would need to buy a CD drive (recommendations appreciated), or use my Windows 7 Laptop that has the drive.

Is what I want to do doable?

I must be pretty dense because I can not get a straight answer, or the answers I am getting I don't understand.

Bluesound says they rip CD's to a single playable container.

Help here is greatly appreciated

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

go to this page and download the dbpa CD ripper for either windows or Mac 21 day free trial version:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm

Read this info:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/spoons-audio-guide-cd-ripping.htm

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper-setup-guide.htm

Then experiment on a few CDs and come back with questions. In the CD ripper program, click in the green icon at top of page, toward the right. Then in the dropdown select CD Ripper Options. click on everything to get a feel for all the various options. Most are left at default, but at least you'll see what's there.

edit: on the hydrogenaud.io forum pages you're getting lots of info about single containers, cue files, etc. You don't need any of that info. You need to rip your CDs to FLAC, as albums containing separate tracks with metadata tag info and artwork. Once setup, dbpa will do that easily. And you have 21 days to experiment before purchasing.

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

On the CD ripper page, lower left, you need to complete certain options. See picture.

On the rip to, you need to select FLAC
On the path row, enter or browse to the top directory on your computer where you'll be ripping.
On the naming row, click the "SET" button to the right. Remove what's in the top box and copy and paste in the following string:

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

Make sure after the last "[]" above you use your back key to remove any stray blank spaces that may have gotten there from pasting.

See pictures:



then under the green icon at top of window in main ripper screen, select CD RIPPER OPTIONS, then under tags and filenames, tick all the tag fields you'd like added. At least use ALBUM ARTIST, ARTIST, COMPILATION, DISC NUMBER, GENRE.

For artwork, either tick the "album art" box in the tags you want added (this will embed art in each file), or if you want to use a single art file for the entire album, at the top of the options dropdown (above the tags) there is an art section. I usually allow it to create "folder.jpg" or "cover.jpg" and set it for maximum 1000 x 1000 size. (if you use the latter option, don't tick the album art down in the tags section.)

Under ripping methods tick SECURE.

The first thing that will happen when ripping is that dbpa will want to setup your accuraterip settings. It does this automatically, but may require that you try rip several popular CDs before it finds one that works. Just follow the on screen instructions when it is doing this. Sometimes it confirms the accuraterip settings with one disk. sometimes it takes 10 or more.

[GVCCbob]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

Sorry I see this type of string referenced in a lot of ripping apps, but don't understand what they do, why you need them.

How they have anything to do with the ripping process.

Thanks

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

Sorry I see this type of string referenced in a lot of ripping apps, but don't understand what they do, why you need them.

How they have anything to do with the ripping process.

Thanks

It has to do with how the ripped files are named and organized by artist and album folders containing such files. Otherwise your ripped files from 750 CDs would be one single long list of files, without any organization.

[GVCCbob]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

Since I need to buy a CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disk for the iMac to rip CD's, any recommendations.

Reviews are mixed so I am not sure what is best for doing this.

Thanks

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

Since I need to buy a CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disk for the iMac to rip CD's, any recommendations.

Reviews are mixed so I am not sure what is best for doing this.

Thanks

no clue. You might take a look at this:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?37706-CD-DVD-Drive-Accuracy-List-2016

Really doesn't matter much. That's the beauty of the ACCURATERIP system with SECURE ripping.

Also, since you're using a MAC, I think the MAC version uses "/" for directory separators in the naming string rather than the "" I used in my examples (based on Windows).

[GVCCbob]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

What do the below brackets do? [] Empty brackets, why are they in the string, and are they needed.
[][][]

Where is the syntax of the string explained and how to build them?

Thanks

[GVCCbob]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

So looking at all the info on this site naming seems for me difficult.

Here are two strings you recommend. What are the differences in how they will build files?

Which one would be best to use for ripping a large quantity of CD's? CD's of all types, collections, multi-disc sets, etc.

Sorry to be so dense.

1. [IFCOMP]Compilations\[album] [IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track]-[title]-[artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track]-[title][]
2. [MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

I'd use this one. It will automatically deal with compilations (different artists, like soundtracks, etc.), single disk, and multidisk. This is what I use and I've ripped many thousands of CDs, compilations, multidisk, etc.

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI]\Disc [disc][]\[track] - [title][][]

by the way, the only difference in the two strings you refer to is that I added the "maxlength" statement so that a file/directory name couldn't be more than 240 characters. This is a windows thing.

The "[]" are the "closing statement" to the various IF statements in the string (if a compilation and if a multidisk). On almost every page of the dbpa ripper/converter on different items you'll see a small circle with a ? inside. Click on these and they will take you to specific help screens to understand all the options, etc.

To learn this program, experimentation is best. Set things up and rip a single CD, rip a compilation, then rip a multidisk set. Then see what it does. See how it labels your files, creates directories, works with your server and player. Then you can tweak if things are not exactly what you expect.

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

followup. See picture for where these help (? in a circle) are located. These are on almost all pages.

[GVCCbob]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

Where is the link that shows recommended setting for ripping.

For example, When ripping Rip direct to final file names, no idea what are the best setting. I have app set to lossless Uncompressed, should I use level 5, etc. Thanks

[garym]

Re: CD Ripping, What to do???

Where is the link that shows recommended setting for ripping.

For example, When ripping Rip direct to final file names, no idea what are the best setting. I have app set to lossless Uncompressed, should I use level 5, etc. Thanks

You'll mostly be using default settings I suspect. I gave you these links before.

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper-setup-guide.htm

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/spoons-audio-guide-cd-ripping.htm

And use the circle with ? help buttons. Lots of detailed info in the help screens on almost every page of the program.



I use FLAC level 5. Many use 8. In my opinion, Uncompressed is silly and major waste of space.