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Topic: Hardware guide for mass ripping? (Read 7559 times) previous topic - next topic
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Hardware guide for mass ripping?

I am planning on ripping almost a couple thousand cds. I would like to know what hardware & software is suggested for doing this?  Ideally I would like to have a machine with multiple drive bays 4 ? going at one time.
Perhaps a stand alone tower as an add on?
Thank you

Moderation: Moved to CD Hardware/Software.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #1 –
Shameless plug , but does address the question directly:

www.ripfactory.com/totalsolutions.html

Other options include 4 drive configurations running multiple instances of software.

Happy to elaborate on either solution.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #2 –
Meh no price on the hardware equals epensive.

Besides looks like cd duplication units without the burners.

KM

Quote from: Ripfactory on
Shameless plug , but does address the question directly:

www.ripfactory.com/totalsolutions.html

Other options include 4 drive configurations running multiple instances of software.

Happy to elaborate on either solution.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #3 –
1. So, I take it your budget isn't high, which rules out the Ripstation "Pro" solution, and presumably the Ripstation Lite solution (with the baxter device).

2. Ripfactory has a demo/free version of their software (Ripstation Micro), though it is currently only single-drive capable.  I only mention this to remind Patrick of my suggestion that they should consider putting out a non-automated but multi-drive parallel ripping solution ("Ripstation Mini"?  <grin>), which they could perhaps charge a consumer-level fee for (e.g. <= $75...or some sort of tiered pricing based on drive/cpu count).

3. If you want to go for "cheap and slow" (and unlike the top notch robots above, perhaps not particularly reliable* as well...), the Sony XL1B/XL1B2/XL1B3 units can be found for ~$200 if you shop hard enough.  Combining that 200-disc library with the free MediaChanger+GUI combo (from the AVS forums) would allow you to set up a script to rip via commandline eac or dbpa.  It's only got one not-so-hot DVD-RAM drive, but at least you can bulk load/unload 200 discs at a time for cheap and let it rip.

4. Spoon is also alpha testing a parallel-ripping batch ripper over at the dbpoweramp forums, which is worth investigating.

-brendan

* that is, there are mixed reports on the reliability of the sony.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #4 –
I didn't say I didnt have a budget.  Just the mystery pricing on the website.  It's like a used car dealership. What price do you want to pay today?  Plus with the us uk exchange isnt so hot either.

What are the prices of these units? Do they have plextor drives in them? I have heard they are quite good.

Can this be automated with EAC? Is there any mode in their software that creates checksums?

I cant find in the specs what types of drives they are.  If they are read only drives is it possible to put a recorder in there and does it come with recording software?
Thanks
KM



Quote from: bhoar on
1. So, I take it your budget isn't high, which rules out the Ripstation "Pro" solution, and presumably the Ripstation Lite solution (with the baxter device).
-brendan

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #5 –
I would like to add, that multiple ripping drives on the same PC is a really bad idea. I tried several times to rip using my 2 drives, but if some discs are just a little scratched, the IDE bus will slow down all drives. I ended up using two PC's to rip from simultanously.

Edit: If the quality doesn't matter, or you're going to check the CD's (I assume Audio CD's) with accuraterip, you might be able to use Burst which should not suffer from the statement above.
Can't wait for a HD-AAC encoder :P

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #6 –
I found this link to the ripoff report for ripfactory.  This is one of several storys

Based on the report their duplicators readers seem to be rediculously over priced.  5k? uk dolalrs =  for a 4 drive unit?

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/239/ripoff0239638.htm

Even the 5 drive dvd duplicator is $3.5k us
http://www.discmakers.com/shop/ItemDetails...ID=DUP040-10024

How much do you charge for your single drive unit?

http://www.discmakers.com/duplicators/prod...omated/pico.asp $599 us

(Discmakers private label DupliQ-USB )


That is interesting and I have not thought about that. How do duplicators get around this fact?  Perhaps run multiple ide chains? An add on ide pci card would not be very expensive.

Thank you for the input

KieranMullen

Quote from: odyssey on
I would like to add, that multiple ripping drives on the same PC is a really bad idea. I tried several times to rip using my 2 drives, but if some discs are just a little scratched, the IDE bus will slow down all drives. I ended up using two PC's to rip from simultanously.

Edit: If the quality doesn't matter, or you're going to check the CD's (I assume Audio CD's) with accuraterip, you might be able to use Burst which should not suffer from the statement above.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #7 –
Keiran

Just wanted to add a few points:

1. The report - know about it and was at a time when we had outsourced to a manufacturer that went bad for us culmintaing in many delays on units. None of these were in the US, all have been resolved and that particular site wanted a pretty 20K dollars to remove those links. We of course refused.

2. Pricing - our system works via distributors. In the US all sales go via MF Digital and they issue pricing on local US Dollars and shipping. As an example, RS Lite with Baxter is between 800 - 1000 USD with all software.

3. We've been in the business for many years and have a solid solution overcoming any issues with multiple drives - we run max four as that is the right match of performance and spec.

4. Depending on the solution drives are Pioneer 112s or Plex 716A's . All are DVD burners. Its all on the PDF's for download.

5. All the products are solutions - i.e. they are hardware and software. Example : www.ripfactory.com/ripstation

6. As per Brendans recommendation, we are producing a freeware batch unit based on Micro - try the current single drive at www.ripstationmicro.com

P



6.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #8 –
Entry level into robotic (non carrousel) loading is the Datatronics MiniCubis (they are the manufactuer, the drives also are sold under the names: MFDigital Baxter, Stordigital 25, Diskmakers Pico, Acronova DupliQ).

They have a 25 disc capacity, which is about 1 hours of ripping. Currently only 1 of these drives can be used on the same PC at once, we (dBpoweramp) are working with datatronics to get multiple drives working from the same PC.

----------

As bhoar mentioned we have open testing of our new dBpoweramp Batch Ripper, you can read our mission statement with it here:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=13597

This one program is going to shake up the entire segment of this industry, we are working with around 100 companies, from top radio stations to system integrators and bulk ripping providers to ensure, everyone is catered for. This market segment will look very different next year....

Currently this is the only secure batch ripper, from our 6 months of testing (and in our opinion) it is more secure than EAC.

We have made it open so it is not locked to a single loading device. Full release of our Ripper will be around Christmas time (so less than 3 months).

Currently Minicubis (and varieties are supported) as are manual loading towers. Support for Sony (multichanger) will appear very shortly, other robots before release.

-----------

>"I would like to add, that multiple ripping drives on the same PC is a really bad idea."

4 drives ripping at 25x is about 16MB a second, a modern PC can easily handle such speeds.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #9 –
Love the new spelling on my name. Personally, copy and paste was never a hard function for me to master and massacring a fellow Irishman name no less! Please excuse me, but your attention to detail does not fill me with confidence.

Why not file a rebuttal?  Why not have an unlinked article on your website so if someone searches for it it will turn up?


Quote
This does not mean you are powerless.

On the contrary, you can write a rebuttal explaining your position. Rebuttals are 100% free, and we strongly encourage you to use this resource since they can be extremely effective.

If you are a business owner and you discover that the report was written by an unhappy customer, do not despair.  You can turn that negative into a positive.  Use the complaint as an opportunity to make things right with your customer, and ask the customer to submit an update confirming that their concern has been satisfactorily resolved.


Why is the RSLite unit, the unit apparently made by acronova.com.  Sell for higher than the retail unit? Discmakers.com OEM's this unit for $100 off of retail and they also include a dvd drive and ripping software?

Some may wonder why I am raising a stink about this, but if this unit is so far above pricing of the exact unit elsewhere, even the manufacturers MSRP, so should one bother comparing the higher end models?

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #10 –
Kieran

Excuse the name typo , as an Irish man we have five variations on your spelling and my brother in law happens  to spell his that way..........

Rebuttals are removed from the report site if you don't pay the money, regardless of what the site says and these are old issues that are all addressed. We wouldn't be here otherwise.

Anyway....on to the info at hand.

As Spoon points out the units are made in the far east by Datatronics and are OEM's to many makers, of which Spoon lists all of them. Baxter is just one and as standard almost all have the same NEC/Pioneer drives, all DVD writers.

I can't explain any differences in hardware pricing as thats up to the vendor, but the difference is the software. Bundled ripping software is Riptastic which is limited in its feature set and not on par with ours or the new dbpoweramp batch solution. Ergo the price differential is for the additional software, not the hardware.

Same is true of higher end units - upgraded PC parts inside (as against standard offerings) and additional software costs.

The baxter unit is a great unit and I would take it for a spin with the three pieces of s/w that support it - Riptastic, Ripstation and dbpoweramp batch ripper. Try them with accuracy, metadata, usability and speed. They each have their strengths.

Hardware guide for mass ripping?

Reply #11 –
Quote
Based on the report their duplicators readers seem to be rediculously over priced.  5k? uk dolalrs =  for a 4 drive unit?

Well, it is a niche market.  The core platform cost is pretty high.  Depending on software configuration (stand-alone keypad driven vs. intergrated Windows PC vs. network duplication platform), it can skyrocket above that as well.

The datatronics platform is the only one targeting the consumer level, if just barely.  The one exception to this is self-publishing bands and churches, which are targeted by the primera units with integrated printing.

There is one other low-end option, the discmakers/amtren elite micro.  A 60-75 disc input bin for < ~$1000.  They're nice, if one drive is enough.

Quote from: spoon on
Entry level into robotic (non carrousel) loading is the Datatronics MiniCubis (they are the manufactuer, the drives also are sold under the names: MFDigital Baxter, Stordigital 25, Diskmakers Pico, Acronova DupliQ).

They have a 25 disc capacity, which is about 1 hours of ripping. Currently only 1 of these drives can be used on the same PC at once, we (dBpoweramp) are working with datatronics to get multiple drives working from the same PC.

I am looking forward to this as well.  I have three of these units, but sadly, after plugging the wrong power cord into one of them, only two work.  I had a power brick with the same 4-pin connector, but instead of 5V/12V it was 12V/24V, which killed the robot controller (drive still works though).  Expensive mistake that was.

Spoon's reference to "manual loading towers" in his post apparently includes "a standard PC with multiple optical drives".  You could have one or more optical drives in the PC, plus one or more firewire or USB connected drives.  As long as you are willing to manually swap the discs, you can load them all up and go, and it will parallel rip.

Quote from: spoon on
>"I would like to add, that multiple ripping drives on the same PC is a really bad idea."

4 drives ripping at 25x is about 16MB a second, a modern PC can easily handle such speeds.

The one caveat is the frickin' Microsoft IDE controller DMA->PIO slowdown "feature" which gets triggered when ripping (esp. secure ripping) from scratched CDs. 

In response to Kieran's question, the trick that all of the duplicator manufacturers use is to bypass the mainboard IDE bus entirely and, instead, use firewire to connect all of the duplicator drives.  This is also one reason why, even into the early 2000s, duplicator makers used SCSI optical drives even though the consumer market had moved onto IDE:  the microsoft DMA->PIO slowdown "feature" was biting them in the butt.  When SCSI drives became scarce, they came up with the firewire solution.

Quote from: Ripfactory on
Same is true of higher end units - upgraded PC parts inside (as against standard offerings) and additional software costs.

Right - the duplication companies all use rather lightweight CPUs compared to today's desktop offerings, as duplication throughput is more related to IO speed than CPU strength.  For ripping, however, you want a mainboard/CPU combination that can handle, say, encoding from 16-bit uncompressed audio to AAC/MP3/FLAC from four drives at once, perhaps even encoding to more than one format at a time.  That's when dual (or quad) core CPUs come in.  That adds a bit to the cost over duplicators if you want high-throughput industrial ripping.

Quote from: Ripfactory on
The baxter unit is a great unit and I would take it for a spin with the three pieces of s/w that support it - Riptastic, Ripstation and dbpoweramp batch ripper. Try them with accuracy, metadata, usability and speed. They each have their strengths.

The datatronics units are great little devices and, compared to almost all of the other robots out there, their desktop footprint is relatively small.  A dupliq branded one was my first robot, and I used that to rip my entire CD collection with Riptastic! a couple of years ago.  Since the DupliQ didn't come with the robotic-aware Riptastic! software back then, I had to code up my own solution (a couple exes and a batch file that worked together to detect an open tray and force a swap), which got me Hooked on Robotics. 

-brendan