Ripping clarifications?

[Empgamer]

I am just waiting receipt of an Ipod and also plan to get a Sonos or SB3 set up. I decided on the Ipod as it's a very good device for audio books as well.

At moment I have WMP and iTunes installed but have very little copied onto them yet. Have read the sticky above and the various guides so really just want to clarify a couple of things before I take the plunge.

1) Don't plan to use WMP at all but will leave it installed as some sites seem to call for it as a plug-in.

2) Considered using iTunes for ripping CDs to Apple Lossless and then converting music destined for Ipod to MP3. Only concern is that I am tied to Apple. I may not change devices in future but we may get others that aren't Apple in the house and I only want to rip once. One thing that appeals with iTunes is ease of use. As I doubt I'll ever load lossless tracks onto the Ipod (at 45M a throw) and as such I see little point in tying myself to it. Whatever I use though will need to be able to convert readily to MP3 but I think most can.

3) If ALAC is not the best option it seems FLAC will be.

4) Suspect I need two libraries then? I assume (still reading guides etc) that two libraries (lossless/mp3) is simply a case of having the music in two separate folders and pointing the player(s) to whatever folders the music types are in?

4) Having a NAS might make this easier? Install the FLAC folder on the NAS and point the Sonos/Slimserver or even a PC based (when on the PC) media player to that and keep the iPod folder on the PC and point iTunes at that?

5) Now the biggy. It SEEMS EAC is the way to go with Accurate Rip installed alongside and using the FLAC codec. I've got the Slim Devices and Hydrogen Audio guides re both EAC and FLAC etc. I am a little concerned that it might not be as simple to use as iTunes but figure it will be worth it not to be stuck with Apple Loosless. I have however seen reference on the Hydrogen Audio to 'dbPoweramp Reference'. It seems this is highly recommended, easier to set up and stable. I know EAC is free but if the above applies it might be worth the £14 for DBPA considering I'm a complete newb?

Having never used any of them I'd appreciate any pointers. I don't REALLY want to start considering other software but I did look at Media Monkey.

[Autopilot]

This is what i, and quite other around here do, and recommended it;

Get EAC, don't be affriad to learn something new. It's the best ripper and it's a myth that it's really hard to set up. Sure, Dbpower AMP is probably easier, but EAC is not that hard at all. Remember, everyone is a newbie at some point until you actually use it. Have you downloaded EAC yet and given it a test run? You confidence will soon improve. Setting it up takes just minutes if you follow a guide. I dont fully understand exactly what everything does, but you only need to set it up once. Then it's a case of feeding it CD's. You will be thankful you chose EAC when you come across a scratched CD that would put iTunes on it's arse.

Use EAC to rip to FLAC. It is IMO the best lossless format to use and it does not matter if you have an iPod. Ripping all the CD's will take time, probably days (in the case of some people, weeks+). But this is your master archive. Work on that, get it set-up well and back up to. You can pack all you CD's away safely, if you should never need to rip them again.

Then you can use something like Foobar2000, Media Monkey or Dbpower AMP to batch convert to LAME MP3 for your Ipod to another location, tags and all, in a few clicks. Of course it will take quite a long time, so do it over night or while your at work.

You might find another strategy works better for you, but that what i do. I you really are struggling, then i would say go with dbpowerAMP, or maybe Media Monkey.The Only other ripper worth considering is Cdex. Media money does have a nice library organising features and you can rip with EAC then organise with MM if you wish. I have been fiddling around for years and this is where i am with it now and sticking with it. I can just delete my MP3's if i want, the important thing is my master collection. I would have my master library in FLAC regardless of what player i use, it just so happens that the Sono's and SB3 play FLAC very nicely. I have future-proofed myself, it's flexible, I'm and i'm not tied to any particular brand, and i'm certainly not spend 2 weeks of my life again ripping CD's!

[Empgamer]

Thanks AutoPilot. Just one query though. If I'm using DB Poweramp to batch convert to MP3, and if the 'Gold' version of that programme (Reference) will also rip to FLAC, would it not be easier to just go with DBA all along the line. I have no damaged CDs as such.

I'm quite happy to use EAC but like to keep life as simple as possible.

[Autopilot]

If all CD's are perfect, then it is a less of an issue, yes.

Try em both, see how you get on

You could always use EAC as a backup for those harder to rip CD's you might come across.

[Empgamer]

I'll give DBAmp a try I think first. I beleive it's easier to set up. Reference costs £14 I think (not quite sure if that's £14 pey eyear or £14). If it's the former, I'll be trying EAC

Now frantically trying to decide whether to bin my order of an Ipod nano and go with a Sony NWA808 instead

[Synchro]

Let us know how you get on

[Empgamer]

Well it seems to have gone OK. I tried EAC (glad I had a guide!!!). Was a couple of issues with my install versus the guide. At the start I didn't get prompted to install a Codec. Later, when I ticked the FLAC transfer option the software just accepted it without further action. I then downloaded FLAC and installed the exe file only in the EAC/FLAC install folder. When I opened it however there was already a txt documnent and a Windows icon (looking like a blank folder with a blue top - an exe file?) but I dropped the exe in there anyway. Seems to be working OK. I wondered if the file in the FLAC folder is some form of batch file allowing EAC to access FLAC.exe?

The install guide I have refers to a naming configuration very early on in the process where it lets you select from a drop down. Later it asks you to fill in a text line with presumably another naming convention (e.g. -T "album=g" etc). On the part of the guide where it talks about Lame (presumably an MP3 codec only) it takes you to an tag ID page as well, fairly late on. The FLAC install doesn't seem to go there but there is, for instance, a command line prompt window that opens up and closes after each track which I seem to recall (having gone through the lame process before I realised what i was doing) which that set of tabs seem to give you the option to disable. Not sure if I should go back through the other half of the process that the guide runs through for Lame and complete those actions? I may look at other guides.

I notice there is no FLAC button to rip secure using FLAC? It seems you just use the MP3 button (and presumably then just uses whatever process you have associated with it under EAC Compression/Use External Compression?).

I have also installed Accurate Rip (ran it, copied DLL into EAC install, ripped a known disc) but when I select 'Database' I found the 'Send Accurate Rip Results' is greyed out so I'm not sure if it's in or not??? Wasn't sure if i was supposed to configure something in EAC to tell it to use it? Then I checked the readme and found that the EAC version I have had it (or at least the .dll pre-installed). I'd already downloaded the plug-in into the folder it self selects and I've just left it there.

Finally, how long roughly would a 50 minute CD take? Despite using Secure under FLAC it didn't take long.

I've posted a couple of queries on the Player thread that I'd appreciate any comments on.