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Topic: Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper? (Read 11693 times) previous topic - next topic
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Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

I suppose I should have asked before I started ripping CD's with it, but oh well. My laptop lost everything recently. I had a backup of all my data of course, but not a restore for programs (and settings). I can't be bothered to set up EAC again, it's just too much of a pain. I never liked it anyway.  It's not user friendly and it takes far too long to rip in secure mode!  Even after all that I usually get something like 99.99% (not  100%) accurate so it hardly seems worth it. :-/

I started using fre:ac (formerly bonkenc) (enabling CDparanoia) to rip CD's. I like this program and I've been happy with the results. I've even ripped some really scratched up CD's I got from the public library without any audible problems, but for peace of mind I would like to know the general answer to the thread title, and if there are any fancy technical reasons why ripping like this is inferior to EAC.

I did a search and I read that foobar2000, CDex, and dBpoweramp are some ripping alternatives. Is Foobar any good as an accurate ripper? It seems almost too fast but then again I read several posts by member greynol saying slower =/= better for ripping. Are CDex or dBpoweramp any  faster or more user friendly, should I try those?

Here is a quote that looks bad. . .

Quote from: greynol on
Quote from: vonbach on
Cdparanoia is very good at what it does and has error correction.

Don't let spath hear you say that!

"...one of the worst piece of code I have ever read"
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....st&p=446040

PS: You might want to do a search on C2 pointers.

PPS: No software performs error correction, BTW; not EAC, not dBpa, and not Cdparanoia.

From here.

Thanks for your knowledge. Hopefully I haven't broken any rules.
FLAC -> JDS Labs ODAC/O2 -> Sennheiser HD 650 (equalized)

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #1 –
When there is positive verification against AccurateRip, the program you use really doesn't matter.

While I think your criticism of EAC is a bit off (the default options are more than adequate, failure to use an efficient ripping method, lack of understanding regarding the % quality figure), I don't feel particularly inclined to repeat what I have said in countless previous posts in defense of the program.

PS: Regarding the comment about no program performs error correction, some programs do have mechanisms to help compensate for synchronization-related problems that may exist between reads.  Also, long since that comment, the CUETools database was created providing the ability to correct rips with a limited amount of errors using redundant data based on submissions to the database deemed accurate by CUETools either by its own ripping program or by matches against the AccurateRip database.

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #2 –
I use foobar2000 extensively. I have never heard any unreported errors.

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #3 –
All right, well if it's all the same I'll probably stick with fre:ac. I guess I'll have to do some more searching to figure out what what greynol's talking about.

I think it's pretty reasonable to say that EAC isn't very user friendly, to the average person at least. 
FLAC -> JDS Labs ODAC/O2 -> Sennheiser HD 650 (equalized)

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #4 –
I think EAC is a brilliant tool. If you follow the Wiki/Guide here at HA forum you cannot go wrong in setting it up. All the other guides flying around the internet are a waste of reading time. Who else makes a CD Ripper for IMAGE+CUE ripping? All the "other" established software makers have had all the time in the world to incorporate
at least that feature, but their developers chose not to. I do not give them and their software one drop of respect.
EAC can edit CUE files and split WAVE files at track points and create a CUE from scratch; what other software does these things?
If enough time is spent looking deeply at what is really presented to you by "a software product", you eventually gain insight into the mindset of the developer.
In my opinion, EAC's developer views CD Ripping as a 100% serious subject and he views the users in the same fashion. I can't say that about any other CD Ripping software.

As far as super-accurate CD Ripping is concerned; I really don't care. I'm not interested in achieving 100% accuracy; near enough is good enough for me.
This implies that most of the time I use "burst" mode in EAC, and maybe "Secure" mode only if I could not extract a track in "Burst" mode.
The way I see it, I have taken a physical hardware thing (a disc) and tried to convert it to to a software thing (a file); In my opinion, there is an emulated quality about it all and the two "parameters" will never be exactly the same.

The only true reality for me is a listening test. After ripping the album, I play it in foobar2000 and sit back and close my eyes and listen...
If it sounds good, it is good. I don't care about numbers, I care about listening to my music "files".

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Satellite_6 on
I think it's pretty reasonable to say that EAC isn't very user friendly, to the average person at least. 


Again no. I'm sure the average person can leave settings at their default and click the big button on the left that says MP3.

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Satellite_6 on
I think it's pretty reasonable to say that EAC isn't very user friendly, to the average person at least. 


I think if you have a basic understanding of audio and computers, EAC is about as easy to use as anything else using LAME.
 

Is fre:ac any good as an accurate ripper?

Reply #8 –
As Greynol mentioned, you can give CueRipper a go. It's very simple.
It's part of the Cuetools package.
Allegari nihil et allegatum non probare, paria sunt.