audio storage and encoding

[randomlinh]

I'm looking to be able to convert my cds to FLAC images (or possibly another lossless method) while retaining all CD info like artists, track info, etc. I want to then be able to convert them to another compressed format, ogg or mp3 later on, and be able to import the cd info into id3 tags.

dbpoweramp comes closest as an all in one solution, but I would like to be able to use EAC or something that uses a good ripping system. That and have more control (the tagging for dbpoweramp seems lacking). flacattack is another option but it seems a little annoying to use to conver to mp3 later on.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[DaveSimmons]

I've used EAC + FLAC to rip about 900 CDs to FLAC, worked very well and it does tag the FLAC files.

When I got myself a Zen Xtra for Xmas I used dbPowerAmp and its file selector to convert about 300 of the FLAC CDs to MP3 for the Zen, using the File Selector in db. That worked well too.

I plan to keep using this combination -- EAC for the ripping, db for transcoding.

 

[sparkyclarky]

J River Media Center 10 is one of the most powerful ripping tagging solutions I've seen/used. Unfortunately, you have to pay for it. However, it will rip in a variety of lossless and lossy formats, along with having the ability to do on the fly conversion from one format to another. It keeps all relevant tagging info also. I use it a lot, and now that I've switched to a Mac mini as my main machine I'm having a doozy of a time trying to figure out what I'm going to use for my audio needs. Previously I was encoding to APE files, but I'd ideally like something that plays in iTunes. So, I'm currently considering going with a large external HD and going with Apple lossless. However, to save space and make my library more easily synch with my iPod, I might end up downgrading to high bitrate MP3s. I'm currently doing listening tests to see if I can tell the difference between a 256 VBR MP3 and a lossless encoded song....

 

[sparkyclarky]

As an additional note, if you really want tons of info on conversion of formats and such, visit www.hydrogenaudio.com . I just dropped by there and found the solution to what I was wondering about.

 

[randomlinh]

well, it seems the best bet is probably use foobar right now for converting flac later on if need be. Now to rip everything