What are you using to rip your cds to a hard drive?

Do the wires connecting the cd drive to the computer or the computer to the external hard drive or from the hard drive to the DAC make a difference? I know the question of whether wires make a difference at all is a point of contention, but I believe that interconnects, power cabes, etc. make a difference. What about those involved in the ripping process?

Not sure what you are referring to by "wires connecting ... hard drive to the DAC." Did you mean "computer to the DAC"?

In any event, though, the reasons cables conducting digital signals can make a difference during playback, such as waveform degradation and noise effects that can contribute to timing jitter at the point of D/A conversion and/or that can affect analog circuitry in various ways, have no relevance to the ripping process. If the software being used assures that the digital data on the CD is been copied to the hard drive with 100% accuracy, there is no means by which cables that are involved in the ripping process but are not involved in the playback process can affect playback of that data. Unless, that is, for some reason there is unrelated signal activity during the playback process on a cable that is not involved in the playback process. In which case I suppose it is conceivable that digital noise related to that activity might couple into the playback path to some degree. But that slim possibility can be easily ruled in or out by determining if disconnecting that cable makes any difference.

But of course if the files are being played back from the external hard drive you referred to, the cable connecting that hard drive could conceivably make a difference during the playback process, via the kinds of effects I referred to above.

Regards,
-- Al

9 things I suspect will improve the whole ripping process:

1. Isolate the CD player and the ripper.

2. Treat the CD being ripped with liquid type enhancer.

3. Demagnetize the CD prior to ripping.

4. Demagnetize the cabling.

5. Use some sort of anti static method prior to ripping.

6. Use better cables and power cords.

7. Color the CD to be treated.

8. Color the CD tray.

9. Ensure CD is absolutely level during ripping.

Be careful with what you read here. Geoffkait, in a previous post, mentions a checklist of things to do before ripping your CD’s. I’ll just highlight one. He says to demagnetize your CD’s before ripping. Huh? Optical discs are encoded with digital ones and zeros that are read with a laser. Any “magnetic charge” that might be possessed by any of the minute metals in the disc will make no difference whatsoever (positive or negative – pun intended) in the data read from the CD that is sent to the DAC. In other words a “demagnetizer” performs no useful function and is a SCAM…even if you pay more than $1800.00 for one – still a scam.

The ONLY buy recommendations you will get for such a device is from those that make, market, distributor or retail this junk. And magazines and reviewers who are paid to review them. And “audiophiles” who took the plunge and now have to justify the wasted money.

The rest of his checklist is equally bogus – only hoping the whole thing was in jest.

I use EAC - Exact Audio Copy.  It does the job very well and has procedures for confirming the validity of the rip.  It is free.  I would not say it is difficult to learn or install.  As for tweaks; I think setting your CD to its slowest speed and not using it for anything else has to assist in a small way - not sure the difference will be audible though.  

I do have one more tweak that I share with my closest and dearest friends.  Send me just $100.00 and I will share it with you. At that price it's a steal!   :->

Dynaquest
Be careful with what you read here. Geoffkait, in a previous post, mentions a checklist of things to do before ripping your CD’s. I’ll just highlight one. He says to demagnetize your CD’s before ripping. Huh? Optical discs are encoded with digital ones and zeros that are read with a laser. Any “magnetic charge” that might be possessed by any of the minute metals in the disc will make no difference whatsoever (positive or negative – pun intended) in the data read from the CD that is sent to the DAC. In other words a “demagnetizer” performs no useful function and is a SCAM…even if you pay more than $1800.00 for one – still a scam.

Huh? The optical discs are not encoded with ones and zeros. They contain pits and between the pits flat spaces (lands), each with variable lengths, which must be decoded to obtain the ones and zeros later on. The reading of the pits and lands is actually an analog process, and one subject to the vagaries of these flakey devices. That’s why demagnetizers and ionizers and coloring of the disc and the tray improves the sound. I know what you’re thinking: gee, but I thought error detection/error correction took care of all that stuff. 😄