Best Free CD Ripper
I recently started the long task of ripping my 1200 CDs to my hard disk. I knew it was a huge job and one I certainly wanted to do only once. So, before I started, I was determined made sure I did it right. There are lots of rippers available. All media players including Windows Media Player can rip. There are also some great freebies plus a host of commercial rippers. Most will rip to WAV, MP3 and usually several other formats.
If your CDs are like mine then some will be scratched or have lots of finger-marks. These can cause pops and crackles in the ripped file. Rippers vary greatly in their ability to handle these problems. Some will simply get stuck while others will skip forward over the problem or even create a silent gap. The best programs will try repeatedly to fix the problem with no audible effects. After a lot of experimentation I ended up with three rippers that were impressive with their features, all of which are free.
Though the other products reviewed here were capable, Exact Audio Copy (EAC) was outstanding in its ability to handle CD imperfections. I'm now two thirds of the way through my ripping exercise. Of the 800 or so CDs ripped I've only had 7 tracks that EAC couldn't rip perfectly. Given the condition of some of my CDs, that's a mighty impressive performance. EAC can rip to WAV, MP3 (using the LAME encoder), OGG, FLAC, APE and more. CD rippers interact strongly with your CD hardware so it's possible EAC may not work with your particular CD drive. If that's the case, take a look at the other products recommended here. While their performance with scratched CDs is not as good as EAC they are still outstanding freeware products.
CDex is a very capable product. It can convert to WAV, MP3 (Using the LAME Encoder) OGG, APE, and more. An especially nice feature of CDEX is the ability to transcode one compressed file format to another. The other two products do not have this option. It also has the feature of recording straight from analog input.
Another capable product is Audiograbber. Coming in at a small 1.58 MB, it is the smallest of the products reviewed here, and does a lot for its size. Like CDEX it can convert to WAV, MP3 OGG, and more, and it also has the feature of being able to record from analog input. Of the the programs reviewed here, Audiograbber's interface seemed to be the least confusing. It was very easy to get around and figure out how and where my files were going to be created and stored. The Audiograbber support forum says that it will work on Vista, but it has some major issues that are difficult to get around. Also it has not been updated for quite some time.
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Joe Bennett. Registered site visitors can contact Joe by clicking here.
Product Specifications:
Exact Audio Copy
Website: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
Download Page: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/index.php/resources/download/
Author: Andre Wiethoff
Current version: V0.99 prebeta 4
Version date: 1/30/2008
Download file size: 2.4 MB
License: Free for non-commercial use
Operating systems supported: Windows 95-Vista
Additional software required: LAME Encoder - Available here
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program will run in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Yes - Available here
Non-English languages supported: Many - Available here
Other relevant information: None
CDex
Website: http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/
Download page: http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/?q=download
Author: arianepaola, codingmaster
Current version:1.70 b2
Version date: 6/23/2006
Download file size: 1.91 MB
License: GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating systems supported: Windows 95-Vista
Additional software required: LAME Encoder - Available here
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: Program is portable
Non-English languages supported: Many - Available here
Other relevant information: None
AudioGrabber
Website: http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/
Download page: http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/download.html
Author: Jackie Franck
Current version: 1.83 build 1
Version date: 2/9/2004
Download file size: 1.63 MB
License: Freeware
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95-Vista
Additional software required: None
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: German, Spanish, French and Italian and more
Other relevant information:
- Appears to be abandonware.
- Runs very quirky on Vista
- Requires lame_enc.dll to encode MP3 files.
Related Topics:
- Best Free CD/DVD Burning Software
- Best Free "Windows Media Player" Replacement
- Best Free Audio/Video Format Conversion Program
- Best Free CD Recovery Utility
- Best Free Audio Editing Software
- How to Work With Audio CD .CDA Files
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Hi Joe,
Quick couple of questions - I'm starting to plan the next 5 years odd - I want to sell the old hi-fi and ripp an entire CD collection to hard disc in lossless ( presumably FLAC ?? )( need best sounding system as mate has valves ) - as the cost of disc is dropping like a stone - I'll get a few Terabytes and raid it - then motherboard with outputs of optical ( digital not noisy ) to decent theatre system and HDMI for TV.( is this right ?? )
Q1. So presumably use EAC - but is there a quick app which works well to FLAC and if I hit any problems then ripp using EAC ??
Q2. Just started using Mediamonkey ( free ) as the organiser - Looks good - Can you advise any better organiser to auto convert to lower MP3 bit rate for portable. ( don't mind paying )
Thanks for all your help - superb site. I use 100% Gizmo's advice for everything.
Cheers
RickeeBoy !
Hi RickeeBoy.
To answer your questions:
CDex will rip to FLAC fine, just be careful with scratched CD's. That will be where EAC will really be helpful for you.
I'm not familiar with any other music organizers besides Mediamonkey that would do what you are asking. I realize you are probably trying to save space on your music player, but music player capacities are now high enough (8 GB and higher on most players) where you don't have to down-sample your music to get it to fit. Realize also that by down-sampling your music, while you may get a smaller file size, the sound quality of the music file will go down... considerably in some cases.
Joe
I did this a couple of years ago. In the end I used Music Converter from:
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/download.htm
It lets you convert to mp3 VBR (among other things), so you can effectively use any bit rate you desire. I started with FLAC, but couldn't hear any difference so settled for high-end mp3s.
Can you recommend any free DVD rippers?
Try here:
http://www.freedvdripper.net/free-dvd-ripper.html
I would also look here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-cd-dvd-burning-software.htm
I prefer CDex because it is the easiest to use but it will rip imperfect MP3's from damaged discs. For tough cases EAC is the only way to go but its interface is horrible.
-J
Bonk Encoder [http://www.bonkenc.org]
FreeRip seems pretty good too!
uses lame enc, sounds good to me.
http://www.freerip.com/download.php
great site here btw ;)
How do you get EAC to rip to mp3 using lame with a bit rate > 192kBits?
In EAC, press F11 to bring up your compression options. There you can select the bit rate.
You sure it works?
If that doesn't work, you can click on your menu: EAC > Compression Options, then click on the "External Compression" tab.
I have had two new dvd re-wrter drives, firstly pioneer dvr 111, that had nothing but problems, now Ive, updated to dvr 115 same problems with intermittant skipping on some discs, is this software related as you suggest above.
I rip CD with audio ripper, but this free one seems good.
I have many DVD, so I use DVD Ripper http://www.daniusoft.com/dvd-ripper.html.
What is the problem of WMP 11? It works for me!
It's the same thing with IExplorer. Why the people use Firefox ? Because they want SOMETHING ELSE !
Ok, I'll rephrase: what's the advantage of these apps over WMP11 ?
If WMP works for you then that is fine. The advantage these apps have is more flexibility and options. With WMP you have the option of ripping your music to 2 different wma formats, or mp3. With the products listed here, you have other formats you can rip to as well as other options for ripping them. Plus, some people simply just don't want to use WMP, and so are looking for alternatives. Hope that answers your question.
Audiograbber can be portable.
After you install it you can move the installation folder on an usb stick, other partition etc and use it from there.
Using Audiograbber together with lame enc will result great mp3s.
dbPoweramp is not free.
I've looked at dbPowerAmp and the main reason I don't include it on this list is because the free version does not have the ability to rip to Mp3 format. This to me is a major feature that should be there by default. The pay versions have that.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/db-versions.htm
Don't forget dbPoweramp. It's a lot easier for a newbie to set up than EAC, and it incorporates AccurateRip, which allows you to compare your rip to others worldwide. If your rip matches the digital fingerprint of the one in the AccurateRip database, you can rest assured you have a flawless copy of your CD.
Don't forget Bonkenc!
Windows media player rips way faster than EAC or CDEX because it rips directly to .wma. EAC and CDEX rip to WAV and then convert to .mp3 using LAME. (EAC can use other converters besides LAME - it can convert to ogg).
The speed difference is considerable - I'd guess 5 times faster at least. It's the way to go if you are ripping an entire CD collection and have a player which supports wma. I have an iRiver which does (and gives excellent sound quality using SRS and the Sennheiser earpieces it came with).
wma seems to give better sound quality for the same file size - but that is a subjective opinion.
Windows Media Player rips faster than EAC or CDEX NOT because it rips directly to .wma. It's because EAC and CDEX use secure methods, constantly verifying to be absolutely sure that the rip is identical to the original. It is essential to make a perfect copy. Windows Media Player may skip problematic parts resulting glitches in the sound. I would prefer the safest method against speed.
I used Audiograbber a couple of nights ago. It was WAY slower than CDEX. And given that it hasn't been updated in over 4 years, I'd recommend that you remove this one from the list.
I use it and have it running on Vista. Didn't know there was probs with Vista till I read it here. Have no issues with the speed, not withstanding others may be faster.
However speed is not the point, quality of the rip is.
Tried CDEX a couple of years ago and didn't relate to it that well. Still I'm not suggesting it be removed from the list.
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