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A Great Ruby-Based CD Ripper
Nov. 10th, 2009 08:37 pmFrom time to time I've tried to tackle the backup/conversion of my audio CDs into a more lasting and portable format than the heavy zippered case that hosts my music collection. I've been searching for quite some time for the perfect ripping software for my particular needs, and I think I have finally fulfilled my quest:
Rubyripper
This is a Ruby-based CD ripper that focuses on quality rips -- it makes a test rip of the file twice, and then compares them before making the final rip to minimise the errors. Even better, it's got a very intuitive interface that lets you choose the desired format with radio buttons, and set your own file naming conventions (with the options right on the screen that lets you set them, so you don't have to wade through online help files).
It's also very easy to edit track information before ripping. The only bad thing I've found so far is that it doesn't know how to rip to an already existing folder without overwriting it -- if you want to put two CDs into the same folder (e.g. a 2-disk set) you have to create a separate folder for the second disk, and then copy over the second set of files after ripping.
The application itself can either be installed, or run directly from its folder. I chose the latter and stuck it into an Apps folder on my hard drive, then created a shortcut to the main executable (rubyripper_gtk2.rb for Linux or rubyripper_cli.rb for Mac). To get the most out of this fantastic application, I highly recommend installing more than just the bare minimum requirements. The one downside to this application is that it doesn't have a Windows version...but I'm sure all the poor Windows users out there will make due with the numerous rippers already available to them. ;)
RubyripperThis is a Ruby-based CD ripper that focuses on quality rips -- it makes a test rip of the file twice, and then compares them before making the final rip to minimise the errors. Even better, it's got a very intuitive interface that lets you choose the desired format with radio buttons, and set your own file naming conventions (with the options right on the screen that lets you set them, so you don't have to wade through online help files).
It's also very easy to edit track information before ripping. The only bad thing I've found so far is that it doesn't know how to rip to an already existing folder without overwriting it -- if you want to put two CDs into the same folder (e.g. a 2-disk set) you have to create a separate folder for the second disk, and then copy over the second set of files after ripping.
The application itself can either be installed, or run directly from its folder. I chose the latter and stuck it into an Apps folder on my hard drive, then created a shortcut to the main executable (rubyripper_gtk2.rb for Linux or rubyripper_cli.rb for Mac). To get the most out of this fantastic application, I highly recommend installing more than just the bare minimum requirements. The one downside to this application is that it doesn't have a Windows version...but I'm sure all the poor Windows users out there will make due with the numerous rippers already available to them. ;)
