How do you Rip CDs to FLAC files to play using Volumio?

Help and Support
1

I am now using Volumio set up as a player for my current library of mainly MP3 ripped files.

I now want to re-rip all of my CD Collection in FLAC Format but cannot see how to do this using Volumio. It seems that I have three main options:

  1. Rip the music to USB Sticks on a Windows PC - Not sure whether Windows Media Player will rip in FLAC

  2. Set up a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian and use either “abcde” or “K3B” with a USB attached CD or DVD Drive to rip to USB Sticks. Can any of you share your thoughts or experience with this? Is it feasible to install both Volumio and Raspbian on the same RPi SD Card?

  3. Set up an UBUNTU system on a PC as an alternative Boot to Windows and run abcde or K3B on that to rip from the Optical Drive to USB Sticks.

… or is there a simpler way to do this?

Robin

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2

https://www.freac.org/

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3

IIRC myVolumio includes a CDRipping option… :slight_smile:

4

I do my CD ripping on a windows pc, I use EAC (Exact Audio Copy), it can rip to wav, flac, etc.
It can also fetch the metadata for the CD and files from an online database which is a good head start for tagging the files correctly.

5

freac does the same :stuck_out_tongue:

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6

Many people use dBPowerAmp
https://www.dbpoweramp.com/
It is very easy to use and gives checks for a correct rip, album metadata etc is also supplied. It is not free (£28) but there is a free trial period and if you’re really quick you can rip all your music . . . But it does a good job so I bought a copy!

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7

Hi,

Yes there is a ripping function in MyVolumio if you have subscribed.
The is also the Nanomesher CD ripping plugin, which is free in basic functions.

I also use EAC on Windows and i can recommend it because of very good error correction even on slightly damaged self burned CDR’s and it is free.
https://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
You will have to additionaly install the flac encoder and configure it in the EAC settings.
https://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/xiph/releases/flac/flac-1.3.2-win.zip

br
Josef

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8

I use EAC AccurateRip (edited) through Foobar2000 on Windows 10. I wrote a blog post about my setup here:

9

In UBUNTU or other similar linux-distros use SoundJuicer for the ripping and EasyTag for the tagging! Attention: install the codecs!

10

I also use foobar2000 under Win10

11

Don’t listen to the Windows fools, you are on the right track. Volumio and Raspbian on the same RPi SD Card? Surely, you already have it. Volumio is based on Raspbian and you only have to

apt update 
apt install abcde

and you are done.

I wanted to turn Volumio into a CD Ripper myself, but still had not the time for this. It would be nice to have a ripper which stores the flac files on the same storage device where mpd will immediately find them. The only problem would be the hardware. You will need an external DVD/CD drive with its own power supply or - even better! - an internal DVD drive and a SATA-to-USB-Adapter which can power the device, something like this

but I have not tested this on a Raspberry PI.
I wanted to use my old Plextor drive from an old pc tower which is better than everything you can buy today.
If you try this, I would really like to know how it worked.

12

Hi hli,

I have a USB DVD Drive (Samsung) which is very low power and easily runs off a USB 2.0 Port. I also have a USB connected 2.5" Disk and can connect both of these to te RPi USB Ports (via a powered USB Hub if necessary. I think that this would be all the hardware I need as long as the Power Supplies were capable of supplying the current and would be a really elegant solution if I can get it to work.

I am less clear on how I would run abcde from the Volumio headless App over the network to my Phone or Tablet. Can you share with me how you do this? … or am I breaking new ground here?

Specifically:

  1. How do I get to a Terminal Screen under Volumio?
  2. Once I have installed abcde, How do I open the App? Do I need to use a Keyboard, Mouse and a HDMI attached Monitor?

Robin

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13

I rip on my Windows PC and transfer the files to Volumio using FTP (WinSCP). And then I reindex the files.

14

whatever works with the machinery and software we have available. I’m getting high quality results with this system so there’s no need for disparaging comments.

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15

I think he meant tools instead of fools :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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16

I would accept that. I will wait patiently for the edit correction. :slight_smile:

17

@robcee I think you may be waiting even longer for your correction than I will for an explanation from hli: of his proposition to run abcde under Volumio, headless and without access to a remote terminal session on the network interface! It sounds like a half baked idea to me.

Anyway, I have solved my need by installing Fre:ac on my Windows PC and configuring it to rip directly from the Optical Drive to FLAC Albums on my 128GB MicroSD Cards.

Thanks to dvo for the pointer to Fre:ac which I selected for the ease of installation without the need for additional codecs or plug-ins.

Robin

1 Like
18

Do I need to alter the default setting in Fre:ac so that it always rips my CDs at the highest Bitrate and bit-width possible?

When playing the FLAC rips of some of my CDs, VolumIO reports as low as 16Bit and 44kHz. Others report as high as 24Bit and 192kHz.

Is this something to do with the quality at which the original CDs were encoded?

19

The Redbook CD standard is 16 bit/44.1 kHz.
Ripping a normal CD to anything else is either making up data or throwing away data.

20

Yes, I just checked and all of the Fre:ac ripped FLAC files are 16 bit/ 44.1kHz. It’s odd that the MP3s ripped with Windows Media Player can be as high as 192kHz! This must be done by interpolation and is akin to attempting to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear!