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Introduction
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I recently started the long task of ripping my 1200 CDs to my hard disk. I knew it was a huge job and one I certainly wanted to do only once. So, before I started, I was determined made sure I did it right. There are lots of rippers available. All media players including Windows Media Player can rip. There are also some great freebies plus a host of commercial rippers. Most will rip to WAV, MP3 and usually several other formats. If your CDs are like mine then some will be scratched or have lots of finger-marks. These can cause pops and crackles in the ripped file. Rippers vary greatly in their ability to handle these problems. Some will simply get stuck while others will skip forward over the problem or even create a silent gap. The best programs will try repeatedly to fix the problem with no audible effects. After a lot of experimentation I ended up with three rippers that were impressive with their features, all of which are free. |
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Discussion
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Though the other products reviewed here were capable, Exact Audio Copy (EAC) was outstanding in its ability to handle CD imperfections. I'm now two thirds of the way through my ripping exercise. Of the 800 or so CDs ripped I've only had 7 tracks that EAC couldn't rip perfectly. Given the condition of some of my CDs, that's a mighty impressive performance. EAC can rip to WAV, MP3 (using the LAME encoder), OGG, FLAC, APE and more. CD rippers interact strongly with your CD hardware so it's possible EAC may not work with your particular CD drive. If that's the case, take a look at the other products recommended here. While their performance with scratched CDs is not as good as EAC they are still outstanding freeware products. CDex is a very capable product. It can convert to WAV, MP3 (Using the LAME Encoder) OGG, APE, and more. An especially nice feature of CDEX is the ability to transcode one compressed file format to another. The other two products do not have this option. It also has the feature of recording straight from analog input. |
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2.4 Mb 
Private Freeware (not free for commercial use) 
Windows 95 - Vista
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Joe Bennett. Registered site visitors can contact Joe by clicking here.
- Article type:
Comments
I've been using BonkEnc for a couple of years and am very happy with it. It is very simple to use in its default configuration, but does offer advanced settings for those who wish to experiment. I rip exclusively to MP3 format, but it offers other encoders as well. Based on your review here, I downloaded and tried EAC, with good results, but it is very slow compared to BonkEnc, and offered no advantage. I will keep it installed on my system to try when/if I ever have trouble reading a scratched or defective track, but until then, I'm sticking with BonkEnc. I believe it is worthy of being added to your review page.
EAC is NOT the best...despite what some are saying!
As a computer science teacher, I often teach courses that rely heavily on freeware products. And having reviewed EAC prior to a major unit on audio software, here are the problems:
1.) One-way tasker
2.) Can't read .CUE file
EAC is good at ripping your CD to .FLAC files (you even see it converting them to .WAV files beforehand); and it does a good job at creating a .CUE file...but that is it. EAC does NOT know how to work with its own .CUE file!! Oh sure, having reading many websites you learn that if you download and install supporting programs, you can coax EAC into working with its own .CUE file, but who wants to do that. It is strange...it can convert the CD songs to .WAV file in preparation for a .FLAC conversion but the developers didn't finish the project of EAC in letting it do the same in reverse.
If you want to archive your audio CD's into .FLAC files and save them to your HD, and then someday decide you want to burn those .FLAC files back to a CD using the .CUE file, you wont' be able to...again, unless you go out and find other "helper" programs to do the job.
Not good, in my opinion.
EAC is the best. But if it's not set correctly it isn't better than Nero, or any other grabber.
How to setup EAC: http://blowfish.be/eac/Setup/setup1.html
Useful guide - thanks.
Hello
I installed EAC and the LAME.exe and ripped a whole CD and dedicated a Directory to it. I saw the process happening with the LAME.exe (in DOS appearance) doing it's job. After all was done I only got ONE mp3 file of +- 4.5MB one single track out of 11. What am I doing wrong? If it placed ONE in the right place where did all the other ones go. I am in WIN XP.
I am also concerned reading that there was/is a Virus problem ..I hope that has been cleared by now. Thank you.
Its funny reading all of the negative comments on this page. As some one who works with audio I agree 100% with the 2 products recommended here.
EAC is THE BEST app for ripping a damaged or skipping CD. Nothing else close to it. It also creates the highest quality rips but it takes a bit more time and is not as easy to use as CDex.
CDex is the program I recommend to most folks because it is easy to use, fairly fast, and gives high quality rips though it can't handle some damaged CD's the way EAC does. The best part about CDex is that the optimized Lame settings are done by default. In EAC you have to wade through some unfriendly techy config pages to get it to rip at the optimal settings.
-J
This info was a big help.
Audiograbber is excellent and has one of the best line-in recording utilities.
AudioGrabber was last updated back in 2004 or something...
I am sure it is a good program (I used it myself back "in the days"), but I hope this site would focus on slightly newer and still maintaned programs.
However, I agree that there should be a longer list of programs, perhaps a "honorably mentionings" or something. List the alternatives, why they don't make the top cut, etc.
Wow. I've been on this page many times the last year and you still favour Beta software? There are lots of good free rippers out there that do it all. Maybe the moderator can find the time to give us something fresh and useful. Thanks.
I've used numerous different packages over the years, trying to find anything easier to use, "prettier", etc... than EAC, but at the end of the day, nothing I've seen is faster, more accurate, or better than EAC. The only real complaint that I have of EAC is that it uses freedb instead of CDDB (which tends to have more obscure CDs listed comparatively) and I've had to type in the details of a couple of cds that I have, or fix some of the tracks titles due to poor implementation early on (some audiobook series tend to change the way titles, and chapters, et al, are written throughout their series on freedb).
At this point I'm about to try out CDEX due to an issue with EAC (the first I've ever had) not liking my current external CD drive on my netbook.
So, beta software or not (which is technically a silly phrase anyway, that copy of windows, or Mac OS, or Linux you're running? it's beta, effectively, as it still has bugs to be worked out. Some "beta" software, EAC included, is more reliable than software that's had a release, and several "bugfixes.")
Which products in particular would you like to suggest for the editor to include?
I recently downloaded Free Rip from their site. I had seen comments about it on here, so I checked it with VirusTotal which at the time came back clear.
I have been using WMP Rip recently so I never got to actually install Free Rip.
I am glad I didn't.
I recently had my USB drive in place and decided to scan it since I never remember doing it before.
Well, the Free Rip file was detected my MSE as to contain this,
TrojanClicker:Win32/Yabector.B abd said it was severe. So I caution people downloading this latest file from the Free Rip website.
I wondered how good MSE was and now I have good faith in it as it saved me this time.
Format Factory is a CD ripper (as well as a DVD ripper, media converter etc).
http://www.formatoz.com/
The author of eac-0.99pb5.exe has placed a TROJAN in Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 (see http://www.digital-inn.de/exact-audio-copy-english/39127-trojan-eac-0-99...). I don't think this product should be recommended while it is likely to infect people's PCs
This issue has already been addressed here. If you still feel the need to discuss it, take it to the debate chamber in our discussion forum here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/multimedia/
I will give one final explanation of why we are keeping EAC and not yet considering FreeRip on this site.
EAC has a reputation for being a quality, proven product that contains many features. It is true that EAC contains one piece of Adware that you may elect to not install during the final phase of the installation. A few virus scanners do come back as showing EAC as having a problem, but the author has very openly communicated that there is no spyware or malware and that he is working on getting this issue taken care of. Also, WOT shows consistently high ratings for EAC's website and there are no negative comments that mention any type of spyware, virus code or malware.
When I last looked at FreeRip, their site was rated questionable by WOT. As of today, WOT rates the FreeRip site as acceptable, but if you look at their comments, as recently as August, 2009, they have negative remarks about hijackers and malware. If you look at their site, they list FreeRip as a "MGShareware Produtct". WOT rates MGShareware's web site as unacceptable. All this makes FreeRip a very suspicious product in my eyes.
I have used EAC since Oct. 2009 with good results ever since. I have noticed the adware link to ebay, no big deal you can opt to remove it. Then a month ago I found my PC picked up the Heuristic Virus around the same time that I downloaded EAC but was not sure if it came from EAC. Now I know it cam from EAC, on Mar. 22, 2010 I was going to install EAC on another PC and my security software found the Heuristic Virus in the eac~0.99pb5.exe file. I liked EAC but will no longer use it or recommend it.
WOT reports the mgshareware site (RED) for:
Hijackers/Unwanted Adware/Spyware
Malicious Website! - This site includes Malware
Listed in the mvps.org host file as containing Spyware /Adware
Malicious content, Virus/Trojan/Malware
Engaged in the distribution of malware (hpHosts)
WOT sets out very clearly the steps vendors can take to have their rating changed if they disagree with the findings. From the length of time this has been active it’s only fair to assume that FreeRip either don’t care or are satisfied with the rating. For whatever reason though, TSA will not feature this software until this link turns green.
As has been requested before, we always appreciate visitors pointing to any other links they might find on the site where the rating has changed since it was first posted. We do check these ourselves but occasionally one might get missed. These will similarly be removed with our thanks for the notification.
If you check out the discussion thread you cited, at post #35 you will see that the author of EAC has made a statement regarding how he has implemented the adware into the program, why it is being picked up by Norton AV, and what he is intending to do about it.
It is not malware but adware (an icon linked to ebay) and there is an option not to install it.
A new CD ripper in town :
http://www.wildfirecdripper.com/
Looks good.
Looks like a rip off CDex to me. The menus, screen layout and interface are almost exactly the same.
Whoa! You are so correct. I just installed WildFire Ripper, and it is exactly the same as CDex! Just the look is different, everything else is totally same, menus, buttons.. everything! Shame! And while installation it also tries to install a toolbar, and at the end of installation, opens an ad-link, which leads to the home site of WildFire Ripper.
Thanks Joe for pointing this out. WildFire Ripper was uninstalled, and out of my PC.
Thanks for the info, I have not used the program yet, so did not know.
bonkEnc is easy to use and with good results.
uses the latest lame.
Good Ole Audiograbber is still a very good CD ripper. Hasn't been updated in years, but there is no need to!
Unfortunately, it looks like Audiograbber is no longer in business. If you try to go to any of the download links, etc. you will either get a 404 error or get re-directed to a website for Real Player's newest bomb (I'm assuming it's a bomb, considering everything else Real Player does). Looks like maybe Audiograbber's been bought out...
joe
www.audiograbber.org works fine.........download here
It is! It's out there! I've gone from bummed out to totally stoked!
Thanks, Ronnie!
np
Yes, their site is not coming up. I don't get redirected to RealPlayer's site, though, so I'm not so sure about their being bought out. Reverse DNS and whois lookups don't return anything on the domain name, so it is safe to say the developer of AudioGrabber is no longer around.
I will make the appropriate edits to this article.
Bummer! I really liked Audiograbber - has a good gain control - the "Pro" version (pay version) would rip custom time ranges (combining multiple tracks into one wav) - don't know how I can get the pro version now...
I've downloaded EAC, and it has a "Normalize" feature that's OK, though limited, but I can't find a feature to combine tracks.
Anyone know of an ACCURATE ripper with these features?
HandBrake (version 0.94) is a worthy ripper, and not only does it rip CD's but also DVD's from any source.
EAC is overrated. I recently ripped a CD which was pretty scratched up using EAC. I unintentionally ripped it in "burst" mode rather than "secure," since I had just replaced my DVD burner and had forgotten to reconfigure the program for that drive. At the end of the rip, EAC told me as it usually does that "No errors occurred." Upon listening back to one of the ripped tracks, I heard a loud pop 30 seconds into it. I put the CD back in the drive and listened to it using foobar2000. The pop wasn't there when playing back the actual CD. I then ripped that track using foobar2000; the foobar-ripped track didn't have the pop, either.
I looked at the log file for the EAC rip and noticed that the CRCs for that track didn't match up. Which brings me to my first complaint: EAC rarely reports CRC mismatches as errors. You have to look through the log files and discover these mismatches yourself. How stupid is that for a program whose raison d'etre is to make the most accurate copies possible? Going through the log files of other CDs I had ripped using this program, I found several unreported CRC mismatches (though fortunately, there were no audible problems with those tracks).
Next, I reconfigured EAC for my drive and proceeded to re-rip the offending track in "secure" mode. This time, EAC detected an error during the rip process and "error correction" was activated. Unfortunately, two hours later, EAC was still trying to rip the track, being only 30 per cent of the way through it. When I checked the next day upon waking up, the program had frozen at 50 per cent. Contrast that with foobar2000, which ripped the track in 15 seconds with no audible errors.
EAC is a security blanket for the anal-retentive. There is no guarantee that an EAC rip is better than that of a garden-variety ripper, and as my story above illustrates, the results may be audibly worse.
Using EAC in "secure" mode greatly increases ripping time (to almost real time) and may even stall the program if you come across a difficult CD. The (false) sense of security you get from using this mode is not worth the trade-off in time AFAIC. And if you're not going to use this mode, then why use EAC at all? I see no reason to use EAC over the rippers that are included in programs like foobar2000 or Nero Essentials (the latter is not freeware, but it's ubiquitous, since it comes bundled with probably half of the CD/DVD burners out there).
And what's with this program being in perpetual Beta development? It's been in the Beta stage for several years now. That seems absurd for a program with as large a following as EAC.
UPDATE: I've reluctantly come to accept that for all its rough edges, there's nothing else out there that does what EAC does as well as EAC does it. The CD ripper that comes with dBpoweramp is equivalent, but it's commercial software and it doesn't really do anything better than EAC that would justify spending money on it. I just discovered that foobar2000 can do secure ripping and as of recently, can even verify a rip against the AccurateRip database, but these features are poorly documented and the whole process is much clumsier than in EAC, requiring more steps and giving poorer results. foobar2000 works well for ripping CDs in standard burst mode, but if you need a secure ripper, EAC is pretty much the only game in town.
I've heard some say that EAC's interface is not user-friendly, but compared to the CD ripper in dBpoweramp, and the convoluted steps required to do secure ripping in foobar2000, EAC is much easier to use. It also has better documentation than either of those programs.
Contrary to what I stated in my earlier comment, there is a way to rip at a reasonably fast speed in EAC's secure mode, though I've forgotten what setting I had to change to do this. I've also since realized that it's not necessary to go through the log file afterward to find CRC mismatches, since these are indicated on the main screen by a number sign under the "CRC" column. I still think it's weird that EAC doesn't count these mismatches as errors, but as long as there's an easy way to check for them, I can deal with it.
To save time and wear on my DVD drive, what I do is rip the CD in burst mode, then check EAC's log file for errors (including CRC mismatches, which aren't always reported as such). I then switch the program to secure mode and re-rip the problem tracks.
This strategy has worked well for me, but a word of advice: Do not waste your time trying to get a perfect rip from a CD which has unrecoverable errors; it won't happen and all you'll end up doing is putting needless wear and tear on your optical drive. If EAC goes into "error correction" mode on a track for longer than a couple of minutes, skip that track and then rip it in regular burst mode until you get a rip that is audibly free of errors (if possible). EAC will be more than happy to spend 20 hours trying to rip a damaged track if you allow it to, and EAC's final "error corrected" track won't necessarily have fewer audible errors than the track it took 20 seconds to rip in burst mode (and may have more). If you come across a badly damaged track like this, try ripping it in regular burst mode in foobar2000, as that can give different (and sometimes better) results than ripping it in burst mode in EAC.
Another word of advice: Don't try to listen to CDs using the transport controls in EAC. When you try to rewind/fast-foward a CD in EAC, it freezes up the program (or at least it does on my computer).
You are missing BonkEnc in this test and you should give it a try.
Hi -
Exact Audio Copy tripped my Anti-Virus, and I was informed it had a trojan embedded.
We would need far more details about your OS, which AV you have, how it is configured and the file it identified before we can make a constructive comment. I've used EAC for over two years with various security installations and never had an alert.
Windows 2000 SP4
PC Tools Anti-Virus
Mine too... I have used EAC in the past, but this latest 'pre-beta' (whatever that is supposed to mean) apparently has adware in it (not a trojan as the other guy said). Using NOD32 which is an excellent Anti-Malware product.
It's the eBay shortcut.Should be deselected when running set up.
I think WMP CAN do high quality rips while encoding to MP3 (which is probably still what most people do) at a selectable bitrate. To achieve a high quality rip (with potential decrease in speed) go to Devices tab in WMP settings, double click your rip drive, and make sure "Digital" and "Use error correction" are selected under Rip. (The latter is disabled by default.) Is there evidence of noticeably inferior quality from WMP using the above rip settings and 192k MP3 encoding vs. using progs reviewed here? Until I see such evidence, I'll continue to use the simplest way, which is WMP. I think WMP should have definitely made the list of top free CD ripping options, as it is a very viable one, and the one that does not require any software beyond what's already there.
Thanks for the tip. I have configured my WMP as you recommended. It truly is the most sensible program to use. The ones on here either need addition files to run or are beta products. I think they should redo this category. The 3 listed are horrendous programs. Not very intuitive at all. Maybe they have features power users want, but most of us are just simple folk who only want to make an MP3 and then move it to our players.
FreeRIP3 or FreeRIPMP3 as it is called, is by far the best CD ripper.
Many say it is adware but it ASKS you if you want to install a Toolbar and you can UNTICK it. Comodo Internet Security does the same thing and it is so highly recommeded by this site's staff that you would have thought that CIS could solve all the world's problems.
It comes with LAME encoder so there is no messing around with that.
It supports MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC or OGG.
It rips the MP3 files at a decent 192kbps.
Try it. You'll never use another ripper. And it's not in Beta like some of the other programs here. However they do have a new Beta release available for download. Stick with version 3.1 for now.
I do not work for the company.
Moderator's comment: Link removed - website rated as medium risk by WOT and others. website
PEH!
192K mp3!? That's freaking lame. Obviously not even VBR and you made no mention of error detection and correction. That software is definitely free for a reason.
I Googled the site and I got a light green ring.
I guess I might just as well face the fact that TSA does not support FreeRip.
Right Joe?
What TSA has is a policy. This doesn't operate for your benefit but for that of everyone using this site. The link you gave is medium risk rated with WOT; high risk rated with Site Advisor and medium risk rated with Browser Defender. In addition, it is listed on three malware domain registers. This is more than sufficient for us to remove direct access to it from here especially since there are a container load of similar apps in this category to choose from.
How to install LAME Encoder?
Simply place the extracted files (.exe .dll) in the program directory that will be utilizing the encoder. Some programs will have options that will allow you to direct the program to the encoder's files. EAC will "look" for the files in its program directory i.e., "c:\program files\eac\"
lame.sourceforge.net
Anupam Shriwatri
Here is adress for a good and free CD Ripper and more: http://download.cnet.com/Free-CD-to-WAV-MP3-WMA-AMR-AC3-AAC-Ripper/3000-...
Anothers:AV MP3 Player Morpher,Deep Ripper 1.1,Faire Stars CD Ripper 1.23.
At version 3 MP3 my Mp3 is an addon at installation.My recomandation is to not install this add-on.
A new program that make CD ripping and many others and is free: http://www.mp3mymp3[dot]com/
[WARNING: MP3MyMP3 is no longer recommendable as it now appears to contain adware/spyware - Bob]
unfortunately.. there seem to have some problems ripping 24bit/96khz/HDCD/Gold Discs...
Quintessential media player have a ripper for audio files.
Here we find a good Cd ripper.I use it and work very good.Name is:Mp3 CD Ripper Pro. http://www.cleanersoft.com/download.htm
Exact Audio Copy prebeta 5 is out
*NOW* with added ADWARE! yay. WEAK!
Can you tell me when version 1 is due? I am really not comfortable with beta software at this point. Will version 1 remaster my old CD's to sound better?
Just thought I'd mention X Lossless Decoder (XLD) for Mac. Recent versions of XLD will rip CDs to most popular formats.
http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html
Scroll down the page to find the download link for the GUI version.
Apologies if this site is for Windows only. I use both PCs & Macs.
I've been using FreeRip3 for a while and it seems to do a pretty good job. Any reason this one doesn't make the list? Is there something I should know about this program?
Do not use FreeRip3 it is Adware! VirusTotal confirms with 13/40, their website is even listed as [AdTool.Win32.MyWebSearch.ak] according to MVPS. You've been warned!
I just confirmed with VirusTotal that it is 0/41 for being malware.
FreeRip3 is a decent ripper. Try and test it yourself at VirusTotal website.
My "real" software confirms it is safe.
Is VirusTotal a breakfast cereal?
No FreeRip3 shows on mine as being unsafe. Remove it from your machine. Seriously. There is no telling what you may have contracted to this point.
Sadly Free is associated with nags and ads and fat housewives.
I use FreeRip and yes, it does take you to it's website once in a while, but it still does a decent enough job and you don't have to go looking for a LAME encoder. And it is free. Most of the programs I use that are free nag you anyways.
It supports WAV, MP3, VORBIS, WMA and FLAC.
I hasn't made the list yet because I wasn't aware of it. :) Now that I know about it, I will check it out.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Hello dude.
Checked out FREERIP3 yet, man?
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