Audio CD trakcs to MP3 conversion

[Obiwanshinobi]

I understand a lossy format such as MP3 is considered passé nowadays, but I just wanna rip some of my CD-s for the sake of listening to them off my phone.
Could any of you recommend an easy-to-use program for the job, that would allow me to choose bitrate, enable VBR and such?

[broken harbour]

ITunes can do all of that, tho you'll have to select your bit rate in the options, I think it defaults to 128 kbps or something that sounds terrible.

Windows media player can also do the same thing, no special programs needed these days.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I'd rather use a more task-specific tool than an all 'round media player.

[Limbrooke]

I'd rather use a more task-specific tool than an all 'round media player.

CDex has what you seek.
http://cdex.mu/features

[Obiwanshinobi]

Used to do it with CDex back when and now I'm resorting to ye olde 150 version indeed. Works for me.

[emphatic]

I have to say iTunes too, as the tagging in it is hard to beat. I wouldn't use VBR, but 320kbps and non-joint Stereo. The program itself is shit-slow, but you'll get great results.

[Obiwanshinobi]

VBR within 256-320 kbps range is okay with me (I'll be playing those rips on pretty low-tech equipment anyway).

[lilmanjs]

I was going to suggest Exact Audio Copy. It has not failed to rip a Cd of mine yet.

[Xyga]

LAME VBR is the tits, as far as mp3 goes. The debate over quality settings is still open, but the higher (insane) was never necessary.

I also used EAC for making files.

Really though considering memory has become relatively affordable, there's no reason not to use FLAC anymore (unless your mobile/car player doesn't read it of course).

[gct]

I have been using CDex for probably a decade and a half, still do.

I will use FLAC for my absolute favourite stuff, but everything else CBR 320 kbps now. Now have an older car and it only does AM/FM and CD, no mp3 and no aux. But a car is not an environment where I would be able to tell the difference between a 320 mp3 and FLAC anyway - keeping in mind that my music volume is quite low so I can hear the traffic situations around me.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Ever since my iRiver T10 went on the fritz, I haven't felt like replacing it with any proper MP3 player (when all is said and done, I must carry a phone with me nowadays and the sound quality is inferior, but there's more to life than that). Giving up a bit on toys hoarding has its charms too. When one gizmo does the job...
My, I see one T10 new on Amazon.com "from $445.00". Could it be that sought after? I sure had a blast using mine for years, but do I WANT to pay this kind of price for another? I don't think so.

I also prefer to hear what's going on around me while out, so if I had money to burn, I'd sooner buy a decent stereo amplifier to use at home. Vintage Rotel I had a chance to try out some years ago taught me that even with fairly plain speakers, fancier amp does make some difference for the better.

[Despatche]

VBR -0 is excellent, saves some space versus the full CBR 320 while being exactly as good. Apparently OGG has something like that, but even better.

Unfortunately, iOS devices don't really support OGG, but Android devices absolutely do.

[Ji-L87]

I usually use Foobar 2000 with the lame mp3 plugin.
The databases it connects to in order to find track information has been eerily accurate thus far, even for obscure Japanese CDs.

[ZellSF]

I use EAC for ripping anything for archival purposes. To rip game CD audio tracks (for games I want to play without CD inserted) I just use foobar2000.

Everything gets ripped to FLAC. When I want more portable filesizes I use AAC, which is better and supported on both Android and iOS phones.

If you still want to go with MP3, 320 CBR is just a waste of space. V0 is overkill (especially on phones). I'd go with V2. Unless it's an ancient phone that does not support variable bitrates. Even then I would probably go for 192 CBR (considering the limited storage on phones).

It's a phone, not audiophile equipment. You don't need the kind of quality audiophiles are debating if is transparent or not.

[MintyTheCat]

I use Asunder to rip CDs.

No problems with MP3 at all - it is the Valve Amp crowd who make all the fuss about it about MP3.

[Despatche]

The thing is that what audiophiles do is made-up. This is the kind of stuff audiophiles do. Literally magic tricks.

MP3 quality settings are not made-up. v0 is not overkill, 320 is. v1 is when you start to hear actual differences in sound. 192 is incredibly bad, not much better than 128. Unless you have horrible $0.99 headphones, you will hear a difference.

MP3 has expensive licenses and OGG simply works better.

[ZellSF]

v0 is not overkill, 320 is. v1 is when you start to hear actual differences in sound, audiophile or no.

Have you ABX tested that with the audio output of a phone? What about in an enviroment with some ambient noise, which I assume is the main usage of media players in phones? V2 is transparent to most people outside of those extreme conditions.

Also 192 not much better than 128, but the 20-30 kbps difference between the high bitrate v0 and v1 is? Yeah that makes sense and doesn't sound crazy at all.

[Stormwatch]

If you're going to get iTunes, be sure to get an old version, because they've totally, absolutely, completely fucked it up with version 11.

But if all you want is an encoder, just get WinLAME (I'll assume you're on Windows because you didn't specify another OS).

[ZellSF]

If you install iTunes you have to remember to delete Bonjour and Quicktime when you're done. Apple software sometimes installs one or both of those as dependencies. I wouldn't recommend going with that option at all.

[Xyga]

V2 is transparent to most people outside of those extreme conditions

I'd agree to that.

There's no point in listening to lossy compressed audio with good headphones/amp or your average pseudo-boombox anyway (especially if you have the money for THIS lol) mp3 before anything is used for saving space, and the standard, upper-standard settings of LAME VBR produce the perfect middle ground, quality-for-space IMHO.

[Despatche]

Also 192 not much better than 128, but the 20-30 kbps difference between the high bitrate v0 and v1 is? Yeah that makes sense and doesn't sound crazy at all.

That average isn't accurate at all, because VBR depends entirely on the substance of a track. Some tracks get hit harder than others.

However, once you go so low that you hit a number like 192, pretty much every song ever made will be affected, and going any lower is going to produce a clearly worse sound. Yes, even and especially on phones.

Your "normal" scenario is pretty extreme. You'd have to be one of those people who blares 192 Linkin Park MP3s through $0.99 headphones, shuffling around streets, hands in pockets like a little punk; you're not really listening to the music in the first place. No, I am not saying that I think you're one of these people.

edit: dBpoweramp is a pretty nice all-in-one tool.

[evil_ash_xero]

I tend to use dBpoweramp, for just about all conversions.

[Mr Halibut]

It's encouraging to see I'm not the only one who never stopped using CDEX

[ZellSF]

Also 192 not much better than 128, but the 20-30 kbps difference between the high bitrate v0 and v1 is? Yeah that makes sense and doesn't sound crazy at all.

That average isn't accurate at all, because VBR depends entirely on the substance of a track. Some tracks get hit harder than others.

Yeah... No.

V0 over V1 isn't magically going to be a 64*+ kbps jump in any section of a track. You're not supposed to compare VBR average bitrates to CBR bitrates, but there's nothing wrong with comparing VBR preset average bitrates.

* = Diminishing returns, even if the difference was 64kbps it still wouldn't be nearly enough.

[emphatic]

Being a digital DJ, I've chosen to use 320kbps CBR because it's the most compatible, and I don't want to compromise with sound quality, yet don't have the space for playing .wav files. If you use VBR, many DJ programs have problems analyzing the files apparently, and some will even sound like crap. It's very weird, but worth taking into consideration if you ever wanna DJ using your converted music.

[DJ Incompetent]

I've chosen to use 320kbps CBR because it's the most compatible, and I don't want to compromise with sound quality, yet don't have the space for playing .wav files. If you use VBR, many DJ programs have problems analyzing the files apparently, and some will even sound like crap.

[opt2not]

I tend to use dBpoweramp, for just about all conversions.

+1 Great great program! I too use this for pretty much all audio conversion. Been using it since the early MP3 days, and I'm glad they're still going strong. Integrates into your windows context menu as well which is pretty handy.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I suppose DJ-ing must be done real-time, so I guess the programs need to be responsive and keep everything strictly synchronised. If processing VBR demands more time buffer than MP3 without it, perhaps this could be getting in their way.

[emphatic]

I suppose DJ-ing must be done real-time, so I guess the programs need to be responsive and keep everything strictly synchronised. If processing VBR demands more time buffer than MP3 without it, perhaps this could be getting in their way.

I have no idea. The weird thing is that when you select a track in a DJ program, it's loaded into memory in PCM audio (wav/aiff), so shouldn't be a problem at all. I just wanted to put out an alert that VBR can be an issue in some situations.