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CD Ripping software

I am interested in ripping my CD collection to .WAV files. Not concerned about FLAC or other formats.

I know Windows Media Player will rip .WAV files from CD, but has anyone used dBpoweramp or EAC software instead? The rippers in this software have claimed advanced error detection strategies that I guess WIN MP does not have?

Would it not ber easier to pre-scan the CDs for C1/C2 errors in advance and use Win MP for simplicity?
dhl93449
aplhifi
515 posts
 
I'm not sure why you are insisting on WAV

If closest to original audio quality is required, WAV is a must. For convenience, any lossless will do. My favorite is APE or WMA. The latter is FBR, so it sounds best, IMO.

Best,
Alex Peychev
daverz
487 posts
 
No it's not a must. A FLAC file has the same data. It's like saying you must leave your Word files unzipped if you want the best textual quality.
aplhifi
515 posts
 
No it's not a must. A FLAC file has the same data.

Sure, theoretically FLAC has the same data. In practice, there is an audible difference between all lossless formats, and comparing them to uncompressed WAV or AIFF, at least to my ears in my system.

Best wishes,
Alex Peychev
daverz
487 posts
 
If you are really hearing audible differences I'd say there was something wrong with your playback chain, not with the format.
aplhifi
515 posts
 
If you are really hearing audible differences I'd say there was something wrong with your playback chain, not with the format.

Something wrong with my playback chain? Are you serious? :-)

I think Robin Whittle explains it well:

"Audio files contain a certain amount of information - "entropy" - so they cannot be compressed losslessly to any size smaller than that. So it is not realistic to expect an ever-increasing improvement in lossless compression algorithm performance. The performance can only approach more closely whatever the basic entropy of the file is. No-one quite knows what that entropy is of course . . . I think that would require understanding the datastream in a way which is exactly in tune with it's true nature. For instance a .jpg image of handwriting would appear to contain a lot of data, unless you could see and recognise the handwriting and record its characters in a suitably compressed format. The true nature of sound varies with its source, physical environment and recording method, and a lossless compression program cannot adapt itself entirely to the "true" nature of the sound in each piece of music. Therefore it is not surprising that different algorithms work best on different kinds of music."

Lossless? Not that I think so! :-)

Best wishes,
Alex Peychev
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