Gizmo's Freeware is Recruiting

Gizmos Needs YouWe are looking for people with skills or interest in the following:
- Mobile Platform Reviews
- Rootkit Scanner and Remover
- Streaming Media Recorder
- Email Client
- Archive Manager        Interested? Click here

 

How to Rip to, Play and Split One-Album FLAC Files?

Updated 30. April 2013 - 1:12 by site.editor
This software category is in need of an editor. If you would like to give something back to the freeware community by taking it over, check out this page for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here.
 
 
How to Rip to, Play and Split One-Album FLAC Files?

Flac is the most well known lossless audio codec among audiophile communities. It allows you to archive CDs without any loss of quality. It is possible to rip CDs in one file per CD, instead of one track per song. Along with the one-album flac file, we will have a cue file containing the markers and tracklist.

To rip a CD we're going to use the excellent fre:ac (formerly known as BonkEnc). Click here to download.

Go to Options > General Settings, choose "Flac audio encoder v1.2.1". Choose your output directory. Check "Encode to single file" on the right. Then go to the tab "Playlists", and check "Create cue sheets". It is also possible to check "Encode to single file" and "Create cue sheet" on the main window.

 

You are now ready to rip your CD: click the "Add audio CD" icon, fill in the information, then click the "Start the encoding process" button.

Encoding with fre:ac

 

To play a one-album flac file, I recommend you use Foobar, an awesome audio player. Just open the .cue file with Foobar and enjoy the music! Click here to download Foobar.

Playing flac and cue with Foobar

 

To split one-album flac files into the actual songs, use Medieval, an excellent cue splitter. Open the .cue file with Medieval, choose the options you want then click "Split!". Click here to download Medieval.

Splitting flac files with cue files in Medieval CUE Splitter
Share this
4.666665
Average: 4.7 (12 votes)
Your rating: None

Comments

by Gopal Venkat (not verified) on 23. October 2012 - 14:54  (101225)

Thanks a lot for your guide. This is terrific.
by Ben Franklin (not verified) on 24. March 2012 - 17:08  (91069)

If you go to the Medieval Cue Splitter website, they are nice enough to state a known limitation of the software:

Known bug: MPC engine can cause a bit of jitter at the beginning/end of tracks.

Who wants to introduce jitter in their music files?! Many go to the trouble to use quality ripping programs like EAC (Exact Audio Copy), dbpoweramp, etc., and then use a convenient program that potentially introduces exactly what they were trying to avoid. This is a tragedy andgets passed as a universal solution, and also compounds the circulation of less than the best quality files. I might respectfully consider looking at foobar2000, which will also split one large file into individual songs using a cue sheet. I respect Medieval Cue Splitter, PARTICULARLY because they willingly state this limitation, and that is great integrity on their part.
by arto65 on 25. March 2012 - 11:56  (91119)

Yep, you're absolutely right!
This article was intended to be a quick-tip solution for people like me who bumped into a range rip, and didn't quite know what to do with it. Today, I'd probably use Cuetools instead.
If someone takes the time to make proper cd rips with EAC, they will probably never rip it as range.

By the way, the Blowfish EAC ripping guide is pretty good: http://blowfish.be/eac/index.html

Let me know if you have thoughts on it and thanks for the comment!
by axisa (not verified) on 9. November 2011 - 1:02  (82943)

Thank you very much for this useful tips and program recommendation¡
by Wilson (not verified) on 22. June 2011 - 16:38  (74182)

Useful guide on the latest and updated approach for flac ripping, playing and splitting. Thanks.
by flack (not verified) on 19. May 2011 - 17:45  (72352)

Thanks arto for this simple lossless cd rip how to guide / tutorial - flac is number 1