Ripping CDs

rmg1

Hi all

This has potentially been asked before but I couldn't find anything.

I've noticed that Windows Media Player has stopped finding album info (track names, album art, etc) and I'd like to find something that will.

I've tried VLC but I'vbe found that you can only rip one track at a time from the disc (unless you use a batch file, at which point you need to add in the details anyway from what I've read).

Does anyone have any suggestions (preferably free) for a CD ripper that will find the album info and rip an entire CD (or set of tracks)?

TIA

Richard

esuhl

I haven't ripped a CD for a few years, but EAC (Exact Audio Copy) was the de-facto "best" ripper out there back then.

It specialises in low-level techniques that get the best quality rip possible.  It can read CDs that are so scratched that they're completely unplayable.  It can find album info (from CDDB, etc.) and rip a whole CD, or whatever tracks you like.

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Neil_Jones

The Windows Media Player data thing stopped a while back, particularly for versions of Windows prior to 8.1.

fenlander_uk

Reviews of the best options here. I rarely rip CDs these days, but when I do I find that Fairstars works perfectly.

Belenus

I've been using FreeRip for years to rip CDs to FLAC, a lossless format.

It can rip to lossy formats too such as MP3, WAV, WMA and Ogg. 

It usually finds track names etc. I use Mp3tag to modify or add track information.

I get album art from Wikipedia or google images etc.

SurferDan

+1 for EAC, free, fast, accurate. Downloads cover art, tags etc from built in or external database. Excellent online tutorials
Plus use MP3tag to edit tags singly or in batches.
Other people swear dBPoweramp is the best cd ripper. 

stator

A lot of ripping programs won't get the CD track info because the Database they use (freedb) has just gone offline

Neil_Jones

The Freedb database has been taken over by gnudb.org.

Some programs are aware of this, some obviously won't be.  If not and you can configure things manually, all the details are at https://gnudb.org/howto.php

tronator

Best tagger I think is Musicbrainz Picard.

DoaM

+1 more for EAC and MP3Tag.

CDex used to be the go-to utility for ripping back in the day but they decided to start loading it with questionable things ... last time I tried to install it MBAM warned me about it. That's when I switched to EAC.

rmg1

Thanks folks.
I did look at EAC but I wasn't sure how good it was.  I'll install it and see how I get on.
I do prefer ripping to MP3 so if it does that and it's straightforward to use, I'll be happy.