EAC ripping & encoding tutorial


Recommended Posts

After seeing many people ask about ripping and encoding audio CDs here, I have decided to make a little tutorial for people who want to make the best possible rips as well as encoding quality. EAC (Exact Audio Copy) is used to extract the audio as well as direct the encoding and tagging of the extracted wav files. EAC uses the best in audio extraction and error correction to ensure the highest possible end result. This guide will cover both MP3 and OGG audio compression options. MP3 is the most popular standard with very good transparent quality possible. OGG Vorbis is also used which is a newer compression which delivers better compression then MP3 as well as growing support.

I. Downloading needed files.

ASPI - allows your CD-ROM to rip audio

EAC ? used in ripping, encoding, tagging

EAC profiles ? easy setup pre-configuration of EAC

LAME MP3 ? the MP3 codec

Ogg Vorbis ? the OGG codec

II. Installation

First install the ASPI files. After installing you must REBOOT for these files to take effect. Second is to install EAC, it will ask you to search for LAME.exe and ask question about audio ripping, skip these as the profiles will take care of this. Next is to install the EAC profiles which should be extracted to the C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Profiles\ directory. Second is to download and extract the lame.exe and oggenc.exe into the C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\ directory.

Now lets get EAC setup to we can start ripping and encoding audio. Let?s first set the default output directory to which you want your encoded files to go. To do this go to File, EAC options, and then the Directory tab and direct EAC where you want your files to go. Next let?s check out your CD-ROM/RW/DVD drive specs to see what ripping methods it supports. Go to File, Drive Options, and then Detect Read Features. You will want to have an Audio CD in the drive now that has a few light scratches so EAC can detect your drives features. Its best to use secure mode but if its too slow for you and you don? care so much about quality and possible clicks, check burst mode.

eac3.gif

Lastly you need to put in an email address of any kind from the File, freedb settings. It?s also good to update the freedb server listings here too. Now you can select the profile of the format you want encode and click load. Click on the CD icon to get the artists and song title info, make any changes to the genres or enter the date. Next, simply click the MP3 icon on the left to rip and encode to your specifications.

eac1.gif

This is a work in progress here, just really want people to start using decent audio compression as well as good quality ripps.

Edited by username
Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/77696-eac-ripping-encoding-tutorial/
Share on other sites

When using high bitrates (-q5 to -q10) use Oggenc GT3 by gharf over at sjeng.org. Results almost rival Musepack. It fixes "preecho" and allows for better bit allocation.

Your URL for LAME also seems to be broken. Latest stable binary can be found here at Rarewares. When ripping with LAME it's better to set it up as an external encoder rather than using the EAC DLL which produces unpredictable results.

Secondly, C2 correction should be disabled even if your drive is capable of it.

Edited by Animaniac
  ToastGodSupreme said:
That was a bit brief. You didn't cover the one thing that I had a huge problem with when I first started using EAC:

Getting it to use a CONSTANT bitrate instead of a variable one.

This is what I finally came up with in my compression options:

Why would anyone use CBR?

  Animaniac said:
I believe tags itself, if you tell it that you're using Ogg Vorbis in the external encoder pane.

Yeah, just tried it again, and it did tag the files--first time might have been a fluke. I am digging ogg though. :yes: :cool: Just wish there was greater hardware support, and a WMP plug in would be nice.

  Mav Phoenix said:
Yeah, just tried it again, and it did tag the files--first time might have been a fluke. I am digging ogg though. :yes: :cool: Just wish there was greater hardware support, and a WMP plug in would be nice.

WMP plug-in via DirectShow filter is availible here: http://tobias.everwicked.com

^_^

  Animaniac said:
When using high bitrates (-q5 to -q10) use Oggenc GT3 by gharf over at sjeng.org.? Results almost rival Musepack.? It fixes "preecho" and allows for better bit allocation.

if you notice the profiles i have to download, there is a Ogg GT3 one, thats what i use personally, didn't mention it in the thread because i don't want to get too complicated here

  Mav Phoenix said:
When you rip to ogg, how can you have EAC tag your files?

If you use the profile, it will tag it automatically, make sure the "add id3 tag" is disbled as well for ogg vorbis

should look like this

eac4.gif

you will want the commant line to be this

%s -q 6 -t "%t" -a "%a" -l "%g" -c "comment=EAC: v1 ogg @ q6" -G "%m" -d %y -N %n

and you can change the comment tag to you liking

  zivan56 said:
Or you can just use CDex which has all of those Codecs built in.

but EAC has is more secure ripping for quality, but CDex does the job nice too

Edited by username

Is there any good user manuals for encoding with ogg? I recognize some of the parameters that you listed but It'd be nice if there was something that I could look at as a reference and as a means to learn more about this format.

edit:

Is there anything that I could use in order to join ogg files? I have some classical stuff that I just ripped but the one piece is broken up into movements by track on the CD and I'd like them all to be in one ogg file, if you know what I mean. Or is there a way to rip a grouping of tracks into a single file?

Edited by Mav Phoenix
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

may i just suggest an awesome plugin for Winamp which allows ripping CDAs to MP3s? no need for a software, if you're using Winamp, simply download, install, download the CD-reading applet/patch/plugin and you're set.

Chun Yu Shei-'s MP3 Ripper for Winamp (don't ask about the name)

  Quote
Rip CDs to MP3 directly with Winamp! Why use a different program to rip CDs when you can rip them with Winamp? No ACM codec required either! Be sure to grab the CD Reader plugin from http://www.url.ru/~copah/ if you want to rip CDs (and read the help file too). The help file is HTML help, which most versions of Windows should be able to read. If you can't read it, go to www.microsoft.com and get the HTML Help viewer. You can use VBR and ABR encoding and select how to name the output. New in this version: Can add ID3 tags to output. Added option to display speed statistics after encoding each file (don't use it when you want to encode a CD, since a dialog box pops up after each track).
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • >Mozilla's Firefox has been left behind over time in terms of market share, as it has not been able to keep up with Chromium-based browsers in the performance department. I have no problems with Firefox's performance whatsoever. I suspect the reason Firefox is lagging in market share is that average consumers haven't heard of it and are fine with what was installed on their systems.
    • The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is a new narrative-driven sci-fi RPG inspired by Mass Effect by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Out of nowhere, a narrative-driven sci-fi action RPG has been announced that will take players into the universe of The Expanse TV show and novels. The reveal trailer landed today during the Future Games Showcase, offering both a cinematic look at the setting as well as snippets of gameplay. Check out the The Expanse: Osiris Reborn debut trailer above. The studio behind the project is Owlcat Games. Some may remember that name from being involved in the role-playing titles Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, as well as the most recent hugely well-received RPG Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Now, the studio's sights are set on The Expanse universe, and it's going for the over-the-shoulder third-person gameplay route for the first time. “We’ve been dreaming about building a sci-fi action RPG of this scale for a long time, and The Expanse is the perfect universe to bring that vision to life,” says Owlcat’s Creative Director, Alexander Mishulin. “It’s a world grounded in realism and complexity, perfect for telling a story the way we like it— mature and character-driven, where your choices truly matter." The story will have players taking the role of a custom captain that can be from the Earth, Mars, or the Belt to take control of the most advanced ship currently available. There's a crew to meet and lead, tactical third-person combat, and, as expected from this franchise, a divided solar system to navigate and make decisions on. The studio was also very direct about this experience being inspired by BioWare's Mass Effect trilogy. Aside from the action-heavy gameplay seen in the trailer, Owlcat is promising plenty of political intrigue, as well as romance options for players to dive into. Game Design Producer Yuliya Chernenko added "many of us first played it in our teenage years, and it left a lasting impression," and that "we are building on that legacy and expanding what players anticipate from this experience." The Expanse: Osiris Reborn does not have a release window just yet, but it will be coming out on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
    • I don't know of anyway other than winareo tweaker to set the font type in Win11. They took that option away!   No wonder people are staying with Win10, or 7.   It's not our computer with Win11.... it's theirs!
    • It makes no sense to name it iOS 26 after iOS 18 but logic has left the building a long time ago (remember Microsoft and their Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 or Windows 7 that was actually 6.2)? Not to mention the stupid trend of "rapid releases" where minor releases with some bug fixes and UI changes (basically unnoticeable) masquerade as major releases...
    • Have you tried setting your font to Aptos? Its specifically designed to display better.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      Naomi723 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Week One Done
      abortretryfail earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      Mr bot earned a badge
      First Post
    • First Post
      Bkl211 earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Year In
      Mido gaber earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      488
    2. 2
      +FloatingFatMan
      256
    3. 3
      snowy owl
      246
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      222
    5. 5
      +Edouard
      191
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!