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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. Another capable product is Audiograbber. Coming in at a small 1.58 MB, it is the smallest of the products reviewed here, and does a lot for its size. Like CDEX it can convert to WAV, MP3 OGG, and more, and it also has the feature of being able to record from analog input. Of the the programs reviewed here, Audiograbber's interface seemed to be the least confusing. It was very easy to get around and figure out how and where my files were going to be created and stored. The Audiograbber support forum says that it will work on Vista, but it has some major issues that are difficult to get around. Also it has not been updated for quite some time. |
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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.
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Exact Audio Copy prebeta 5 is out
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!
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.
I prefer AudioConverter Studio (http://www.maniactools.com/soft/converter/index.shtml). It converts audio files quickly and with a minimum effort. This program supports converting
audio into different formats. A good feature is the CDDB support, which saves me from the tedium of naming audio files manually. So this software is the best for me. But I am not arguing that there might be other good converters.;-)
Ever get an audio file that plays in some players, but not other players? Here's a handy free app for testing audio files.
Audiotester - A tool to test for errors in MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WavPack & Monkey's Audio files.
http://www.vuplayer.com/other.php
so the only reason you might want a separate CD ripper and not just use WMP to rip stuff is if you have scratched CDs?
Can you use EAC and the other programs listed to rip data CDs?
Audio CDs are needed to be ripped, coz the file format is not in mp3. To convert the format to mp3, or wav, or as we desire, we need to rip the tracks. There is no such need for data CDs, where the file is not encoded in any special format... its already in usable format.
Anupam Shriwatri, India
Thank you for responding, but I think you misunderstood me. I am looking for a software to rip CDs that don't contain music.
Thats the point I was trying to convey... that CDs that don't contain music, don't need to be ripped. If you are talking about DVDs, that have movies, then yes, they do need to be ripped, if you want to copy it on your hard disk. But data CDs, as far as I know, don't need to be ripped.
Anupam Shriwatri, India
That was me, by the way. I forgot to log in.
I looked at the Exact Audio Copy site but it appears all the versions are beta ? I generally do not like running beta programs unless it's on a dedicated test machine.
John
Some good programs are left in beta stage, because development stops for some reason or the other. Other example is CamStudio. But, the programs work fine. I had tried out Exact Audio Copy, the latest version offered on the site, and it worked fine for me. You can give it a try.
Anupam Shriwatri, India
Try Mp3MyMp3
I used CDex for a while, but started discovering ripped tracks with silent spots in them. CDex does not catch or report all errors. Plus, it has not been updated in a while and I'm starting to wonder.
I have become an apostle of "lossless" error-correcting rippers like Exact Audio Copy.
Amen brother! I'm also an EAC evangelist!
EAC to Flac or Ogg is the only way to go!
has anyone tried Monkey's Audio, both the ripper and the audio format, it's got higher compression than FLAC but the exact same sound quality, completely lossless, only it takes about three times longer to rip i think, but i think that's it's worth it, only problem is that few players support it and i've only seen that the player on the site can play it back
Hate to be a clod, but Windows Media Player does fine by me, set at 340 for best quality.
If WMP does the job for you, and you are happy with that, then that's fine. Realize, though, that there are other programs available that do have a much smaller memory footprint while offering more features.
WMP rips to WMA and does it very well. If WMA files are what you want, indeed you do not need to look any further.
But if you want to play your ripped tracks on an iPod, then you will need to convert your WMA files to either MP3 or M4A.
There are several freeware converters that can do just that. Unfortunately, all of those that I have tried fail to copy basic information such as song title and artist to the MP3 files they generate.
There are freeware MP3 editors available that allow you to manually insert the missing data.
But obviously it would be much easier to use a ripper that outputs MP3 or M4A in the first place.
Why not set the WMP to rip to mp3?
Because it doesn't give as many options for ripping to it as other programs. But hey, if it works for you, then go for it.
You have to upgrade to WMP 11 to get the rip to MP3 option
Hi Joe,
Quick couple of questions - I'm starting to plan the next 5 years odd - I want to sell the old hi-fi and ripp an entire CD collection to hard disc in lossless ( presumably FLAC ?? )( need best sounding system as mate has valves ) - as the cost of disc is dropping like a stone - I'll get a few Terabytes and raid it - then motherboard with outputs of optical ( digital not noisy ) to decent theatre system and HDMI for TV.( is this right ?? )
Q1. So presumably use EAC - but is there a quick app which works well to FLAC and if I hit any problems then ripp using EAC ??
Q2. Just started using Mediamonkey ( free ) as the organiser - Looks good - Can you advise any better organiser to auto convert to lower MP3 bit rate for portable. ( don't mind paying )
Thanks for all your help - superb site. I use 100% Gizmo's advice for everything.
Cheers
RickeeBoy !
Hi RickeeBoy.
To answer your questions:
CDex will rip to FLAC fine, just be careful with scratched CD's. That will be where EAC will really be helpful for you.
I'm not familiar with any other music organizers besides Mediamonkey that would do what you are asking. I realize you are probably trying to save space on your music player, but music player capacities are now high enough (8 GB and higher on most players) where you don't have to down-sample your music to get it to fit. Realize also that by down-sampling your music, while you may get a smaller file size, the sound quality of the music file will go down... considerably in some cases.
Joe
I did this a couple of years ago. In the end I used Music Converter from:
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/download.htm
It lets you convert to mp3 VBR (among other things), so you can effectively use any bit rate you desire. I started with FLAC, but couldn't hear any difference so settled for high-end mp3s.
Food for thought...
Based on psychoacoustics, the average person cannot tell the difference between a bitrate above 192 kbit/s and the original CD/WAV.
For owners of CDs who wish to preserve their audio collections. If the original media is lost, damaged, or worn out, a FLAC copy of the audio tracks ensures that an exact duplicate of the original data can be recovered at any time. An exact restoration from a lossy archive (e.g., MP3) of the same data is impossible. Using FLAC files to make MP3's, is like making them from the original disc.
To sum it up: You can use your FLAC files to make MP3's (192 kbit/s or higher) for your iPods, portable MP3 players, etc.
Audio (MP3)
* 32 kbit/s – MW (AM) quality
* 96 kbit/s – FM quality
* 128–160 kbit/s – Standard Bitrate quality; difference can sometimes be obvious (e.g. bass quality)
* 192 kbit/s – DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) quality.
* 224–320 kbit/s – Near CD quality.
PS - dBpoweramp Music Converter™ isn't free, but it's one of the best audio file converters out there.
really, you need really good speakers or headphones to hear the difference
Can you recommend any free DVD rippers?
IMHO, the best free DVD ripper is...
DVDFab HD Decrypter is a free, and simple version of DVDFab Platinum. It copies the entire DVD movie to the hard disk. It also comes with full HD-DVD and Blu-ray support.
For straight ripping it's great! If you want to convert a DVD to other video formats, you'll have to buy the full version DVDFab Platinum, or do a little digging. There are free video file converters out there.
http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm
Try here:
http://www.freedvdripper.net/free-dvd-ripper.html
I would also look here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-cd-dvd-burning-software.htm
I prefer CDex because it is the easiest to use but it will rip imperfect MP3's from damaged discs. For tough cases EAC is the only way to go but its interface is horrible.
-J
Bonk Encoder [http://www.bonkenc.org]
FreeRip seems pretty good too!
uses lame enc, sounds good to me.
http://www.freerip.com/download.php
great site here btw ;)
FreeRip used to be great, but now is malware supported. It installs MyWebSearch on your system without permission. MyWebSearch is a typical ad supported search bar hijacker.
The new version is not malware and does not automatically install a toolbar. In fact if it did, I'm sure it would ask first.
How do you get EAC to rip to mp3 using lame with a bit rate > 192kBits?
In EAC, press F11 to bring up your compression options. There you can select the bit rate.
You sure it works?
If that doesn't work, you can click on your menu: EAC > Compression Options, then click on the "External Compression" tab.
I have had two new dvd re-wrter drives, firstly pioneer dvr 111, that had nothing but problems, now Ive, updated to dvr 115 same problems with intermittant skipping on some discs, is this software related as you suggest above.
I rip CD with audio ripper, but this free one seems good.
I have many DVD, so I use DVD Ripper http://www.daniusoft.com/dvd-ripper.html.