Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

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Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby JoeyGS » Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:43 pm

I am in the process of building my digital archive and I have decided that the file format shall be WMA. Now, I would like to ask for opinions and sharing of experiences on which is the best converter or ripper of CD audio in to WMA. I am currently comparing dbpoweramp and Itunes. Does it matter? Is there any difference in sound quality depending on the converter / ripper you use?
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Re: Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby egay » Tue Aug 16, 2011 6:18 am

I've used a few, Joey - Rhythmbox, WMA, and ZUNE - I stayed with ZUNE because it seemed to capture my rips better than the rest (it can rip hi-def); I also use it for my playback. BUT I do not convert from one type to another so I can't give you any info on that. I rip to WMA Lossless

At the moment I am "testing" the captured Windows Media Center of Win7 because my Windows Home Server 2003 has a connector and they seem to 'make sense' in terms of no additional software burden to my system; I'll report as soon as I have some clear comparison data.

With Rhythmbox, conversion is possible.
I tried OGG, FLAC Level 10 and they seemed OK; WMA rip/playback is limited, but I also suggest you try this if you can (I think they have one for Windows; they are for UNIX/Ubuntu/OpenSUSE).

Ripping is getting to be a 'nice pastime' now :)

BTW, I exclusively use a tank-like CD Ripper like the Outboard Iomega because it is really built to last (I've had it for 5 years now).

Best!

.e.
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Re: Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby JoeyGS » Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:36 am

How does this work? Is it still available today?


egay wrote:
BTW, I exclusively use a tank-like CD Ripper like the Outboard Iomega because it is really built to last (I've had it for 5 years now).

Best!

.e.
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Re: Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby muypogi » Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:24 am

JoeyGS wrote:How does this work? Is it still available today?


egay wrote:
BTW, I exclusively use a tank-like CD Ripper like the Outboard Iomega because it is really built to last (I've had it for 5 years now).

Best!

.e.


Actually, based on experience, the best ripper is a desktop-sized DVD drive. I found that laptop drives minsan namimili and minsan hindi stable yung rips. I have a Samsung external DVD writer pag may CD na ayaw mabasa. Otherwise, I use my Apple laptop's DVD drive, whieh seems to be ok so far. May 2 na CD ako na hindi ma-rip yung 1st track, so I may end up using the trusty Samsung again.

Just to clarify, you're using WMA Lossless or WMA? Plain jane WMA is still a compression algorithm. . .

Lossless is lossless, so technically any lossless format is equal or better vs the spinning CD.
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Re: Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby JoeyGS » Tue Aug 16, 2011 2:54 pm

For now I have decided and am ripping my CDs in WAV format. I am using either DBPoweramp or EAC which are rated as excellent rippers. Am still trying to compare the 2 rippers as DBPoweramp is not free but very easy to use while EAC is free but a little tedious to use.

Lossless files when properly transported into the DAC can yield better results than CD. CD has a lot of variable factors in achieving the best output.


muypogi wrote:Actually, based on experience, the best ripper is a desktop-sized DVD drive. I found that laptop drives minsan namimili and minsan hindi stable yung rips. I have a Samsung external DVD writer pag may CD na ayaw mabasa. Otherwise, I use my Apple laptop's DVD drive, whieh seems to be ok so far. May 2 na CD ako na hindi ma-rip yung 1st track, so I may end up using the trusty Samsung again.

Just to clarify, you're using WMA Lossless or WMA? Plain jane WMA is still a compression algorithm. . .

Lossless is lossless, so technically any lossless format is equal or better vs the spinning CD.
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Re: Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby egay » Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:43 pm

It's WMA LOSSLESS.

I do use, sometimes, my DVDROMs, but I still prefer my outboard CDROM when ripping: I seem to get better results with it than the DVDROMs which sometimes are very choosy of discs.

The outboard CDROM is connected to the PC via USB 2.0 or 1.x (my T23 is 1.x) and yet the SQ are the same (to me) when passed through the DAC, different when not: so your DAC will be your buddy in this digital media.

Now, if I would be ripping HiDef, perhaps a USB 2.0 (or the 3.0) would be better; still 2.0 or 1.x does not offer any difference to me.

I have now connected my desktop to my DAC via the SPDIF and there is a difference in SQ vs USB 2.0; and I mean DIFFERENT as in much better. I didn't use this for the past year because the desktop was quite far from my DAC, but since I reconfigured my room, it became apparent that I should use it, and boy was I surprised - MUCH CLEARER than when using USB... like the proverbial veil that's been taken off. So if your soundcard has SPDIF/RCA - use that rather than your USB. For laptops, we have no choice but the USB, although I think we can use the audio out of high-end laptops (like IBM/Lenovo) as equivalent to SPDIF... I think I read some info somewhere here in WS (by Arnold, yata).

.e.
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Re: Best Converter / Ripper to WMA

Postby muypogi » Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:25 pm

egay wrote:It's WMA LOSSLESS.

I do use, sometimes, my DVDROMs, but I still prefer my outboard CDROM when ripping: I seem to get better results with it than the DVDROMs which sometimes are very choosy of discs.

The outboard CDROM is connected to the PC via USB 2.0 or 1.x (my T23 is 1.x) and yet the SQ are the same (to me) when passed through the DAC, different when not: so your DAC will be your buddy in this digital media.

Now, if I would be ripping HiDef, perhaps a USB 2.0 (or the 3.0) would be better; still 2.0 or 1.x does not offer any difference to me.

I have now connected my desktop to my DAC via the SPDIF and there is a difference in SQ vs USB 2.0; and I mean DIFFERENT as in much better. I didn't use this for the past year because the desktop was quite far from my DAC, but since I reconfigured my room, it became apparent that I should use it, and boy was I surprised - MUCH CLEARER than when using USB... like the proverbial veil that's been taken off. So if your soundcard has SPDIF/RCA - use that rather than your USB. For laptops, we have no choice but the USB, although I think we can use the audio out of high-end laptops (like IBM/Lenovo) as equivalent to SPDIF... I think I read some info somewhere here in WS (by Arnold, yata).

.e.


Apple laptops and desktops have built-in optical Toslink output in the headphone jack. Your choice of analog or digital out in other words. . .

For me, I use an Apple AIrport Express and an Apple TV, both connected to my DAC via their Toslink outputs. I can stream both music and video via ALAC. Recent convert to ALAC, as my current system's fidelity can actually produce a very audible difference between my old 320kbps listening standard vs lossless files. . .
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