Absolutely nothing wrong with your approach… and one only needs to use ultra secure or similar if there is no checksum reference or the disc is damaged.
Redbook has a high level of redundancy, so minor errors are corrected by the format itself by reading the data.
A non correctable error will result in loss of information and either result in a tick sound like dust on a record, or some cd transports result in a brief muting of audio.
A major multiple error could result in severeal of the above or a skip.
A catastrophic error will result in the CD being unable to be read further… and will either stop or jump to the next TOC index point (next track) depending on transport.
Now a ripper has and advantage on non correctable errors, as it can try several methods including brute force attempt to recover as much of the data as it can. This is largely dependent on the CD-ROM transport , albeit the software needs to be able to control those features of the transport…
now brute force, which is reading the disc over and over again might be lucky and recover the data especially if the unrecoverable error is marginal… otherwise the other methods will work to recover as much of the data as ithey can around the non recoverable error. A C1 and C2 error recovery works by guessing/interpolating the missing damaged data by comparing neighbouring data…
I found iTunes can do better rips than XLD in one circumstance, where the CD has pre-emphasis because iTunes compensates for it. I also found dBpoweramp (Windows version only) does a better job with HDCD than XLD on a Mac because its DSP processing means you do not need a HDCD capable DAC to enjoy full resolution. Of course, for SACDs, you can use a PS3 with suitable firmware or (not tried it) players with Mediatek chips MT8580 (like Oppo 103/105, Cambridge Audio 752bd/cxu, Pioneer bdp-lx58/88 ) or MT8560 (like Pioneer BDP-160/170) with suitable firmware. DVD-Audio extractor is also a nice tool to have.
Otherwise with an error free CD, all software rippers I tried gave the same results (if we ignore metadata). XLD’s report ending with the line “No errors” is reassuring.
I think I’ve wasted many months of my life ripping discs and I would never want to repeat that exercise so when done I recommend a backup of a backup of a backup of a backup (not all kept in the same place).
Still you can’t fool the children of the resolution.
… agreed, but with the once in a while rip that I do I just leave on Ultra Secure, it has C2 error recovery & therefore has all the good & error disc options covered.
Fair enough… though of course C2 is interpolated fix rather than actual error recovery… but I doubt one would be able to detect the occasional interpolation… not even those with golden ears.
Even dbPoweramp on ultra secure couldn’t do a clean rip of this one track. I’ll “mess around with it” some more. It’d be cheaper to buy a download, or even another cd, than anything else that requires spending, so I won’t!
I used to use XLD a lot a few years ago, but the last version I downloaded seemed incredibly slow compared to previous versions. Perhaps different hardware though.
why some companies like melco or antipodes propose cd rippers at around 1000 dollars? to take our money only or because a better hardware give better results?
DB has compared the sound ( not the numbers) of different rips and found the melco ripper better sounding.
It’s like ethernet cables: they all mesure the same but there are differences in sound quality.
I compared the sound, so did several of us on the forum… and we did a blind test not knowing which ripper did which file… we discovered there was no preference… perhaps we removed any degree of unconscious bias … it was fascinating.
But you are incorrect with Ethernet cables, perhaps you have not read my several posts on the matter… all Ethernet cables are definitely not the same and certainly don’t measure the same at the RF loading level… even TI acknowledge this and have produced chipsets to reduce the effect of differing Ethernet cables in terms physical layer RF loading…
the measurements are important… it’s how we improve and understand things… this is not about voodoo… and in the grand scheme of things we are dealing with pretty basic concepts here.
But one thing is for certain, a rip is a rip… it’s a binary copy of the static file that is stored on the CD-ROM… if it wasn’t it would sound like loud digital noise… with digital you can’t just change a few bits and make it sound off… it will sound very broken if there is any slight variance…
Just like CDs… if I buy the same production run CD from amazon or a local record shop, I can expect it to sound identical… it’s not going to sound better if I buy it from my specialist boutique record shop, although I might feel better about buying it from there and it might even cost more.
When naim launched the unitserve, he claimed that it was doing better rips than dbpoweramp or other rips programs on pc or mac.
Melco and antipodes sell high quality cd rippers. I have not tested them so can’t say if they do better sounding rips. But why produce them if a rip on pc does the same ?
Naim did not finally state it produced better rips… we had this out with Naim in the previous forum severeal years ago. What they meant was that the Unitiserve produces consistent rips in terms of quality and minimal CD-ROM catastrophic read fails due to poor quality or poorly integrated CDROM hardware. Also the Unitiserve produced a subjectively easier and better ripping process … therefore Naim said they felt the ripping process was better using a Unitiserve rather than using a computer for many people.
So it’s all about ease of use to get an output… not primarily about the integrity of output.
Ultimately in the UK you need to be careful what you commercially state as fact and you need to be able to evidence it for it to be lawful.
A rip is a rip - of course having well made hardware is never a bad thing, but there are ways of checking if a rip is good and a rip made with XLD on a Mac will be as good as a rip on anything else if it is a perfect rip.
It is not quote the same as Ethernet cables, where I know some folk prefer expensive cables to ones that are more accurate and meet the specification. A cable is attached when playing back and could conceivably pick up some interference that may affect sound quality. Rips are done and checked (if you use XLD or similar) away from your system, It is like a cheap calculator and expensive one, they’ll both get the sums right, but one might feel nicer to use than the other.
Because hi fi enthusiasts will buy them. Shocking, I know!!
I’m using a bog-standard Apple external cd rom drive. Given that I rip not even once cd a month, it’s fine. If I had hundreds to rip, a unit that rips more hands-off, like a Core or Melco etc. might have time-and-trouble saving advantages. I did rip a couple of hundred cd’s with my UnitiServe back about 6 years ago. It was handy to not have so many steps to do on the laptop.
At a Naim demo in Bristol they most certainly stated the UnitiServe made better rips and tried to demonstrate as much. They seem to have subsequently retracted that notion. I think there were two camps: delivers and no-believers split about 50-50, sam as it ever was.
Certainly one reviewer said he heard things in a mix that he never knew were on his CDs when he ripped with a Melco. Mind you he claimed his Internet downloads were faster when he upgraded the power cord on his router.
For years folk said WAV sounds better than FLAC now some of those same folk happily use Tidal or Qobuz.
And yes one well known accessory seller has USB cable on special offer for only £4k. In fairness, I’ve not tried it, but …
I remember those days, and when I bought my UServe in 2012 the ‘it makes superior rips’ was still on the website. I was not looking for superior rips; I was looking for ease of use for ripping and serving.
I certainly believe that an ‘automated ripper’ has its place for some people, and building it into a unit that is designed for enthusiasts who are transitioning from cd replay to home networked replay makes perfect sense. And claims of superiority should mean something, of course.
FLAC and WAV are certainly identifiably different sounding in a Naim streamer for many,. Though I think most transcode, and if using Tidal/Qobuz on the new streamers, then Roon does the transcoding for you. One does also have the option of transcoding using BubbleSoft UPnP proxy… but it is not so straightforward to setup, and you can’t use the Naim app.
Those claims of superiority need to be made clearly and carefully. With rips, it is easy (and many of us have done so), to strip off the headers and do a 4byte (or whatever chunk size you want) comparison of the results. It seems I’m not the only not who has.
Once you get a rip that is AccurateRip confirmed, there is little point arguing whether it is better or worse than another rip with the same checksum.
The ripping experience and stream delivery are of course a different matter entirely. I have no objections to people spending $2k on a Core as opposed to using dbPoweramp and a NAS at a fraction of the cost. $2k for something that is easy for everyone in the house (not just me) that can also be replaced in-situ (again without me) seems like it could be worth every penny for some people.
I imagine as my kids get older, something like a Core or a Melco in a central location for the family is a real possibility. Unless they follow me into IT, they are not likely to have more than a tablet and I don’t want to be Mr. Music Manager. Is shoving a disc in a Core or dragging files via tablet a better “ripping process” than ask Dad > Dad fires up EAC > Dad unlocks the server rack and puts in a disc > Rips > Uses dbPoweramp to tweak any complex meta data…? Yes I think it is.
My kids as late teens - mid 20’s have been happy with Airplay from their phones. They have their music where and as they want it; just being able to play it thru the hi fi is plenty for them. They’d have no use for it on our network.
I very much my kids will ever need to rip anything. I think we are the last generation for this. Likely why they charge so much for them these days, make as much as they can in the short time left. I am the only person I know who still buys CD’s, everybody else and this includes all my staff at work stream or buy files and the ones that buy are number 2.
Never really understood why Naim didn’t address this, but as long as users know how to transcode I guess it is not a big problem. Hopefully Naim explains this in the manual or the dealer configures it during installation.
Linn DSM sounds equally fine with FKAC or WAV and I’d be amazed if anybody could hear differences. FLAC is easier for me than WAV for metadata. Chord DAVE accepts PCM or DSD rather than FLAC or WAV rendered in my case by JRiver MC: so again no difference.
Naim makes great kit, but sometimes seems a bit more idiosyncratic than it needs to be.