Ripping Audio CDs
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The Basics
Understanding codecs and bittrates
When you decide to rip audio from a cd to your computer's hard drive, no matter what program you use you must choose the format. When audio is ripped, it is first ripped into raw audio and then compressed to help save room. The process of compressing the audio into a file format is called encoding. So for example, you put in your favorite cd and click on the rip button. For LSongs, the default option is to rip the audio and then encode it into the popular MP3 format. The "bittrate" of an audio file is simply how compressed the file is. The lower the bittrate, the more compressed the file is, and the lower the quality. Therefore, 64kbps is more highly compressed than 128kbps, but has worse quality. 128kbps is the most often used, while some prefer higher bittrates to preserve quality.
There are also lossless codecs, such as FLAC, which also compress but do so with minimal loss of quality (usually undetectable by human ears). However, they sacrifice disk space in turn for quality.
Common codecs (selecting a format)
There are a great amount of codecs and file formats for you to choose from. Here we will only cover the most well known and used.
MP3
MP3 is by far the most popular format in use today. It is compatible with nearly all portable media players, and is the dominant format on the internet today. MP3 is a lossy compression, so there is a small noticeable loss in quality, although it is controllable through changing the bittrate. MP3 is supported out of the box in Windows, Freespire, and Mac OSX; however, it is not supported in pure open source systems, such as Suse, Fedora Core, and Ubuntu, due to the proprietary nature of the format.
OGG
The open source alternative to the MP3, it is the default in many open source offerings instead of MP3. Similar to MP3, it is a lossy format, can be used for streaming, and is supported out of the box. However, OGG is not as well supported by default in Windows, and much fewer portable media players support OGG compared to MP3. The Fedora Project along with others push for open source users to choose OGG to help balance the popularity of MP3 with an open source alternative.
FLAC
An open source lossless format (similar to APE), FLAC files are the perfect choice for archivists. With much larger space requirements than either MP3 or OGG, many users of FLAC choose to use a large second (or external) hard drive for the archiving of their music. Because it is a lossless format, hardly any quality (if any at all noticeable) is lost, making it perfect for making exact copies of music CD's for later use, in case the original is lost or damaged.
Ripping software
The default installation of Freespire/Linspire already comes with two choices to rip audios CDs:
Lsongs
To choose your settings for ripping, click Edit -> Preferences. The "Importing" tab allows to you select which folder to build your music collection in (where the files are ripped to), while the "CD" tab provides options for your codec and bittrate.
K3b
To start K3b, click on Launch >>> Run Programs >>> Multimedia >>> K3b.
The rip option is under the Tools menu.
