copying cds to hard drives

googler

Sloped wrote: »

I would save them in the format they came in you can always convert them.

Technically impossible. The data on a 'red book' CD isn't in a 'file' format that any PC or MAC file system will recognise, preventing you from merely copying files from the CD to the HDD. That's why you need ripping software, to take the data from the CD and convert it to a file format.

googler

SmileySteve92 wrote: »

MP3 is probably the best format to use, It's also compatible with most phones and ipods and stuff.

It's not the best in terms of audio quality, and at best will give an approximation of what's on the CD.

If the OP wants to keep an exact copy of the CDs, they need to rip as WAV, FLAC or other 'lossless' format. By all means convert to mp3 for use on devices like these, but don't keep in mp3 as a master format

Dave_C_2

As has been said on another thread on DCDs, pop down your local market/Wilkos/computer shop and get some plastic sleeves or CD wallets. Throwing away the jewel CD cases and just keeping the disc and paper inserts saves an awful lot of shelf space.

Lets face it, the best backup for a CD is the original disc.

Dave

pledgeX

googler wrote: »

It's not the best in terms of audio quality, and at best will give an approximation of what's on the CD.

If the OP wants to keep an exact copy of the CDs, they need to rip as WAV, FLAC or other 'lossless' format. By all means convert to mp3 for use on devices like these, but don't keep in mp3 as a master format

Is it really worth having a 'master' copy in a lossless format? I know there's no way I could tell the differnece between a FLAC file and a 320kbps mp3...

For simplicities sake, I've gone for a 320k mp3, it sounds fine to me and I don't have to worry about compatability.

pedrothefish

thanks everyone for their inputs it seems between flac wav and mp3 320kbps.
I tried the test on the billywhizz post and got it wrong!
The next question is what free cd ripper should i use, there seems to be quite a few but I'm sure someone can point me in the right direction.
thanks again.

callistris

On PC and running xp or above WMP will do the job for you, just make sure you change the rip setting first to 320 and mp3 and make sure you dont 'protect' your music, as this may cause you problems if trying to play in the car from mp3 disc;)

googler

pedrothefish wrote: »

The next question is what free cd ripper should i use, there seems to be quite a few but I'm sure someone can point me in the right direction.

Exact Audio Copy - EAC

Consensus is that this one is the best.

Keep a lossless copy as WAV or FLAC, then use a convertor to generate mp3 from these, if you need mp3s

If your master is an mp3, you'll never regain the information lost by encoding to mp3

closed

traders little helper can be useful for re-encoding, and foobar2000 for playing flac directly

pedrothefish

thanks for replies I think I'll go for saving them to flac and using EAC as and when needed. A nice winter project.