Best CD ripping

[t0nee1]

Been using EAC for a few years as well..Mostly using Burst Mode with AccurateRip..Fast enough for my needs..I actually have most of my collection safely(hopefully) tucked away and archived..In flac format of course..If I need an album or single track(s) in a lossy or other lossless format, I go to my archive collection..Easy-Peasy..
These days it's mostly DBPA (user-friendlier) IMO, or F2k my default SW player and it does so much more..
As stated above, "to each his own"..

EDIT: FYI, with EAC you can save different profile settings..No need to keep typing in parameter info each time.Just load whatever profile you want to rip to..

[chowmein]

Am I correct in assuming that EAC's "Accurate Rip" relies on other people's uploaded rip data? Which pretty much restricts it to the commercial music world, IMO. Without "Accurate Rip", I don't see (hear) any difference between EAC and, say, CDex or its successor freac.

[Cornucopia]

@chowmein,

No, let me see if I got this right - AccurateRip uses the HASH generated from well known commercial pressings, with which to calibrate the profile of one's own ripping hardware, such that, once you have gone through the steps to obtain the profiles of your hardware, you know that if it says "No errors", that every sector is byte-for-byte accurate. If you happen to be ripping a commercial disc at the time, it can additionally generate a HASH right then to compare with the AccurateRip database and give you an additional level of error-free confidence.

Scott

[lordsmurf]

So MP3 is licensed by ...
AAC is licensed by ...
How is that so different?

Oh, trust me -- it makes a big honkin' difference.

MP3 distribution pays $$$$$, while the AAC distribution is $0. Cost of business, vs business with less costs. Fraunhofer et al collect every time an MP3 is sold or streamed. There also a quality edge to AAC that should make MP3 obsolete. The only reason AAC doesn't overthrow MP3 is the bickering over FLAC/OGG, and MP3 market saturation. Knowing this is a requirement of what I do almost daily.

[Cornucopia]

I bow to your superior knowledge in this matter. And I do like AAC quality much better than MP3 (at similar bitrates). Wish it were a little MORE universal...in time...

Scott

[magillagorilla]

Just following up on the saga. This past December I got a Nimbie. I'm about 99% done ripping. The Nimbie out of the box supported WMP. So the bulk of my collection is ripped in 320kbps mp3 via WMP.I plan to circle back around and rip a core set in flac.I decided that much of the collection will do fine on mp3.

[Jerry22]

I came across this thread while I was looking for CD-ROM collection archiving options. It is now 2015, and FLAC (using EAC) seems to be the best option for me. It is lossless yet much smaller size than WAV. But also, thanks to another member's suggestion, I found the Western Digital WD TV Media Player that will play FLAC files (ISO, OGG and many others) directly from the hard drive on your PC. It connects either through an ethernet cable or over Wi-Fi. CNET has a nice review here. For a basic summary and comparison to Roku, read the Conclusion on p2.