Exact Audio Copy
Encyclopedia
Exact Audio Copy is a proprietary
CD ripping
program
for Microsoft Windows
. It has also been tested to work under newer versions of Wine
on Linux
. This program was created by Andre Wiethoff in 1998, while he was a student at the University of Dortmund in Germany
, stating he became "fed up with other audio grabbers", and decided to develop his own.
The main differences between EAC and most other audio grabbers:
If there are any errors that can't be corrected, the software tells the user which time position the (possible) distortion occurred, so they could easily control it with, for example, the media player.
EAC is used to convert the tracks on standard audio CD's to WAV
files, which can then be transcoded into other formats. These include lossy ones such as MP3
, AAC
, Ogg Vorbis
, or lossless ones such as ALAC
, FLAC, or WavPack
using external encoders. It also has the option of using the Windows Audio Compression Manager (ACM Codecs) for direct compression. It supports AccurateRip (automatically comparing the copy with those rips made by others) and can automatically create Cue Sheets, with all gaps, track attributes, ISRC
, and CD-Text
included. EAC also supports automatic ID3 tagging using Internet-based databases such as freedb
, GD3 (see below), or a local database.
With the release of 1.0b1, EAC supported the downloading of CD cover art, and in b2, an option was added to have the ID3 information, such as artist, CD title, track names, and cover art downloaded automatically from the GD3 database. The GD3 option allowed a user who set up an account to make 10 free initial queries, but afterwards, required them to pay a one-time fee of $7.99, after which they were allowed to make an unlimited number of queries.
Exact Audio Copy is freeware
, free for non-commercial
use and highly popular among audiophile
s for its high accuracy and ability to rip severely damaged audio compact disc
s.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
CD ripping
Ripping
Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. It has also been tested to work under newer versions of Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
on Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. This program was created by Andre Wiethoff in 1998, while he was a student at the University of Dortmund in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, stating he became "fed up with other audio grabbers", and decided to develop his own.
The main differences between EAC and most other audio grabbers:
- It works with a new technology, reading audio CDs almost perfectly, even damaged or scratched CD's
- It successfully reads all the disc, including the pregapPregapThe pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
which most other software normally ignores. - It allows users to set up profiles that allow for individual preferences, encoding in different formats, etc.
If there are any errors that can't be corrected, the software tells the user which time position the (possible) distortion occurred, so they could easily control it with, for example, the media player.
EAC is used to convert the tracks on standard audio CD's to WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
files, which can then be transcoded into other formats. These include lossy ones such as MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
, Ogg Vorbis
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
, or lossless ones such as ALAC
Apple Lossless
Apple Lossless Apple Lossless Apple Lossless (also known as ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec), or ALE (Apple Lossless Encoder) is an audio codec developed by Apple Inc. for lossless data compression of digital music. After initially being proprietary for many years, in late 2011 Apple open sourced...
, FLAC, or WavPack
WavPack
WavPack is a free, open source lossless audio compression format developed by David Bryant.-Features:WavPack compression can compress 8-, 16-, 24-, and 32-bit fixed-point, and 32-bit floating point audio files in the .WAV file format. It also supports surround sound streams and high frequency...
using external encoders. It also has the option of using the Windows Audio Compression Manager (ACM Codecs) for direct compression. It supports AccurateRip (automatically comparing the copy with those rips made by others) and can automatically create Cue Sheets, with all gaps, track attributes, ISRC
International Standard Recording Code
The International Standard Recording Code , defined by ISO 3901, is an international standard code for uniquely identifying sound recordings and music video recordings. IFPI has been appointed by ISO as registration authority for this standard. The ISO technical committee 46, subcommittee 9 is...
, and CD-Text
CD-Text
CD-Text is an extension of the Red Book Compact Disc specifications standard for audio CDs. It allows for storage of additional information on a standards-compliant audio CD...
included. EAC also supports automatic ID3 tagging using Internet-based databases such as freedb
Freedb
freedb is a database of compact disc track listings, where all the content is under the GNU General Public License. It was originally based on the now-proprietary CDDB . As of April 24, 2006, the database holds just under 2,000,000 CDs...
, GD3 (see below), or a local database.
With the release of 1.0b1, EAC supported the downloading of CD cover art, and in b2, an option was added to have the ID3 information, such as artist, CD title, track names, and cover art downloaded automatically from the GD3 database. The GD3 option allowed a user who set up an account to make 10 free initial queries, but afterwards, required them to pay a one-time fee of $7.99, after which they were allowed to make an unlimited number of queries.
Exact Audio Copy is freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, free for non-commercial
Non-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
use and highly popular among audiophile
Audiophile
An audiophile is a person who enjoys listening to recorded music, usually in a home. Some audiophiles are more interested in collecting and listening to music, while others are more interested in collecting and listening to audio components, whose "sound quality" they consider as important as the...
s for its high accuracy and ability to rip severely damaged audio compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s.
See also
- Obtaining an accurate rip
- cdda2wav - A platform independent command line utility that is designed to do perfect rips using libparanoia and in addition handles bad meta data.
- cdparanoiaCdparanoiacdparanoia is a compact disc ripper for *nix and BeOS, developed by Xiph.org. It is designed to be a minimalistic, high-quality CD ripper that would be able to compensate for and adjust to poor hardware to produce a flawless rip....
- A command line only LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
program, also designed to do perfect rips. - dBpoweramp Music Converter
- CDexCDexCDex is a CD ripper for Microsoft Windows. It convert tracks on a CD to standard computer sound files, such as WAV, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis. Released under the GNU General Public License, CDex is free software. , it is the 14th most popular download on SourceForge.net, with over 41 million downloads. It...
- foobar2000Foobar2000foobar2000 is a freeware audio player for Windows developed by Peter Pawlowski, a former freelance contractor for Nullsoft. It is known for its highly modular design and extensive SDK which allows third-party developers to do such things as completely replace the interface...
- Audio player with secure CD ripping function - Accuraterip - A data verification technology for ripped compact discs