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Whenever I buy an audio CD, I always rip the tracks from it to put on my music player. And whenever I rip an album, I always use a ripping guide originating from What.CD.
The guide uses Exact Audio Copy on Windows (or Linux using Wine). After configuring drive information and metadata providers, the ripper detects gaps on the CD, then creates a CUE sheet with multiple WAV files. From there metadata is added and corrected if necessary, then the ripping process begins. I never rip albums directly to MP3 format--I like to save tracks as FLACs and convert to MP3 as necessary.
While the process runs, I take apart the CD jewel case and scan everything. Even the scans always follow the same order: front cover, complete booklet, inside lining, outside lining, and side sleeve if present (such as on Japanese albums). Finally, when the ripping is completed, I scan the front of the disc itself. All images are scaled to a vertical height of 1000 pixels, or a horizontal width of 1000 pixels if the booklet or case are in portrait orientation.
Upon completing the rip, EAC generates a log file with a checksum. As a final measure for archiving, I create an MD5 checksum file to check the integrity of the tracks, the CUE sheet, and the log file.
It's a lengthy and sometimes tedious process. Ripping an album this way can take up to an hour, and most of that time is spent scanning and processing images. But once it's done, I have a wonderful, archive-quality digital copy of the album in its entirety.
On Sunday night I finally took the time to rip the Pepe Deluxé album I received a few weeks ago. Although several albums are on my to-purchase list, this is actually the first CD I've bought in a few years. That's unusual for me; in my university days I bought several CDs a month and ripped them all. The ripping process was a rather nostalgic one as a result.
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[Last updated: 2021-12-28]