Ripping CD's

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DJKLEEN

DJ Extraordinaire
Mar 31, 2016
652
708
Lafayette la
got some questions. My wife started ripping our collection of cd's the other day. When I go to play them on the Numark with Serato! It que'd up but would not play! First question,,,,,will Serato use a WMS file? Is it a setting?

Now onward to next issue.......I now know how to convert my CD's to MP3 files through Microsoft music player. You just set the rip output to MP3 and bam..... I also slid the quality over to the right all the way to get the best quality! It takes a long time to convert......like 5 minutes per cd! Long time for me I guess!

Now I notices that the MP3 files are at a 320 kHz rate,,,,,,, I thought to myself,,,,, cd's are a standard of 192 KHz. Right. I think wrong!!!!!!!! Someone told me that the WMS file of a cd is far superior than the MP3 file , which is a compressed file. He said that I should at least go with the 320 setting..... Now I saw that all of my MP3 files that I have been buying are at a 250 to 280 and somewhere around there.

My friend says that he converts his files to some other format. But takes up a lot of room......

How do you guys rip CDs into a software usable file?
 
Some of mine are 128 but I did a good portion of ripping when space was a premium. Anything I've ripped in the last 10-12 years is 320. There are some that will argue the difference but in a large room on a pro sound system there is very little noticeable difference.

Most of what I rip now is the audio from my video collection subscription I use free M4A to MP3 converter In the past when I was ripping CD's alot I used Easy Cd DA Extractor I think I paid 40 or 50 bucks at the time for it but it was worth every dime
 
320K CBR (Constant Bit Rate) .. some devices don't like variable but rate. I rip usually with iTunes. CDs are at 1411Kb.
 
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Some of mine are 128 but I did a good portion of ripping when space was a premium. Anything I've ripped in the last 10-12 years is 320. There are some that will argue the difference but in a large room on a pro sound system there is very little noticeable difference.

Most of what I rip now is the audio from my video collection subscription I use free M4A to MP3 converter In the past when I was ripping CD's alot I used Easy Cd DA Extractor I think I paid 40 or 50 bucks at the time for it but it was worth every dime
Was the easy cd program faster than Windows?
 
MP3 files are perfectly fine. They sound great and save plenty of space on my portable HD. That's what you want. Please let us know if those MP3 files will play on your setup.
 
Will Serato play iTunes format?
My iTunes rips in MP3 format. Serato will read those .. and will read the iTunes library format, so I make my playlists in iTunes as well. I use an iPad for hot backup to my laptop and I'll normally run Traktor on the laptop, but I have Serato (and a few others) and they all read iTunes library format.
 
MP3 files are perfectly fine. They sound great and save plenty of space on my portable HD. That's what you want. Please let us know if those MP3 files will play on your setup.
Yes serato plays MP3 files just fine,,,,,will Serato play anything else? Like iTunes or cd files in a file form.?
 
My iTunes rips in MP3 format. Serato will read those .. and will read the iTunes library format, so I make my playlists in iTunes as well. I use an iPad for hot backup to my laptop and I'll normally run Traktor on the laptop, but I have Serato (and a few others) and they all read iTunes library format.
Is there a setting to rip iTunes into MP3 format, or a special converter?
 
Was the easy cd program faster than Windows?

When I started ripping CD's there was no ripper in WMP. There were a bunch of free ones but any I tried had problems or were overly complicated to use. I downloaded a trial of ECD and it worked very well. I have used WMP since it rips at the same rate as ECD but I have had bad rips with it occasionally very rarely ever had one with ECD
 
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Is there a setting to rip iTunes into MP3 format, or a special converter?
In iTunes, you go to "Edit" -> "Preferences" and on the first tab there is a button for Import settings .. lots of options including MP3, WAV, ALAC (Apple lossless), AAC and Aiff .. then you can fine tune the bit rates and other parameters. I think it's a decent rip .. not as good as using the combo of LAME and AudioGrabber .. but a lot easier.
 
You should make two copies.
One in a lossless format such as flac for archival purposes and then the second in mp3 format. The mp3 will be your "working" file that you will use to dj with or for casual listening. The flac file will be your lossless master from which you can create new working files from should your mp3 file ever become corrupt or a better quality compression method becomes standard.

A little more work initially but better in the long run by never having to re-rip should your mp3 file ever become corrupt or your cd gets damaged or degraded to the point where it will no longer read.
 
You should make two copies.
One in a lossless format such as flac for archival purposes and then the second in mp3 format. The mp3 will be your "working" file that you will use to dj with or for casual listening. The flac file will be your lossless master from which you can create new working files from should your mp3 file ever become corrupt or a better quality compression method becomes standard.

A little more work initially but better in the long run by never having to re-rip should your mp3 file ever become corrupt or your cd gets damaged or degraded to the point where it will no longer read.

With the cost of HD space these days make several copies and keep them in different locations
 
Yep,,, i see! I do keep my other copy at work,,,, I know this is a little eccentric but!!!!
I used to keep a backup hard disc in my safety deposit box at the bank ..
 
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