Member Avatar for Kolin

Hi,

I want to make back up copies of some of my older CD's. I am looking for a CD ripping software that has a decent bitrate (ie not iTunes), maybe around 320 kbps (VBR). Also, it would be cool if it would rip straight to mp3 format at this rate. Does anyone know of such a thing? A free one would be nice but if not anything that fits the bill will be real helpfull. :?:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by spookydd

Dani AI

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Summary and practical picks (for the later reader): asked for ~320 kb/s MP3 rips, and pointed to the built‑in route, and later asked how to make a single MP3 that contains an entire CD. Two reliable workflows are here — one that preserves the whole disc as a single lossless image and then encodes to one MP3 (best for archive/accurate gaps), and one that imports separate tracks and concatenates them in an editor before exporting a single MP3.

Workflow A — single-file rip then encode

  • Rip the whole disc to one lossless file + cue (so pregaps and exact timings are preserved).
  • Encode that single WAV/FLAC to a single MP3 with LAME at the quality you want (CBR 320 for fixed 320 kb/s, or high-quality VBR like -V0 for transparent VBR). Example command-line encodes:
    lame -b 320 disc.wav disc-320.mp3
lame -V0 disc.wav disc-v0.mp3

    This is the approach used by many preservation workflows because it keeps a single master image and a cue sheet for track offsets. (bavc.github.io)

Workflow B — import, align and export with Audacity

  • Rip tracks to WAV/AIFF, import them into Audacity, select them and use Tracks > Align Tracks > Align End to End, then Tracks > Mix > Mix and Render, then File > Export (choose MP3). Audacity can export MP3s (may require pointing to a libmp3lame library on older builds). This is handy when a visual editor is preferred or you want manual fades between tracks. (manual.audacityteam.org)

Compatibility and tips

  • XLD is a standard tool for single-file rips but modern builds target Tiger/later — check compatibility for Panther (10.3). Older Audacity 1.2/1.3 builds ran on Panther if a newer build won’t. Avoid repeatedly re-encoding lossy files — always rip to a lossless intermediate when quality matters. If only joining existing MP3s without re-encoding is required, tools like mp3wrap/mp3splt exist but test playback compatibility first. (ports.macports.org)

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for yellow

iTunes can encode at 320kbps, what's wrong with using it?

Sorry, don't know of any more encoding stuff. Maybe ?

Member Avatar for gortonsfi

It's Itunes - Preferences - Importing then choose custom to get those higher bitrates.

Member Avatar for Kolin

It's Itunes - Preferences - Importing then choose custom to get those higher bitrates.

Brilliant, thanks. I should have worked that one out for myself really; sorry 'bout that!!

Member Avatar for spookydd

Although itunes can handle the higher bit rates, it doesn't give the option to rid a whole cd into one single mp3 file.
I'd like to rip to a single mp3 for the whole disk, does anyone know how to achieve this on osx?
I know it can be done, but which program would do this on osx?

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