14 DAY TRIAL // Ripping music from Audio CDs is far from being a difficult task these days. With more and more users relying on cloud storage to keep their files, this type of application is closer to becoming obsolete.
However, before uploading your music collection, you still have to convert it to a standard format and FreeRIP might just cut it for a quick and easy job. It can rip an Audio CD as well as convert between popular formats (MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC and OGG). Furthermore, it can burn the files to disc.
Installing the application is not a tough task, but unless you want to end up with extra software on the system, we suggest you pay attention to the process. In our case, we were offered to install Ask Toolbar and WinZIP Registry Optimizer, which bring no advantage to the conversion or disc ripping activity.
Looks are far from impressive, but all options are within easy reach and you get to see them all in one glance.
Depending on the task at hand, you can switch between CD ripping, converting between the aforementioned formats or just editing the metadata of the loaded files. This can be done from the multifunctional Refresh CD button.
If you go with CD ripping, FreeRIP automatically scans and loads the data on the disc, offering the track name and length of each file. Names are retrieved seamlessly from freedb.org online database, so the results should be pretty accurate.
In our case, all the discs and tracks were immediately and accurately recognized. If this does not happen, you can edit the tags yourself. The list of info tags is comprehensive and apart from standard information it also includes fields for comments, original album title or artist.
On the downside, once the conversion process begins, you can only stop it, as there is no possibility to pause the activity. As far as resource usage goes on our test system, everything was within normal parameters and no noticeable peaks for CPU load or RAM usage were recorded.
FreeRIP comes with a built-in audio player that can render the selected file. It is nothing fancy as you won’t be able to do anything but stop the music or adjust the volume.
The settings for all supported output formats are bundled in a single window, which might appear a bit confusing. You can fiddle with the bitrate modes, quality, channels, depending on the file type you choose.
Although it may seem that there are plenty of configuration options for the application, this version of the program has a lot of them locked because it is the free edition. Access to them is offered in the Pro edition, available for $29.75/€25.00.
Nevertheless, you will be able to enable slow reading mode for the CD, ASPI use or pick a different CD device than the one chosen by the application.
Moreover, FreeRIP allows you to set the default encoding, select the output folder, format of the file name or set the standard volume level.
Working with FreeRIP should not be difficult, regardless of the computer knowledge of the user because the application can achieve its purpose right off the bat, without additional tweaking.
During our tests, we noticed that it carries out the conversion quite slow, compared to utilities of the same kind. However, it seems like this is a limitation lifted in the Pro version, which should run tasks 30% faster and include multi-core optimization.
Embedded in the interface is a link to an online store where you can purchase the music you’re trying to convert. Also, being a free application, it promotes additional software, which may come as a drawback for some users who prefer a nice, clean interface that includes only the necessary options.
The Good
Connects with freedb online database to retrieve information about the inserted disc and thus spare you of introducing the metadata manually.
The Bad
Settings for the pro version are present in the configuration panel and the conversion speed seemed a bit slow.
The Truth
It would be nice to include the ability to connect to various cloud storage services (Dropbox, Google Music, etc.) and offer direct uploading of the converted files.
