Encoding with Flac - Presets?

English Multimedia
1

I am using 11.2, KDE 4.3.5 with Grip and Flac to rip and encode CDs. Two questions:-

Have read flac -help and do not understand the -o option which is used in a few example threads. The man page suggests that -o should be used with subsequent parameters such as --output_name=FILENAME for example. In the example posts this general option is used on its own. What for?

The installation when first used, already had a string of options including --best on the command line. I cannot find any documentation for this. I assume it is a preset in the same way as for example --preset extreme in lame. Is this the case and where is the info documented please?

Budgie2

2

Now, have you considered using Asunder to rip your CD’s? You can select FLAC as the encoder if you like and it might work better for you. This is just a suggestion if you were unaware of this choice.

Thank You,

3

Not even heard of it! I shall have a look but I do like Grip. That is not the point though, it is to the parameters being passed to flac that my question refers.

As I sit here waiting for the slowest part of the process, the CD/DVD drive and at present ripping to mp3 with lame, I have a couple more questions:-

The overall progress bar shows 100% when ripping is only 2/3 complete. The encoding continues but the bar remains at 100%. Any ideas why this might be.

Second question. How to deal with bmg copy protection. It says on the disk that it can be played on PC but I have real problems with Rod Stewart CDs. I had decided not to buy them anymore because of this but guess what. Christmas presents included two Rod Stewart CDs.

Any ideas gratefull received.

Budgie2

4

May I point out that KDE has already functionality to rip CDs ‘built-in’?

  • Ripping to .wav, .flac works out of the box (?), ripping to .mp3 requires Packman stuff.
  • The applications that you use to ‘rip’ are Konqueror or Dolphin in ordinary filemanager fashion.
  • The configuration happens in Personal Settings > … > AudioCD’s. The exact location may differ between pre- and post-KDE4.5. Direct command is ‘kcmshell4 audioCD’ though
5

I was unaware of anything new about bmg copy protection except this five year old issue that occurred:

Sony BMG Litigation Info | Electronic Frontier Foundation

I am thinking I would simply return any CD’s that had an issue that kept me from ripping them to my hard disk.

As for your comment on progress bars, remember that they are just approximations of the task at hand and in general have no effect on the actual quality of their function. It might be frustrating, but not deadly and just another reason to switch to a better option like using Asunder.

Thank You,