How To Improve the Sound Quality Of Ripped CDs?

[Anniel]

I use EAC and CDex to rip my CDs.

Unfortunately, despite cleaning them, some CDs have less than perfect sound
quality and once ripped, I wonder why I bothered.

Is there any programme that "cleans up" the crackles and hisses..or am I
asking too much?

It's just that in Dadioh's dandies he has plenty of progs. that clean up
Vinyl LPs...and I am hoping for one that does the same for CDs.

Thanks everyone.

 

[colinco]

I use EAC and CDex to rip my CDs.

Unfortunately, despite cleaning them, some CDs have less than perfect sound
quality and once ripped, I wonder why I bothered.

Is there any programme that "cleans up" the crackles and hisses..or am I
asking too much?

It's just that in Dadioh's dandies he has plenty of progs. that clean up
Vinyl LPs...and I am hoping for one that does the same for CDs.

Thanks everyone.

I suspect that some back catalogue CDs are just copies of an LP. You
could try the same software you'd use on an LP rip but you'll be lucky to
get acceptable results without paying for Pro SW.

 

[dadiOH]

I use EAC and CDex to rip my CDs.

Unfortunately, despite cleaning them, some CDs have less than perfect sound
quality and once ripped, I wonder why I bothered.

If you just play the CDs themselves do they still have the noxious noises?
If no, then they are being introduced when you rip. If yes, there is no way
to avoid them...what's there is there.
_______________

Is there any programme that "cleans up" the crackles and hisses..or am I
asking too much?

It's just that in Dadioh's dandies he has plenty of progs. that clean up
Vinyl LPs...and I am hoping for one that does the same for CDs.

They don't clean up the LPs or tape, they clean up the noise in the
*recordings* made from them. If the noise from your CDs is similar, they
would work just as well on your CD recordings. However, none of them are
"push the button and go" programs...all need experimentation and practice to
realize their benefits to the maximum without messing up the music.

--
dadiOH
____________________
....dadiOH's dandies...a help file about recording
from LP/cassette plus useful tips & tricks
about this and that...
http://www.gbronline.com/xico/

 

[Eric]

You can always try COOL EDIT....a bit of a learning curve but once you
get to know it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
As a radio DJ, I do a lot of copying from cassettes of old songs to MP3
and just love Cool Edit. Many of those old songs were themselves copied from
vynil or another cassette. Talk about hiss and noise, not to mention clicks,
pops, etc.

It's a commercial program though...big bucks. Worth every penny!
It's made by Syntrillium Software. Newer version can even work
on MP3 directly. Older version (we have) edits WAVs but not MP3.

 

[Anniel]

dadioh,
I am so concerned to get this problem right that I bought two CDs and before
playing them anywhere else, I ripped one of them to MP3 to see how they
would play.

And..there it was ...a crackle here and there. I then played the CD on my Hi
Fi and it was perfect..so it is in the ripping where the problem occurs.

My PC is now just over 3 years old..a Dell running windows 98SE with 384 Mb
memory and 40 GB HDD.Can the quality of the sound card in my PC be at
fault? Or is it just the ripping process?

Over time, I have asked you many questions.. I would not say I have a good
technical grasp like some younger people have..so for my purposes, which of
the editing progs. you mention would be best for me? I realise I will have
to pay for such a prog. so I want to get value for money.

I was interested that Eric mentioned Cool Edit..which I have heard about and
wondered if that would be the best prog. for my purpose.

I have EAC, CDex and Alto MP3 maker for ripping.

Cheers
Anniel

 

[Onno Tasler]

And..there it was ...a crackle here and there. I then played the CD on my Hi
Fi and it was perfect..so it is in the ripping where the problem occurs.

Might it be that your CD-drive is old and is unable to read the music
digitally or that its error correction is not working that well anymore?
These are also things that can decrease the qualitity of ripped files.

Did you try to rip the CDs from another drive?

bye,

Onno

 

[Anniel]

The CD drive..is as old as my PC..3 years old. Is that considered old?

I have only one PC..so only one CD drive. I take it I cannot rip from my CD
Writer?

Thanks for your advice, Onno

 

[Onno Tasler]

The CD drive..is as old as my PC..3 years old. Is that considered old?

No, that should still be working fine.

I have only one PC..so only one CD drive.

Do you know somebody else who has a PC?
Perhaps you could try to rip your music there and test it.

I take it I cannot rip from my CD Writer?

You could do that too. CD writer have the same reading capabilities as
usual CD drives. (Usually, their error correction is even better.)

bye,

Onno

 

[Craig]

I use EAC and CDex to rip my CDs.

Unfortunately, despite cleaning them, some CDs have less than perfect sound
quality and once ripped, I wonder why I bothered.

Is there any programme that "cleans up" the crackles and hisses..or am I
asking too much?

It's just that in Dadioh's dandies he has plenty of progs. that clean up
Vinyl LPs...and I am hoping for one that does the same for CDs.

Thanks everyone.

I've tried heaps of them but none are as effective as Cool Edit. You sample
the rumble, hiss, and crackle between songs on your cassette or LP. Then
program it to remove the same frequencies throughout the songs. You can
adjust how severe you want to clean it up and after a bit of practice you
can remove most background noise without effecting the music.
If only there was a free program that does the same. I guess I haven't been
much help.

 

[dw]

I've tried heaps of them but none are as effective as Cool Edit. You sample
the rumble, hiss, and crackle between songs on your cassette or LP. Then
program it to remove the same frequencies throughout the songs. You can
adjust how severe you want to clean it up and after a bit of practice you
can remove most background noise without effecting the music.
If only there was a free program that does the same. I guess I haven't been
much help.

I am probably being stupid, and OT, but I thought a 'ripped' CD was
copying the digital image .... so where do the crackles and hisses come
from (unless they are in the original CD) ??

 

[Terry]

My PC is now just over 3 years old..a Dell running windows 98SE with 384 Mb
memory and 40 GB HDD.Can the quality of the sound card in my PC be at
fault? Or is it just the ripping process?

It is almost certainly the ripping process. You are probably not
unstanding the ripping software settings correctly. I used to do quite
a bit of CD ripping and could easily get crackly mp3's until I learnt
what I was doing.
Unfortunately, I have now forgotten what I learnt

I don't know the best group to ask these questions, but perhaps

alt.comp.periphs.cdr will lead you in the right direction.

 

[bambam]

I am probably being stupid, and OT, but I thought a 'ripped' CD
was copying the digital image .... so where do the crackles and
hisses come from (unless they are in the original CD) ??

Time for a read-

http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq03.html#S3-3

http://www.mrichter.com/cdr/primer/noisy_cd.htm

 

[John Corliss]

I've tried heaps of them but none are as effective as Cool Edit. (clipped)

Cool Edit is not freeware.

If only there was a free program that does the same. I guess I haven't been
much help.

That's why it's a good idea to not bother replying if you don't have a
freeware suggestion. Somebody else might be able to come up with one
and your message only adds to the static.

 

[LittleMac]

Craig wrote:
|| ||| On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 05:30:36 -0700, John Corliss wrote:
|||
||| snip
|||
||||
|||| That's why it's a good idea to not bother replying if you don't
|||| have a freeware suggestion. Somebody else might be able to come up
|||| with one and your message only adds to the static.
|||
||| Not very good at taking your own advice are you.
||| Hypocritical post of the year award.
||
|| Point taken, yes I did break the rules by mentioning how a
|| non-freeware program works, but not so you would go out and buy it.
|| I'm just saying that there are free programs that help reduce noise
|| on recordings but I haven't seen one that uses the sampling approach
|| of "that commercial program". Just thought you might be interested
|| in how it works. Not every post needs to include a hot link to a
|| free download to make the newsgroup interesting to browse.

OK, guys, cut this guy some slack. He has a point and probably as well
won't mention *that program* again.

 

[John Corliss]

Point taken, yes I did break the rules by mentioning how a non-freeware
program works, but not so you would go out and buy it. I'm just saying that
there are free programs that help reduce noise on recordings but I haven't
seen one that uses the sampling approach of "that commercial program". Just
thought you might be interested in how it works. Not every post needs to
include a hot link to a free download to make the newsgroup interesting to
browse.

My apologies Craig, you were indeed mentioning a payware for the
purpose of comparison. I retract my criticism.

 

[Jesse Spencer]

And..there it was ...a crackle here and there. I then played the
The cdr drive lens maybe needs cleaning.
Try a rip with audiograbber, it will allow you to rip randomly selected
tracks. With a little aggravation you open and close the program till
you get all the tracks.
Try ripping VBR for the best quality to file size.
http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/
they say the free version does half the tracks, maybe thats new, I
registered a long time ago. Worth trying anyway, I did some great rips
before getting lazy.