MP3 WAV ripping software

[nthnbeachesguy]

Just after a recommendation on some software for converting cd's into MP3 format, preferrable freeware or free trial from cnet etc. Going on 2 week indo boat trip and dont want the hassle of heaps of cds clogging up whats otherwise going to be the very essence of travelling light when it comes to luggage other tha boards.

Theres heaps of options on cnet but if anyone can fill me in on whats been good to them, would be great!!!!!

[OscarTheGrouch]

CDex - http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/ is probably the best in my opinion.

[XLR8 V8]

I find dBPowerAmp Music Converter to be excellent .... grabs song titles etc for the ID3 tags from the freedb.org databases to save time in file naming etc. Can also download plugins to convert to other formats.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

[Doug]

For those with a Creative product - sound blaster / audigy etc, the Creative PlayCenter does a rather good job at ripping most CDs with out copy control.

[ROGUE]

www.iTunes.com

[Drizzt]

I personally find EAC (Exact Audio Copy) from http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ and LAME offer very superb results. You can grab LAME from http://lame.sourceforge.net/. Both are free for personal use. I'd then visit http://www.r3mix.net/ for settings to use for MP3 quality encoding and away you go.

I've got 60GB of MP3s I've encoded myself in this manner and find it as close to CD audio as you'll get it. I ama bi tmore pedantic and use tighter settings.


Drizzt

[VXII SSimo]

As mentioned by Drizzt, I used to use EAC with the LAME plug-in, but have now found and am using MP3Producer. It is as functional as EAC, yet easier interface, with variable bit rate(VBR) etc built into the one prog. Also has the FreeDB function, which allows for online naming of albums. Full ID2, ID3 tag editing. Very impressed with the results after about 30G of music converted.

Cheers
Simo

[MAGS]

I agree with Rogue, iTunes is the way to go (have options on what compression standard to use).... if you don't like Mac gear... Audiograbber is a good MP3 only program, I used that b4 I got my iPod...

[Drizzt]

Audiograbber is a good MP3 only program, I used that b4 I got my iPod...

And you consider Audiograbber good when it inserts silence into spots where it can't extract the track? The error correction was rat shit then and I assume it still is today.


Drizzt

[MAGS]

And you consider Audiograbber good when it inserts silence into spots where it can't extract the track? The error correction was rat shit then and I assume it still is today.


Drizzt

Must say I never had that problem, AudioGrabber worked perfectly for me.... :D , only reason I stick with iTunes is the different compressions (plus the iPod of course)...

MAGS

[Drizzt]

Must say I never had that problem, AudioGrabber worked perfectly for me.... :D , only reason I stick with iTunes is the different compressions (plus the iPod of course)...

MAGS

I was ripping tracks and encoding in VBR and found it jittered when played back on high end studio equipment. Listening on your PC or outputting to a stereo won't show up the errors. My manager has a mate who DJs a lot fo teh raves so I had access to equipment at his place.

iTunes and iPod are a good idea but I don't like to be locked into one format or standard.


Drizzt

[Smergen]

I have used Musicmatch Jukebox. I find that this program is really good and you can control just about every variable. There is a free version that has most of the commercial version but it just doesn't rip the music to file as quick. supports MP3, WAV, MP3Pro. The commercial version is only $19.00.
The interface is really user friendly too, and has really good tagging and library features. I have never had a problem with it.

My god I sound like an infomercial :bash: ....Stand by for testimonials from satisfied customers!!!! ;)

[nthnbeachesguy]

Umm Drizzt that stuff seems to be beyond my level of expertise. I downloaded a number of the Lame releases and there isnt an .exe file among them that EAC asks for when installing. PLEASE HELP. I cant for the life of me understand WTF is going on!!!!!

[Drizzt]

Umm Drizzt that stuff seems to be beyond my level of expertise. I downloaded a number of the Lame releases and there isnt an .exe file among them that EAC asks for when installing. PLEASE HELP. I cant for the life of me understand WTF is going on!!!!!

Try downloading LAME fro this page http://mitiok.cjb.net/. This is the site I used to get LAME codecs from before I settled on one.

Just downloa dnad extract it and point EAC to the LAME exe.


Drizzt

[clixanup]

I was ripping tracks and encoding in VBR and found it jittered when played back on high end studio equipment.

Try Ogg Vorbis:

http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/

Better quality than mp3, because it uses variable compression. Its also patent and royalty free, which guarantees your freedom.

You can hear the difference between an ogg and an mp3 on even the cheapest PC speakers.

[nthnbeachesguy]

is ogg able to be read by ur average cd mp3 discman though??????

[clixanup]

is ogg able to be read by ur average cd mp3 discman though??????

Actually, these have just been released in Europe:

http://www.bumblesmp3s.com/

Incidentally, ogg is supported by almost all mp3 related software.

[scat2k3]

If its software to rip CD's to mp3 your'e after, then XLR8_V8 is on the money. dbpoweramp is the go. Bloody good product for freeware.

Cheers,

Scott

[skully]

ogg is supported by a few of the iriver models, it is certainly a better quality format.

for mp3 cdex is very good encoder, easy to use and configure to do what you want.