X-Fi versus Digital Out......

[The Boston Dangler]

?

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: jonmcguffin
Okay... well this is a quote directly from the X-Fi page at soundblaster.com

"SuperRip? allows you to rip your CDs into Xtreme Fidelity quality.
The X-Fi 24-bit Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D features allow you to "SuperRip" CDs into Xtreme Fidelity quality so you can now enjoy permanently enhanced music instead of low-quality MP3 files!"

OK, STOP. Big red sign, here.

EAC secure mode, with a drive that can C2 error reporting well (Lite-On, new BenQs, Plextor...find some reviews), is there for better ripping (w/o C2 error reporting, it'll be too slow in most cases). If you're somewhat anal, even get your read offset, and have the potential for truly bit-perfect copies! But, mainly, check to see about C2, and use secure mode.

For encoding...go FLAC. There are others (WMA lossless, Apple lossless, ALAC, Monkey Audio Codec), but FLAC offers the best for overall support--you'll have little trouble using it on any machine, with any OS, and it doesn't appear to be going away. If you're not an Ipod type for hardware, you can find FLAC-supporting DAPs without too much trouble (Cowon iAudio X5, FI).

From FLAC, you can then do anything else, save make a perfect CD copy, later on. Technically, you can even do that (rip image, stick cue sheet in the FLAC), but it is a process that requires more than pointing and clicking once. You can also make a single FLAC of an album, but don't expect a lot of support for that, beyond playing straight through.

Bit-perfect: every bit comes out fine. This is not always the case, and tends to be a software/firmware issue. Exactly why they drop I do not know.

MAC: Monkey can get smaller, but requires more CPU power to decode, which is why FLAC has the portables. WavPack is nice, but not that well supported. FLAC and WavPack seem to have the brightest futures of free codecs, though.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I have to withdraw my recomendation of EAC. I've started fooling around with some other apps, and I find dbPowerAmp vastly superior. The user interface is MUCH friendlier, it's simpler, and it's a little faster. It still yields perfect quality.

For Plextor users the fastest extractor is still Plextools, but it does nothing for encoding. A FLAC frontend is needed, running as an extra step.

Edit: Doh, Plextools does FLAC, OGG, and Monkey's