EAC Track Quality Question

[jamroom]

Before I ask the question, I would like to point out that I have configured EAC with the drive specifics - offsets, overreads, etc.

I have successfully ripped trade cds with no errors, but have a bunch of cds (from the same trade source) that have track quality showing less than 100%. The example below has a number of files at 99.9%, though there were other discs with lower figures - though still 99.x%. These cds play fine, so from a listening POV, there are no problems. However, if I wish to share them in trades, or ripping to upload, what concerns are there about the % of track quality? Is 99.9% ok? From where would these "less than perfect" figures be derived? Any advice will be much appreciated.

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 27. August 2008, 18:12

Unknown Artist / Unknown Title

Used drive : TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-S202N Adapter: 0 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Not detected, thus appended to previous track

Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo


TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 1:05.64 | 0 | 4938
2 | 1:05.64 | 4:45.03 | 4939 | 26316
3 | 5:50.67 | 6:49.01 | 26317 | 56992
4 | 12:39.68 | 8:04.62 | 56993 | 93354
5 | 20:44.55 | 5:30.02 | 93355 | 118106
6 | 26:14.57 | 7:37.09 | 118107 | 152390
7 | 33:51.66 | 10:31.41 | 152391 | 199756
8 | 44:23.32 | 2:51.66 | 199757 | 212647
9 | 47:15.23 | 5:09.08 | 212648 | 235830
10 | 52:24.31 | 8:08.25 | 235831 | 272455
11 | 60:32.56 | 5:24.05 | 272456 | 296760
12 | 65:56.61 | 4:40.44 | 296761 | 317804
13 | 70:37.30 | 5:30.39 | 317805 | 342593


Track 1

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track01.wav

Peak level 79.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 29EB3FC9
Copy OK

Track 2

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track02.wav

Peak level 83.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC EFF86D51
Copy OK

Track 3

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track03.wav

Peak level 88.4 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 1739DCC2
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track04.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC E064308A
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track05.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 56620FA1
Copy OK

Track 6

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track06.wav

Peak level 90.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 400175C0
Copy OK

Track 7

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track07.wav

Peak level 96.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 73FFF45E
Copy OK

Track 8

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track08.wav

Peak level 92.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 375E91A6
Copy OK

Track 9

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track09.wav

Peak level 78.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 2888FE6C
Copy OK

Track 10

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track10.wav

Peak level 90.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 9E17103B
Copy OK

Track 11

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track11.wav

Peak level 99.8 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC 4E371718
Copy OK

Track 12

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track12.wav

Peak level 95.6 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Copy CRC 9D53B54A
Copy OK

Track 13

Filename F:\Ripping Test\BS 1977-04-22 Gothenburg\Track13.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Copy CRC 52FE7BA5
Copy OK

No errors occurred

End of status report

[Five]

I asked the same question a few years ago, track quality has to do with re-reading. so if it says 99.9% track quality then it means it only had to re-read 0.1% of the track (or something along those lines). so long as it says "Copy OK" its okay. at least that's what I was told and it has served me well. there's only problems when it reports problems instead of 'Copy OK'.

if you want your EAC rips to be even more secure, use secure mode (as you've been doing) and choose test and copy. then you get a 'test CRC' and a 'copy CRC' which should match, then you really (really really) know you've got it down. I guess from what I said above its not absolutely necessary, but why not add one extra layer to defend the perfection of your rip.

[jamroom]

Hi there Five - you're up late / early!

Many thanks for the reply. I find EAC can get really complicated in some areas, so the advice is much appreciated! I'll try the test and copy later.

Since all seems to be good, I'll try and get some Sabbath up over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers!

[Five]

yes, I agree!

I'm glad you could understand my post, not very good wording there!

I'm up late, the old insomnia gets me sometimes I don't have to work until noon so its not too bad.

I hope to get some sabbath up soon as well

[direwolf-pgh]

does anyone still recommend that users tweak EAC rip settings manually - or should the EAC AutoConfig Wizard be trusted ?

seems to me more errors would occur with users changing EAC recommended settings.

[jamroom]

On this particular set, I tried both test and copy, and came up with the same CRC values.

Thanks again for the info. EAC is a powerful tool, but can be overcomplicated and confusing for a doofus like me.

[Five]

you're welcome

Originally Posted by direwolf-pgh

does anyone still recommend that users tweak EAC rip settings manually - or should the EAC AutoConfig Wizard be trusted ?

seems to me more errors would occur with users changing EAC recommended settings.

the accuraterip database used is 100% accurate in every case I've ever seen... so I'd say its safe to use. the only thing is, every time I insert a disc accuraterip wants to connect to the internet so after it finished its work I renamed it ";accuraterip.dll" to stop that annoyance. accuraterip only configures the read offset, but not the write offset, so to finish the job check the EAC link in my signature (also for great hints on setting it so that rip quality is the highest priority), then burn and re-extract using EAC and check using st5 that the files are perfectly identical. this is the only true test of EAC, to see if it can really make an exact copy. I've also read that some drives are not capable of exact copies, but got it 100% perfect on my system. (okay some older (1980s lol) cue sheets you need a slightly different method to copy them exact, but the audio content is always 100% there)

when I find the time I'll write a meat-and-potatoes EAC tutorial that is more consise than that old (but excellent) tutorial.