Thank you Peter, I appreciate your kind words

Juan

Trying always to improve my system, now it has been the time to dig more deeply in to the ripping process.
Whatever is the quality of the original cd, issue being discussed in some other threads, it is easy to understand that it is of a major importance to pass that original material in the best possible way to the PC/XXHighEnd system. This post is about it.
I want to put here clearly that it´s not my intention to go through the abrupt paths of the technical issues, far from my ability to deal with the technical stuff. The only tools I have are the same ones all of you have: the ears. Of course I´ve tried to use as much tests as possible in as much as "scientific" possible way. Testing as been done using several cds I know very well and listening the tracks in the same condition of listening environment (position, volume...).

I´ve been testing basically two different  software and two ways of ripping cds.

Software: EAC: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/index.php/resources/download/
EAC is free but if you want a GD3 plugin to get better metadata you have to pay $7,99

and

dBpoweramp Reference: http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc-power-register.htm
dBpoweramp cost is $38 but it is a suite and has 5 meta data providers and FUA capability if your DVD/CD-Rom supports it, FUA is a command that can quickly remove the cached audio. That helps to find errors while ripping.


Both need to be connected to Internet in order to take full advantage of Meta Data and AccurateRip (a technology that verify ripped tracks against an Internet database): http://www.accuraterip.com/



I used basically two different ways of ripping that I would call indirect and direct:

Indirect way of ripping: That means ripping first the cds to an usb card or an usb hdd from a laptop (in my case) to pass the files later to the music PC.

Direct way of ripping:  Ripping it directly in the hhd of the music PC putting even the ripped files in the final folders from where they are going to be played.

Before I continue let me say that I understand (more or less) the logic of "bit perfect" and that if a rip is bit perfect it shouldn´t matter if you rip it directly to the final hdd or rip it first to an usb card. As Peter says only matters where it is played from (in XXHighEnd) besides other things (I don´t know about those other things).  That means that using bit perfect ripping I shouldn´t notice differences, but...I did.
Also let me point out that my NOS1 USB is still breaking in, now around the famous 20th day, but I think that the conclusions are still valid. The only thing that could change in the next future is an improvement in sound but I guess that the differences still will be maintained.

As I said, I´m not going to go into the technical basis so let me share with you my findings:

- The differences are subtle but noticeable

EAC v. dbBpoweramp Reference:

I used EAC with the caché unticked (Peter suggestion, if I understood well) and ticked (Mani suggestion, if I understood well) and couldn´t find audible differences.

The dBpoweramp I used is the complete Reference one with the Ultra Secure ripping enabled, also enabled are "Clear Read Cache with FUA" (more about it later) and "C2 Error Pointers for Error Detection"

These are my conclusions on this regard:

- EAC: seems more lay back and smoother at first glance.

- dBpoweramp Reference: seems more in front, more edgy at first glance but at the end is that it is just more detailed and the scene is reacher. The highs are smoooooth and beautiful. The sound seems a little louder than with EAC, I guess that it´s due to a fuller soundstage with a perception of a wider and deeper 3D space.


Indirectly ripped v. directly ripped

At first I used the indirect method because I´m kind of maniac with the PC from where I play music, I wanted to keep this PC as free as possible from any software other than the OS and XXHigEnd, I was not using antivirus and neither Internet on this music PC.
I tried the direct ripping after reading some posts from Mani, Peter, and others and now I´m glad that I did it.

Conclusion on this issue:

Directly ripped with the software installed in the music PC and ripping choosing the path to the folder where the file is going to stay I perceive a more defined sound with a more delineated scene. Kind of a palpable relief.

I also tested to rip all the cd in only one file and I couln´t find it sounding better, on the contrary the sound seems to me a little duller.


Of course all these observations are due to a combination of all the parts involved and not only to one, I´ve just tried to choose the best possible combination: software, the way to use it and also the hardware involved on it.

About the hardware let me tell you that I was surprised when I saw that the CD-ROM driver that I had without use in the music PC, it supports FUA and rips quite fast the cds. So I can recommend it to the ones interested in getting a CD ROM with FUA capability. Price: 8,50 GBP in Amazon uk:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002IST634. I bought a second unit to have it as spare. Btw, I updated my PC post to show that CD ROM capability: http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1673.msg16893#msg16893


So, here it is my final choice: dBpoweramp Reference, with the mentioned settings and ripping directly to the final folder in XXHighEnd (Galleries).

Of course I could saved a lot of time following other´s advise (Mani) but I wanted to get here, as I said, by my own ears. Thanks though, Mani.

All of these appreciations are subjective, as I stated above, and are observed in my system, that means that in your case could be, as always, different, but there is also here some objective information that I hope will be useful for the ones that are interested in the ripping process.

Regards,
Juan

PS. Music used for testing:

- Jazz a Saint Germain. Various Artists. Virgin (7243 8452622 1). 1997
- ELIS. Sadao Watanabe. WEA. 1988
- Words. The Tony Rich Project. LaFace. 1995
- Klavierkonzert No.5 "Emperor". Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Giulini. W.S. (D.G. 419 249-2). 1982
- Akiko Suwanai. Max Bruch. Philips (454 180-2). 1997
- Raya Yarbrough. (CD-83658). Telarc. 2007
- Alicia Keys. Songs in A minor. BMG. Arista Records. 2001
- Kari Bremnes. Norwegian Mood. HDCD. Kirkelig Kulturverdsted. 2000
- Lluís Llach. Un Pont de Mar Blava. Picap (B-20289-93). Recorded 1993
- Tarres/Serrat. Cansiones. BMG. 2000
- Buika. Niña de fuego. Casa Limón. 2008
- Nina Simone. The 60´S Vol. I. Mercury. (838 543-2). (1964-1965). 1990

"the only 'real' Plextor optical drive available seems now to be a DVD R/W  PX L890SA. Not sure if this one supports FUA though. Can't find it on the web."
Bigear


Hey Quint, have you found out if the PX L890SA is "real" Plextor for sure and if it supports FUA?. It can be found as cheap as 25€ in Amazon Spain.

Regards, Juan

Thanks Mani, I googled Plextor and yes it´s hard to find the authentic one.
Sorry but I don´t understand well how to activate FUA, what does it mean?: by adding '-usefua' in the command line. Or in other words, how can I do it in EAC?.

Juan

Hey Mani!, what Plextor model would you recommend and where do I have to activate the "forced unit access"?
Could you explain why it is so important a little further?

Regards,
Juan

Hey Peter, I will not try to figure out what is the secret weapon but, could you tell us if it will be usable by anyone with NOS1 or even with just XXHighEnd?, with tubes or solid state electronics or any kind of speakers?. In other words, may it will be used by anyone?

Thanks,
Juan

I strongly support this idea. I really believe that the weakest part of any of our systems is the OS. We all know that the sound in a system will be as good as be allowed by the weakest of its components. So, we won´t get a stable success, even with the best dac in the world, if it is driven by a dubious software.



Thanks Praphan.

Robocop, just in case you are interested and can´t find the post, here it is: http://www.phasure.com/index.php?topic=1673.0


And I'm going to put for sale my EMM Labs CDSD SE/DCC2 SE. That means something!.

Juan

Well, I was one of the few that explicitly applied the updates and thought that it sounded better. Not anymore. After a few days the charm was gone, why? I don´t know. I´ve reinstalled the OS with only the SP1 (and the only update that can´t be deleted: KB976902) and now it sounds better again. What does it mean to me?, that the weakest part in the system is the OS or myself or both.
To tell you the truth I feel a little stupid going back and forth saying that the sound is fabulous but...the sound is fabulous either way. I hope to keep cool this time.

Juan

Yes Coen, you´re right I was thinking mostly about an upgraded NOS1. For an entirely new NOS1 USB you must break in all the other sections, so what you are doing seems correct.

Juan

Hi Claudius,
The light blinks when the Control Panel is on, it doesn´t matter if XXHighEnd is on or off.

Juan

Hi Claudius,

When you bring up the Control Panel the green light works intermittently on and off. If you minimize it still works  but if you turn the Control Panel window off (crossing it away) although the green light remains permanently on the streaming will stop.

To breaking in the dac you need to maintain the streaming on.

Juan

Claudius:

This is what Peter told me about breaking in the NOS1 USB:

It is sufficient to bring up the Control Panel, which initiates streaming over USB (without sound). You can minimize it to the taskbar (crossing it away will stop streaming).

That means that while the streaming is up and running (as you can see in the bottom part of the Control Panel window) the dac is breaking in. How long would it take?, I don´t know, maybe Peter can tell about it more exactly but if you run it as much as you can around one month or something between 500 and 1000 hours is what I think should be ok.

Juan

Hi Claudius,

Welcome!

The message says:
Wait till services stop
(done when message dissapears)

So, wait until message dissapears, you don´t have to hit ok. Once the monitor is blank hit Alt + P in your keyboard to start playing music. That´s it.

Regards,
Juan

No, sorry, for you was just the question: Do you mean that demagnetizing the system eliminates the differences between cables?.

The link was just to think about the general issue and directed to all.


I totally agree. The NOS1 USB is the most fantastic tool to know the "truth" of the system.

Juan

My spoken English is not fluent enough for such a high conversation but it could be an advantage that I could use to enjoy the dinner while I listen.

Juan