Exact Audio Copy or DBPoweramp?

[Boomzilla]

I've been using jRiver to rip CDs, but an audio buddy is telling me that dBPoweramp is more accurate. True or false?

I've also been told that Exact Audio Copy is more accurate than either of the above.

So what's the truth? I know that some prefer one or the other, but I'd be interested in hearing about the actual differences between the programs as opposed to individual preferences. Is there any technical reason to choose one over the other?

Thanks - Boom

[Soup]

My vote for dbPoweramp, although I also have Exact Audio Copy installed..........

[geebo]

I also have both but have not used EAC in a long time. dbPoweramp just works and never failed to give me an accurate rip of a CD. I find it easier than anything else I've tried, too.

[drtrey3]

jRiver Media Player also does a fine job in terms of ripping.

Trey

[brubacca]

One really cool feature of dBPowerAmp is the AccurateRIP integration. It detects your Ripper Drive, and after you do a few specific CDs (Not sure the exact list it is able to set the offset for your drive Rips are compared to the Database and "confirmed".

I know this sounds all good, I can't say that technically I completely understand. As I said, it sounds good and I've never challenged it.

Another feature I like is the ability to rip to multiple locations (including network) at the same time. So I write to my local PC, My Vortexbox and my (2) NAS Drives all at the same time.

[jasn]

I haven't used EAC in years, so my vote for dbPowerAmp isn't one to claim superiority. I find using dbPA in Win 10 to be a breeze, with right clicking file(s) right in Explorer for conversions or editing. Plug-Ins will also do all sorts of things including reformatting, resampling and deleting source files post conversion (I run ALAC so spend a lot of time converting FLAC files). My time spent on prepping files before adding to my library has become much less tedious than past times.

[brubacca]

Feb 16, 2018 10:51:05 GMT -5 jasn said:

I haven't used EAC in years, so my vote for dbPowerAmp isn't one to claim superiority. I find using dbPA in Win 10 to be a breeze, with right clicking file(s) right in Explorer for conversions or editing. Plug-Ins will also do all sorts of things including reformatting, resampling and deleting source files post conversion (I run ALAC so spend a lot of time converting FLAC files). My time spent on prepping files before adding to my library has become much less tedious than past times.

dBPoweramp with multi-rip feature can rip FLAC and ALAC (and anything else) at the same time. My version is a couple years old, but I doubt they dropped that.

[Loop 7]

I primarily use XLD but have dBPoweramp installed.

[KeithL]

You're sort of asking the wrong question.

Both dBPowerAmp and EAC verify each track they rip against an online database.
Therefore, both are essentially 100% accurate... and will produce exactly equal results when they work.
(The basic process of ripping a CD is simply a matter of copying the bits from one medium to another - so you either do it correctly - or not.)

I used EAC for many years.
It always worked well, and I seem to recall its having quite a bit of enthusiasm for reading damaged discs.
(It would try multiple times to reread failed sections - and offered different read modes.)

I switched to dBPowerAmp several years ago and I've used it ever since.
I like the interface on dBPowerAmp better, and it seems to me to have better control and tagging options.
(I like the way it will automatically start ripping when I insert a disc if set that way.)

It is my impression that dBPowerAmp has fewer capabilities for reading damaged discs.
However, in reality, I've only had one or two discs that failed to read perfectly in years.
(And I remember trying one of them on EAC after dBPowerAmp failed to read it and having no better luck with EAC.)

I also registered the entire dBPowerAmp suite........
I rather like their CD writer......
And I find the batch converter to be extremely handy.

Note that I currently use dBPowerAmp, but I haven't looked at EAC in several years.... so it may have added new features since then.

Feb 16, 2018 6:32:02 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

I've been using jRiver to rip CDs, but an audio buddy is telling me that dBPoweramp is more accurate. True or false?

I've also been told that Exact Audio Copy is more accurate than either of the above.

So what's the truth? I know that some prefer one or the other, but I'd be interested in hearing about the actual differences between the programs as opposed to individual preferences. Is there any technical reason to choose one over the other?

Thanks - Boom

[Bonzo]

Feb 16, 2018 13:22:30 GMT -5 brubacca said:

Feb 16, 2018 10:51:05 GMT -5 jasn said:

I haven't used EAC in years, so my vote for dbPowerAmp isn't one to claim superiority. I find using dbPA in Win 10 to be a breeze, with right clicking file(s) right in Explorer for conversions or editing. Plug-Ins will also do all sorts of things including reformatting, resampling and deleting source files post conversion (I run ALAC so spend a lot of time converting FLAC files). My time spent on prepping files before adding to my library has become much less tedious than past times.

dBPoweramp with multi-rip feature can rip FLAC and ALAC (and anything else) at the same time. My version is a couple years old, but I doubt they dropped that.

I am completely unfamiliar with any of these options, but I do have a question, and since you said this above, it seems like a good time to ask here.

Long story short - years ago when I got my first iPod and all this ripping thing started I just used my MAC and used iTunes. At the time I did 128 mp3 for my iPod. Years later my MAC decided it wasn't happy with me and basically lost all 23,000 songs I had ripped. I have not gone back to rerip anything, YET. It's for "when I do" that I want to make sure of a few things.

I want to rip everything in a lossless format like FLAC. But I also want to have the ability to easily have everything in lesser quality so it fits better in a mini USB drive for my car etc. So like what you are saying, being able to do FLAC and ALAC or FLAC and MP3 at the same time (or being able to do FLAC, then copy and convert them to MP3). I would want the FLAC and lesser versions to be in complete separate folders, so it will be super easy to see which is which and not get them mixed up. I almost like the idea of copying and converting better, because then I could "fix" the files the way I like while they are FLAC (fix names and running orders etc), and then any copying i do would keep those changes and I wouldn't have to do everything twice. Does this make sense?

So I guess the question is, which of these options does this? All, some, just one?

Thanks --- Bonzo

[wilburthegoose]

In addition, dbPoweramp has an awesome batch ripper. Without it (and an ancient Sony XLG-1b) I was able to rip 2300 CDs without a lot of difficulty (other than paying for the metadata lookup, which you don't need to do if you're ripping a few CDs at a time).


www.dbpoweramp.com/batch-ripper.htm

[wilburthegoose]

Bonzo - I've found that my cars (a Honda and a BMW) have no problem reading FLAC files on a USB.

But if they do, the dbPoweramp batch converter can easily create MP3 files (of any bitrate) from FLAC).

[Boomzilla]

Hi Bonzo

One (maybe both?) will simultaneously rip to two different formats. Check the web pages - I saw it there.

[Bonzo]

Feb 16, 2018 15:32:47 GMT -5 wilburthegoose said:

Bonzo - I've found that my cars (a Honda and a BMW) have no problem reading FLAC files on a USB.

But if they do, the dbPoweramp batch converter can easily create MP3 files (of any bitrate) from FLAC).

Awesome. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks.

It's not as much a matter of compatibility as it is space and size. In the car I like to use those ultra small micro USB sticks, so I can stick it in and forget it, but they don't have as much storage space. Last one I bought was only 64 GB. Perhaps they come larger now? To hold all my songs at 128 MP3 I need at least 128 GB.

[Gary Cook]

Living in the apple ecosystem I use iTunes, lossless, syncd with my iPhone & iPad with an ever changing selection of albums, backed up in iCloud, playable via the Mac mini or any of the Apple TV's or with car play. Seamless operation, using any of the family's iDevices, requires next to zero maintenance, doesn't sound any different to the source, always just works.

Cheers
Gary

[Bonzo]

Feb 16, 2018 15:35:54 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

Hi Bonzo

One (maybe both?) will simultaneously rip to two different formats. Check the web pages - I saw it there.

Danke schön.

[26gary26]

Newbie here trying to understand DBPoweramp. I have a Apple MacBook Pro with a CD-rom drive which I make my own CD's with from my library of music. Would I gain anything as far as quality goes by using DBPoweramp ? My library is mostly i-Tunes and MP3 music.

[wilburthegoose]

26gary26 - your first problem is that you've ripped to MP3. You want a lossless format like FLAC (Apple also has a lossless format).

I'd also look at iTunes alternatives. Personally, I think iTunes is the worst software I've ever used. I like Roon, but it's expensive ($500 lifetime sub, annual available). There are a large number of players that are a lot better like JRiver.

PS - I ripped my entire collection to MP3 about 12 years ago. Once disk space became cheap and I bought an xmc-1, I decided to re-rip all my CDs to FLAC. Sounds much better now.

Check out www.lifewire.com/tools-to-play-flac-itunes-ios-1999281

[brubacca]

Feb 16, 2018 15:23:50 GMT -5 Bonzo said:

Feb 16, 2018 13:22:30 GMT -5 brubacca said:

dBPoweramp with multi-rip feature can rip FLAC and ALAC (and anything else) at the same time. My version is a couple years old, but I doubt they dropped that.

I am completely unfamiliar with any of these options, but I do have a question, and since you said this above, it seems like a good time to ask here.

Long story short - years ago when I got my first iPod and all this ripping thing started I just used my MAC and used iTunes. At the time I did 128 mp3 for my iPod. Years later my MAC decided it wasn't happy with me and basically lost all 23,000 songs I had ripped. I have not gone back to rerip anything, YET. It's for "when I do" that I want to make sure of a few things.

I want to rip everything in a lossless format like FLAC. But I also want to have the ability to easily have everything in lesser quality so it fits better in a mini USB drive for my car etc. So like what you are saying, being able to do FLAC and ALAC or FLAC and MP3 at the same time (or being able to do FLAC, then copy and convert them to MP3). I would want the FLAC and lesser versions to be in complete separate folders, so it will be super easy to see which is which and not get them mixed up. I almost like the idea of copying and converting better, because then I could "fix" the files the way I like while they are FLAC (fix names and running orders etc), and then any copying i do would keep those changes and I wouldn't have to do everything twice. Does this make sense?

So I guess the question is, which of these options does this? All, some, just one?

Thanks --- Bonzo

I have never used the batch converter. In fact, I need to look at it because my car can have a USB drive, but does not recognize FLAC.

Using the multiRip, its actually right there on the main screen hidden in plain site, you can absolutely rip to different directory structures. You setup a specific and relative path for each ripping instance. Basically if you wanted to rip FLAC to 3 different directories (or drives) and MP3 to 3 different directories or drive you would setup 6 rip instances. One for each different format and or directory.

Personally for network drive I use windows to assign a drive letter to the network drive. dBPoweramp is sophisticated enough to use a combination of specific directory and then a relative structure based on the metadata for the cd. Everythng goes in a FLAC Directory then the reative path is /Artist/Album/Song Number & Name. You can setup it up anyway you want. The selection was easy to understand.

Good Luck. I beleive they still have a 30 day trial so download it and give it a shot.
I use Windows Operating system. The MAC version is an unknown to me.

EDIT- I just looked at the website and its called Multi-Encoder not multiRip. Sorry I do most my posting from my tablet and not the PC that has dBPowerAmp on it.

[26gary26]

Thanks for your comments Wilberthegoose. I am learning a lot from you guys. A friend of mine who was professional sound tech about 10 years ago game me an external hard drive with 40,000 songs on it. Mostly Rock & Roll songs from 128 to 320 bits with the MP3 format. Now that I have my Emotiva set up I can diffintely hear the difference in the recording quality. Now I guess I need to figure out how to improve them when ripping my CD's I am planning on making to play on my ERC-3 which I am very happy with.