BASIC CD RIPPING GUIDE

[Steve]

Basic CD Ripping Guide!

 

This is the method I use to get the best quality results when ripping CDs to mp3 files. First off, you're gonna need EAC and a version of LAME. Here's the links: -

 

.:. EAC (Left click) .:.

.:. LAME (Right click & save) .:.

 

Unzip LAME to your Program Files directory. You can put it anywhere actually, but this is as good a place as any.

 

Next, install EAC. Now, you have to tell EAC to use LAME. To do this, start it up and hit "EAC" followed by "Compression Options". Click on the External Compression tab and then hit the Browse button. Browse to the LAME folder you unzipped earlier and select the lame.exe file and hit OK. It will look something like this: -

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stevebluck/images/rip1.jpg

 

It's probably wise to also check the box to delete the wav file after compression or you'll end up with wav files and mp3s. You can also set the quality you require in the drop down box. I use 192Kbps VBR at high quality (as in the pic) which seems to give great results. You can also click on the other tabs and set options for using tags and such if you wish. Once you're done hit OK. That's it as far as setting up the software is concerned and only needs to be done once unless you want to change the quality settings etc.

 

To rip a CD, simply insert it into the drive and start EAC. If you want to get the CD information filled in automatically from the Internet, hit "Database", then "Get CD Information From" followed by "Remote freedb". EAC will then connect to the web and try and get the CD info for you which may work or it may not if the CD is really obscure. All you need to do then is hit the big MP3 button on the left and choose a folder to save your files. EAC will then rip the CD to wav files and encode them to high quality LAME mp3s. It has error correction built in, so if the CD is scratched it will do it's best to read the disc anyway.

 

For some more in-depth information have a read here: -

 

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?ti...e_Configuration

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=EAC_and_Lame

 

If you have problems, you may want to rip to wavs using EAC and then use a separate encoder to convert to mp3. I've never had any problems with doing it all in one step though.