Flac

[gage0921]

"free lossless audio codec"........is any one familiar with it? Im wanting to back up some cd's but in this format so I lose no sound quality what so ever but Im confused and on the forums no one can drop it down a grade level or two so I can understand.

[Kyle]

I thought that music on a store-bought CD was in wav format. I could be wrong as it has been 6 months since I have really dabbled much with audio. I do know that if you choose to encode music into a wma or mp3 type of file, 192+ kbps is not discernably different from the original CD. Some people claim to have a "golden ear" and will claim that 320 kbps or better is a must, however, your are realistically talking about sound differences that can only be noticed with computer analysis. If you don't believe me, encode the same song multiple times with a varying bitrate. Next, burn each copy onto a single CD (so you might have 3 versions of the same song in 160, 192, & 320 kbps). Put your CD player on random and write down which song you believe corresponds to each bitrate while a friend keeps track of the true order. Compare the two lists. If you can consistantly tell the difference, then go with the higher bitrate.

Kyle

[kmac]

"free lossless audio codec"........is any one familiar with it? Im wanting to back up some cd's but in this format so I lose no sound quality what so ever but Im confused and on the forums no one can drop it down a grade level or two so I can understand.

FLAC is definitely the way to go. It'll result in file about half the size of the .wav file. It's a truly lossless format, so you can always convert it back to a .wav file and burn a CD from it with no degradation.

I ripped all my CDs to FLAC and archived them on DVDs. Then converted the FLAC files to MP3 (lame encoder with the 'standard' setting is good - I can't tell the difference from CD, even with high-end equipment) for the hard-drive.

-Kyle

[Rik]

I ripped all my CDs to FLAC and archived them on DVDs.

What software are you using to rip to FLAC?

[gage0921]

I guess my question is......how the F&#$ do you do it. I have the FLAC front end downloaded and EAC (dont ask me what that stands for) and im lost at this point.

[robofunk]

best program i've used thus far is dBpowerAMP.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

there is even a plugin called AccurateRip which compares the copy you created to a dabatase of flaweless copies. just make sure you have flac codec installed and it should show up in the ripping output options.

as for lossy formats, i go with OGG. but here's a link to dBpowerAMPs list of codec plugins, of which there are many:
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm

good luck and happy ripping!

[kmac]

I used this for setting up EAC for mp3's: http://www.bestmp3guide.com/

Once there, you can change the setting to use flac. Instructions are here: http://www.saunalahti.fi/cse/EAC/index.html. You basically need to tell EAC what your encoder is by giving it a command-line program and options.

[gage0921]

I should be able to figure this out know...thanx guys.

[zaphf]

I use custom scripts to rip disks, but I to have my entire collection in flac. They typically run about 50% the size of a .wav file and are lossless.

The best reason to do this is: http://www.slimdevices.com

The audio quality you can achive from the squeezebox is fantastic. If you use EAC or similar ripper, you basically have a perfect audio transport. Pipe the digital out on the squeezebox to any audiophile quality DAC and enjoy easy access to your entire musical collection with superb quality.

Flac info can be found at flac.sourceforge.net

Oh, and hi everyone, thanks for the great info on shaving :) It's been a big help during my quest to tame the cheesegrater that is my stubble.