dBpoweramp for ripping CD’s

Streaming Audio
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I have been using the dBpoweramp for ripping CD’s if I had a audio dropout issue when I ripped with the Uniti Star. I have been using the 21 day free trial but need to decide now whether to pay for it (£33 plus VAT). I don’t mind paying for it as a one off cost but from what I understand I would have to pay for any upgrades. Is this correct? Do I need to upgrade or could I stay with the original version l bought? If I did upgrade how much on average would I need to expect to pay for the next 5years?

I did consider using an alternative eg EAC but having watched a YouTube tutorial on it it does not look as user friendly and quite complicated to use. I am ripping to FLAC.

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IIRC correctly you only pay for major upgrades.

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Once you’ve paid for the dBpoweramp licence, the upgrades are free.
In all upgrades I have run over the years all are beneficial, some its just list of minor tweaks that you hardly notice, some are all new features or software.

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Having tried dBp and EAC, I went with XLD and never looked back. No frills, no cost.

Andrew

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5

Correct.

And there is no requirement to upgrade, minor (17.1 to 17.2 etc) or major (17 to 18 etc), as long as it works for the OP.

(Of course at some point it may happen that, say, a major Windows/macOS upgrade requires a dbP upgrade. But this will be rare, if it happens at all)

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6

I think Guinnless is right but it’s been a while since I have been ripping stuff.

DB was the best way to go for me. I had a few setups. One to burn at same time a CD to flac lossless, Apple alac, and max size mp3 for units with lower memory for the kids. All being stored in files architectures fully customizable.
Other setups to start from audio files I bought from either HDTrack or Naim, etc. To the same output as my CD and files structure.
The files and folders names are fully customizable in settings for all ripping.
All the metadata is nice too.

It took me 2 or 3 tests then I was rolling.
I never regretted the minimal cost.

But be careful, as any data files, make real sure you have a back up easily accessible and a second back up that you put in your friend house. (Or go cloud backup, but I personally prefer my local encrypted back up. I’m old school I guess :slight_smile: )

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It’s a very capable app, must confess I feel a bit of a cheapskate for not supporting them by paying a small fee for the paid version but was always a bit jarred by the bundles they offered and my inability to decide if I’d ever use that additional functionality which made me indecisive.

Platform dependent perhaps but there are a great many ripping options, I used to only use apps which supported EAC, but there were always a couple of awkward CDs that failed but sounded fine anyway - with vinyl I suspect every copy would have unique clicks/pops, and with CD unless a rip is unplayable I can’t get too excited anymore.

If you have MAC XLD is great, as was Max, but even iTunes/Music app ripping works well.

dBPowermp for me offered sublime artwork searches/curation so you could get the best artwork needed for you personally by analysing various sources.

Metadata completion with any app generally is the issue where things can fall down but always fixable by a variety of metadata editors though frankly I can rarely be arsed to be that fussy.

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dBpoweramp is a great product with excellent metadata.
You also get id-tag for editing metadata - invaluable.
Free minor version upgrades and there is no need to pay for a major upgrade if you do not need it.
Surely worth paying for developer’s time and effort.
(Note companion AssetUPnP server is “Free upgrades for life”).

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Exact Audio Copy for my: free and not too complicated to configure.

My two pennies.

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It works but it is slow.

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Same here, but i think that’s due to the major error checking that goes on?

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Thanks everyone for your help. I’ll bite the bullet and pay the £33 plus vat for dBpoweramp. I agree the developers should be rewarded for their work. I really hope Naim fix the Uniti Star ripping issue as this is still by far the quickest way of ripping CD’s for me (FYI I bought 5 CD’s this week, 4 of these ripped ok on the Star and one didn’t having a few audio dropouts, so I plan to re-do that with dBpoweramp).

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Well, you can always work, or enjoy, another veins, or…, while the ripping proceeds.

Finally, it’s all a matter of the cost-benefit-value-time weighting of each one.

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I don’t think dbP does any less error checking and it’s fast if the CD is not problematic. If the drive does not report an error, dbP rips the CD in fast mode and then compares the result to the AccurateRip database. If it matches, all is fine. Only if the drive reports errors and/or there is a database mismatch, it switches to slow mode, re-rips frames, etc.

When ripping a thousand CDs like in my case, it makes a big difference if 99% are done in five minutes or if every CD needlessly takes a multiple of that

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I don’t work :smiley:
Another veins?

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I have used EAC for many years and found it to be reliable and swift. No need to change.

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+1 for DBp, been using it for years, easy, accurate and quick. £30 is a bargain in my book.

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I don’t know, if age allows you, lots of sex (but it will have to be fast, because although slower, it is not so much more …)?, order the collection of philately and numismatics?, adore your watches and Naim?, perform the care of the plants and the garden?, share some time with the family?, listen to your favorite music …? I think you can add what you are most passionate about…

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Sorry, I was trying to work out what “veins” was? :thinking:

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I suppose it meant the singular-only vein in the meaning of style

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