After digitizing stacks of my old CDs to lossless audio, I finally perfected my ripping workflow

I recently decided to upgrade my old CD collection by converting them to lossless audio files. It had been years since I had last ripped my CDs, but with modern technology, I found a way to do it efficiently and with excellent sound quality. My goal was to create high-quality FLAC rips for my self-hosted media servers, which allowed me to enjoy my music the way it was meant to be heard.

I initially started ripping my CDs using tools like Windows Media Player, iTunes, and later Exact Audio Copy (EAC). These programs offered various lossless audio formats, but they each had their limitations. For instance, MP3 was the widely compatible format, but it lacked high-quality sound. FLAC was a better alternative, as it was open-source and used lossless compression.

With EAC being freeware, I found it to be the perfect tool for my needs. I discovered some settings that made the process faster and more efficient. For example, I used the 'Copy Selected Tracks' option instead of the 'Test & Copy Selected Tracks' feature, which prevented multiple passes before ripping. I also set the extraction method to 'Burst mode' to keep the ripping process under ten minutes, depending on the CD.

This allowed me to eject the disc automatically after the rip completed, so I could remove and replace it with the next one.

EAC also provided AccurateRip metadata engine to retrieve album data quickly, saving me time and effort. I could easily add the files to my self-hosted media servers, like Plex or Jellyfin, and organize them as I wished. My high-quality FLAC files not only improved the audio but also gave me a renewed appreciation for my old CDs.