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Topic: Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360 (Read 7515 times) previous topic - next topic
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Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

I am moving my CD Collection from a Sony 400 Disc CD Jukebox to my PC to gain more flexibility plus the jukebox is on its last legs. I am a beginner and just starting to get my arms around this project. This forum has been extremely helpful. Thank you all for your efforts.

The purpose of this post is to make sure I am going about this project correctly and efficiently whereby I get the best audio rip, best playback, ease of use, and flexibility. 

Background info:
Audio System: Rotel 1070 amp w/ Sonus Fabor Concerto Loudspeakers
Media extender: XBOX 360
Ripping software: EAC
Compression: FLAC on Drive A and WMAL on Drive B
Converter: dBpoweramp Free
Tagging: ?

Procedure:
1.Ripping with EAC to wav uncompressed
2.Converting to WMAL and FLAC with dBpoweramp.  I am using WMAL on drive B for playback on the XBOX 360 and FLAC on drive A for dual redundancy in case Drive B crashes.
3.Tagging – I could use some advice here

Questions:
1.Is the above process appropriate?
2.Should I use EAC to rip directly to FLAC and convert to WMAL from the FLAC file?
3.Is there a way to play FLAC files on the XBOX 360?
4.Recommendations for Tagging
5.Am I miss anything – Feel free to offer any advice.

Thanks.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #1 –
I suggest that you use EAC to rip straight to FLAC.  There is no need in having a WAV copy of your music if you are just going to convert it to FLAC/WMAL.  You can even use dbpoweramp to rip directly to WMAL if you like.  Their tests have shown that their CD ripper can be just as secure, or even more secure, than EAC without stressing your CD drive as much as EAC.

So I think you should follow this procedure:
1.  Rip with EAC to FLAC to drive A.
2.  Mass concert your FLAC files to WMAL and put those files on drive B.

As far as tagging goes, you are pretty much stuck with whatever each format uses.  There aren't different tagging standards for WMAL like there are for mp3 (ie WMAL only supports one type of tag while mp3 supports many different versions of ID3).  The Xbox 360 does not support FLAC playback so, if you want lossless, you are pretty much stuck with WMAL.

I don't know if you really need lossless playback through the Xbox 360 though.  I am sure a good lossy encoder can provide you with adequate enough results for perceptual transparency.  Will you be using digital optical audio or standard RCA analog with your speaker system?  If you have the space then go for WMAL but you can probably get away with using -V 2 with Lame mp3 3.97/3.98 if you are running low on space.  That way, you can playback your mp3 files on other devices in case you get a different game console.

Other than that, I think that is it.  I would simply rip to FLAC with EAC then convert those FLAC files to WMAL.  I don't think there is a need for the extra ripping to WAV step since EAC can rip directly to FLAC anyway.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #2 –
you may also want to try react http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=REACT

i'm not sure if it supports WMAL. but if you do want to save hd space on your xbox360, it will rip to FLAC and MP3 in one go.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #3 –
With the Multi Encoder you could rip to FLAC and WMAL at the same time, I am guessing you want FLAC as your main lossless archive.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Scoe on
3.Is there a way to play FLAC files on the XBOX 360?
Thanks.

Yes!  Which makes your double encoding a bit redundant perhaps.

By utilizing http://www.tversity.com , you can have FLAC playback on the 360 by way of the proper Directshow filters.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #5 –
I have my music encoded with lame on my PC and am streaming it through my Xbox360.  I have it hooked up to my stereo with a toslink, should I set the output on the 360 to digital stereo or dolby digital? I am thinking stereo but am not sure if this is truly superior. 

Brian

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #6 –
Sorry to resurrect an old topic but I'm wondering, does the 360 support WMAL from a USB device e.g. external hard drive. I wanted to use it as a standalone player instead of having to turn on the PC and 360 to play stuff.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #7 –
...why wouldn't you do FLAC+MP3?

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #8 –
Quote from: stephentw on
Sorry to resurrect an old topic but I'm wondering, does the 360 support WMAL from a USB device e.g. external hard drive. I wanted to use it as a standalone player instead of having to turn on the PC and 360 to play stuff.


Yes it does.  I just hooked up my 8GB USB2.0 hard drive (yes, it is old) to my Xbox 360 and it played the WMA lossless file just fine.  In fact the Xbox 360 can play mpeg-4 audio and video content only through a USB device so it might be limited to WMA lossless playback to a USB device or by a streaming network (ie no data DVD/CD).  Although I don't see a need to play WMA lossless files using the Xbox 360 given that high bitrate mp3's (-V 4 or higher) will probably be fine for most listening conditions.  That and you definitely don't need lossless music if you plan on listening to it while playing a game.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #9 –
Assuming that you are using the windows OS, I would personally stick with dbpoweramp.  The reference edition has a small cost, but will (assuming you set the appropriate options correctly) ensure that you get ultra secure rips with the least amount of drive stress.  It also has a much easier to use interface, supports pretty much everything EAC supports and maybe more, creates logs, album art, very good id3 tag editor, etc...  EAC can be ok, but if you don't set the error recovery rate low and have a cd with even just a few scratches it will most certainly stress the heck out of the drive.  That is assuming you use the secure mode and not the test and copy then compare md5 way.  Either way, once you have your lossless copy I would seriously consider lame mp3 for the xbox.  If you are unsure about quality, pick a handful of your favorite, but what you would consider complex sounding (Pink Floyd is a very good choice for this step) songs and rip them to v2, v3, v4, etc.  Then test them all until you get to the lowest bitrate that is transparent sounding to you.  You may end up tweaking the setting for different types of music (i.e. rap vs rock vs classical).

Now if you decide to leave Microsoft and come over to Linux then I would most certainly use Rubyripper.

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #10 –
I was going to do FLAC but the 360 won't play them so since the computer FLAC files will mainly act as a backup of my CD's in case I lose any/scratch any etc I would be using the 360 for an easy form of playback (not to be played during games or anything, just to use as a jukebox type machine), I'll have it hooked up to my amp with optical so the sound should be pretty good, hence the wmal thoughts.

I've already got everything in mp3 but wanted a flac archive as a backup then wanted the best sound for the thing I'd be playing music from most (the 360).

Any other ideas are very welcome though as I'm a newcomer to the forum and don't fully understand pros/cons of everything yet.

Thanks for the input so far

Ripping CD Collection for Playback thru XBOX 360

Reply #11 –
I suggest that you make your FLAC archive but leave your mp3's for Xbox 360 playback.  Again, you more than likely aren't going to hear a difference between high bitrate mp3s (-V 4 and above) and a FLAC/WMAL file.  There are too many influences when it comes to listening to music with a speaker/home theater system such as room acoustics, speaker placement, outside noise, even items hanging on walls and furniture can change the way music sounds.  In my opinion, you really need lossless only if your room has been acoustically tuned to your equipment.  Lossless files should be used mainly for archiving purposes, then use a lossy format for portable listening and listening through your speaker/home theater system.