CD Drive for ripping/playing

@mirror die CD App stürzt ab immer wieder, wenn ich die 2CD rippen will...also CD1 rippt es ohne Probleme aber aber bei CD2 stürtzt ab. Egal welcher CD Laufwerk ich nutze. Beim einzelnen CD rippt es meistens ohne Probleme. Firmware v1.1.75.

 

36 CDs ripped to SSD (+5 CDs ripped with a computer and transferred to SSD) so far with ASUS ZenDrive SDRW-08U7M-U using bundled Y-cable. DMP-A6 firmware v1.1.75. Up to first 10 CDs things went quite well and also album covers and artist pictures ok before the problems started with the ripping. Main USB-A connector of the Y-cable connected to OTG port (External storage device setting selected) and another USB-A connector connected to USB audio out port for additional power. I have also tried to use an external power supply for additional power. DMP-A6 power off/on with a CD inside the drive tried also. I tried also to connect the cables when DMP-A6 is already powered on and a CD is inside the drive. A CD playback works well when a CD is recognised without problems (this is not always the case), but there is problems with the ripping. The ripping interrupts and device enters to CD player ("No CD" shown). After a while DMP-A6 reads a CD again and offers to play or rip a CD (or does not recognise a CD).
A CD playback and the ripping works without any problems with an iMac using this same ASUS ZenDrive connected with only the main USB-A connector of the Y-cable and with the same CDs.

Some things noticed during this exercise:

EDIT:
-which databases are used and how. If several descriptions are found for a CD, give possibility for a user to choose from those. If data is not found, give possibility for a user to rip CD as it is. DMP-A6 needs working tag editor for editing afterwards without computer. Yes, you can already add album name, add album cover, add artist name and edit track names before the ripping. All of those can be done also after the ripping except add artist name. How to add artist name after the ripping using only DMP-A6 to get an album under the correct artist ? When artist name is given before the ripping it goes to Artist tag field and artist is shown in Music player Artist section. When album name and track names are given before the ripping those go to correct tag fields also. However, if album name or track name is given after the ripping those do not go to Album or Title tag field. After the next Library Rescan album name and track names are gone of course. I have now ripped about 50 CDs (40 with DMP-A6 and 10 with a computer) and there is no CD yet which cannot be found from Discogs for example (every CD checked with Mp3tag from Discogs to add/edit tag data). DMP-A6 just does not get the correct information/does not handle the data correctly for all of these 50 CDs.

-all the tracks are in correct order in Files/SSD/EverSoloMusic/Album name (including track numbers) and also in Music player´s Tracks section, but when opening Music player´s Artists or Albums sections there are about 15 albums in which the first track and the second track have switched places with each other (although those are in correct order in Files and in Music player´s Tracks section). EDIT: Went through these about 15 albums and found out that if the second track on the CD is alphabetically first compared to the first track, the second track will be placed in the first place of the list. EDIT: checked this with tag editor (Mp3tag for Mac) and found out that DMP-A6 starts track numbers beginning from 0 (in case of every ripped CD) and when this is corrected to begin from 1, the first and the second tracks do not switch their places with each other if the second track´s name is alphabetically first compared to the first track´s name.

-if you have the track names which includes / sign DMP-A6 does not recognise it and the track is named Track-01.wav (cd´s first track includes / sign in this example). This leads to a situation in which you have the same album twice in Music player´s Album section. Another album includes this one track only. You need to edit the track names before the ripping to avoid this to happen. EDIT: tag editor shows that all tags are missing from this Track-01.wav and there is "ERROR: Unsupported format or corrupted file" in tag format field. EDIT: Problems also in case when there is the same track name twice on CD and the other track includes "(reprise)" or similar after the track name. All tags are missing from this track (tag editor shows "ERROR: Unsupported format or corrupted file" in tag format field). Artist tag is missing from all of the tracks. DMP-A6 creates two albums and the other album contains this one track only (track´s file name is something like 1JJKUQ-U.WAV). The other album contains rest of the tracks. Before the ripping album and track names are shown correctly in CD ripper. This happens every time when these CDs are tried to be ripped. You can edit these with tag editors and get these ok.

-157MB track skipped. I needed to rip this track with a computer and transfer it to SSD using DMP-A6´s web browser interface. EDIT: This CD was completely ripped with computer and not with DMP-A6. 157MB track did not transferred from computer to DMP-A6 using web interface because of ´sign in track name.

-when transferring the tracks from a computer including ´sign in their names (for example "It's" or "The man´s"), the track is not transferred to SSD using web browser interface. You need to edit the track names before the transfer to avoid this to happen.

-when transferring the tracks including / sign in their names from a computer to SSD using web browser interface, the transfer is successful and DMP-A6 replaces / sign with : sign.

-would be nice to have a possibility to add double CDs (or more CDs) easily without manually copying the tracks to correct album folder. EDIT: Music player reads Disc Number tag field so files do not need to be in the same folder, but you need to give a unique track number for every track. You cannot start the second CD´s first track using number 1, otherwise Music player Album section´s track list is not in order. Maybe this is how also many other devices/sw handle these, but then the ripper should automatically include unique track numbers for all CDs. EDIT: problems to recognize the second CD as member Adi111 mentioned above. DMP-A6 returns to CD player and ”No CD” shown. When disc is ejected, DMP-A6 offers to play or rip a CD. All the tracks shown correctly, but no track names or album name. When a CD is inserted inside, the same problems again. With another double CD the second disc is recognized and it is possible to play or rip it, but the track names are from the first CD. The first CD has never been inside the drive. EDIT: when the second CD is not recognized it has more tracks than the first CD. When the second CD has less tracks than the first CD it is recognized, but the track names are from the first CD. EDIT: Apple Music app on Mac and installed CD ripper by Convert Technologies on DMP-A6 (this is not DMP-A6´s own CD ripper app) uses Gracenote and gets the correct information related to the second CD. With some CDs only one description is found (correct information) and in some cases several descriptions are found. Then these apps offers you to choose the correct one for the disc. The same of course applies for CDs with only one disc.

EDIT:
-Music player´s Albums section has albums which do not have artist name under the album cover and album name. In those cases artist name is shown after the track name in track list. Artist name was given in case of every CD before the ripping. EDIT: Ok, complete manual Library Rescan helped and artist names now shown (long press folder and select Rescan). Automatic updating sources setting or manual Library Update is not enough.

EDIT:
-Music player´s Albums section "Sort by time from oldest to newest"/"Sort by time from newest to oldest" does not show all of the added albums in correct order i.e. the order when albums are added/ripped is not correct. The order of ripped first nine albums is not correct. These were ripped without any problems. EDIT: should this be the order when albums are added or based on album release date or...? Now it is showing alphabetical order of album names when "Sort by time from oldest to newest"/"Sort by time from newest to oldest" is selected. When you have also Internal library in use in addition to SSD, an album in Internal library is shown last in the list although this album is not alphabetically last one or the latest added album.

This feature really needs corrections. It is quite pain to use it for now.

@mirror Any news related to this feature ?

 

While I try not to be overcritical and as much constructive as possible, after 10 thread pages, the only thing I understood is that this feature is really a mess under all perspectives, in my opinion far worse than the Room Ready certification and Airplay 2 issues popular topics. How they tested this feature to the point to put it as a key feature in the adv page of the product is beyond my comprehension, but at this stage I would consider it as a false claim and good reason to return the product for everyone who relied on that statement for the purchase. The cherry on top is the total silence of Eversolo about all the issues on their own forum... is the hype over and selling target reached?

 

It won't be here until later this week. I'll be sure to post my reports here and AVS.

 

Okay, I installed CD Ripper by Convert Technologies APK to DMP-A6. Unlimited tracks of course cannot be purchased for it because the billing service is unavailable on this DMP-A6 device, but it is possible to rip 30 sec (AAC, WAV or FLAC) of every song on the CD.
There is no problems to read CDs (or double CDs) and the ripping works with this app without any problems I've mentioned before (message #182) in case of DMP-A6´s own CD ripper. This app uses Gracenote and there is no problems to get the correct information for the CDs. If several descriptions can be found for CD, a user can select the correct one (Apple Music app CD ripper does the same).
This app stores to Storage/Music and this cannot be changed (DMP-A6´s own CD ripper does not work any better if internal storage is used).

 

Okay I tried starting this long process today.

I'm currently using the free trial of dmpoweramp.

But, for free, it doesn't let me edit and SAVE tags.

So I need some good tag editing software.

I obviously want to change names and pics etc.

But I also want to be able to make 2 and 3 CD sets into 1 CD. So for example, I want to take 2 CDs that are 15 and 14 tracks long, CD1 and CD2, and make them into 1 CD with tracks 1 to 29.

Any suggestions on good programs to fix and alter things like this?

Thanks --- Bonzo

 

I use "abcde" under Linux, maybe it is available for Win / Mac as well, not sure.
This can also rip one CD in one file only, together with a CUE file (which basically contains the information about where / when the tracks begin).
I cannot remember it allowing to rip multidisc CDs in the form you like them to be, but what I usually do is the following (requires a bit of work...)
1. rip 1 CD to entire disc in FLAC format, and rename its files from<whatever>.flac and .cue to <whatever>-disc 1.flac and .cue
2. repeat for all the discs in the set, following -disc 2, -disc 3, etc.
3. final steps: open "<whatever>-disc 1.cue" a text editor, and append to it the contents of the -disc 2, -disc 3 etc., taking care to change the track number (they begin at 1 within every file) in sequence, save the resulting .cue file without any "-disc ?"; and remove the .cue files already concatenated into it. this is how The Wall by Pink Floyd looks in my library:

Pink Floyd - The Wall.cue
Pink Floyd - The Wall-disc 1.flac
Pink Floyd - The Wall-disc 2.flac

Again, programs that allow you to do all this automatically, I don't know, but for me this is easy enough. And clean enough.

 

I've been using mp3tag for years.

https://www.mp3tag.de/en/

It's free, you can donate if you want but no use restrictions.

 

Excellent program indeed. Use that one too myself.

 

I bought a Asus DRW-24D5MT and put it in a OWC Mercury pro case.
Ripping seems to be perfect but only for cd's that are recognised in de CDDB database. Ripping takes between 7 and 10min. You have to wait around 20à30sec for the cd to be ready. Select the numbering option. Playback not so perfect... the occasional stutter...

 

So how in the frack do you use it? I open the program and nothing happens. I can't even figure out how to get a CD loaded into it.

I'm taking on some challenges right away. I have and Adele single CD of Skyfall. When I rip it, its ALL wrong. It has the wrong artist, song title, everything. It makes the folder wrong and everything under it wrong. I need to be able to fix it but I'm just not sure.

First time I did all this I did it on a Mac using itunes. It was a million times easier. Itunes was the ripper, player, and editor. All I did was go down the list and fix it all. You could see it all in one place.

Sorry, I'm just REALLY frustrated and now have a huge headache.

 

I’ve only ever used the Windows version but you click the browse button and select the folder you want to tag or re-tag. The MP3Tag web site has quite a few tutorials and tips on some of the advanced features.

 

Okay, I called an old friend (best man at my wedding) and he helped me a lot. So I at least have it working now.

Now I need to figure out what to mess with and what not to mess with. Ah the joys of doing digital files. Not. Give me a CD any day.

I'll get there but what a pain.

 

You can select your files (even if they are named only as "track01, etc from unknown album by unknown artist") then using the online database lookup function can easily find the album and automatically update the tags. Then you rename the files using the tags... That's the way I've been using it to update my own files collection (when I started using roon I discovered a lot of files were wrongly tagged).
I guess when you're more familiar with it it's quite straightforward.
And it's free for Windows, the Mac stand alone version costs something like 20£

 

Never, never use my CD player anymore. Even brand new CD's get instantly ripped and played next as a FLAC. The ripping feature could be really nice (above all quick and simple) if it worked well will all USB CD-players eating any CD. Not something special but a nice to have for sure.
Tagging and naming can be (re)done use mentioned program where and when needed.

Have several good (better) CD ripping programs on my PC, but these things are complex to use and I need to reinvent the wheel each time I use those.

 

I can't disagree with your sentiment. Its been 2 months and @mirror's silence on this bug/defect is deafening. I just bought an Asus ZenDrive V1M (based on other users' success with Asus ZenDrive units). Well it worked once to play and rip but without artist and track information. That was it. It did not recognize the next CD I inserted and eventually rebooted itself. The CD ripper feature would mean that I could stop using my computer and JRiver Media Center to rip CDs and manually transfer files to the DMP-A6. Now I have to renew my JRMC licence in order for it to automatically find CD metadata from the Internet. The licence renewal fee costs less than a DVD Reader/Writer and JRMC has been a reliable ripper/player for many years.

 

I think I just need to try things out on 20 CDs and see where it gets me. My buddy said I might have to fiddle with all the tags to get them to work how I want. That's because as he said, that different devices "read" the tags differently. For example, I loaded 5 CDs I ripped and fixed onto a USB thumb drive and stuck it in my car. The car radio only recognizes Album, Artist, and Song. Nothing else. So changing all the other stuff is a waste of time.

So next up I'll need to load some stuff on my phone and see where that gets me. My friend told me from there it depends on which player APP I download and use. He said some are super simple (probably like my car), but others delve deeper.

Once I rip some more CDs, I'll figure out if I can get away with a 2T card for the A6 or if I need a 4T card. Then I'll buy one, install it, and see what I need to do tag wise from there.

I figure as long as I rip them with uncompressed flac, I should be good from there. Even if I screw something up tag wise, I can either fix it or rerrip the CD. I just want to get it figured out before I rip all 2500 CDs.

On that note, I finally expanded my rack. I have room for about 165 more CD case slots, and then I'm out of room. I guess my timing is right with CDs going away and me not buying them like I used to. I may never even fill the 165 slots. Time will tell. Back in the day that would only last me about 2 years.

 

Just looked up my car. It will only take mp3 up to 3## (sorry I forget the exact #) or flac up to 48.

Dmpoweramp comes with a batch converter that works really fast. So I can rip my files in full uncompressed flac, fix all the tags, then batch convert them down to other formats that take less memory for my car and my phone. Nice.

I know this is junior league stuff for most of you, so I'm just learning. Please be patient with me.

 

Well...never say never...After packing up the Zendrive V1M, I decided to plug in my old Samsung CD/DVD writer to see if could at least play an entire CD. Well it did that without any hiccups. The CD player software showed album art and song titles too. Then I pushed the CD Ripper icon to see what would happen. After a few seconds it started to rip the CD...all 11 tracks successfully! Maybe the "trick" is to give the CD player software time to sort things out before trying to rip. I have no idea what the A6 will do tomorrow. Almost like a tempermental pet! Maybe I should talk to it more to make it more responsive to my commands. Lol!

 

According to my understanding, the metadata issues (i.e. wrong or non album information) are related with the place from where the A6 is getting the CD information, not the CD player. I already reported that it's messy with albums with more than 1 CD. And if the album is not in that database, there is no information displayed. Maybe using some other better online database(s) like Discogs, MusicBrainz, Gracenote or freedb, will allow to gather proper tags and download cover art for the music library. I hope this will be implemented at some point in the future.