I was recently looking for a good CD Ripper, something that does a good quality job with reasonable speed, though speed is not the issue for me, but quality is.

Now I know that there are tons of rippers out there, ones you pay for and ones that are free.

I downloaded a program called Exact Audio Copy, and installed in on my PC.

Now has anyone used this ripper and what's your view on it, how good is it compared to others out there. Also I did find it slightly slow when I did a test to extract one track from a CD. I've used others that seem to be slighty faster, but its not speed that I am aoming for but extraction quality.

So give me your own opinion on this program.

Well, it is by far my favorite ripper, and for "most" drives it is the best ripper available, combined with LAME for encoding, this is a powerful tool.

(in reply to Albinoni)

best ripper for windows. i usually get around 10x ripping in secure mode (ripping to wav file).

ps. one of the features of EAC that i have not seen on other rippers is that it tells you the exact position of where an error may have occurred in ripping. from what i remember of CDex (another popular ripper), it only gives you how many errors occurred.

(in reply to Albinoni)

I use Exact Audio Copy.Its a very good and fast programe and what rabbit mention is very important.
Also it has many feautures like the burst mode the copy range mode and the ability to detect your drive read feautures which are very usefull
I agree its a very powerful tool

(in reply to Albinoni)

This is a hardware forum. Please try to keep the forum tidy. Thanks

(in reply to Albinoni)

Best extractor of DA for a non-Plextor drive. If you use Plextor's, then the best is PlexTools/Pro.

(in reply to Albinoni)

Does Plextor software provide CRC checksums like EAC? Without this feature and the ability to refresh the respective values through reading/writing, there is no gurantee of obtaining a 100% defect-free WAV. Moreover, audio sector shifting prohibits any other ripper from trully profesional use.

(in reply to Albinoni)

quote:

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Originally posted by sp

Does Plextor software provide CRC checksums like EAC? Without this feature and the ability to refresh the respective values through reading/writing, there is no gurantee of obtaining a 100% defect-free WAV. Moreover, audio sector shifting prohibits any other ripper from trully profesional use.

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Well, I will quote PlexTools Pro manual for you:

quote:

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PlexTools® Installation and Operation Manual:-
• DAE Error Recovery: the DAE function of PlexTools® can detect Uncorrectable Read Errors.
This detection is based on the C2 flag that is read together with the audio data. It is
impossible to correct these errors, but PlexTools offers a choice of smart strategies that attempt to recover the original data.These strategies consist out of combinations of re-reading the data and changing the read speed.Depending on the type and severity
of the damage, each strategy will give a different result.
The user is encouraged to try out the different strategies and options in order to minimise the read errors and achieve the best results: Fast DAE with no Read Errors.

Report Errors only (no recovery action): This strategy can be used when the source disc is error-free or error correction is not necessary.

Reduce the speed upon error: When Uncorrectable Errors are found, the damaged area will be read at a lower speed in order to find an error-free reading.

Read again upon error: When Uncorrectable Errors are found, the damaged area will be read again for a number of times (Retries) at the selected speed in order
to find an error-free reading.The optional 'Allow Speed Down' can be used to achieve better results at lower speed.

Recover the best sector (least errors): When Uncorrectable Errors are found, the damaged area will be read again for a number of times (Retries) at the selected speed. When the errors stay, the sectors with the least errors will be used to reassemble
the original data.The optional 'Allow Speed Down' can be used to
achieve better results at lower speed.

Recover the best bytes (least errors) per sector: When Uncorrectable Errors are found, the damaged area will be read again for a number of times (Retries) at the selected speed. When the errors stay, the bytes with the least errors will be used
to re-assemble the original data.

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*** The last option really is impressive!

(in reply to Albinoni)

Hi
Please note that the C2 reporting feature is only 99% reliable. According to the mathematics the possibility of an error going undetected is about 1 out ot 10 ^ 12 bits for data and 1 out 10 ^ 9 for audio. If I remember well this is just an error about each 80min disc being ripped!

According to my experience with the plextors in the past, in 1 out of 5 discs this indeed happens. This is according to my own, "private", statistics...

(in reply to Albinoni)

I think Nero 6 Wave tool will take care all of your problem!

(in reply to Albinoni)

What does Nero's wave tool have to do with ripping? While it is a good feature/editor, it is not a good ripping program.

(in reply to Albinoni)