nixfiles :ripperbot :usage

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Ripper Configuration

Ripping relies on having an existing installation of CDex. The CDex directory must be in your PATH so that the python wrapper can find CDRip.dll. Ripperbot will use the settings from the CDex.ini file in the same directory, So you can change ripping parameters by running CDex and using its setup dialog. (this is how to select a cd-rom drive and set up paranoid ripping mode).

I hope to use the CDex encoder configuration soon too.

Timing

The DVD-ROM drive in the powerfile seems to rip audio at about 4x. This is probably slower than the encoder, so ripping a full cd will take about 15 minutes, and a full changer of 200 cds will take 50 hours of continuous ripping.

Loading and unloading the changer should take about an hour each.

Real numbers TBA.

Encoding

My plan is to compress to 224kbps (or so) mp3. This rationale behind this number is that it will fit 1000 cds on a single 100GB hard drive.

It would be really nice to keep a lossless archive, but i'm hesitant to fork out for the necessary storage. I don't want to build a disk farm, either. So, the plan is to keep the cds in storage. Maybe one day when terabyte disks arrive it will be time to go back and re-encode with a lossless compressor. Here are some rough numbers:

compression bitrate cds per 100GB
hard disk 		$ per cd
mp3 128 kbps 1736 $0.08
mp3 224 kbps 992 $0.15
lossless ~700 kbps ~300 $0.47
uncompressed 1.35 Mbps 161 $0.93
  • lossless compression is estimated 2x
  • cost of storage is $1.50 / GB
  • cd length averages one hour

CUE files

The standard practice when ripping mp3s is to put each mp3 in a separate track. Unfortunately, this irrevocably destroys the mix if there's a smooth transition from one track to another. Instead, ripperbot creates a single long mp3 for the entire audio disc, and generates a .CUE file which describes the cd table of contents information. Ripperbot only generates a subset of the full .CUE file format, which was originally intended for cd mastering.

If you want to slice and dice your mp3s, there should be a tool to cut up mp3 files based on .cue files (haven't looked for it yet). WinAmp can understand .cue files using the mp3cue plugin.