From: Fred Maxwell <rockbox_at_anti-spam.org>
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 17:49:35 -0500

c s wrote:

> Since the thing
> that controlls the quality of the resulting MP3
> encoding is the thing that all the recomendations have
> in common... the Lame encoder, and the rest is just a
> user interface wrapped around that encoder, the smart
> thing to do is pick the one that matches your needs
> for features and ease of use.

What controls the quality is both the LAME encoder and whether the ripper
has produced an error-free rip. With just about any ripper other than EAC,
you just have to cross your fingers and hope that you get lucky.

> I found FreeRIP
> (http://www.mgshareware.com/frmmain.shtml) to be
> extremely powerful, easy to use, and packaged with
> everything needed in one download, in addition to
> being completely free.

But are the extractions error-free? Does it do multiple reads? Does it
slow the read speed down when an error is encountered? If an error is not
correctable, does it take you to that section of the rip so that you can
hear the effects of the error? Does it perform offset correction? Answer
"yes" to those questions and I'll have it downloaded and installed in a
millisecond.


> Since EAC seems to be extremely popular, I plan to
> take a look at that too now just in case it has some
> nifty feature that I didn't relize I might want.

I don't think that you will be disappointed.

> The main point to remember is that when you have
> several choices that all use the Lame encoder, they
> all will give you the same quality encoding, so you
> should pick one that has the simplicity or complexity
> of user interface features that you desire.

Again, I have to disagree. If you can't trust the quality of the rip, then
you can't trust the end product.

Regards,
  Fred Maxwell
Received on 2003-12-19