Ripping CDs to MP3: Three Free (And Legal!) Choices
In many ways, MP3s have gotten a bad rap. To many, they are synonymous with piracy and copyright infringement. To others, they suggest poor fidelity. The truth is that there is nothing illegal about ripping a CD you own, and the result need not be a significant (read: audible) degradation of the original. Although the RIAA continues to muddy the waters of common perception with its incessant lawsuits, under U.S. law it is still considered “Fair Use” to make a digital backup of music you own, so long as you do not try to share the files with others.
Now that the legal issue is out of the way, how should you go about freeing your music from its physical confines and condemning all those scratch-happy circles of silver and gold to 20th-century obsolescence? Well, the options are endless, actually. There may be more CD ripping applications available than any other type of program. In addition to which program to use, you also need to decide what bitrate files you want to create and how you want to go about tagging the resultant files (both will be the subject of future articles) . Today I’ll focus on three free choices and tell you why one or another may be more apt for your particular set of needs and preferences.
Exact Audio Copy : One of the most venerable and well-respected cd rippers ever coded, and an easy choice for my Free Windows Apps Hall of Fame. The product of one obsessive German for whom accuracy is paramount, EAC is one of the few (only?) rippers that double checks its own work and insures your rips are bit-for-bit accurate. If a perfect copy is not possible, due to scratches or other flaws in the disc, EAC will tell you so but not before doing its absolute best to squeeze every possible 1 and 0 from the original. As a result, some rips can take a long while to complete, so EAC is not for those who want quick results. EAC also requires a fair amount of initial configuration. Guides and tutorials abound for tackling this once-and-done step. Here are two: EAC Setup Guide , Exact Audio Copy Guide.
CDex : Easier to use than EAC, due to fewer initial configuration options. Open-source, which unfortunately doesn’t always translate into frequent updates and robust support. Apparently does not play well with Windows 2000. All that being said, CDex is simple, intuitive, requires low system resources, and is a good choice for the average user who is not hyper concerned with perfection.
FreeRip: The newest entry on the list, FreeRip looks to be a strong competitor. Also very easy to use and configure, has built in tagging, and supports a decent number of formats. So far, though, FreeRip has yet to really distinguish itself and apparently has a nag screen and some add-ons you should be sure to opt out on at the time of installation.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 am and is filed under Handy Little Apps, Tech Checks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
