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Topic: an alternative to EAC? (Read 34284 times) previous topic - next topic
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an alternative to EAC?

Reply #50 –
My problem with EAC is that if you give it a scratched CD, it just goes belly up and reads for hours on end, getting nowhere.  The end result is damaged, as it is with CDex, so I don't see the point of wasting time and putting my drive under uneccesary stress.

dBpoweramp would be sweet if it used the paranoia libs... is that a possiblity?
< w o g o n e . c o m / l o l >

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #51 –
Hi Guys,
Great discussion.

I've been using EAC for some time now and found it to be excellent. However, it occurred to me that, as I'm using a Plextor drive, would it make more sense to use PlexTools for ripping rather than EAC?

Best,
auldyin

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #52 –
There is an alternative for everyone with a Plextor drive - Plextools.

My experiences with a cd with a single small (but definetely evil) scratch:

Plextor IDE burner- 40X
- CDex - ripped fast but with audible errors.
- EAC - killed computer after having read disc for an hour.
- Plextools - ripped fast until scratch, then spent five minutes trying to repair, gave up.

Plextor SCSI CD-ROM
- CDex - ripped fast but with audible errors.
- EAC - ripped in 3 hours - audible errors.
- Plextools - ripped fast until scratch, then spent five minutes trying to repair, gave up.

After this, I never used EAC again. I have ripped around 70 cds with Plextools. All rips were "perfect" - except when Plextools claimed there were errors.

Plextools needs a little tweaking:

- Reduce read speed if the cd is scratched or has an extra label on it (i.e. library cd)
- Set DAE Error Recovery to 5: (least errors).
- Set retries to 99
- Set max errors to 100
- Allow speed down

Unfortunately there are some limitations:
- It cannot use an external compressor, so I have to flac manually
- Limited freedb/save as filename support
- Does not eject cd after ripping

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #53 –
I use dbPowerAmp Music Converter, which is great.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #54 –
Quote
I've been using EAC for some time now and found it to be excellent. However, it occurred to me that, as I'm using a Plextor drive, would it make more sense to use PlexTools for ripping rather than EAC?

Depends

I originally ripped around 400 cds with WinDAC/Plextor 40X SCSI drive - a total of two errors (audible). Unfortunately the drive died after too much DiabloII.

I later desided to drop mp3 in favour of vorbis and ripped around 800 cds with EAC/Plextor 32X SCSI drive. I probably setup EAC incorrectly, as I had around 30 tracks with errors - had to listen to the entire collection to check for errors -sigh-.

I finally desided to drop lossy compression and ripped around 900 cds with EAC/new Plextor 40X SCSI drive - not a single error. EAC did occationally crash my computer when I tried to rip a scratched library cd.

Unfortunately I had to give the drive back when I quit my job.  So I spent two days trying to get EAC set up properly on my two current Plextor drives - 32X SCSI and 40X IDE (burner). Both drives suck compared with the 40X SCSI drive. After EAC crashed my computer, I tried Plextools as described in my last post. I have used Plextools since.

So, if EAC works for you and you never rip badly scratched cds, then continue using it. But if it dies or you are curious, try Plextools...

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #55 –
Quote
dBpoweramp would be sweet if it used the paranoia libs... is that a possiblity?


Once AccurateRip is finished I shall move onto secure ripping, I will start from a fresh perspective - I am thinking of creating a script driven ripping process so it could be infinately configured.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #56 –
Quote
Once AccurateRip is finished I shall move onto secure ripping, I will start from a fresh perspective - I am thinking of creating a script driven ripping process so it could be infinately configured.

I really like the idea of perfection - but I am affraid it will take forever for the AccurateRip database to be populated. I have a suggestion AccurateRip that might make it happen quicker:

Somwhow attach a unique id to every track ripped. It could be cd-id + track number. If the ripped files are kept in a lossless format, the user can later check whether the files were ripped accurately.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #57 –
Quote
But I wouldn't use it for other than scratched cds, because the result from clean cds differs slightly from the result from eac and other cd-rippers.

Strange...
I've tested it quite a lot, and my Ultraplex 40x gives the same WAVs with Feurio or EAC.
And good drives like yours should do the same.
Don't you have "remove digital silence from start/end of tracks" enabled?
It's the only explanation I find.
If Feurio reports no C2 errors, then the WAV will be the same as EAC except for offsets, or if you have the named option enabled (it comes enabled by default).
I supose you compare the WAVs with "Compare WAVs" tool in EAC. (It detects offsets).

Quote
For me, with a Memorex DVDmaxx 1648, it is quite as fast as burst mode.


well, I'm almost sure that my Ultraplex works really slower with C2 enabled and no cache than in burst mode, but I can't test it until a couple of days. I'll report it.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #58 –
yup...


this EAC/CDex war.. surprise me a little..

most of you know that
a perfect "rip". can only be done with
proper software/hardware/media

EAC. is the right choice for some..
CDex for others..
and it`s likely.. that a portion of this board..
uses something totally different..

when it comes to EAC`s C2 process. (and other C2 tools)
"IT SHOWS 100% ACCURACY ONLY ON GOOD MEDIA"


stop it..

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #59 –
There are 4 rippers that I accept ...

1. EAC 0.9 Beta 4 (my premier choice ... freedb & database tools are fine with me) ... never had problems even on heavily scratched CD's with my 40x SCSI Plex and my 52x LiteOn RW
2. Plextools 1.21 (premier choice with my 24x Plex RW ... create a cue with EAC and rip a scratched cd to a single file with plextools will sometimes be faster than EAC)

1 & 2 do not only show decent & accurate ripping, but the best error reporting that i have encountered so far (on the freeware DAE sector, of course)

3. CDEx 1.50 Final
4. Easy CDDA Extractor 5.10

3 & 4 are the best alternatives available if you still care about good DAE results and want speed as well ... but IMO they cannot be trusted when ripping erraneous discs (regard pio's findings in the FAQ) ... no ripper can do miracles, but I'd like to be thoroughly informed about read errors (even if they turn out to be inaudible which is the case very often when I'm using EAC)

I am a registered Feurio user and never use Feurio for ripping (IMO their read routines are inferior to the progs mentioned above and only slightly superior to the read routines used by dbPowerAmp, WinDAC, Audiograbber or CDR-Win) ... Feurio is unbeatable for audio mastering and when using freedb and its internal database, though ...

After all, the choice of ripping software depends too much on personal taste for any clear statements ... I am still dreaming about different frontends and a ripping core software that integrates EAC/Plextools/CDEx read routines ... 
The name was Plex The Ripper, not Jack The Ripper

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #60 –
Easy CDDA Extractor may be stepping up in the near future. It already has a very good GUI and overall usability. The first version of the "secure ripping" was an improvement to "no security", but not yet perfect. The routines are developed in-house, so it't not CDDA Paranoia based, as someone claimed it to be. I talked wit the author and he is now (after 2 years of begging) motivated to improve the secure ripping features. Error reporting and improved accuracy should be coming up.

Downside of Easy is that it is not free, but it is cheap.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #61 –
Quote
For me, with a Memorex DVDmaxx 1648, it is quite as fast as burst mode.


well, I've tested today my Ultraplex PX-40TS and it wasn't exactly as I remembered: it's worse the feeling than the real time.
The difference between burst mode and secure mode with C2 and no cache was 1:42 against 1:19 in 3 tracks (1:00 for Feurio). (Burst mode produced timing errors in EAC).
But I still don't understand the difference in time, and what was worse is that my Ultraplex slows down between tracks in both modes... I hate it.

However, this didn't happen with a LG 48x and LG 32x writers. And they feel almost as fast in secure mode with C2 and no cache as in burst mode (although I think these drives cache audio) as you say about your Memorexx.
(0:52 for secure, 0:40 for burst and 0:30 for Feurio, with LG 32x/C2/no cache)


It seems that all depends on how your drive interacts with software, according to contradictory posts in this thread.

EAC has ripped amazingly scratched CDs for me with good accuracy, but it seems it's not very well tuned for that Ultraplex, at least I don't like how it works with good discs. The LG burners work smoother with EAC if I hadn't to enable "drive caches audio" (that's awful).

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #62 –
PlexTools is all I use.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #63 –
CD2WAV32 also could be an alternative.
I use CD2WAV32 with its deemphasis filter for preemphasised CDs ripping.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #64 –
Quote
it`s likely.. that a portion of this board..
uses something totally different..

According to this poll, most people in this board use EAC : http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....=ST&f=20&t=3897
It might have been before Plextool's secure ripping, though...

Quote
when it comes to EAC`s C2 process. (and other C2 tools)
"IT SHOWS 100% ACCURACY ONLY ON GOOD MEDIA"

It would be annoying for an error reporting feature to work only when there are no errors 
The accuracy of C2, that tells if a media is good or not, depends mainly on the drive.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #66 –
Quote
According to this poll, most people in this board use EAC : http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....=ST&f=20&t=3897
It might have been before Plextool's secure ripping, though...

That poll is 8 months old. The data collected is prettry much outdated. Also, the people who voted yesterday had different choices than those who voted 8 months ago.

If the data in this poll (and several others) is to be useful, the current polls should be locked and new ones created. Data collection in the new polls should run for around 1-3 months only.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #67 –
well for plextor users i would definetly recomend plextools (euro version only) latest is 1.21a
Fast Cars and Faster Computers!

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #68 –
Quote
There is an alternative for everyone with a Plextor drive - Plextools.

My experiences with a cd with a single small (but definetely evil) scratch:

Plextor IDE burner- 40X
- CDex - ripped fast but with audible errors.
- EAC - killed computer after having read disc for an hour.
- Plextools - ripped fast until scratch, then spent five minutes trying to repair, gave up.

Plextor SCSI CD-ROM
- CDex - ripped fast but with audible errors.
- EAC - ripped in 3 hours - audible errors.
- Plextools - ripped fast until scratch, then spent five minutes trying to repair, gave up.

After this, I never used EAC again. I have ripped around 70 cds with Plextools. All rips were "perfect" - except when Plextools claimed there were errors.

Plextools needs a little tweaking:

- Reduce read speed if the cd is scratched or has an extra label on it (i.e. library cd)
- Set DAE Error Recovery to 5: (least errors).
- Set retries to 99
- Set max errors to 100
- Allow speed down

Unfortunately there are some limitations:
- It cannot use an external compressor, so I have to flac manually
- Limited freedb/save as filename support
- Does not eject cd after ripping

plextools has been shown when settings are correctly done to rip and burn as good and or better than eac.
with scratched cds when set properly in preferences has been great.

btw, wasn't this same issue brought up awhile back on eac forum? i seem to remember reading it.

plextools with plextor drives most definetly the way to go.
Fast Cars and Faster Computers!

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #69 –
Quote
my Ultraplex 40x gives the same WAVs with Feurio or EAC.  And good drives like yours should do the same.

minix, still at it?

with a good drive and a clean disc, you might get an accurate rip (setting aside offsets) with a number of programs.  but you might not.  the thing is, you won't know, unless the software directly addresses the error-detection flaws of CD audio.

saying "I ripped a bunch of discs with my drive using 2 programs and got the same wav" doesn't provide a useful guide to someone trying to select a ripping program.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #70 –
Quote
with a good drive and a clean disc, you might get an accurate rip


You should get an accurate rip with all ripping programs if there wasn't any reading error.
With good drives and clean discs there are no errors usually.

It's not normal that Feurio or any other program produces different WAVs from EAC consistently if the discs are clean... so something is wrong. (Probably the default "kill digital silence at start/end of track" setting in Feurio).


Quote
saying "I ripped a bunch of discs with my drive using 2 programs and got the same wav" doesn't provide a useful guide to someone trying to select a ripping program.


I'm not saying that 2 programs will give the same WAVs with every disc. I'm just saying that with most clean discs, there's no difference in accuracy between EAC and the rest. Of course, a lot of times you can't know the condifition of a CD before ripping it.

What I think it might be useful is explaining that Feurio with my drive and C2 errors reporting enabled is as secure ripper as EAC with C2 enabled and much more faster, like Plextools. If there are no C2 errors, DAE has been perfect.

What I can also say is that Feurio isn't as accurate as EAC when there are reading errors with that PX-40TS.
Other people claim that Feurio, CDex or other programs are more accurate than EAC with their drives with heavily scratched discs, and others even say that EAC hangs...  (which is not my case)

Another example with my drive is CDDAE. It's also as secure as EAC reading twice, but it produces a lot more errors with scratched discs than EAC or Feurio.

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #71 –
... if only i knew it'd turn into so hot discussion, then i'd rather shut up 

anyway - everybody - thanx for comments!

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #72 –
I just tried to rip the new and protected cd from Nena. Plextools refused to rip properly. It reported some errors and they were very audible.

EAC ripped without any problems...

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #73 –
Quote
My problem with EAC is that if you give it a scratched CD, it just goes belly up and reads for hours on end, getting nowhere.  The end result is damaged, as it is with CDex, so I don't see the point of wasting time and putting my drive under uneccesary stress.

did you try to use burst mode in EAC? if your drive isn't capable of ripping audio accurately at high speed, try slowing down the extraction speed from EAC to, say, 1x. it usually works better than secure mode, especially in cases where the extraction process comes to a stand-still, or reaches intolerable speeds like .1x

personally i never had any problems with EAC. it hates one drive and wouldn't work at all with it (EAC freezes) but so do other ripping programs

also, on heavily scratched CDs, secure mode came to a halt. but then i tried burst mode @ 1x and it worked better. yeah i know this mode doesn't report errors, but i listen carefully to all my rips a number of times

other than that, i have not experienced any serious problems with EAC, and i really don't know why are people complaining about it so much. first, it's still in beta, so obviously bugs and compatibility issues should be expected. second, it is not difficult at all to set up. it just takes time and possibly learn to configure it properly through trial-and-error. the GUI is fairly decent. i only hope that if andre doesn't have a lot of time to spend on EAC that he will at least make the code open source
Be healthy, be kind, grow rich and prosper

an alternative to EAC?

Reply #74 –
Yes that's what I do as well: Burst Mode. But I can't set it to 1X, instead I set it to 4X (slowest) and then run deglitch.exe (I do all this when secure mode fails). And in most of the cases deglitch finds glitches! So I'd say this step is essential. I was going to use the Synchronized (Fast) Mode but the latest prebetas crash on me in that setting :

Quote
Unhandled exception

at 004599B7->ACCESS_VIOLATION
 

Edit: I need to extract WAV in order to run deglitch so external compressor could not be invoked from EAC in this case. Maybe there's a way out with the new pgrogram MAR.
The object of mankind lies in its highest individuals.
One must have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.