Dazed and Confused

[drgalexo]

I would like to copy all my cds to my computer. I ripped a couple of discs in window media player at what I think are the best settings. They downloaded as a wav file set at the best quality. When I open the individual songs, it says it is a wav file, bit rate of 1411kbps. Is this what I'm looking for, is this the best way or do I need to download some software etc? One cd downloaded very quickly the other really slowed down with the last two songs. I see others using FLAC files etc but the wav file is supposed to be bit perfect so which is better? Is the disc player in the computer adequate for ripping or is an external player required. Help! I looking for best of quality not to be compromised for storage space, within reason ofcourse. I have read some of the starter threads here, great info, but still confusing to me.

[tonyb]

DB power amp is probably the best going reasonably priced software to burn cds. Then download Jrivers to manage it all over Itunes if quality is your main concern. Obviously your on a Windows based PC so most would avoid Itunes when possible for best audio.

[drgalexo]

Thanks tonyb, is DB power amp is an online download, and will it give better results than wav file, or easier? Is the built in cd player in the computer sufficient to do the job?

[tonyb]

That all depends dude, but generally speaking it's ok. The files, as long as they are lossless, wav,flac, etc, should vary little in terms of sound quality. The bit perfect part comes in at burning and reading the file. Itunes has it's limits if your into hi-rez files like 24/96 or above. There's actually a good thread on it somewhere, I'll dig it up.

Best you get a read on too with dacs and how to get the best sound from digital music off the 'puter. Browse some threads, ask away if you don't understand something.

[michael1947]

I just looked at that DB Poweramp and it sounds like good stuff, would it be better than the Media Monkey? My dog says I've spent too much money today so maybe it's nap time.

[drgalexo]

Yea, I don't want anything to do with itunes and my computer files, I wasted alot of time with that already. If I just want to rip the cds to the computer, not burn a cd, will I still need DB Poweramp. It sounds like DB Poweramp, Jriver, and Windows media player all do the same thing.

[BlueFox]

FLAC is a lossless compression format to save space. When the FLAC file is played on a music server it is uncompressed. At that point it is bit for bit identical with a WAV file, and the original file on a CD. The same thing applies to a file saved in Apple Lossless by iTunes software. This is the format I use.

Some say that FLAC/Apple Lossles files do not sound as good as a WAV file, but I have never done an A/B comparison. I do know that for me Apple Lossless sounds fantastic. However, my music server uncompresses the file into memory before it is played, versus uncompressing it as it is played.

[drgalexo]

Bought DBpoweramp, ripped some cds and have no idea where they are stored. Anyone know where they get downloaded to?

[Jetmaker737]

Look in the lower left hand corner of the rip window where it shows "Path".

[drgalexo]

Thanks Jet, I think I beginning to see how it works, I thought it would be a little more automatic but gives you the options. Sends directly to windows media, now I see where the Jriver is supposed to help, but I will use wmplayer for now. I think the files can then be moved to a different player. I just want bit perfect files for now.