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jwilson55

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Anyone used a good Windows based software for Lossless WAV's? I have almost all my CD's ripped in lossless wav format. I've used Windows Media Player for this task. What I am really after, is a piece of Windows based software that would make convertng 300 - 400 albums to lossless wave format easy. I've used a couple of different softwares that will do this, but it's hasn't been easy. Any suggestions would be appreciated

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WAV format, huh? Well I guess disk space is cheap enough these days.

I would probably start converting the remaining CDs to lossless FLAC format, to save a bit of space, and make sure all the metadata is good. Also nice when you want to squeeze more songs on a portable media player or a household media player that supports FLAC natively. It seems like the standard for open source lossless has been FLAC for the last 5 or so years... steer away from regular WAV, lossless WMA, and any apple offerings (ALAC).

The quickest and easiest way to achieve what you want is to get the $20 Winamp Pro and let it rip them for you. It will connect to the CDDB and grab album covers, artist, album title, song listings... if available or you can enter your own information if you would like. This product will also support .wav as you have already been using.

The nice thing about doing it this way is it will create the folder structure for you and create the proper ID3/metadata. This way you don't have to rename files and waste tons of time. Also it will help when searching for a specific song, album, keep your tracks in order, etc.

I have ripped soooo many MP3's and other formats to come back and regret that I didn't give them more bitrate, or didn't label the songs correctly.

The best free "Windows" solution, for the value consumer such as myself, is more complex and involves using VMware Player, a Linux distrution called Vortexbox, and some patience. However, after setup, you just fire up the virtual machine, link the proper CD/DVD drive, and let it work it's magic. Pretty much it is the free way to create one of these babies: http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/VortexBox-1TB-Automatic-CD-ripping-NAS-vb1000b.htm

There are other solutions out there too, but most of the decent ripping solutions do take a small amount of money, like $20-40... Winamp, dBpoweramp, etc.

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Exact Audio Copy... it was a pain to get set up at first but I found guides via google. It rips to wav and converts to flac via the "external program" flac.exe It takes a few steps but when done I know I have a good backup of my CD (that can be restored exactly) and will know right away if it isn't error free. I use foobar2000 as a player with the asio4all add in. This has worked well for me on a few hundred CDs but it would have been nice to automatically import album art and such info. It would add a lot when using the Squeezebox Touch (another good choice).

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OK. I wasn't very clear

I'm good on ripping cd's. I looking for an easy way out to rip my LP Album collection of 300 - 400.

Whatever app is used, must have the option to rip from an external source. In my case this would be an output from my pre amp to allow me to use my turntable.

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The best free "Windows" solution, for the value consumer such as myself, is more complex and involves using VMware Player, a Linux distrution called Vortexbox, and some patience. However, after setup, you just fire up the virtual machine, link the proper CD/DVD drive, and let it work it's magic. Pretty much it is the free way to create one of these babies: http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/VortexBox-1TB-Automatic-CD-ripping-NAS-vb1000b.htm

This won't help the OP, but this is interesting! Thanks for posting it; I had never heard of it. Too bad it's not Debian based, but that likely doesn't matter as I'd just setup the distribution on a PC and not tinker with it too much (I wouldn't use it through Windows).

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Then there are those of us who still have the 200+ tunes from Napster that are WMA protected and cannot be copied, converted etc without having a DRM "stripper". Finally solved that problem and am looking at "tunebite" (unless someone has a better idea...). Next is just use the Winmedia and convert them to WAV files. I may..... however..... try FLAC, but since I have the time and not that many CD's, etc to do, I may forego the third party software.

[H]

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http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk/

I have NOT used this software, and probably won't as I do my LP's to DSF (SACD) and it only does 16/44.1. However if CD quality is good enough, this package comes highly recommended from reliable sources and allows for internet lookup of track listings and visual marking of track breaks. I'd go for it myself if they'd support at least 88.2.

Dave

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Sorry I missed what you were asking...

First the hardware - I really like my Bellari VP-530 USB Phono Preamp! What I hear from my turntable IS what I hear from the resulting files. I just wish I had a turntable to do it more justice.

Now, what you asked - I use Audacity to create my raw wav file of each side of the album. I have never found any software (free or $$) that will divide the songs up correctly and automatic. I decided to be happy with one file for each side. I get the level right, record, and lop off the extra silence at the beginning and end. Later, I convert to flac using FLAC Frontend or MP3 as needed right from Audacity.

I don't use filters with Audacity usually because it seems to work like a sledgehammer without much finese. I don't want to try to get rid of any of the noise because it invariably will take music with it. At the least, keep your original and make a copy if you want to mess with any filtering. Once you get the hang of it, dividing the file into individual song files isn't that hard but it isn't worth it to me.

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So, if I download Winamp Pro and make FLAC files with it, can any other FLAC player play it? Like FOOBAR or the Apple player or ? Are there different versions of FLAC that are not compatible?

I'm trying to pull myself out of this ignorance hole by listenening to the "voices of experience" instead of half believing the ads I read on internet.

Thanks

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I don't know about making FLAC files with Winamp Pro but this is the guide I use to set up Exact Copy for creating Flac files: EAC Setup Guide

According to the guide there are things you can do to screw up Flac files where they will play in some players but not others. Using the above method I have been able to play the resulting flac files in Foobar2000, Winamp, MediaMonkey, and with the Squeezebox Touch just fine. Don't know about any others. Hope that helps!

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So, if I download Winamp Pro and make FLAC files with it, can any other FLAC player play it? Like FOOBAR or the Apple player or ? Are there different versions of FLAC that are not compatible?

I'm trying to pull myself out of this ignorance hole by listenening to the "voices of experience" instead of half believing the ads I read on internet.

Thanks

yes, flac files will play with other applications. besides playing in winamp, i've tried in windows media player, creative labs media player, and logitechs media server software.

flac is ubiquitous..

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I am in the same boat in needing to convert records.

I did download the WinAmp PRO as a member recommended. It doesn't seem to get too much easier than that for converting CDs to FLAC.

I looked at the Belari VP-530. Kinda pricy to me. Cost around $300.

I ran a cross the Behringer UFO-202. Cost around $23 to $30.

Has anyone used it?

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UFO202.aspx

It comes with lots of software.

What else are ya'll using?

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