iTunes - CD rip errors?

[GilesM]

Hello,

I am running iTunes 9.0.3. on OSX 10.5.8.
I am ripping CD's to Apple lossless format.
I am ripping with error correction enabled.

On several discs, I have heard a 'blip' a little sound bump which happens at around 3-4 seconds in to the first track of the CD.
This has happened on multiple CD's.
This shows up when played on iTunes (iMac), Apple TV, and iTunes on a PC running win 7 (all are using copies of the same files).
The only solution is to delete and rip again.

I thought turning on error correction would solve it, but it does not.
In fact I thought that having the error correction on would make the rip happen slower and more precisely than not having error correction, but the reverse seems to be true. With error correction 'on' the rip happens at around 12x speed, with error correction off it happens at around 3x speed and takes much longer. This seems a little backwards to me.

Is something wrong here? Is there an alternative CD ripper of better quality for Mac?

If I upgrade to Snow Leopard would a get a better iTunes?

 

[Nermal]

Rip is one of the best; it checks rips against a database of "known good" rips so you know whether it's ripped accurately or not. It's a little tricky to set up though.

 

[GilesM]

Hmmm. I will look in to 'RIP' looks like it's only available as a beta right now though...
So, do you suspect iTunes is the bad guy here with the problems I have described?

 

[Meatball]

Windows user? If so rip using EAC (Exact Audio Copy)

 

[GilesM]

Meatball.... well I would except that the widows machine is a netbook with no CD drive. My process is Rip in iMac, transfer to Apple TV via ethernet and transfer to netbook via USB stick.

So the ripping process needs to remain on the iMac...

 

[tkermit]

I wholeheartedly recommend XLD. It implements a lot of techniques to make sure you end up with an accurate rip.

 

[GilesM]

Tkermit... thank you I will certainly investigate this! Looks promising...

 

[GilesM]

TKermit.. I am giving XLD a try now, thanks very much for the link...

 

[tkermit]

TKermit.. I am giving XLD a try now, thanks very much for the link...

No problem. I hope you have better luck with it than with iTunes.
Your original problem is still a bit puzzling to me and would probably deserve further investigation, but at least you'll be able to hopefully work around the problem now, and generally iTunes can be a bit too lax in its error correction anyway I think. What's weird is that the blip you're getting doesn't appear to depend on the particular disc but will systematically occur at the same position. That's not what I would expect and certainly not how it should be.

 

[MVApple]

Is the CD you are using scratched? If so, then it's possible that the cd is scratched at that particular point enough that iTunes error correction simply can't help you. Alternatively, it's possible that the disc was recorded with the "blip", not on purpose but as an error. I have come across CDs like this in the past and at first I thought it was iTunes because some people have in the past complained about iTunes error correction. In my case all of my CDs are scratch free because as soon as I rip them I put them back in their cases and store them. So to find out whether or not the CD I had was recorded with the error I loaded the disc onto a different drive on a different computer and I used EAC to rip it and the blip was still there so it was not an error with iTunes or the drive I was using with iTunes.

In one case I bought some Japanese CDs on eBay for cheap and these were full of errors. I later found out that Japanese CDs almost never go on sale and mine were actually counterfeit and they were a very poor counterfeit copy.

 

[GilesM]

MVApple and Tkermit...

Well, I see you asked if the disc may have been scratched, I don't think so. Recently I have been buying a lot of music, say 30 discs in the last 4 months.
My process is to open the brand new disc, rip it in the iMac then file it away in storage.
The issue has happened with brand new discs like this from various labels and always at the same point, 3-4 seconds in on the first track.

I took TKermit's advice and located a disc with the problem and re-ripped it using XLD. The 'blip' did not appear on the second rip.
Then I turned error correction off in iTunes and ripped again. The blip did not appear.
Personally I am starting to think the error correction process in iTunes is flawed.

 

[MVApple]

MVApple and Tkermit...

Well, I see you asked if the disc may have been scratched, I don't think so. Recently I have been buying a lot of music, say 30 discs in the last 4 months.
My process is to open the brand new disc, rip it in the iMac then file it away in storage.
The issue has happened with brand new discs like this from various labels and always at the same point, 3-4 seconds in on the first track.

I took TKermit's advice and located a disc with the problem and re-ripped it using XLD. The 'blip' did not appear on the second rip.
Then I turned error correction off in iTunes and ripped again. The blip did not appear.
Personally I am starting to think the error correction process in iTunes is flawed.

Like I said before, you're not the first person I've seen to say they have problems with iTunes error correction and you pretty much just proved that to be the case. Its possible there is a problem with itunes and your drive on your mac because your problem doesn't seem to be too common. If possible try using iTunes error correction on with a different drive, that should help narrow things down even more. If you are on windows though, I think EAC is the best program out there for ripping cds.

 

[GilesM]

Yes, it does seem like an clear conclusion that Itunes error correction is the culprit here. How strange that 'error correction' should introduce problems rather than solve them.
I think I have an external drive hanging around that I used to use years ago, on an old XP machine perhaps I should try hooking that up to the iMac and giving it a try when my next new CD arrives, no big deal if it don't work though. Luckily I never throw anything away.

Or I could rip from my wife's iMac... or I could use XLD... lots of options.

I have heard many people complaining about the 'superdrives' in the iMac's, perhaps it's time to by-pass it. Good excuse for buying more tech,,

Thanks for assisting me to narrow this down, thanks all.