Curious to understand what would be the difference if one used a LG/HP drive, since even I plan on backing up my music (iso's to start with).
Anyone digitizing their CD music collection?
- Thread starter MIOM
- Start date
Curious to understand what would be the difference if one used a LG/HP drive, since even I plan on backing up my music (iso's to start with).
I did long ago by sending them to musicshifter.comHello to all....
Anyone "digitizing" their CD collection? As a music collector I have amassed over 2,700 music CD's since they became available. Also have a vinyl collection but that's nowhere as large (about 900).
Anyway, I'm about to embark on this journey of ripping all these CD's to an external hard drive. Over the years I've ripped something like 600 thus far, but I was being selective. This time everything gets ripped. Also doing this to free up physical space around the house as 2,700 CD's take up a lot of space....
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Will be encoding in uncompressed flac using dBpoweramp as I have a lot of "audiophile edition" CD's as well.
Anyone else? Thoughts?
MIOM
Active Member
Thanks, but please see posts 8 & 11
And I'm fine with dBpoweramp, otherwise I wouldn't have paid for an upgrade
MIOM
Active Member
To reiterate, I'm encoding in "uncompressed" flac format, so theoretically the files are just as good as wave files, but slightly smaller in file size. This to me provides the best of both worlds where you maintain sonic quality while also gaining smaller files.
As for EAC vs dBpoweramp, I've never used EAC, but have been using dB for few years now and it works for me. One thing I will say it dB also relies on a good optical drive where "rip accuracy" is concerned. There's even a list of good and bad drives - CD Drive Accuracy 2019
Unfortunately, my Asus external drive doesn't meet their bill (my main rig has no optical drive slot), but my backup PC with my internal Liteon drive does. That said, I've not noticed any sonic quality loss between the two where rips are concerned.
Thanks
And thanks for the Discogs tip. Didn't know that, and I have a Discogs account.
balavignesh002
Well-Known Member
I never tried HP, Compared to LG I get less errors while ripping.
MIOM
Active Member
I think that would be an incorrect assessment of me. And while there's hundreds of rip apps in the market (paid and free), I'm completely comfortable with what dB has to offer. YMMV.
At any rate, I do appreciate (and welcome) differing opinions on the matter (why I posted) but know this is not my first rodeo here. That also includes the fact that I'm a PC/Windows enthusiast who also builds his own machines with my last build in 2019.
The point here is I fully know about PC's, Windows, backups, and software. And while I'm not claiming to know everything (I don't), I'm just saying I'm no rookie here
At any rate, I didn't buy expensive 20-24-bit audiophile CD's just to kill the sonic quality by doing things hap-hazard, so yeah, those 24-bit CD's will get the "wav" treatment, while the others will be uncompressed flac
MIOM
Active Member
Anyone have any suggestions on a good "external" drive for rips?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Sean de Silva
Well-Known Member
I've used these external dvd writers to successfully rip CDs.
LG GP65NB60 External DVD Writer (Black) https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00Z768HUC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_YZ8NRFSQH6AT3SXJ32EQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
HP F6V97AA#ACJ External USB DVD-RW Drive https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00MDI0TBC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_32D7EVBYEE4HV5GKQMRA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
MIOM
Active Member
Thanks. I'll look into those. I have an Asus, but I've had it for about 8 years now so I'm worried all the rips will wear it out sooner rather than later.
BTW I love your sig - "Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe". I may have to steal that
BTW I love your sig - "Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe". I may have to steal that
IndianEars
Well-Known Member
MIOM, apologies and no offense implied. My comments that I perceived your emphasis was on Music rather than the best possible playback, was based on the DAC in use.
Yes, I too am a Windows fanboy, even though the m/c I use for music playback is an iMac with Windows via Bootcamp. Hence its a very simple matter for me to boot in either Windows or Mac OS for music replay.
I never fail to wonder how Every "Bit perfect" playback software ... windows or Mac sounds different !
MIOM, a good way to know whether your current CD ripper is past its best, is to see if CDs recognised as in the Accurip database, are ripped accurately for all tracks. When you start consistently observing "Non Accurip" results, its time to get a new drive.
Yes, I too am a Windows fanboy, even though the m/c I use for music playback is an iMac with Windows via Bootcamp. Hence its a very simple matter for me to boot in either Windows or Mac OS for music replay.
I never fail to wonder how Every "Bit perfect" playback software ... windows or Mac sounds different !
MIOM, a good way to know whether your current CD ripper is past its best, is to see if CDs recognised as in the Accurip database, are ripped accurately for all tracks. When you start consistently observing "Non Accurip" results, its time to get a new drive.
Great tip
IndianEars
Well-Known Member
fLUX: Have you considered ripping to a .wav + .cue file ?
For all practical purposes, it creates an image of an audio CD. EAC & dBPA both offer this option.
Further the image can be directly played by JRiver, Foobar etc.
Also the image files can easily be split into individual tracks.
MIOM
Active Member
@IndianEars, no need to apologize and I can assure you I took no offense in anything you said. All good
That said, what's wrong with my DAC???
True. And I can confirm dBpoweramp definitely informs you of this. From my internal Lite-On drive in my backup system... "Accurate"
From my external Asus drive attached to my main system... "Not in Accuraterip"
dBpoweramp will also inform you of this when it reads the CD...
Here the message indicates the drive isn't in their database. Guess I'll be using my backup system to rip my CD's.
And again... what's wrong with my DAC? I'm guessing you probably have one that costs 10x as much as mine
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IndianEars
Well-Known Member
Here the message indicates the drive isn't in their database. Guess I'll be using my backup system to rip my CD's.
And again... what's wrong with my DAC?
Do explore using another CD to calibrate your drive. One of the accurip CDs that you have, would be perfect.
Regarding your DAC, I know this is Always a Very Touchy subject with all Audiophiles, (and even more so with DIYer
)Many MANY moons ago when I was looking to buy my First DAC, I had auditioned the TEAC (in its then Avataar). It was available for Rs 50K locally in India, and had Impeccable specs and features. However, I personally did not like the sound... To me the sound lacked drive and was a rather listless.
This is a nice little mid fi DAC, but I believe can be bettered. I did a Google Search on the DAC and this Review from What Hi*Fi (which I dont necessarily hold in the highest esteem) came up. It summarises:
"With a killer storyline, a star-studded cast and a big-shot director at the helm, a film can have ‘film of the year’ written all over it, but slack execution can still turn it into a flop. It just goes to show that not everything that looks good on paper is as successful in practice.
It’s not difficult to apply this to the hi-fi industry and, more specifically, the TEAC UD-503 DAC/headphone amplifier. Its spec sheet paints a promising picture, alluding to its native playback of PCM files up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD 256 support; its smattering of analogue and digital connections that mean it can slot into almost any system with ease.
At £700, it looks the part too. But with competition cutthroat in the sub-£1000 market, we can’t help but feel a little short-changed by its sonic execution."
Again, no offence meant and I would have happily dropped the topic if not for your insistence
Given your SUPERB & Extensive CD collection, you could explore other DACs in the market, and maybe even a dedicated Headphone amp .... But that will ofcourrse take you on the never ending Audiophile spiral
Why should flac sound any different from wav, unless the computer which is decoding the flac is underpowered?
The decoded output of flac is indistinguishable from the original wav. Below is an example where I encoded wav to flac and decoded flac to wav and compared the decoded wav with the orignal using the unix cmp command. The decoded file is bit by bit identical to the original wav file.
I used two different methods. First one using sox - Swiss Army Knife for sound manipulation, and using the native flac encoder/decoder. In both cases the decoded wav file is bit identical to the orignal wav.
The decoded output of flac is indistinguishable from the original wav. Below is an example where I encoded wav to flac and decoded flac to wav and compared the decoded wav with the orignal using the unix cmp command. The decoded file is bit by bit identical to the original wav file.
I used two different methods. First one using sox - Swiss Army Knife for sound manipulation, and using the native flac encoder/decoder. In both cases the decoded wav file is bit identical to the orignal wav.
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I don't know the reason(s).
You could possibly try A/B-ing the wav and the flac and hear and prove for yourself if there is/are indeed any perceptible difference/s. Happy experimenting
To add: As an additional excercise you could also compare the two codecs you mentioned.
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IndianEars
Well-Known Member
Much is said about Plextor being the ultimate CD Drive.
Incidentally, Plextor no longer makes a dedicated CD drive, its positions its DVD Drive as a CD + DVD drive. Do keep in mind that the CD & DVD recordable discs are rather different animals. The CDR hold approx 700 MB the DVD packs in 4.7 GB is the same size of disc. The Spiral dimensions and pit sizes of CDs & DVDs are completely different. All DVD drives are backward compatible with CDs but clearly they have not been optimised for CDs, else they would not handle DVDs
The brand certainly has a huge fan following. My experience with Plextor is about a decade old and not worth much today, but FWIW.....
I bought a Plextor CD (Not DVD) Drive on a business trip to Spore. At that time, the Plextor (at Sim Lim ) cost more than Twice the price of a generic CD drive in India. It was an internal Drive and replaced my Sony internal Drive on my Windows PC. I used EAC to rip and I think, Nero to burn... though not sure about the burning software I used.
I was an active member of the Hi-Fi Forum then hosted on Yahoo (Now shut down). Incidentally, that forum was the predecessor of this forum.
There was a thread on CD Ripping & Burning, and proud of my Plextor, I ran tests on the C1 & C2 errors (mainly C2 errors) on the original and burnt CDRs, via the Plextor and my old, vanilla Sony. I was surprised at the results (which I posted on the forum)... The Plextor's CDRs were no better than the Sony
. (I forget the software I used a decade ago for detecting C2 errors. If archives of the earlier forum are still there, you wil find details there)The Story ends with my Plextor giving up the Ghost after a little over a year's use... The Sony Went on .... I have never sort out a Plextor again.
There are Many Reviews declaring "The Best Drives".... Here is one from LIFEWIRE:
Plextor gets the (consolation?) prize for being the Quietest Drive ....
There are ofcourse SO Many such reviews, each putting out their list. One thing in common inb Drive shootouts, seems to be that Plextor does not get the Top Slot (maybe I am wrong?)
spirovious
Well-Known Member
My vote for same opinion.
This is an amazing post. I am one of those still with a Plextor Hangup
so this is Very HelpfulIs there any advantage to getting the bigger drive over a slimline one ? I am not too bothered about burning skills , just want to make sure the read is good. Have close to 1000+Cds..need to get down to digitizing some of them !
I guess it must be due to other reasons, but not related to wav vs flac
1) underpowered equipment to which the dac is connected
2) use of OS like windows which will anyway suck out the availble CPU power for itself and/or use of software which is doing things like album art, lyrics etc using a web browser with service provided by httpd/apache on the same machine doing the decoding. This is very typical for those using distributions like volumio, moode, etc and using browser instead of native apps to play music
3) inefficient player that is decoding the flac to wav.
I have done this and found no difference. But that could be also because I avoid 1, 2 and 3 above. The machine which does the decoding, i use mpd which is probably the most efficient player for playing music on your dac. Additionally I avoid the machine that decodes to run any kind of web brower, database server and run mpd with realtime priority. e.g. below my machine is virtually idle with mpd running in realtime priority playing dsd/flac with absolutely no bottlenecks (% wait time in 3rd row is 0.0 %).
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