Comparison of CD rippers
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On the Hydrogenaudio forums (e.g. here and here) there have been many discussions and questions about the differences between different Digital Audio Extraction (DAE) software packages (CD rippers). New rippers with secure ripping facilities have emerged in recent years, and it is now difficult to judge compared to some years ago when the only answer was Exact Audio Copy (EAC).
Comparison chart
| Features | Cdparanoiaa | EAC | dBpoweramp CD Ripper | foobar2000 | ITunes | Windows Media Player | CUETools | XLD | Rip | MusicBee |
| Data acquisition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One track per file | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Image as single file | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | ||
| CUE sheet generation | yesb | limited, more in beta | limited | no | no | yesc | yes | yes | limited | |
| gap detection | yes | in beta | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes | no | |
| Offset correction | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| HTOA | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | no | |||
| C2 pointers | no | initial pass | initial pass, on re-reads | no | no | no | initial pass | initial pass, on re-reads | initial pass | |
| Defeat cache | over-reading | over-reading, FUA | over-reading, FUA | over-reading | N/A | N/A | over-reading | over-reading | yes | |
| Additional features | ||||||||||
| AccurateRip | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| AccurateRip checking across pressings/offsets | no | no | in beta | yes | no | no | yes | yes | ||
| CUEtools db | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no | no |
| log file | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes | no |
| Metadata | no | freedb, MusicBrainz (mb2freedb), CD-Text | freedb, MusicBrainz, AMG, GD3, SonataDB, CD-Text, PerfectMeta™d | freedb, MusicBrainz (plugin), Discogs (plugin), CD-Text | gracenote, MusicBrainz (Mac-only hack), CD-Text | AMG, CD-Text (plugin) | freedb, MusicBrainz | freedb, MusicBrainz | freedb, MusicBrainz | freedb, MusicBrainz, CD-Text |
| Download Album Art | no | REACT | yes | foo_discogs | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | |
| Cost | free | free | $36 (as listed) | free | free | free | free | free | free | free |
| License | GPL | proprietary, freeware | freeware, shareware | proprietary, freeware | proprietary, freeware | proprietary, freeware | GPL | GPL | proprietary, freeware | |
| OS | Windows, Mac OS/X, Linux/BSD | Windows | Windows | Windows | Windows, Mac | Windows | Windows | Mac | Mac | Windows |
Notes:
- ^a Cdparanoia is one of many frontends to the Paranoia library, libparanoia. Additional features not directly related to the ripping process might be supported in other frontends. See Cdparanoia.
- ^b A number of different types CUE sheet types are available.
- ^c The EAC-style "Multiple WAV Files With Gaps (Noncompliant)" type will be used in single track mode.
- ^d dBpoweramp is unique in being able to compare metadata from several sources automatically to eliminate erroneous data.
Explanation of features
One track per file
A standard feature of rippers is the ability to rip each audio track to a separate file.
Image as single file
Some rippers can rip all the audio tracks to a single "image" file. This normally doesn't include data tracks on Enhanced CDs. This feature can be useful when combined with cue sheets.
Cue sheet generation
Cue sheet generation means the ripper can create a cue sheet to preserve, at a minimum, the relationship between extracted audio and the disc layout (e.g., a list of how an image file is to be split back up into tracks). It usually also indicates the ability to read at least some of the following info from the CD subcode for inclusion in the cue sheet: disc catalog number, track ISRC codes, track indexes (including gaps), disc & track CD-Text data, and track flags. Depending on the ripper, copyright & pre-emphasis flags might only be taken from the TOC, and CD-Text data might only be filled in with metadata from external sources.
A "no" or "limited" in this row shouldn't be considered serious unless you're seeking to preserve as much info as possible, aside from the audio data.
Gap detection
Some rippers can read the disc's subcode to find each track's index 00 portion, i.e. the "gap" or "pre-gap", if one exists. Once detected, this info can be used to control whether & how these portions of the tracks are extracted, and the info can be written to a cue sheet so it can be written to a new CD later. Gap detection only refers to scanning for index 00, regardless of whether it contains silence or audible sound.
A "no" in this row is minor, unless, for example, you're 1. ripping a CD-R that was burned with pure-silence gaps that you want to remove, or 2. planning to burn a copy from the extracted audio (plus accompanying cue sheet) and you want the display on a regular CD player to count up from a negative number to 0:00 between certain tracks, just as it did on the original CD.
The ability to scan for other index points in the subcode is a related feature not yet covered by this table, and may be connected to other features like cue sheet generation. For example, EAC always scans the subcode for gaps and 02-and-higher index points when generating a cue sheet or when doing an index-based rip. Similarly, a ripper might have the option to scan for 01-index points (track boundaries) in the subcode rather than relying on the TOC, which is sometimes deliberately incorrect or unreadable on some drives, as a copy-protection measure.
Offset correction
The ability of a ripper to compensate for a CD drive's inherent read offset, with sample-level precision, very slightly affects the accuracy of track boundaries, and plays a role in whether & how the fraction of a second of audio at the very beginning or very end of a disc is read. Properly configured rippers which correct for read offsets will produce consistent track boundaries, given the same discs to rip, thus allowing comparisons of ripped audio data made on different drives, e.g. via AccurateRip.
A "no" in this row should only be cause for concern if you need to be sure track boundaries aren't very slightly off from how they were encoded on the disc.
HTOA
This indicates the ability to read data in the portion of the disc where Hidden Track One Audio (HTOA) may be located, if the drive also supports it. This is the index 00 portion of track 01, and if it exists at all, normally only contains a tiny amount of silence. If it does have non-silent audio, then to hear it, you would have to start playing track 1, then scan backward.
Very few CDs have HTOA, and not all drives support reading it, so a "no" in this row shouldn't be considered serious unless you're sure you need to read such CDs.
C2 pointers
This row indicates whether & how the ripper makes use of C2 pointers, which are info the drive provides about read errors that the drive detected but wasn't able to correct on its own.
Defeat cache
This row indicates whether & how the ripper works around the automatic data caching that occurs in some drives. Overreading is a brute-force, slow method where extra data is read in order to flush the cache. Force Unit Access (FUA) is a more efficient method that is only supported in some drives. If you don't have a drive that caches during DAE, this row may not be of interest to you.