best music ripping software

Badger_grr · 26 Nov 2006 at 21:51

hey guys, just bought a new external hard drive with the plan of ripping my cd collection and was just wondering what program i should use. would like them to be mp3 format. free software would be better however i dont mind spending a small amount of money if it will be worth it.

thanks for any help

james.miller · 26 Nov 2006 at 21:52

EAC + the latest LAME mp3 encoder. if you've got the space you should consider a lossless codec such as flac

MarcLister · 26 Nov 2006 at 21:55

I use Winamp as my media player but it also works brilliantly for me as a CD ripper. There is a free version but the Pro version ($19.95/about £10.25) rips at up to 48x.

I think quite a few people might recommend you CDex which is 100% free I believe.

sirlemonhead · 26 Nov 2006 at 21:56

I use CDex

Explicit · 26 Nov 2006 at 21:59

james.miller said:
EAC + the latest LAME mp3 encoder. if you've got the space you should consider a lossless codec such as flac

Quoted for truth. That's the best method and it's free.

Scort · 26 Nov 2006 at 22:00

This works well, and is free:

http://www.mp3mymp3.com/

Scort.

Meatball · 27 Nov 2006 at 08:30

iTunes as I use the .AAC format. I've heard the iTunes MP3 codec isn't that good. Is there anyway to change the codecs iTunes uses?

photoshop · 27 Nov 2006 at 08:46

james.miller said:
EAC + the latest LAME mp3 encoder. if you've got the space you should consider a lossless codec such as flac

what he said

Elston · 27 Nov 2006 at 10:34

MarcLister said:
I use Winamp as my media player but it also works brilliantly for me as a CD ripper. There is a free version but the Pro version ($19.95/about £10.25) rips at up to 48x.

Winamp Pro recently had the price reduced to $9.99.

Another vote for EAC from me though.

VeNT · 27 Nov 2006 at 10:35

sirlemonhead said:
I use CDex

second and use OGG rather than FLAC.

J.T · 27 Nov 2006 at 10:40

EAC and CDex are both very good.

jellybeard999 · 27 Nov 2006 at 11:25

CDEx for me, then into FLAC format

Mobius 1 · 27 Nov 2006 at 11:38

Auidograbber - http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/download.html

thats pretty good and is a free download.

or just use CDex.

squiffy · 27 Nov 2006 at 11:43

EAC + FLAC for quality
EAC + OGG for size and quality (far better than MP3 even at smaller file sizes!)

t31os · 27 Nov 2006 at 11:43

CDex ..... gets my vote.

5tephen · 27 Nov 2006 at 12:17

I have an X-Fi coupled with a Logitech Z-5500 system - what sort of difference will I expect to notice between 192kbps MP3 and one with FLAC encoding?

Captain Fizz · 27 Nov 2006 at 13:04

Used CDEx amonst many others.

EAC is what you want.

Gets it to a better quality from the CD than any other ripper I've used.
And freeware.

LAME for MP3...
OGG is good, but a pain if your MP3 player doesn't support it.

squiffy · 27 Nov 2006 at 13:07

5tephen said:
I have an X-Fi coupled with a Logitech Z-5500 system - what sort of difference will I expect to notice between 192kbps MP3 and one with FLAC encoding?

Try high bit rate OGG (around 256K VBR) versus FLAC, I doubt you'll tell the differrence on a PC setup.

Captain Fizz · 27 Nov 2006 at 13:21

5tephen said:
...192kbps MP3 and one with FLAC encoding?

A massive difference.
192kbps is awful IMHO.

With PC speakers - 256kbps MP3 would probably be OK.
(320kbps noticable using hifi amp & speakers)

But 256kbps OGG should also be dandy.

MarcLister · 27 Nov 2006 at 13:26

Elston said:
Winamp Pro recently had the price reduced to $9.99.

Another vote for EAC from me though.

I bought mine ages ago so not too bothered. I did check Winamp.com again and the price is still $19.95. Even when I added Winamp to my basket it was still $19.95.