Is the FLAC compression level "0" when ripping in fast mode?
What is the FLAC compression level when ripping in quiet mode?
Thank you.
Sound quality of CD's ripped by Zen Mini MK3
- Thread starter Harry59
- Start date
Is the FLAC compression level "0" when ripping in fast mode?
What is the FLAC compression level when ripping in quiet mode?
Thank you.
There is no difference in compression level, only the speed with which the laser moves to make it a quieter process in case the noise of the mechanism is bothering you during the ripping process.
The CD concerned is "James Tayler - Gorilla" with catalog number 256 137 (?). I think the CD itself has some kind of problem, since I can also not rip it in Apple Music (iTunes) anymore. I'm sure this was possible before. Unless it has something to do with the actual software versions. Like I stated before, I can still play the CD on my audio CD player. Since I still have the once ripped AIFF files it's not an issue for me. Just curiosity.
Hmm, that is extremely odd that the disc cannot be ripped at all if it once was previously possible. Not sure I have an explanation for that one! I did look it up and can see that could potentially be an old printing from the 80s or so - discs back often were manufactured with a different thickness to what we have today, and this can actually be a problem on some modern optical drives. That could explain why perhaps once you could rip it on one type of CD drive from a few years ago, but not on the other ones you have today.
You will likely find that if you used a previous CD Ripping software on the past (such as on a PC) that even if FLAC were chosen, the level of compression might have been quite aggressive/high (unknowingly to the user) to keep file size to a minimum and reducing the burden on storage space.
Consequently, we do get some customers wondering if they should "re-rip" their collection, to which I always say do an A/B comparison with a CD that you had already ripped, then compare that to its version ripped using the native Sense ripper engine. If you can't hear a difference/benefit, then you just saved yourself a lot of time!
All the above does not apply to AIFF or WAV since there are totally uncompressed. The more frequent problem that comes with those formats is that they can very often be absent of any metadata depending on the original ripping software. This is not an issue with the Sense CD ripper as it fully embeds metadata into WAV files.
Correct, we do not have a setting to change this. We use compression level 0 meaning we apply the absolute least amount of compression to create the FLAC container. The reason we do this is so that the CPU has use as little power/resources as possible for the decompression process, which helps keep system noise low.
You will likely find that if you used a previous CD Ripping software on the past (such as on a PC) that even if FLAC were chosen, the level of compression might have been quite aggressive/high (unknowingly to the user) to keep file size to a minimum and reducing the burden on storage space.
Consequently, we do get some customers wondering if they should "re-rip" their collection, to which I always say do an A/B comparison with a CD that you had already ripped, then compare that to its version ripped using the native Sense ripper engine. If you can't hear a difference/benefit, then you just saved yourself a lot of time!
All the above does not apply to AIFF or WAV since there are totally uncompressed. The more frequent problem that comes with those formats is that they can very often be absent of any metadata depending on the original ripping software. This is not an issue with the Sense CD ripper as it fully embeds metadata into WAV files.
Over time, some CDs degrade and can no longer be ripped by either my Apple external drive or ZENMini Mk3. However, I've found that sometimes washing the disc briefly with warm water and dish soap and drying with a soft towel makes them readable again.
Btw, I'm very pleased with the sound quality of discs ripped by the ZM M3.
Btw, I'm very pleased with the sound quality of discs ripped by the ZM M3.
Assuming the Stream1 is comparable, is there a disadvantage in ripping music on a PC and importing it vs. ripping directly to the M.2 SSD in the Stream1? I would use zero level FLAC regardless.
When importing, does Innuos do anything to the folder structure and album art or do I need to make sure the file structure is set up correctly beforehand to work seamlessly within Sense??
There is a convenience factor in ripping nearly 600 CDs in my office vs. in my Family Room. Ripping to the Stream1 does seem simple, fast, and I can feel comfortable the file structure is configured correctly.
I've played some with EAC and there is a learning curve and I'm not sure how all the settings work. Following some setup guides and using secure settings it can also take a long time to rip a CD. 600 CDs times 30 minutes each, more or less, is a lot of time.
I have read dbPoweramp is much easier to use and just as accurate as EAC but I'm not sure about the speed. Thanks.
When importing, does Innuos do anything to the folder structure and album art or do I need to make sure the file structure is set up correctly beforehand to work seamlessly within Sense??
There is a convenience factor in ripping nearly 600 CDs in my office vs. in my Family Room. Ripping to the Stream1 does seem simple, fast, and I can feel comfortable the file structure is configured correctly.
I've played some with EAC and there is a learning curve and I'm not sure how all the settings work. Following some setup guides and using secure settings it can also take a long time to rip a CD. 600 CDs times 30 minutes each, more or less, is a lot of time.
I have read dbPoweramp is much easier to use and just as accurate as EAC but I'm not sure about the speed. Thanks.
I can't recommend Sense highly enough for the task of ripping CDs.
Before owning an Innuos I wasted countless hours to get dbPoweramp configured more or less to my liking, but due to its poor UI and lack of documentation the experience was an absolute nightmare. Eventually I just stopped ripping discs altogether.
Even worse, searching online on how to use dbPoweramp led me into the rabbit-hole of PerfectTunes and AccurateRip. This software is meant to indicate if your music files contain ripping errors. The problem is that it relies on a database of previously-ripped discs to compare your files against, which is great in theory but in practice is problematic. Sadly before I realized this, I deleted many ripped albums, convinced that they were flawed, even though they sounded excellent and in all likelihood contained zero ripping errors.
When ripping a disc using Innuos Sense, my understanding is that the software compares the newly-ripped files to their originals on the physical CD while it is still in the drive, to determine if there are any ripping errors. This is inherently more accurate and greatly simplifies the ripping process. And any errors are quarantined, to be fixed later.
There is a long thread about all of the above on the Naim Audio user forum: https://community.naimaudio.com/t/innous-ripping-beware/26784/20
Btw I've found that ripping discs is tedious regardless of the hardware and software used, because the music databases that supply the track info and meta-tags can contain errors and/or assign category tags and album art that I don't want, all of which require manual editing after the disc has been ripped. These issues are much more common with classical discs.
Before owning an Innuos I wasted countless hours to get dbPoweramp configured more or less to my liking, but due to its poor UI and lack of documentation the experience was an absolute nightmare. Eventually I just stopped ripping discs altogether.
Even worse, searching online on how to use dbPoweramp led me into the rabbit-hole of PerfectTunes and AccurateRip. This software is meant to indicate if your music files contain ripping errors. The problem is that it relies on a database of previously-ripped discs to compare your files against, which is great in theory but in practice is problematic. Sadly before I realized this, I deleted many ripped albums, convinced that they were flawed, even though they sounded excellent and in all likelihood contained zero ripping errors.
When ripping a disc using Innuos Sense, my understanding is that the software compares the newly-ripped files to their originals on the physical CD while it is still in the drive, to determine if there are any ripping errors. This is inherently more accurate and greatly simplifies the ripping process. And any errors are quarantined, to be fixed later.
There is a long thread about all of the above on the Naim Audio user forum: https://community.naimaudio.com/t/innous-ripping-beware/26784/20
Btw I've found that ripping discs is tedious regardless of the hardware and software used, because the music databases that supply the track info and meta-tags can contain errors and/or assign category tags and album art that I don't want, all of which require manual editing after the disc has been ripped. These issues are much more common with classical discs.