Best Flac Ripping Software

[binar]

I want to convert to FLAC a bunch of my music CDs I own. What is the most user friendly Linux Mint CD ripping software one can install onto Linux Mint 20.3? I would like to convert my music tracks to the highest quality FLAC level which I think is Level 8. And I would also like to add Album Cover Art as JPG files and Lyrics as well. Any advice will be greatly welcome.

[AdamFirst]

I'll tell you what I use. I use Asunder CD Ripper for the quickest and easiest. It will allow you to create Flac level 8, but a quick read on the net suggests that level 5 is the place to be (8 gives more compression, not better sound, at the expense of your time)., Asunder will also rip to multiple formats. Asunder is in the repos.

More complex is Fre:Ac, an appimage. It can also rip to multiple formats, but can include CDParanoia and will fetch more meta data. It can fetch album cover art, although I have not used it for that.

I don't have a clue about including lyrics.

[phd21]

Hi binar,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

+1 for Freac and using their Linux Appimage file.

"SoundKonverter" in the Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager (SPM) is a great CD ripper and audio format converter that can also extract audio from video files. I would recommend installing this from the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" along with all of its recommended and suggested packages (right-click soundkonverter to see these).

As for Lyrics and cover art, you can use various music applications and music metadata tag apps like MusicBrainz Picard, eyeD3, Kid3, etc... will help you with metadata and tag your files.

I do not know of any CD ripping software that will automatically add the metadata "tags" for covert art or lyrics.

Hope this helps ...
FYI:
Sunamu: Display Lyrics for Currently Playing Music on the Desktop in Linux - It's FOSS
https://itsfoss.com/sunamu-music-widget/

software recommendation - How can I fetch lyrics for all my music and store them within the files? - Ask Ubuntu
https://askubuntu.com/questions/460932/ ... -the-files

*?* How to repair music files, adding metadata and album art | From Linux n- requires Spotify installed
https://blog.desdelinux.net/en/reparar- ... de-musica/

About - MusicBrainz
https://musicbrainz.org/doc/About

How to Easily Get Proper Tags and Album Art for your MP3 Collection - Appuals.com
https://appuals.com/how-to-easily-get-p ... ollection/

linux - How to delete the embedded picture and add lyrics in flac? - Super User
https://superuser.com/questions/814392/ ... cs-in-flac

GitHub - regosen/get_cover_art: Batch cover art downloader and embedder for audio files
https://github.com/regosen/get_cover_art

linux install - bliss
https://www.blisshq.com/install-linux.html

...

[ThaCrip]

I want to convert to FLAC a bunch of my music CDs I own. What is the most user friendly Linux Mint CD ripping software one can install onto Linux Mint 20.3?

The best general audio playback and basic conversion software available on Linux is pretty clear cut if you ask me (since this is also #1 all-around on Windows to and is actively developed. it does not have a fancy interface but it's practical function is where it matters and it's solid in this dept)...

Foobar2000 running through Wine (I suggest setting it up through PlayOnLinux since it's separate from your general system Wine (I am personally using Foobar2000 with the '6.13-staging' version of Wine which you can install through PlayOnLinux itself). initial setup might take a little time but once done, it's as easy as running it on Windows by simply loading the icon from the desktop).

basically setup Foobar2000 with the Encoders Pack (i.e. https://www.foobar2000.org/encoderpack ) which will give Foobar2000 the ability to make lossless (FLAC etc) and lossy(MP3/AAC/Opus etc) files.

there is simply no native Linux software that can compete with Foobar2000 overall.

also, if you plan on doing some conversions you will probably want to create some presets in the 'Convert' (right click your audio file and this will be a option) and you might need to tweak how the files are named a bit to in the 'Destination' section (in 'converter setup') etc.

NOTE: Foobar2000 won't see your CD/DVD drive on your computer but what you can do if you want easy enough is to just use the basic Linux file manager, copy the WAV files from the AUDIO CD to the PC and then use Foobar2000 to manipulate that WAV files to your liking (i.e. like convert them to FLAC and then delete the WAV files). or you can use what many prefer, which is a bit more proper... EAC (Exact Audio Copy) which also works through Wine.

p.s. if you want the best AAC encoder you would need to setup AAC (Apple) or FhG (WinAMP). but if you are not planning on creating AAC (.m4a) files then you can just install Foobar2000 and the Encoder Pack. if you need these (both are the best available as either one is good, but Apple seems to be the slightly preferred) let me know.

I would like to convert my music tracks to the highest quality FLAC level which I think is Level 8. And I would also like to add Album Cover Art as JPG files and Lyrics as well.

'level 8' is not quality based, it's purely compression based. ANY FLAC is always the same quality, since it's a 'lossless' format (i.e. the files it creates are identical to your original CD/WAV file in terms of sound quality (assuming it's made from a CD level quality source or better to begin with) but take up about half of the storage space), the only thing that varies a bit is compression level/decompression speed/file size. 'level 5' is typically the default. but I usually use 'level 8' (the highest compression level) to since it's it gives a bit better compression to save a little more storage space. but honestly, with today's tech it's not really going to make much difference either way if you stick with 'level 5' or 'level 8' as there is only small trade offs which come back to hard drive storage, compression speed, decompression speed.

like 'level 5' will be a bigger file but compress a bit faster and decompress a bit faster where as 'level 8' will save you a little hard drive space but take a little longer to compress/decompress. but like I say the differences are not big either way so it don't make too much of a difference in the real world. still, I tend to prefer saving a little storage space, so I use 'level 8'.

if you got the cover art I think you can do some basic level of adding it to the FLAC files if you want to with Foobar2000. select a file, right click 'tagging' section.

also, Foobar2000 has the ability to convert "HD" audio back to standard AUDIO CD which saves a fair amount of storage space and since standard audio CD's (16-bit/44.1kHz) already exceed human hearing ability, there is zero point in "HD" audio (since you won't be able to tell the difference from that and standard AUDIO CD that we have had for decades now), so one is better off saving the storage space and with standard audio CD format it's always supported to since it has wide compatibility. but doing this requires a plugin to do it (SoX plugin for Foobar2000 (It's on the hydrogenaudio forums)). but if you don't plan on doing this, then you won't need it.

I tend to keep my FLAC files around for occasional re-rips to lossy formats. but lately I have just defaulted to LAME(MP3) @ V5 (130kbps average) since I am willing to bet most people won't be able to tell the difference between that and the original lossless source (even though some people can) and it's a efficient bit rate and MP3 is basically THE standard for lossy audio since anything that can play lossy audio will always work on MP3. where as with other formats it may or may not work (although AAC still has strong compatability to). if you want to keep storage space at a minimum (for use on say a smart phone) with a lossy format... Opus @ 64kbps is a good option (you likely won't need more than 96kbps with Opus) for many I suspect.

but speaking of this stuff, that's another bonus with Foobar2000 is you can run a ABX test with it (with the ABX plugin). basically purely by listening you have to be able to distinguish the lossless file vs the lossy file (say do it 15 times), otherwise you can't actually tell the difference. like I was saying, some people will be able to tell the difference between FLAC and a MP3 @ V5 (130kbps average) but I am willing to bet most people when just sitting back and enjoying their music won't be able to notice any worthwhile difference in the overall sound quality and V5 is a efficient bit rate to which keeps storage space at a minimum (I realize that storage space is plentiful nowadays, but it's still the thought of it as I figure why make stuff less efficient if it's not necessary).

once the ABX plugin is installed you basically put your lossless file(FLAC) in there and one you made with MP3, select both files, right click, select 'Utilities > ABX tracks...'. then purely by listening you have to match up A to X or Y and B to X or Y and do it basically 15 times as if you get it right then you can actually hear a difference. a ABX test removes bias and you are purely using your ears to tell if you can actually hear a difference or not. but like I say, even if you can, once the MP3 bit rate is high enough, the differences are going to be small enough to probably not matter when your just sitting back and enjoying your music.

p.s. if you want to learn more about general audio stuff, which is basically where I learned most of what I know with basic lossy(MP3/Opus/AAC etc)/lossless(FLAC etc) stuff is... https://hydrogenaud.io/

[binar]

Thank you very much for the most helpful postings I have ever received for any thread I have ever started here inside the Linux Mint Forum! The information in this thread is a gold mine to anyone wanting to learn how to rip CDs to a FLAC format using a Linux Mint PC. Thanks to ThaCrip and AdamFirst for explaining what FLAC levels 5 and 8 are about. I honestly thought it was a 1 through 8 scale where Level 8 is the best level you can choose since it is the highest.

I tested out Asunder CD Ripper yesterday and I'm glad to see it is very easy to use. The only thing I do not understand is how it tends to leave the Artist and Title track info in an empty state. But then if I mount the same CD on the Linux Mint default Rhythm Box music player app I do get the Artist and Title track information populated. So I find it strange why Asunder fails to do that if the Rhythm Box music player app can do it.

I saw a YouTube video on Foobar2000. And from what I saw this app is over the top. I allows one to configure it exactly the way you want which is great if you have the time to do it. Nevertheless, I honestly was surprised to learn it can run inside of Linux Mint using Wine.

Phd21, thanks for all of the links you provided. The one relating to Lyrics turned out to be helpful. I think it will be so cool to have the songs I like a lot embedded with the lyrics.

I think I got the process of ripping music CDs to FLAC on a Linux Mint PC pretty much figured out with all the excellent posts in this thread. My next step in this journey is to setup a Nextcloud server using a Raspberry Pi PC. I want my smartphone music library to automatically sync to a centralized Nextcloud music data base so that when I add new FLAC track to my Nextcloud music data base, my Smartphone automatically gets updated with the new FLAC track via automatic syncing.

Again thank you very much to everybody for your excellent postings.

[ThaCrip]

Thanks to ThaCrip and AdamFirst for explaining what FLAC levels 5 and 8 are about. I honestly thought it was a 1 through 8 scale where Level 8 is the best level you can choose since it is the highest.

Yeah, but I suspect that type of thinking might come a bit from standard lossy files like MP3 where generally the higher the bit rate the higher the sound quality and the lower the bit rate the lower the sound quality. that does not apply to FLAC since FLAC is a lossless audio format (i.e. no reduction in sound quality regardless of the compression level you use).

but even in regards to MP3, once you reach a certain point, the sound quality gains are minimal to where I am confident most (or at least many) people would not be able to tell the difference given listening tests over on Hydrogenaudio's website etc. basically when it comes to MP3 I suspect the sweet-spot (like file size(efficiency)/sound quality combo) for most people will probably either be V5 (130kbps average) or V2 (190kbps average). the highest MP3 offers is 320kbps CBR(Constant Bit Rate) which is mostly pointless if you ask me as you can basically get the same sound quality at the more standard VBR(Variable Bit Rate) settings. V0 (245kbps average) is the highest VBR setting on LAME (the standard for MP3 encoders). but honestly, I figure beyond V2 (190kbps average) is largely a waste of storage space with MP3. even with storage space being cheap, it's still the principle/thought of it.

hell, I am willing to bet many people won't be able to distinguish between a MP3 at V5 or V2. even if you can, it's likely a minimal, if not very minimal, difference. because like I always say, when just sitting back and enjoying your music, V2 is still plenty good enough as it's not like a person will sit back and think something like "this sound bad, I need a higher bit rate". hell, just given the fact that MP3 @ V5 did pretty well in a public listening test on Hydrogenaudio's site says a lot.

p.s. just even on a person-to-person basis, if people are interested in that stuff just install the ABX plugin for Foobar2000 and compare a FLAC to MP3 file you made and that will basically prove whether you can hear a difference between the FLAC to MP3 file or not.

I saw a YouTube video on Foobar2000. And from what I saw this app is over the top. I allows one to configure it exactly the way you want which is great if you have the time to do it. Nevertheless, I honestly was surprised to learn it can run inside of Linux Mint using Wine.

It does take a little time to setup, but once you understand the basics, it's pretty simple and worth your time to setup as once setup (I recommend setting a 'preset' on the 'Convert' section for ease-of-use in future conversion) conversion is very quick (basically select your files you want to convert, right click, scroll down to 'Convert')... (see attached picture (you can name these however you want though))

converting basic WAV/Audio CD to FLAC is simple enough in Foobar2000 (it's not a drag-and-drop/single click or so level easy, but easy enough and it's worth using Foobar2000 just for general audio playback/conversion in general). but if you want a more 'proper' way to rip store bought audio CD's (which will take more time vs the easier way)... EAC (Exact Audio Copy) seems to be the standard for ripping audio CD's. but it seems one has to use a older version of Wine to get it to see ones CD/DVD drives (like say Wine v4.0.4 for example).

p.s. in the future I suggest backup up ones install location and configuration stuff as restoring it is easy enough so you can avoid the more tedious process of reconfiguring things from scratch.