Ripping an excessively large CD collection

MGSman123

Hi guys,

I'm just wondering if anybody has any software suggestions for ripping a massive CD library for archival purposes. I'm looking to rip approximately 1000 CDs to 192kbps MP3. Any help?

EDIT: I'm looking for something automated and fast (that can also obtain CD information).

EDIT2: Okay. Here's the scoop. The library size is upward of 1000 CDs. It isn't mine. There are bundles of rare-ish CDs that would, more than likely be located on CDDB or FreeDB, but not iTunes, WMP, etc. I've tried most of the usual rippers, being WMP, iTunes, EAC, MediaMonkey, Foobar, Creative MediaSource, etc. I'm looking for something designed to automate the process of ripping large CD libraries, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg to buy and is automated, but doesn't require any additional hardware. I don't mind sitting there like a monkey and popping CDs into the drive so that it can start ripping automatically, but I want something that will obtain disc information first from a reliable source. Ideally, I'd like to be able to watch films and such while I'm doing it.

-MGSman123.

blubloblu

Argh! You really should be using a higher bitrate/better codec than that.

Follow this guide:
http://xs.vc/eac/index.html

MGSman123

blubloblu wrote: »

Argh! You really should be using a higher bitrate/better codec than that.

Follow this guide:
http://xs.vc/eac/index.html

Thanks for that. I already use EAC, but I'm finding that it isn't automated enough. I'm looking for a detailed initial set-up, but a one-click rip after that.
Thanks a bunch anyways. It might be a good idea to read through those tutorials anyway.

MGSman123

MGSman123 wrote: »

Thanks for that. I already use EAC, but I'm finding that it isn't automated enough. I'm looking for a detailed initial set-up, but a one-click rip after that.
Thanks a bunch anyways. It might be a good idea to read through those tutorials anyway.

get music brains picard (name is something like that). it's freeware and will recognise your cd info automatically etc.

blubloblu

I saw someone had scripted something to automate EAC. I'll try and dig it up for you.
Good luck anyway, 1000 CDs is no easy feat.

Amalgam

OP, you haven't used EAC much if you don't realise it does have a 1 click rip. What you want is a lossless compressed image and cue. This would be the best for 'archival' scenarios, storing offline\external hard drive etc.



The above is all I need to click on to start a rip, the CD gets scanned\filled by the online db for titles etc.. One click. The folder structure and destination are created\dealt with properly by EAC.

.mp3 is not archival and you'll regret it deeply down the line. A total waste of time and your resources.

Afterwards, if you want to convert\batch convert to .mp3 or whatever becomes fashionable, just install Foobar and convert to your hearts delight.

A comprehensive EAC guide is available here:

http://blowfish.be/eac/index.html

A comprehensive and mature audio forum can be found here:

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/

I'm archiving myself at the moment.

MGSman123

Thanks for your input Amalgam, but the reason I'm looking towards MP3 (or any other appropriate format) is so that I can avail of ID3 functionality and small file sizes. I know what you're saying about archiving and disc images and such, but when I say archival, I mean literally; small file sizes, easy to manage, and easy to transfer to my PMP.

In other words, I don't need duplicates of the CDs I already have on my system, I just want MP3s. To be totally honest, it's not for me. I'm an audiophile myself and even the thought of encoding into MP3 makes my blood boil. But when you want 1000+ CDs to be accessed quickly and transferred easily, MP3 is the best option.

Take FLAC for instance. I rip all of my own personal stuff to FLAC. But I require Mediamonkey to convert all of my stuff on-the-fly for my Zen X-Fi. That's all grand for me with maybe 50 albums. But when you start getting into the realms that I'm going to need to get into now, of ridiculous, lifetime CD collections... well, that's just inefficient.

Thanks again for helping me out. I thought that if I get more specific as I go along, it might lead me closer to the answer!

Amalgam

No problem, at least you've clarified the end need\use of the files.

If you have your material converted to .flac, why not just install Foobar, load up your library and right-click Convert to Lame 0 or whatever takes your fancy?

MGSman123

Amalgam wrote: »

If you have your material converted to .flac, why not just install Foobar, load up your library and right-click Convert to Lame 0 or whatever takes your fancy?

Well, I don't really need to. I can listen to it all in FLAC on my PC, which I'm fine with, and then MediaMonkey will automatically convert it to the file type when the parameters match the ones that I specify... i.e. FLAC at any b/r>>MP3 320KBPS. It's automated okay from that end!

Firetrap

How about Windows Media Player? You can set it to start ripping CDs as soon as you put them into the drive if you want to (options under the Rip tab). And it downloads the info from the internet.

Herbal Deity

If you have a decent internet connection, the easiest thing would just be to download them. I mean once you've set them all up to download, you just have to sit back and wait. Much less effort than manually ripping 1000 CDs, and the end result's the exact same.

Disclaimer: I don't advocate doing this illegally.

MGSman123

Firetrap wrote: »

How about Windows Media Player? You can set it to start ripping CDs as soon as you put them into the drive if you want to (options under the Rip tab). And it downloads the info from the internet.

I did that before. I found the file tagging very ineffective. It was quite messy.

Herbal Deity wrote: »

If you have a decent internet connection, the easiest thing would just be to download them. I mean once you've set them all up to download, you just have to sit back and wait. Much less effort than manually ripping 1000 CDs, and the end result's the exact same.

Disclaimer: I don't advocate doing this illegally.

No this doesn't suit either. I'm going to make it very clear in the post now.

Amalgam

I reread your freshly edited post MGSman123, have you tried dBpoweramp?

It has a rather interesting multi-meta access system which might suit your needs. The bad part of this is that the feature is subscription based.

The application and multi meta feature are fully active for a trial period of about 15 days, I recently tried it out. The ripper itself stays active with 'basic' freedb access, after the trial.

I didn't have any issues with it, but found it lacking in creating log files etc, for future reference, I like my EAC, I'm quite the train spotter..

Otherwise, it does pretty much meet your one click criteria.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

MGSman123

Amalgam wrote: »

I reread your freshly edited post MGSman123, have you tried dBpoweramp?

It has a rather interesting multi-meta access system which might suit your needs. The bad part of this is that the feature is subscription based.

The application and multi meta feature are fully active for a trial period of about 15 days, I recently tried it out. The ripper itself stays active with 'basic' freedb access, after the trial.

I didn't have any issues with it, but found it lacking in creating log files etc, for future reference, I like my EAC, I'm quite the train spotter..

Otherwise, it does pretty much meet your one click criteria.

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/

Thanks for that Amalgam. I'll give it a go and I'll let you know if it suits. You seem to be a ripping guru!

Amalgam

I like to keep an open mind on what's out there. Nothing nicer than backing up data, audio or otherwise, the right way, the first time..

If only I could have clattered myself about the ear the day I installed iTunes.. and saved myself a lot of bother.

cnocbui

iTunes will get all the CD info automatically. Rip to AAC.

IronMan

Check out the mediamonkey forums. It has been a while since I last browsed it, but there was an effort being made to automate the process you just described using mediamonkey and a community developed plugin.

You need the gold version to rip at higher bitrates. The only piece of software that I couldn't find a good open source alternative for.

AS someone mentioned, Musicbrainz Picard may also work, not sure about how automated it is, it certainly isn't for cleaning up MP3 collections.

Sleipnir

It's a shame you wouldn't buy another piece of hardware, otherwise I would suggest a Brennan

MGSman123

cnocbui wrote: »

iTunes will get all the CD info automatically. Rip to AAC.

I'm trying to move away from the more mainstream rippers, so as to maintain a certain level of compatability as far as format and ID3 storage is concerned. I'm not willing to allow the whole 'operation' (cause that's really what this is) to be in the fate of software I don't trust. Thanks for your input though.

IronMan wrote: »

Check out the mediamonkey forums. It has been a while since I last browsed it, but there was an effort being made to automate the process you just described using mediamonkey and a community developed plugin.

You need the gold version to rip at higher bitrates. The only piece of software that I couldn't find a good open source alternative for.

AS someone mentioned, Musicbrainz Picard may also work, not sure about how automated it is, it certainly isn't for cleaning up MP3 collections.

I do have Mediamonkey Gold and I love it as far a library maintenance is concerned, but I wouldn't be so comfortable with the ripping options it provides. Nonetheless, I'll take a look around the MM forums and see what's going on as far as plugins are concerned.

I also looked up Musicbrainz Picard and I don't think it's what I'm looking for. As far as I can tell, it's just an open-source version of MMs auto-organise feature. Thanks for your suggestion.

Sleipnir wrote: »

It's a shame you wouldn't buy another piece of hardware, otherwise I would suggest a Brennan

Yeah, I'm not to into buying expensive hardware at the moment. I only plan on doing this once more. (I've wound up doing it several times due to software screw-ups and hardware failure.) Thanks for your suggestion though.