Ripping CD's to FLAC - looking for a better solution

Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa Posts: 14
edited January 2014 in Going Digital
Ok guys,
I know there has been discussion on this, I've browsed through some of the posts but those seem a little dated.
I'm curious to know what is a good program to rip CD's and save them as FLAC. Personal experience preffered, not just heresay.
I'm currently using foobar2000 but as an everyday average Joe user foobar2000 is not very user friendly.
I don't have a degree in code generation and or any of it's related jargon.
I have managed to convert about 400 songs now but it is painstaking and not producing very good results as far as library storage.
I'm using my Samsung BD-F7500 BluRay player as the FLAC player and it does not grab all of the song info. It only shows song title.
Now I'm aware that might be an issue with the player itself, but also on the computer, Windows will not recognize all of the song info either.
Is there a decent program that I can purchase that will produce excellent results for tagging and library file functions.
I know there are free programs all over the place but all of those seem so convoluted to me.
Post edited by Tegucigalpa on
«1

Comments

  • brgman
    brgman Posts: 2,859
    edited October 2013
    I have used JRiver for years and could not be happier with the flexibility.They update/upgrade about every 6-9 months as well always adding new and current items to improve.I can burn how i want,convert what i want,and play anything i've thrown at it.
    YMMV
    Main Rig-Realistic AM/FM Record player 8 track boasting 4 WPC

    Backup Rig-2 CH-Rogue Audio Zeus w/Factory Special Dark Mods,Joule-Electra 300ME Platinum Preamp,OPPO-105 w/Modwright Tube Mod, Auralic Aries G2.1,Polk 2.3TL,3.1TL's,Dreadnought,RTA-15TL's,1C's All Fully Modded,2xRTA-12c's ,Benchmark DAC3 HGC,Synology NAS,VPI Scout w/Dynavector DV-20XH and Rogue Audio Ares Phono Preamp,Sony PCM-R500 DAT,HHB-850 Pro CDR,Tascam CC-222SLMKII Cassette/CDR,MIT S3.3 Shotgun Cables,Shunyata Hyra-8,Shunyata and Triode Labs Power Cords

    I’M OFFENDED!!!!
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited October 2013
    I use Banshee. I can't comment on its app for Windows but it works great in Linux.

    http://banshee.fm/download/
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    edited October 2013
    Media Monkey is 25 bucks I think, I have been using it for a few years and it works great, but you do have to make sure your settings are correct before you start. If grabs all that info.
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
    Cambridge Azur 551r; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,722
    edited October 2013
    Dbpoweramp and it's accurate rip system ftw!
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    edited October 2013
    I used dbpoweramp to convert all my CD's. It has a free 30 day trial and then its 50 bucks, but most will tell you its well worth it.

    You also can use MediaMonkey which will allow you to burn CD's to FLAC and also managers your library for you.

    If your just looking for a set and forget CD ripper, dbpoweramp all the way. Use something else to manage your library and your fine.

    I bought MediaMonkey because its that good of a product and I plan on buying dbpoweramp once I run out of PC's to install it on for a 30 day trial.

    dbpoweramp can seem hard to setup, but there is a step by step guide to set it up. Once configured its fairly easy to do....
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • coolsax
    coolsax Posts: 1,824
    edited October 2013
    Dbpoweramp and it's accurate rip system ftw!

    this i use DBpoweramp as well and its great for that.
    Main 2ch -
    BlueSound Node->Ethereal optical cable->Peachtree Audio Nova 150->GoldenEar Triton 2+
    TT - Pro-ject Classic SB with Sumiko Bluepoint.

    TV 3.1 system -
    Denon 3500 -> Dynaudio Excite 32/22
  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited October 2013
    J. River for error free ripping, tagging, organization and playback.

    http://i.imgur.com/4KJJNuW.jpg
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited October 2013
    I'm still using Exact Audio Copy. Been using it for 8 years I think.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
  • Tegucigalpa
    Tegucigalpa Posts: 14
    edited October 2013
    Thank you all for your responses. Much appreciated.
    I've already tried EAC, I didn't have much luck with that. Set-up was major difficult for me. Plus it kept defaulting back to mp3 format.

    Right now I'm giving JRiver 19 a spin. So far I REALLY like what I see and hear. Clearly better sound quality than running through my BluRay player.
    After a week or so I'll give DBpoweramp a try. I at least should give it a fair shake.
    But after using JRiver lastnight, I got to admit, it is doing everything I wanted and I'm trouble free right out of the gate!
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited October 2013
    If Jriver is your huckleberry, don't worry about DBpoweramp. Stick with what works for you.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    edited October 2013
    I've tried a bunch, including Media Monkey. The first one I felt really comfortable with for both ripping and organizing has been JRiver. I've been using it for a couple years now and can't imagine switching to anything else as they keep updating it.
  • eeagle
    eeagle Posts: 226
    edited October 2013
    dBpoweramp is the Gold Standard for me.

    Second runner up would be the free EAC (Exact Audio Copy), but along with it comes a longer learning curve.
    SDA SRS 1.2
    Adcom GFA-5802
    Adcom GFP-750
    Sony DVP-NS999ES
  • shadowlight
    shadowlight Posts: 327
    edited October 2013
    Dbpoweramp and it's accurate rip system ftw!

    +1, the only thing is I rip cd's to WAV files but I use JRiver for playing. Have not tried JRiver to rip so cannot comment on it.
  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,350
    edited October 2013
    Face wrote: »
    J. River for error free ripping, tagging, organization and playback.

    http://i.imgur.com/4KJJNuW.jpg

    Hey Mike, I got JRiver now. I got a new touch screen laptop with Winders 8.1. I installed foobar and could play my standard and hi-rez flac on my diy DAC, but couldn't get DSD to play like on my old laptop. It was a snap to setup DSD playback with JRiver. Now I just need to figure out all the bells and whistles. I hate learning new software...
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited October 2013
    IMO, it shouldn't take long to be a pro at navigating through all the features, it's pretty intuitive.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
  • D'prived
    D'prived Posts: 191
    edited October 2013
    Another vote for dbPoweramp here. First software I've used that is easy to use, flexible and does a great job!
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    edited November 2013
    +400 on jriver. Now I just need the dsd option added to my w4s lol .
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • Devlon
    Devlon Posts: 355
    edited November 2013
    EAC has worked very good for me. The "Error Correction" technology is nice when they are some scratchey CD's, and it always gets the Metadata for every CD. Also, it's free!!! It's a little difficult to "psych out" to use at first, but not bad. If you try it, give me a shout. Be glad to help you with some short cuts getting it going.
    Living Room: HK AVR 354 as pre/pro, 2 x Polk Audio Micropro 4000, Adcom GFA-7500, 2 x Mirage OMD-15
    2 x Mirage OMD-5, 1 x Mirage OMD-C1, APC H15, Sony S790, Philips 52" LCD, Beogram 3000, FAT (Firestone Audio Tobby DAC), Harmony One

    Den: Sherwood R-972,as pre/pro, 2 x Velodyne SPL-1000R, 3 x Crown Drivecore XLS1500, 2 x Polk Audio Lsi9
    1 x Polk Audio Lsic, 2 x Polk Audio Lsifx, Sony S790, APC H15, Dspeaker Dual Core 2.0, W4S DAC 2, Keces DA-151
  • gce
    gce Posts: 2,158
    edited November 2013
    and yet another vote for dbPoweramp here.
    Anaheim Hills CA,
    HT 5.1: Anthem MRX 720 / BDP-Denon DBT1713UD / Polkaudio LSiM703 / W4S mAmp's / Polkaudio LSiM706c / Polkaudio LSiM702F/X's / SVS PC12-NSD / Panasonic TC P55VT30

    2 Channel: Rogue RP-5 / WireWorld Electra power cord / Marantz TT-15S1/ Ortofon - Quintet Black MC / Marantz NA8005 DAC / W4S mAmp's / Synology DS 216+ll-4TB / Polkaudio LSiM703
  • Tegucigalpa
    Tegucigalpa Posts: 14
    edited November 2013
    Well it's been a few weeks now.
    I thank you all for your suggestions.
    I am completely sold on JRiver.
    I really think I have reached the pinnacle of my current system set-up.
    The only way to get better is to upgrade my SDA's or drop some coin on some better amps.
    I have been experimenting with all sorts of settings and a few sources to pipe the data stream into my DAC.
    I am currently running a 'Music Server' in one the back rooms of my house that has JRiver controling the library.
    When I'm lazy and just want to listen to quick song I use my Samsung BD-F7500 BluRay player with DNLA to acces the songs on the server.
    And then when I'm in the mood for a good power listening session, I use my laptop which also has JRiver on it to acccess the Music Server over the network.
    The quality difference using the laptop vs the BluRay player is night and day - the laptop being the better quality.
    JRiver is a hassle free top of the line product. The $60 was very well worth it!
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    edited November 2013
    I don't like change because I'm a creature of habit, so I stick with EAC. It works for me. For organization/tagging, I use the free MediaMonkey.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • j1mmy
    j1mmy Posts: 95
    edited December 2013
  • mccarty250
    mccarty250 Posts: 220
    edited December 2013
    +1 for EAC as well. It doesn't matter I guess, whatever works for the individual.
  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,606
    edited January 2014
    +1 dbpoweramp, but I see plenty of folks using EAC too. Either should work. I rely on an older version of Tag and Rename for tagging anyway (3.57 still grabs metadata/art from amazon).
    ALL BOXED UP for a while until I save up for a new place :(

    Home Theater:
    KEF Q900s / MIT Shotgun S3 / MIT CVT2 ICs | KEF Q600C | Polk FXi5 | BJC Wire | Signal / AQ ICs | Shunyata / Pangea PCs | Pioneer Elite SC 57 | Parasound NC2100 Pre | NAD M25 | Marantz SA8001 | Schiit Gungnir DAC | SB Touch

    2 Channel:
    Polk LSi9 (xo mods), Polk DSW MicroPro 2000 sub | NAD c375BEE | W4S DAC1 | SB Touch | Marantz SA-8001 | MIT AVt 2 | Kimber Hero / AQ / Signal ICs | Shunyata / Signal PCs
  • Devlon
    Devlon Posts: 355
    edited January 2014
    I am a foobar user, but I have a question for you J River guys. My metadata file is at the bottom each song list. The only problem I have with foobar is that when I choose "random" play, it inevitably tries to play this file and that stops the music. Foobar is not reading this file as a music file, of course, and this stops the sound. I wished foobar knew to skip over this file on "random" play. Just curious how J River works when "random" play is selected?
    Living Room: HK AVR 354 as pre/pro, 2 x Polk Audio Micropro 4000, Adcom GFA-7500, 2 x Mirage OMD-15
    2 x Mirage OMD-5, 1 x Mirage OMD-C1, APC H15, Sony S790, Philips 52" LCD, Beogram 3000, FAT (Firestone Audio Tobby DAC), Harmony One

    Den: Sherwood R-972,as pre/pro, 2 x Velodyne SPL-1000R, 3 x Crown Drivecore XLS1500, 2 x Polk Audio Lsi9
    1 x Polk Audio Lsic, 2 x Polk Audio Lsifx, Sony S790, APC H15, Dspeaker Dual Core 2.0, W4S DAC 2, Keces DA-151
  • kcoc321
    kcoc321 Posts: 1,788
    edited January 2014
  • codyc1ark
    codyc1ark Posts: 2,530
    I'm giving EAC a whirl this weekend, now to get the new to me box home and work on getting it networked with my Squeezebox... :)
  • codyc1ark
    codyc1ark Posts: 2,530
    So, I've gotten EAC to work, fairly simple for a guy who hadn't owned a computer in four years. Am I going to have to create a folder for every category/album/group? Is this something that JRiver would do better? I wan't ease of use, I'll go wild this month I'm sure and rip in the morning, lunch time, and when I get home from work. Maaaaaybe I should start my own thread, but this seemed relevant.
  • Ok guys,
    I know there has been discussion on this, I've browsed through some of the posts but those seem a little dated.
    I'm curious to know what is a good program to rip CD's and save them as FLAC. Personal experience preffered, not just heresay.
    I'm currently using foobar2000 but as an everyday average Joe user foobar2000 is not very user friendly.
    I don't have a degree in code generation and or any of it's related jargon.
    I have managed to convert about 400 songs now but it is painstaking and not producing very good results as far as library storage.
    I'm using my Samsung BD-F7500 BluRay player as the FLAC player and it does not grab all of the song info. It only shows song title.
    Now I'm aware that might be an issue with the player itself, but also on the computer, Windows will not recognize all of the song info either.
    Is there a decent program that I can purchase that will produce excellent results for tagging and library file functions.
    I know there are free programs all over the place but all of those seem so convoluted to me.


    I am not sure what the H the program I use is called, so not much help there, until I ask my brother that is waaaaaaay into it! Once you get rolling it is and will be a gas! I have well over 2000 cd's on my external HD now and am currently building a soul collection to die for, most of which I had to purchase at the tune of over $500.00 thus far, as no libraries in the USA had the titles I just had to have, so I have, so breaking out the credit card like a fool I have been doing!! lol Had no clue my BD-F7500 would play FLAC , so tomorrow I plan on hooking up the temporary backup hard drive I have that has around 1200 cd's loaded on to it and see if it works! That would make me very happy if it did, so in advance I send a thanks for bringing up the Samsung as a possible ave. of playing music on my living room HT system. How cool will that be if it works??????????
    "if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
    *****************************
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    Cody, the metadata normally contains a Genre tag, which you should be able to filter stuff by in JRiver.

    In XBMC (similar type program), I can view by Artist, Song, Genre, Year, etc.

    All those are pulled from the Metadata that EAC adds to the files. My main file directory for me is just one big folder with artist/cd/song as my folder structure.

    That seems to be the default for most folks.

    However like all things audio YMMV.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)