Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems call me a cynic but....

John,

You make some valid points above. The neurosis we suffer manifests in many ways as you know. So, you might be right about ripping accuracy. Do we tend to err on the side of theoretical performance ? Of course we do....cables, earth spikes, plinths, conditioners...you name it.

EAC does take longer than iTunes or WMP and maybe it's identical. Each to his own whether EAC is worth it. Maybe if the 'non-believers' ripped their collections at 2 minutes per disc with iTunes, it would be more of an incentive than EAC with it's steepish learning curve.

I think most would agree that a Meridian server would be unnecessary (unless they invented a completely irresistable feature for it).

I'm still keen to know how best to get the 1's and 0's from my server into my 8k's ......in the M world

an ethernet connection would solve pretty much all the problems... i am sure the announcement is coming, how long are the boys at HQ gonna leave us waiting? ;-)

johnmcelfresh - sorry I have to disagree with you re iTunes etc.

Have you ever loaded the subsequent ripped file into a decent program such as Adobe Audition and seen how horribly compressed the waveform becomes?

Over compression = tiring and dull to listen to.

I always rip using Adobe Audition - into a 32 bit waveform. Subsequent work on the waveform can then take place at 32 bits, then downsampling to 16 bit when saving for playback.

Dragon, I presume John (like me) is ripping to Apple Lossless which does not alter the bit stream, and passes the DTS "test".

Cheers,
David.

johnmcelfresh,

I agree with most of your points.

But I'm completely convinced EAC with Accurate Rip does a "better" job. Now can you actually hear that it did a better job I doubt it.

I ripped half my library with Windows Media player using lossless WMA with error correction on (I believe is a similar level you used in ITunes). I decided to learn EAC after finding out WMA lossless was not Native to SqueezeBox. After understanding it I reripped everything. I found several CD's that should not of ripped cleanly did using Windows Media Player. After it stated it found errors I did notice junk on most of these CD's and cleaned them then they ripped error free most of the time.

Also calibrated my drive using Accurate Rip. I also learned that one drive was although much slower (a DVD drive) was much more reliable of getting checksum matches in the database than my other drive (CD drive).

So if anything, Eac calibrated my drive correctly, taught me which drive was best and pointed out which CD's were dirty or scratched beyond repair. With Windows Media Player it was just happy to Rip in bliss (with Error correction on).

Now like I said, can you actaully hear the difference I really doubt it but I feel much more confident that I ripped as best I could with EAC.

Once I figured EAC out it was just as fast as ripping as any other tool. You could throttle back how Neurotic you wanted, but if in non Neurotic modes (that run faster) it would still compare checksums in the database. So you know if you got a good rip and decide if it was worth ripping more Neurotically.

Please please let's not get into Apple vs Microsoft debate. It a discussion of Ripping with Neurotic tools like EAC and what not vs. standard tools like ITunes Windows Media Player etc.

As suspected, I do use Apple Lossless. I have ripped thousands of CDs at this point and have tested the accuracy of Apple Lossless a number of ways, most notably by burning songs back to CD, then ripping them as WAV files and comparing them to the CD files ripped directly to WAV (via a number of programs, including Sound Forge). Virtually every time they are bit-for-bit the same. This tells me that iTunes (with error correction turned on) is ripping the songs to Apple Lossless with perfect accuracy, since they can be reconstituted perfectly.

It should be noted that my CDs are VERY clean and free from scratches, as I am the only one who has ever handled them. I haven't had the need to rip severely damaged (or even moderately damaged) CDs. In those cases, EAC may, in fact, do a better job.

I choose to rip CDs without increqsing the number of bits or sample rate, as this most closely duplicates the playing of CDs directly through my Meridian kit and into my DSP speakers. I prefer to let the Meridian kit and speakers do the upsampling and DSP for me. I don't do any manual upsampling or modification. I simply transfer the bits from CD to a hard drive for easier access.

John