[dayneger]

I've finally got my SB3 hooked up to a Synology Diskstation DS106, which is a very cool combination. Slimserver runs on the Diskstation, so I don't have to have a computer or full-size server running the whole time when using the SB3.

So now I've started the brutal process of ripping my CDs using EAC with Accuraterip, using the vanilla flavor recommended in the pandora startup guide.  What's quite dismaying is that it's taking about 25 minutes to rip a disk on my nx7400 laptop.  My collection of about 600 disks in going to take a million years!

Is 25 minutes a normal rip time?  If not, can I change any settings to speed it up?

Thanks!

Dayne

[mgalusha]

Most laptop drives in my experiece are not very fast when using error correction and ripping as that requires rereading each sector to make sure it's accurate.

I have a Plextor external USB DVD drive that works pretty well with my laptop. It's still not as fast as my desktop and the internal Plextor drive but the performance is pretty good. I believe the drive is a model PX-750UF - http://www.plextor.com/english/products/750UF.htm. I can't swear to this since my drive is at home and I'm not.

[Thump553]

It may have something to do with your settings-level 8 FLAC takes quite a bit longer than level 5 or 6 for example.

My limited experience with Easy CD-DA Extractor is that is goes faster (on my desktop, not laptop) than EAC.  It also has the advantage of easy to edit file names BEFORE you rip, and to download and link an album cover to the file tag.  I'm still not sure I trust Easy CD-DA yet though.  I've had EAC be unable to extract tracks that Easy CD-DA does with ease, even on the error correct setting.

My desktop system probably runs 10-15 minutes to rip (FLAC 8, secure) an album using EAC and maybe 8-10 minutes using Easy CD-DA (rough guess). 

[andy_c]

The trick to getting fast rips in EAC secure mode is to use a drive that doesn't cache audio data when doing DAE.  Two such drives are the NEC 3550 and LG GSA-4167B.  I have the LG drive and it rips at an average of 24x in EAC secure mode.  If you have a desktop and could put one of these drives in it, that would save you lots of time.

Another speedup trick is in EAC options, tools tab, check "On extraction, start external compressors queued in the background".  This will cause EAC to begin ripping the next track while the compressor is still compressing the previous one.

[dayneger]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the inputs!  Right now it's running with FLAC compression running in the background, so I'm not waiting for the compression when ripping, and I believe my drives run without caching (I have 2 similar laptops).

Strangely, however, sometimes they rip at only 1-2x, other times at up to 4.6-5x, depending on the CD, but seemingly not that dependent on the CD quality--a nice, clean CD often runs slowly.  ?

Does it matter if you don't let the drive vary speed in EAC, or does that sacrifice the rip quality?

Dayne

[kfr01]

I wouldn't expect more than 2-3x on a regular basis out of most laptop drives...

Mgalusha's advice was spot-on.  Grab an external plextor.  Plextor is the best for DAE, imho.

[Tirade]

I use Plextor Plexwriter Premiums for all my ripping (and I rip hundreds of CD's a week) and they work great.

While I dont use anything except Plextools or EAC, on average I can rip a CD with plextools in under 2 min if the CD is scratch free and clean. EAC is a bit slower but still only a few minutes per CD.

[Tim S]

Definitely the problem is the laptop drive as others have noted. I just ripped my collection a few weeks ago and I thought I would try to run my laptop simultaneously with my desktop to get it done faster. That lasted for one disk on the laptop. I'm not sure I even made it all the way through it. My desktop read in CD's in a minute or two while the laptop was running at about the same speed as yours. I didn't have the patience.

Tim

[dayneger]

Hmmm, ok, so my extraction times from 12-25 minutes are normal for a laptop.  Bummer! 

And I unfortunately don't have a desktop, so I'm limited to external USB units.  Do these extract as fast as the internal desktop units?

I checked for what's available here (Switzerland/France) and the PLEXTOR PX-716UFL, DVD±RW is availabe for about $140 (about the same price as the PX-750UF), which - although it's undoubtedly a great unit - seems a little pricey given that I only need it for ripping my collection once.

Would something like the Liteon/HP DVD840E also be acceptable?  That would run about 40% less.  I couldn't tell from the spec-sheet what it said about the caching, if someone could point me to where to look that would be great!

Thanks,

Dayne

[andy_c]

In my closet I have a stack of about four CD-RW drives that I've gotten rid of because of various problems ripping audio.  Some had great error correction but bombed on discs longer than 72 minutes.  Some had CRC mismatch errors in EAC secure mode using the EAC "test and copy" command.  Others were just plain slow.

If there's one thing I've found it's that EAC secure mode ripping speed of a given drive is almost impossible to predict from normal read speed tests.  If you look at the reviews at cdfreaks.com, some of them show the performance in EAC secure mode.  You'll find some drives that do not cache audio data but are still very slow in EAC secure mode.  So the whole "non-cacheing" thing seems to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for fast EAC ripping speed.

So in dealing with an unknown drive, my experience shows that the cards are stacked against you as far as finding a very fast EAC secure mode ripper.  However, Plextor owners have consistently reported fast ripping speeds with PlexTools even when the same drive is slow in EAC secure mode.  Also, PlexTools has an excellent reputation for ripping accuracy.  I'd recommend getting a Plextor drive and using PlexTools to rip.  Be sure the drive comes with PlexTools though!  I bought a Plextor drive and paid a premium price for it, assuming it came with PlexTools.  When I found out it didn't, I was plenty ticked off.

Another thing to consider:  There have been reports of EAC not working at all with some external USB CD-RW drives.

If the price bugs you, look at it this way.  Compute the number of hours it will take to rip your discs with your laptop drive.  Then assume 24x ripping speed and recompute that number.  Take the difference and divide it into $150.  I'm pretty sure you'll find that your time is worth a lot more than that number.