The definitive Ripping Software?

Apple Lossless or FLAC are, to my mind, equivalent, but Apple Lossless is easier if you have or intend to have an iPod or AppleTV - FLAC is a bit more portable but doesn't work with iPod AFAIK. Whichever you use, make sure you get bit-perfect copies by using EAC or error correction in iTunes.

iTunes error correction isn't guaranteed bit-perfect AFAIK

Guaranteed, no. But then what technology is?

dbPowerAmp is what I use to do my ripping. It has multiple pass encoding and uses AccurateRip to make sure that your rips are agree with others from around the world. Does all your album art and tags too. Heard a few niggly things about iTune's ripping so don't use it.

so flac does not work on apple, didnt know that. And EAC is exact audio copy. So basically there is no definitive standard other than as a WAV(?) file.

To use FLAC on iTunes you have to do some voodoo to trick it. Other players are available to play FLAC files. WAV can be played on both PC and Mac but cannot be tagged and takes up a fair amount of space. You can convert FLAC to Apple Lossless and vice versa.

EAC in secure mode together with Accuraterip. Is essentially perfect.

Okay thanks everybody, I'll investigate further. Just feel I should give this SBDuet a fair chance after the bashing I took yesterday on the forum about how rubbish I thought it sounded (it really did sound rubbish and nothing even vaguely resembling what I consider to be hifidelity and thought source files should be first place to start before invest £200 on a digital cable on something that is essentially only £200 itself.

Have been investigating, and I get the point, but I'm not sure life isn't too short?

There are a number of ways to rip a cd. One of them will give me as high fidelity files as is possible. Once it is set up the process is straightforward...

Put CD in drive. EAC checks freeDB. I select the rip option. CD is ripped with error report. The files are correctly named with tags, in a correctly named folder. If there are any errors, I check the CD, maybe wipe it a little and try again.

It takes me physically around 10 seconds to rip a CD. I let the computer do it while I browse.

OK, I just thought that from the description it was going to take a long time (checking your own rips with others, I mean). But I can't get to the EAC site just now, and apocryphally it appears to be windows-only, which is a bit of a bummer.

And I want to use iTunes and an iPod, which is also quite bummer-like.

"quite bummer-like." Can i use that some time? I THINK theres instructions on the EAC site for apple types like yerself, once you can get on it. Sincere apologies if im wrong.

in fact, the link may be in that mammoth thread of mine a few below this one.

I create FLACs and transcode the ones she wants for my other halfs iPod. I personally think lossless is wasted listening to an iPod, or any other portable. I cant for one tell the difference between one of my MP3s and a lossless on such devices.

Oh and I use media monkey to organise the iPod too...far better than iTunes.

k, will have a look - if one can get them onto an iPod, then it has possibilities.

And yes, be my guest.

I think you should google CD Paranoia. Forgot about the mac thing.

although a quick google gives me this...
http://geekwithfamily.com/2007/02/03/home-theater/convergence/exact-audi...