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AlieN View Drop Down
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Points: 16 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AlieN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2013 at 3:50pm
I can't comment on the delivery side too much at the moment (I'm also awaiting Graham's DACs with baited breath), but I can comment on ripping.
 
Ripping a CD from a computer does not always produce a perfect recording, even if saving to a lossless format. There are potentially un-detected bit errors that without decent ripping software will be saved into the FLAC or WAV or whatever.
 
I looked for a while and eventually came across EAC (Exact Audio Copy), which handles the possible errors in a couple of ways. Firstly, it calibrates itself against your drive to get the best possible performance, based upon the capabilities of your drive. Then it will record by making multiple passes over the tracks and verifying that the data it reads is the same each time. Finally, it checksums the resulting file and verifies this against an online database. With all this, you can be pretty confident that your FLAC file is as perfect a copy of the CD as possible.
 
EAC does take little getting to know, and it is Windows only I think, but it is free and I think it is well worth putting the effort in up front. If your recordings are flawed, nothing further down the line will correct this.
 
Neil


Edited by AlieN - 13 Jan 2013 at 3:52pm
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ICL1P View Drop Down
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Points: 2397 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ICL1P Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2013 at 4:08pm
Originally posted by AlieN AlieN wrote:


I looked for a while and eventually came across EAC (Exact Audio Copy), which handles the possible errors in a couple of ways.

Hi Neil,
Rip and Max do the same on Mac OS X as EAC does on Windows.
Ifor
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Reflex M & ACCESSION M, CuSat50, Majestic DAC, a Proprius pair.
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Fatmangolf View Drop Down
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Points: 9695 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2013 at 4:35pm
We have come to similar conclusions on the importance of multiple passses. I have my copy of dBPoweramp set to do that and also to compare the checksums on my rip to those logged by other people.
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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morris_minor View Drop Down
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Points: 6197 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote morris_minor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2013 at 5:05pm
I use Max for OS X when ripping to FLAC for my Squeezeboxes. Vinyl rips are done at 96/24 and then downsampled (after click-repairing if needed, and fade in-outs) to 48/24. TBH I can't hear any difference between 96/24 and 48/24.

I think it's the DAC implementation, and, importantly it's analogue output stage that play a bigger part in perceived sound quality than sample rates/depth over 44.1/16. Plus of course the mastering of the original recording - some 44.1/16 recordings sound better than 96/42 downloads. It's easy to get seduced by the numbers game which raises the expectation that hi-res is necessarily better. And of course DACs promising 192/32 and over must be "better" than lesser specc'd ones. Yeah, right! Shocked

Over my years in hi-fi I've learned (often the hard way - money-wise) that you should chose hi-fi with your ears and not your eyes (on either the bling-ness of the product or the spec). Going with the crowd is the easy way, but rarely the most satisfying . . . 
Bob

Majestic DAC/pre-amp
Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V
Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50
2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links
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Fatmangolf View Drop Down
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Points: 9695 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2013 at 6:30pm
Originally posted by morris_minor morris_minor wrote:

Over my years in hi-fi I've learned (often the hard way - money-wise) that you should chose hi-fi with your ears and not your eyes (on either the bling-ness of the product or the spec). Going with the crowd is the easy way, but rarely the most satisfying . . . 
I think Bob has hit the nail on the head.
 
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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ServerBaboon View Drop Down
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Points: 970 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ServerBaboon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2013 at 7:19pm
Like Jon I too use DBPoweramp to rip my CDs as this will do an error corrected copy of a CD but not only that will compare the ripped version with an online database to make sure.
It always checks 4 online sources for metadata, the only issue this is a not a free program where as I think Exact Copy is.

I rip to Flac because the meta data in flac is supported in all players where as meta data in Wavs is not.

Another thing you need to decide is how you are going to store and serve you music.

Remote upnp server such as Asset, Squeeze box or Vortexbox sending to streamer or a PC  with the music stored locally?

Personally I use a Marantz NA7004 served by a Asset based UPNP server with music ripped by DBpoweramp. Just thinking about what sort of DAC upgrade I could get Wink




Edited by ServerBaboon - 13 Jan 2013 at 7:20pm
Steve

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Various bits of GSP Kit ..well two so far, unless you count the cables that is.
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