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Trying to wrap my head around ripping CDs and any loss of data that occurs...

Trying to figure out how to get the 'most' data from a CD ... is there a tried and true way of getting 'all' the data from any CD ripped to a hard drive? I have several hundred CDs I ripped to a hard drive years ago - at 320k - is there a 'better' way today - to reduce any data loss?

Which software is best used for this purpose?  What hardware is required? Can I use a cheap CDR drive connected by a cheap usb cable to a PC to get the 'most' out of ripping a CD to a hard drive?  Or do I need to spend 'bucks' to get all the CD has to offer?  If so - what do I need?

Also - are digital only versions 'better' than ripping an equivalent version from a CD better? Just wondering if its worth the time to rip what I have vs just using streaming services in lieu.

Thx in advance.

lightfighter2018
erik_squires
16,060 posts
 
Depends on the format you used.  WAV, FLAC and ALAC are lossless. There are rippers that try to quadruple check that the recording was accurate, but generally it's' a lot of extra time. :)

If you ripped to MP3, then re-do it using one of the suggested formats I listed, FLAC being highly recommended.  Stay away from MP3

You don't need extra hardware, and yes, a cheap CD drive will work.  I use MediaMonkey becuase it drives me less crazy than JRiver.

The streaming services vary. Tidal and Quboz offer CD or better quality music.
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jazzman7
347 posts
 
I'd start with ripping the CDs with zero compression.  That means either as uncompressed FLAC files or as WAV files (which by definition are uncompressed).   My preference is FLAC because it provides for better handling of metadata.  For software, recommend dBpoweramp which will run on PC or MAC.  How good a CD drive you wish to use is up to you.

 
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