The Computer Audiophile CD ripping strategy and methodology article has been one of the most popular writings on the site to date. Some readers have implemented the methodology exactly how it was written while others have put their own spin on it by changing file formats and the number of file copies. Other readers are still searching for a less time consuming way to rip their music collections. Over the last few weeks I've been using a CD ripping approach that's likely to satisfy those who want to get the job done but don't have a couple months of free time to rip 3000 CDs. The approach consists of an automated ripping robot in combination with Get Digital Data's Encode Center and GD3 Tagger software and its GD3 database. The experience was actually enjoyable from beginning to end. I'm willing to bet few if any readers have ever enjoyed ripping CDs.
Encode Center is GD3's software application for ripping CDs. Encode Center is a dedicated ripping application that does absolutely nothing but rip discs. There is something to be said about purpose built applications, just like purpose built audio components. Often the jack of all trades is the master of none. Users of Encode Center don't have to worry about a ton of configurations options and downloading CODECS. Setting up EC to work with the Primera robot was as simple as selecting the Composer Pro in a list of supported devices. No additional software to install or convoluted configuration trial and error. EC supports MP3, WAV, and FLAC. That's it. If readers need more CODECs EC isn't the program for them. This is one area GD3 needs to improve upon. Support for a few more formats is a trivial matter and would open up EC as an option for almost every computer audiophile. The software interface displays some nice information while the robot is ripping discs. In addition to the standard Album and Artist data there are columns for Disc Number (number of discs ripped), Ripping Status (percent complete for each disc), Position in Spool (discs position in the spool of completed discs), and Jitter Errors. How could any application be complete without addressing jitter. Only kidding of course. This jitter is not to be confused with "traditional" timing error jitter measured in picoseconds. Jitter errors in Encode Center equate to problems with the disc during the ripping process. Encode Center not only lets the user know there was an error(s) it also displays the exact minute and second within a track the error occurred. This is extremely valuable. As I ripped the Dave Matthews Band album Under The Table and Dreaming the number of jitter errors added up and something seem amiss. I was able to look at EC to determine errors were in tracks between number ten and thirty-four. (Back in college I'm sure this disc made a great coaster for a house guest's beverage of choice.) Fortunately I don't care about most of these tracks because all but eleven and thirty-four are blank. DMB actually has a song title #34 and set it as track thirty-four on the disc. As it turns out track eleven had some inconsequential errors easily identifiable down to the second through EC and thirty-four was fine. Without Encode Center's specific "jitter" information I would have been listening to track eleven over and over listening for glitches. Instead I went right to the trouble spot to access the sonic damage. Encode Center does many things right that standard users will soon take for granted. EC labels albums with different colors, check boxes, and questions marks. These notify users of items they may want to look at with additional care. After spot checking quite a few of these marked albums I realized GD3 had 99% of the albums correct. For example some of my Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab discs were correctly identified as such and tagged with the correct MFSL album art. EC notified me there was more than one possible match for the albums only because the standard release of the discs was also in the GD3 database. If GD3 was incorrect I could easily select either release via a drop-down menu and EC would change the metadata. The interface also allows the user to view only errors encountered during the ripping process. This is nice once users are comfortable with EC's ability to get things right and it enables one to peruse through the errors and quickly resolve any issues. After ripping hundreds of discs the list of completed albums gets rather long. Identifying only the potential errors is really nice.
rimage 2000i software download free
During the review period I did a lengthy comparison of the GD3 solution and dBpweramp. It was really no contest at all. The combination of the Primera Composer Pro robot and the GD3 software blew dBpweramp out of the water. dBp did not successfully rip more than fifty CDs in a row without running into major problems. I frequently had to restart the ripping process with dBp because it could not communicate to the robot well enough. My guess is this has a lot to do with the drivers written for robot-PC command and control rather than the complete application itself. I downloaded the robot software from the dBpoweramp site for this comparison. Nonetheless, I cannot recommend dBp with this robot. I have not tested other robots with dBp so my comments should not be expanded to include anything broader than what I've stated here. 2ff7e9595c
Comments