Best Ripping Technique for CDs

[SonicNova]

Hi Guys, I'm curious about something. I just replaced my 2.1 Logitech speaker system with better quality Audioengine2 desktop speakers. Now I just ripped The Best of Real Life CD in MM using FLAC default settings, compression level 4 and Level track Volume Selected. When I play it back, the music sounds a little flat and dull. I then went to You Tube and played their track, Send Me An Angel, and wow, the song really popped; sounded great through my speakers, loud and crisp. But not when I play my ripped version. Could Levelling the tracks be losing some quality in the ripping process?

I'm just after some feedback with what people think the best quality techniques might be for ripping, or is this a dumb question. Thanks.

[Lowlander]

Yes, don't level when ripping to a lossless format. Rip without and analyze afterwards. MediaMonkey can play leveled with just the analyze values and can level when syncing if your device doesn't support the tag.

[SonicNova]

Thanks Lowlander. Cheers.

[rovingcowboy]

use the mm's equalizer too that should help. you can get the eq preset switch script and all the presets set that up and it will change to the correct eq settings for your songs every song. you can change a group or a single song by use of the script's tricks that are explained in the forum thread for the script.

[mphelpsmd]

I think I came across this thread a little too late.

I've ripped a number of CD's to FLAC format, with the Level Track Volume checked.

So if I understand this correctly, my FLAC files don't exactly represent the CD. They don't sound bad, although for the past couple of years I've been feeling that my sound system hasn't quite had the dynamics that it used to. Now I have a potential reason to explain why.

From a Human Factors Engineering perspective, THIS MAKES NO SENSE!

MediaMonkey developers:

* I have my format set to "FLAC"
* I have selected "Secure read (takes more time)"
* I have checked "Verify ripped tracks"

There should at least be a warning that Level Track Volume will permanently alter the data from the CD. Better yet, make it incompatible with selecting FLAC format and/or secure read or verify ripped tracks.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike

[Lowlander]

No reason to disable Volume Leveling as there are people who want this. It is disabled by default so with default settings you get an exact audio copy.

[mphelpsmd]

With all due respects, Lowlander, I disagree.

I think that if someone if trying to rip to FLAC (or any other lossless format), then that implies they want an exact copy. If they want volume leveling, then that should be another step, and one that makes it abundantly clear that it alters the data.

I think that most people who rip to FLAC want a bit-perfect copy of their CD. And the people who choose to verify the read, probably even more so.

So from a user interface perspective, I don't think it should be an option for ripping in this manner. For the past 6 months or so that I've selected that option, thinking it did something helpful, I've potentially been shooting myself in the foot, and never knew it. It's NOT consistent with the typical desires of someone ripping to FLAC.

Mike

[nohitter151]

So from a user interface perspective, I don't think it should be an option for ripping in this manner. For the past 6 months or so that I've selected that option, thinking it did something helpful, I've potentially been shooting myself in the foot, and never knew it. It's NOT consistent with the typical desires of someone ripping to FLAC.

But it can be helpful for some users, albeit not all or even most of them. So a non-default option for this case really seems to be the best way to do it.