jiGGafellz' Step-by-Step Guide to Secure CD Ripping w/Exact Audio Copy



Table of contents

  1. The Introduction
    1. Installation
    2. Configuring the options
    3. Verifying or setting the drive options
    4. Setting the encoder options
      1. LAME mp3
      2. FLAC
      3. Monkey's Audio
      4. Ogg Vorbis
    5. Saving the compression options to a profile
  2. Using EAC
    1. Ripping an audio cd


I. Introduction

This is a detailed and up-to-date guide to configure the best CD extractor on the planet, also known as Exact Audio Copy, which is made for Windows.  It will guide you through the setup It consists of information I've found on various ripping and encoding sites, including Hydrogen Audio.  What I've done is compile the most important and useful specifications that go into making a proper rip without giving you a lot of filler and information that isn't understood by the average user.  At first glance, this guide may seem tedious or overwhelming, but the initial setup of EAC along with the setup of the four encoders is a one time deal.  After that, it's smooth sailing.  I might add that it isn't necessary to configure EAC for all four encoders to use.  Just the ones you prefer or need.


Installation

The very first step is installing EAC.  You need to download EAC.  You also need a working ASPI layer.  If you have Nero installed you can copy wnaspi32.dll from the Nero installation folder (C:\Program Files\Ahead\Nero) to your EAC installation folder (C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy) after the installation has finished. If you don't have Nero you can download the needed file here.

Configuring the options

Press F12.  You can enter your own email address if you like or you can leave the uber@ubernet.org as the default email.  Select a server from the dropdown menu.  The default server is highlighted but as you can see there are multiple servers located all over the world. Select the one you want and click OK.

Press F9 and select the 'Extraction' tab.  Check 'Fill up missing offset samples with silence' and 'Synchronize between tracks.'  Also change the Error recovery quality to High.

EAC Configuration

On the next tab General check following options:

EAC Configuration

On the third tab Tools you also must set a few options:

EAC Configuration

EAC Configuration


Verifying or setting the drive options

This is one of the most important parts of the EAC configuration.

EAC Drive Settings

Select the Drive tab.

Select the Offset/Speed tab

Select the Gap Detection tab

Select OK.

 

Setting the encoder options

The configuration of EAC and the drives is done. Next step is to configure the encoder settings. These differ from compressor to compressor, but the four steps lists below will remain the same.


LAME mp3

The first thing you need to do is get LAME. (This version is recommended by the experts at Hydrogen Audio).

EAC Compression Options

On the External Compression tab enter one of following command lines in the Additional command line options input field:

                                                                        List of recommended settings

Switch

Preset

Target Kbit/s

Bitrate range kbit/s

Bitrate designation

-b 320

--preset insane

320

320 CBR

320

-V 0 --vbr-new

--preset fast extreme

245

220...260

V0

-V 2 --vbr-new

--preset fast standard

190

170...210

V2

EAC Compression Options

Select OK to save the settings. Continue reading at Saving the compression options to a profile


FLAC

The first thing you need to do is get FLAC.

EAC Compression Options

On the External Compression tab enter one of following command lines in the Additional command line options input field:

EAC Compression Options

Select OK to save the settings. Continue reading at Saving the compression options to a profile


Monkey's Audio

The first thing you need to do is get Monkey's Audio. You will also need wapet The Monkey's Audio format supports the so-called APEv2 tags but the command line encoder doesn't.  Therefore, we point EAC to wapet which does support APEv2 tags and, which on its turn, points to the Monkey's Audio compressor.

EAC Compression Options

On the External Compression tab enter one of following command lines in the Additional command line options input field:

EAC Compression Options

Select OK to save the settings. Continue reading at Saving the compression options to a profile


Ogg Vorbis

The first thing you need to do is get Ogg Vorbis.

EAC Compression Options

On the External Compression tab enter one of following command lines in the Additional command line options input field:

EAC Compression Options

Select OK to save the settings. Continue reading at Saving the compression options to a profile


Saving the compression options to a profile

You've just set the options for your preferred encoder and now it's time to save that configuration to it's very own profile so you don't have to go that setup again. This is especially convenient if you want to use several different encoders because each time you change the compression options in EAC the old settings will be lost. You can use one of two ways to create your new profile(s).

    1st Method

 

    2nd Method

Your new profile should now be added to the dropdown box on the left of the buttons. If you have several profiles in the list you can switch between those by selecting one from the list and selecting the Load button. The second method is the better of the two for it's simplicity and time saving effectiveness. You may now continue setting another compressor or another profile, or you can start using EAC.

2. Using EAC

Insert the cd you want to rip in your cd-rom and wait for EAC to request the cd information in the online freedb database. Verify the titles because the information is sent in by volunteers to freedb and often contains typos.


Ripping an audio cd

This is the most common used extraction method. Repeat this process each time you rip a disc.

EAC will now start the extraction process. It will test read each track for errors and then read, copy and then compress the track using the external compressor.  You will see another pop up during extraction.  This is the external compressor encoding the file.  It looks just like the window you get by clicking Start > Run and typing cmd.  Do not close this window! It will open and close as it begins and finishes the compression, respectively. During extraction you'll sometimes notice red dots lighting up in the extraction dialog window and after the extraction completed you get a log with things like Peak Level and Track Quality. When a Read Error or Sync Error occurs, there's an uncorrectable error in the read audio data. After extraction you'll get a list of the exact locations of the suspicious positions.

Ripping with EAC

EAC has now completed the extraction process.