Thread: so what do you use to rip cds?

For me, EAC (Exact Audio Copy) is the best, but AudioGrabber is so close their interchangable. I think EAC has the edge if the CD, or your CDROM drive is error prone. Also, EAC is free, while AG has a slighty nicer interface, but costs money.

BTW, both of these programs are only GUI frontends to the actuall encoder of your choice, and LAME seems to be the favorite. Its what I use the most. I've also tried BladeENC and the Fraunhofer one. LAME always seems to come out on top though.

Hmmm....this is the third time I've had to edit this post to correct some misleading statements I'm making! EAC and AG both will "rip" a CD to wave without any other program. Its only the "convert-to-MP3" part that needs an encoder such as LAME.

On a different note, I also like OGG and have just started playing with Monkey's Audio. I wish the whole music community would switch focus to OGG VORBIS.

Just my two-cents worth.

Dex

PS, I should add: I prefer 256kbps and joint stereo, although I'm trying out dual-stereo. had some problems with it initially. (Actually, still am. The left channel is just pops and crackles useing this method. Can't seem to figure out why.)

To answer my own question I use CDex. I have tried some of the more commercial brand name all-in-one ripper+players, but most seem too bulky.

Is LAME really the standard because it is good or because it is free?

mxxxxxn, as far as I know, all mp3 encoder's are free. Lame seems simply to sound the best.

Hi magnetik; yes, you're correct. Although, Fraunhofer does offer their encoder to end users for free. Available here:

Fraunhofer MP3 encoder

The compiled Lame encoder can be found here:

LAME encoder

And for those that want it, here's BladeENC:

BladeENC encoder

Dex

......xing is the bain of all existence on IRC.......

later,
nathan

Hey Machs; I thought I'ld point out that AudioCatalyst is simply the AudioGrabber program prepackaged with the Xing encoder.

If you use AudioGrabber instead, you can, of course, select the encoder of your choice.

Dex