Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo MP3's vs. CD's

So I read some of the info on FLAC and find it interesting. So I need to find a step by step process on how to go about doing this. I'm still fairly computer iliterate. I don't burn cd's. I don't download music. I don't load an mp3 player.

It seems a good idea to get an external hard drive and have only music on there so I'll look into getting one.

Ripping to flac is simple.

1. Search for the Media Monkey site
2. Download and install free version
3. Put CD in the drive
4. Start Media Monkey and select rip from the tools menu
5. Choose Flac as the format and click OK.

Done.

Here is the “source” for flac.

http://flac.sourceforge.net/documentation_tasks.html

What method(s) you choose to use to create flac files depends on your source. What you choose to use to listen to them depends on what features you want and ease of installation.

I use Exact Audio Copy to rip flac files from CD to have them backed-up and to play from the computer. There are easier programs to setup and use but I think this is the most accurate especially when trying to rip damaged disks.

For playback I use Media Monkey because of all it’s organizing features though many people prefer WinAmp for it’s simplicity.

It would be easier if your computer was close to your receiver, but the analog output from a computer sound card isn't normally hifi quality. A Squeezebox or similar device receives the digital sound file from your computer and does a better job of converting it to analog with it's own DAC.

Shane

As shane points out, things work best if the computer is close enough for a digital connection to the receiver. If it is not, then you do need to look at other options.

This is where things become unclear for me. There are now receivers with network connections on them. What does a squeeze box deliver that a networked receiver dosn't?

In my case, my HTPC sits right next to the receiver, so I do not have to worry about how to connect the two.

Oh so now I NEED a HTPC. Does it ever end?????????

Nope, but it keeps getting cheaper. I spent around $600 and it was that high because I did a custom build with a very quiet power supply. The motherboard has HDMI out and digital audio out (optical and coax) so I didn't need to spend extra on external sound and video cards.

The only thing missing is HDMI 1.3 support. I would imagine that there will be mother boards with this built in out soon.

Oh in that case I'll wait.

Thats probalby a good idea. Its taken Nvidea and AMD/ATI a long time to solve the protected path thing for audio and video. The first stand alone cards were released just before Christmas.

Just to chime in on the original question. I definitely am aware of the differences between a low bitrate MP3 verses an original CD or FLAC file on my MP3s. A lot of people who only or mostly use ipods and such seem to rip MP3s at 128KBS or so to save space and there is definitely a unique sound verses the original when played on quality speakers or head phones.

I re-ripped all my CDs to FLAC when I bought M60s and also re-ripped anything lower to 256KBs MP3s for my MP3 player. I'm honestly not sure if I can tell the difference at 256kbs. Sometimes I thought I could, but it was questionable and it wasn't blind A/B testing so it may have just been my mind. In any case, I'm sticking with flack for my speaker applications for the peace of mind.