Topic: Ripping CD's advice needed

[Slow_lane]

I am happy using CD's but there is little doubt that next car we buy may not have a CD player. So I am an old fart forced to do something I would rather not do. I am going to get busy ripping cd's to my computer to enable me to transfer to USB and use in car.

We do not and will not be listening to music on our phones. We do not even own smart phones. I have not yet play music off my computer in my home. That may change but for now I have no plans to do so.

I have tried to find advice on ripping on-line. So much info about software and download formats my eyes (and brain) glazed over.

My plan is to use Windows Media Player rip all CD's to MP3 files using a BIT rate of 192. I read that bit rate of 160 is fine so I went one step higher. I have 300 CD's to rip. I have done 20 so far. Before I go any further I want to make sure I am on right track.

Thanks

[tooscoops]

that's all my dad did. made it easy to convert later on as well. moveable to other devices, etc.

also what i suggest for my customers who don't like the fact that most new cars don't have a cd player.

[makuribu]

You'll get all sorts of advice on bit rates and stuff but in a car, an MP3 at 192 is going to be sufficient.
You're not listening in a concert hall.
My only other advice is to make sure the software identifies the artist, album, song title, etc and stores the info in the MP3 files.
You don't want 10,000 files named TRACK01, TRACK02, etc. and no other information.

[Slow_lane]

Yes the program is recording Artist, Album and song info. Also has Genre of music which I can re-name to suit me.

I am hoping the 192 bit rate will give me sound quality somewhat as good as CD.

[quadzilla]

You are doing it all wrong.

Skip ripping every unless you have completed everything else on your to do and life lists.

Pony up the monthly fee to one of the music streaming services (Tidal, Spotify, Google or Apple). Unless you listen to obscure music 99% of it should be there. We can go into which one is best for you later.

Download the albums/songs you want to take with you to your phone/tablet. Connect to your car via aux port.

Any time you want more music just download it.

If you don't like this better idea...

Get EAC (Exact Audio Copy), this is one of the bests programs out there.

Rip a copy in FLAC so you have a bit perfect copy. Then you can take those and make mp3 @ 320 which will sound exactly like the CD to 99% of the people. No reason to rip any smaller.

But think about your time. Ripping is a waste of time.



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[Lower Level]

Rip a copy in FLAC so you have a bit perfect copy. Then you can take those and make mp3 @ 320 which will sound exactly like the CD to 99% of the people. No reason to rip any smaller.

This is what I do. I use the MP3 mostly but do FLAC automatically when I rip a CD.. Both of my vehicles will play FLAC so that is also a factor but I find I mostly use the MP3s. I also, on MP3 set the speed at 1x.

[tpl]

I agree with Quad.  Make a really good copy from the CD and then  go to MP3 later.   I have EAC and it is a good program.

My car does every format except Ogg Vorbis and Flac.  But for the things I listen to I 'rip' the sound from Youtube videos...and those videos are generally made on a hand held consumer/prosumer  video recorder so the quality is not very good.  BUT even in my fairly quiet Q5  the sound quality is good enough for me...I never play them at home.



Quad at least you can 'rip' cds at the max speed of your computer drive... I had to spend a few days ripping audio cassettes a couple of years ago...now that is slow especially if you have to keep stopping to untwist the tape!

[mmret]

You are doing it all wrong.

Skip ripping every unless you have completed everything else on your to do and life lists.

Pony up the monthly fee to one of the music streaming services (Tidal, Spotify, Google or Apple). Unless you listen to obscure music 99% of it should be there. We can go into which one is best for you later.

Download the albums/songs you want to take with you to your phone/tablet. Connect to your car via aux port.

Any time you want more music just download it.

If you don't like this better idea...

Get EAC (Exact Audio Copy), this is one of the bests programs out there.

Rip a copy in FLAC so you have a bit perfect copy. Then you can take those and make mp3 @ 320 which will sound exactly like the CD to 99% of the people. No reason to rip any smaller.

But think about your time. Ripping is a waste of time.



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I think he said no smartphone?

Hence the challenge.

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[quadzilla]

I think he said no smartphone?

Hence the challenge.

Yes, you are right, missed that.

We do not and will not be listening to music on our phones. We do not even own smart phones. I have not yet play music off my computer in my home. That may change but for now I have no plans to do so.

Then I'll add....Go buy a cheap tablet or smart phone (<$100) to use as a music device. Plus it is MUCH better than using a thumb drive IMO.

[quadzilla]

Quad at least you can 'rip' cds at the max speed of your computer drive... I had to spend a few days ripping audio cassettes a couple of years ago...now that is slow especially if you have to keep stopping to untwist the tape!

I'm actually old enough that I use to make mixed tapes from vinyl. Had to love music and making tapes to do that. Kids today have it easy.

[dougjp]

Great topic, given what the car manufacturers have been unilaterally deleting from their interiors.

He has a computer at home and no smartphone. Also owns tons of CDs. He can double pay for the same songs via some fee service to get some MP3's or whatever the other formats are. Or rip music from his CDs as he has been doing, and convert YouTube music videos as tpl and I do.

I wouldn't convert all those CDs, there are too many for the time it would take, and they won't "go bad". I'd make a decision about which songs I really want in my car, if any, for each CD, then move on to the next CD. Write down what I did on good old paper. 

I undertook a project to convert my VHS tapes to DVD, and patience ran out before the week was up.    I fared better converting vinyl to MP3, scratches and all, with an Ion turntable, but that was because some of the songs weren't around elsewhere.

[tortoise]

I would rip at 320 vs. 192. 

[mmret]

I would rip at 320 vs. 192.

Agree. HD space is so cheap.

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[pi314]

You could also get a CD walkman and just connect that to AUX no?

Or if you're without smartphone perhaps you already have one at home? 

[craigq]

This is a timely thread ! With quad's stuff cleanup thread, me cleaning up the basement finding that bin-ful of CD's, and the R able to read SD cards... but now you guys are saying just pay and download in a digital format to save time... argh...

[makuribu]

My only other advice is to make sure the software identifies the artist, album, song title, etc and stores the info in the MP3 files.
You don't want 10,000 files named TRACK01, TRACK02, etc. and no other information.

Unless the vehicle can extract the artist/album/song from the mp3 file.

To be read, the info has to be stored in the mp3 file in the first place.

Standard audio CDs contain uncompressed AIFF files and do not have any ID3 tag info.
The ripping software has to access an online database (CDDB is the big one) with that info and then create the ID3 tags that MP3 (and other audio file formats) do store.

I have a portable DVD player that will rip CDs but since it isn't connected to the internet, it just rips each track as Track001 Track002 etc. There is software like MusicBrainz Picard that can take a folder of untagged MP3 files and look up their tag info, but that just adds to the work flow.

[quadzilla]

This is a timely thread ! With quad's stuff cleanup thread, me cleaning up the basement finding that bin-ful of CD's, and the R able to read SD cards... but now you guys are saying just pay and download in a digital format to save time... argh...

Not only time but gives you access to a tonne more music. I had a buddy that would just torrent albums he would want, finally talked into subscribing to a streaming service and he loves it. You find yourself rediscovering old music you forgot about and discovering new music.  Bonus is just d/l curated playlists for a long drive.

In the OP's situation. Ripping 300 CDs at 5 minutes (guessing) each = 25 lost hours. I have a tonne of free time and even I wouldn't want to waste it doing that. Oh wait, I already did that 10 years ago, trying to stop others from the same mistake.

[Slow_lane]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I looked at EAC and watch a quick video on how to use it. It seemed overly complex for me. Using Windows Media Player I am able to set it to automatically RIP as soon as CD inserted. It picks up all the Album, Artist and Track info. I get the impression that if I did not rep as MP3 I would have to get this info some other way. It stores it in folder I designated. Very easy.

I do not just sit there in front of computer while ripping. I have my laptop in dinning room and just pop a disk in and walk away. Every time I happen by I pop another disk in. I am not on any pressing time schedule so if I get 10 done a day it is fine.

I will bump the BIT rate up to 320 as recommended here.

[makuribu]

Quad at least you can 'rip' cds at the max speed of your computer drive... I had to spend a few days ripping audio cassettes a couple of years ago...now that is slow especially if you have to keep stopping to untwist the tape!

I'm actually old enough that I use to make mixed tapes from vinyl. Had to love music and making tapes to do that. Kids today have it easy.

Boy howdy!
Digitizing vinyl is done in real time, too. What a drag.
I once ripped a copy of "Gloomy Sunday" by Paul Robeson from a rare, priceless 78rpm record. I produced an incredibly noisy audio file that I spent hours with, running it through Sound Soap to try and get rid of the hiss and rumble without destroying the music.
Then I went to HMV and paid $10 for a CD of digitally remastered Paul Robeson.

[Bubba]

I asked a broadcasting friend what he did with his cds.

"I ripped my entire library into FLAC. Then made a copy of all my faves in HE-AAC format for portable devices. Super small files, HIGH quality. Now I just listen to the songs...And voices...In my head. Much easier."

He uses MediaMonkey to manage the 74,034 songs on file.