Encode to lossless files

  1. Download EAC
    Exact Audio Copy. This will permit you to 'rip' your discs to your hard drive as wav files that are 'exact' clones of the audio files on your CD. Download EAC here.
  2. Configure EAC for you Drive
    Visit Pandora.be for the best EAC tutorial. You could spend days working through this entire page, so stick to the sections labeled 'important'.
  3. Extract the Audio using EAC
    First, set up the folder where the tracks will be extracted. Create 'new folder'. Rename 'new folder' to, for example 'Bjork 1998-05-15 Capitol Ballroom'. Extract by selecting: Action > Copy Selected Tracks (select all or none) > Uncompressed.
  4. Status
    You will select your pre-made folder to point EAC towards, and the status box will appear to report on your extracting progress. When complete, you will select YES for 'create a log'. Place the log in the folder as the wav files and name it 'bjork1998-05-15EAClog'.
  5. Name the wav Files
    The files will appear as Track 1, Track 2, etc. Give them a name, preferably in the format: bjork1998-05-15t01, etc. Track names must be double digits '01', '02', otherwise they will burn and play out of order.
  6. Create a .txt file
    You can see examples of the proper txt file format at this website. Generally, artist and venue information at the top, followed by lineage information, credits, and then the setlist.
  7. Download Flac Frontend
    Find it at Sourceforge.net (many excellent flac resources) or Mikewren.com. Install. Select the following settings: Level 7, check 'Align on Sector Boundaries', 'Delete input files', and Output Directory "same as input directory". Drag and drop the folder with the new wavs to Flac Frontend, select 'encode'. A dos-like status box will appear and report on compression status. When it is complete, you are almost done!
  8. Create an md5 file
    In order for your fancy new flac files to be verifiable, you will need a program to assign individual hash numbers to the files, i.e. an 'md5'. You can use mkwACT or md5summer, or other programs to do this. Md5summer is a more instinctively easy program to use. mkwACT is an old program, but if your system accepts it, with mkwACT, you should be able to just right click the new flac folder to creat md5s.

This may sound very confusing and difficult at first, but it's not really. Feel free to ask questions in the hub or through this website. See also the excellent guide at Tradersden.org.