Free software for ripping CDs

Any suggestions for what free software I can download so I can rip CDs to my hard drive?

I'd like to use the highest quality file type. My media player can play the following:

WAV containing uncompressed
PCM 16-24 bit 32-96kHz
FLAC containing losslessly compressed
PCM 16-24 bit 32-96kHz
Apple Lossless (ALAC) 16-24 bit @ 12/16/22.05/24/32/44.1/48/88.2/96kHz
AIFF containing uncompressed
PCM 16-24 bit 32-96kHz
Microsoft® Windows MediaTM Audio
(WMA 9 Standard) 32-320kbps
MP3 (CBR or VBR) 16-320kbps
AAC, HE AAC and AAC+
(CBR or VBR) 16-320kbps
OGG Vorbis 32-320kbps

Thanks in advance!

I have a Mac Pro as well as a Windows PC.

Been a long time since I ripped a CD

Luckily, you'll only have to do it once.

I'd suggest you rip to FLAC. To do that, use EAC in secure mode (Windows) or CDParanoia (Linux) - Rubyripper is a great front-end to CDParanoia and easy to use.

Hi Peter, if Free, then EAC is a good tool, I used it to convert about half my >3K collection. But several years ago, I decided convenience and speed were worth paying for and I purchased dBPoweramp suite and have not looked back.

For extracting audio tracks from DVD and BluRays, I use DVDfab.

Converting multichannel DVD-Audio (and DVD tracks) to multichannel FLAC, I use DVD-Audio Extractor.

I highly recommend the FLAC format for it's widespread support and high quality. But for iDevices, the challenge is (IIRC) they do not yet support FLAC. So I've been ripping every album into two formats concurrently, one is lossless FLAC and the other is high-bit-rate MP3.

Thanks for the reply guys!

The most important lesson with ripping is: do it once, and do it good, because it is a nasty task, especially if you have to do more than a few cd's.
I would recommend dbPoweramp. It's not free, but not more than about 40 dollars. It will make the job very easy.
There is a great thread about the ripping process on the forum for Meridian Sooloos users, part of which will be the same for everyone who wants to have computer/server audio: http://www.meridianunplugged.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=20
It's the top thread on the list.

Also, before you even rip your first CD, think long and hard about how you want your meta-data.

I've got a huge mess in my catalogue - caps, lowercase, surname first, surname last, Mozart, W.A. Mozart, Mozart, W. Mozart, WA Mozart........the list goes on. To be honest, the mess is so big I just deal with it - I won't be fixing it.

The things you need to pay special attention to are compilation albums and classical. Particularly classical, it does not fit into the basic album/artist structure, but my suggestion would be to make it - use "Artist" for "Composer" and "Album" for "Work" - searching through the "Composer" tag can get very tedious if you have other genres as well.

But in the end - nothing is wrong and it's personal preference - just think long and hard about it. You can thank me later.

Amey is right, that's a very important thing to consider *before* you start the process.

Though I have never used it, I have heard some good word about mp3tag, a free program to easily change all mistakes you have made while ripping, regarding names, titles etc. It can change more than just the tags of mp3's.

^^ Agreed, I use MP3tag extensively on the rips from DVDfab or DVD-A Extractor. Works like a charm. Can do batch changes as well.

Nutshell said:

Though I have never used it, I have heard some good word about mp3tag, a free program to easily change all mistakes you have made while ripping, regarding names, titles etc. It can change more than just the tags of mp3's.

Click to expand...

And "Puddletag" on Linux is just as good.

amey01 said:

Also, before you even rip your first CD, think long and hard about how you want your meta-data.

Click to expand...

Good call. I found this out very early when I started ripping my CDs to Apple Lossless.

I use DVD Audio Extractor. You get the full version for trial for a whole month. I wanted to stick within the Apple universe, so I ripped all my software (cd, dvd, blu-ray) into ALAC which is Apple's version of lossless codec.

JonFo said:

Hi Peter, if Free, then EAC is a good tool, I used it to convert about half my >3K collection. But several years ago, I decided convenience and speed were worth paying for and I purchased dBPoweramp suite and have not looked back.

Click to expand...

Is there anything as good as dbpoweramp that works on a mac? I don't mind paying for speed and convenience, but I only use macs. I want to convert my entire cd collection to ALAC. Any suggestions?

I know some Mac users who use XLD. But I'm not a Mac man myself, so I don't know if it is the best option.
Isn't it possible to run Windows on a Mac machine? In that case, you could use dBpoweramp...

JonFo said:

Hi Peter, if Free, then EAC is a good tool, I used it to convert about half my >3K collection. But several years ago, I decided convenience and speed were worth paying for and I purchased dBPoweramp suite and have not looked back.

For extracting audio tracks from DVD and BluRays, I use DVDfab.

Converting multichannel DVD-Audio (and DVD tracks) to multichannel FLAC, I use DVD-Audio Extractor.

I highly recommend the FLAC format for it's widespread support and high quality. But for iDevices, the challenge is (IIRC) they do not yet support FLAC. So I've been ripping every album into two formats concurrently, one is lossless FLAC and the other is high-bit-rate MP3.

Click to expand...

DVDfab is great! I use it to rip my blu-rays and DVDs for my movie server. I use JRiver Media Center v. 19 to play the ripps. This performs better then any dedicate blu-ray player!

I'm using XLD on my Mac Mini and it seems to do a nice job - always rip FLAC..