What are you using to rip your cds to a hard drive?

Dynaquest
Be careful with what you read here. Geoffkait, in a previous post, mentions a checklist of things to do before ripping your CD’s. I’ll just highlight one. He says to demagnetize your CD’s before ripping. Huh? Optical discs are encoded with digital ones and zeros that are read with a laser. Any “magnetic charge” that might be possessed by any of the minute metals in the disc will make no difference whatsoever (positive or negative – pun intended) in the data read from the CD that is sent to the DAC. In other words a “demagnetizer” performs no useful function and is a SCAM…even if you pay more than $1800.00 for one – still a scam.

Huh? The optical discs are not encoded with ones and zeros. They contain pits and between the pits flat spaces (lands), each with variable lengths, which must be decoded to obtain the ones and zeros later on. The reading of the pits and lands is actually an analog process, and one subject to the vagaries of these flakey devices. That’s why demagnetizers and ionizers and coloring of the disc and the tray improves the sound. I know what you’re thinking: gee, but I thought error detection/error correction took care of all that stuff. 😄

As I and many others have acknowledged many times in past threads here, science and engineering can neither explain nor predict a lot about what we hear or don’t hear from our systems. However the science and engineering that is involved in the copying of digital data from one storage medium to another is well understood, well developed, and under reasonable circumstances is robust, reliable, and accurate. Especially, in this case, if the software being used assures bit perfect accuracy.

While I don’t dispute that some of Geoff’s tweaks might be beneficial under some circumstances when a CD is being listened to, they have no relevance whatsoever to the process of copying the data that is on a CD to a hard drive. Assuming, again, that the software is designed to re-read data as necessary to assure bit perfect accuracy, and to indicate an error in the unusual event that it is unable to do so.

I say this as someone having extensive background in digital design, and particular expertise regarding computer technology. I also say this despite Geoff’s disagreement that will inevitably follow. And for some perspective on the kinds of tweaks he recommends, you may find the following excerpt from his post dated 9-7-2012 in this thread to be of interest:

Taking all telephone books out of the house will usually be audible when you go back and listen to the system. Even if the telephone books are in other rooms of the house, they should be removed. The telephone book is perceived as an intruder by virtue of the fact that it is linked to a strong Field created by the tens or hundreds of thousands of identical telephone books. So, the link to that field can be eliminated by removing the telephone books from the house, making the house Safe from the telephone book "information field".

Regards,
-- Al

Whoa! What? Hey, Al, of course my disagreement will inevitably follow. Just like you inevitably go for the bait. You say it’s "well understood." but by whom? I dare say not by you, judging from what you say. More to follow....stay tuned.

Exact Audio Copy (EAC) is the best, and free. Foobar 2000 is also good. One unmentioned factor is to a) make sure the cd surface is clean-fingerprints and detritus will effect your laser’s ability to accurately read the disc and b) clean the laser itself. There are discs that will do it, and denatured alcohol with a cotton swab on a stick will do it as well. Houses with smokers tend to result in a film on the laser that reduces its ability to "see" the disc as well as it should. Making sure your cabling from an external hard drive/player to the pc is tightly fastened is also crucial.

One more thing, I recently got a keylit wireless computer keyboard and found that when the lighting comes on (it turns itself off automatically when I’m not typing and on whenever I touch a key) it makes audible interference whilst burning a disc. I suspect it might effect any cd ripping as well. If you have one, or any wireless equipment nearby, you might check to see if it causes anything like this.

Almarg
While I don’t dispute that some of Geoff’s tweaks might be beneficial under some circumstances when a CD is being listened to, they have no relevance whatsoever to the process of copying the data that is on a CD to a hard drive. Assuming, again, that the software is designed to re-read data as necessary to assure bit perfect accuracy, and to indicate an error in the unusual event that it is unable to do so.

I say this as someone having extensive background in digital design, and particular expertise regarding computer technology. I also say this despite Geoff’s disagreement that will inevitably follow. And for some perspective on the kinds of tweaks he recommends, you may find the following excerpt from his post dated 9-7-2012 in this thread to be of interest:

Geoffkait: Taking all telephone books out of the house will usually be audible when you go back and listen to the system. Even if the telephone books are in other rooms of the house, they should be removed. The telephone book is perceived as an intruder by virtue of the fact that it is linked to a strong Field created by the tens or hundreds of thousands of identical telephone books. So, the link to that field can be eliminated by removing the telephone books from the house, making the house Safe from the telephone book "information field".

>>Whoa! What's up with all the angst? Al, all this turmoil begs the question: do you ever actually listen to any of the tweaks you disparage? Do you consult your textbooks to see if there’s a chapter on Telephone Tweaks? By the way, using your "extensive background in digital design" as some sort of evidence, proof or hammer is nothing more than an Appeal to Authority, you know, an illogical argument.

geoff kait
machina dramatica
no goats no glory