RipNAS Essentials


 

RipNAS Essentials™ is an ideal companion to any Windows Home Server (WHS) system [HP MediaSmart, Fujitsu Scaleo, Tranquil PC, etc]. RipNAS adds CD Ripping capabilities to your WHS box (whilst maintaining WHS abilities). Adding new discs to the music network share (for media streaming) is as simple as inserting a CD and waiting a few minutes. Windows Home Server, a Media Streamer [Sonos, Logitech Squeezebox, etc) and RipNAS Essentials™ are all that are required to join the distributed home audio revolution.

How easy is CD Ripping with RipNAS? (example using Teac Secure Model):

  • Insert a CD into the slot loading drive,

  • Track Titles and Album art are automatically downloaded from the Internet using PerfectMeta™ (AMG, GD3, MusicBrainz & freedb)

  • CD tracks ripped to a lossless audio format (configurable) using dBpoweramp CD Ripping Engine (regarded as the best of the best),

  • Ripped tracks automatically saved to Music shared folder along with embedded album art (also Folder.jpg),

  • Teac Secure Model verifies ripped tracks for errors using AccurateRip and c2 pointers,

  • Only four minutes to rip an entire CD (approximately), after which it is ejected.

RipNAS Essentials is available as: software & CD/DVD drive (high quality Teac USB slot loading drive, everything needed to begin ripping), or stand-alone software.

Ready for Streaming

Tracks can be ripped to either FLAC or WMA Lossless and are automatically embedded with ReplayGain ID Tags. FLAC is ideal for Sonos or Logitech Squeezebox media streamers. WMA Lossless can be used with  the built in WHS Windows Media Connect music sharing option, streaming to all uPNP compatible devices.

RipNAS Teac Drive (on HP Media Smart)

 Ease of Control  

RipNAS operates 100% without the need for 'eyes on' interaction, whilst at the same time RipNAS integrates into the Windows Home Server Console page, allowing precise control over Ripping operations:

The main RipNAS status page is shown above: current disc shown at the top, previously ripped discs are listed below. When secure mode is active tracks with unrecoverable errors are separated into a different folder. Silent ripping is possible with a x4 speed ripping option, which renders the drive in-audible (requires x4 speed compatible drive such as Teac).

Fine control of RipNAS is accessible through the Settings page:

On the settings page encoder (audio format) can be chosen, RipNAS comes preinstalled with the following encoders: FLAC, Wave, mp3, WMA (Lossless), Apple Lossless. In addition any supported dBpoweramp encoder can be installed. [Multi-Encoder] allows two audio-formats to be encoded at the same time (for example a FLAC lossless archive along with an mp3 collection for use in a portable mp3 player). Secure models have the option of switching between Burst and Secure ripping modes (detection and recovery of errors), also Squeezebox and iTunes Server (Firefly) can be configured and disabled if present on the machine.

 In Detail  


When choosing the right drive for RipNAS, rather than go for the cheapest available, we chose to test every slot loading drive on the market (with c2 pointer support) and pick the best quality drive, as you can see not all drives are created equal. The Teac unit (although the most expensive and most difficult to obtain), stood head and shoulders above the other drives and is special when compared to ordinary DVD drives in that it is a combo drive (that is contains two lazers, one for reading DVD discs, one for Audio CDs).

For hands (and eyes) free ripping, quality metadata is very important (get the track names wrong requires some effort to correct, that is why RipNAS uses 4 providers through PerfectMeta.
PerfectMeta™ uses 4 Internet meta data providers simultaneously, this allows any inevitable errors, such as spelling mistakes to be self corrected. In addition, there are 100's of internal rules to ensure that the metadata returned is consistent across discs & providers. PerfectMeta offers the best metadata solution obtainable today.

Many of our competitors simply use freedb for meta data, freedb is good in that it is free, but the scope and quality of meta data contained within can be lacking. PerfectMeta does not just use one premium (pay for use) meta provider, but two!  All Media Guide and GD3, in addition to MusicBrainz and freedb.

PerfectMeta also includes high resolution Album Art and extended fields such as Composer.

Enough talk about PerfectMeta, lets see it in operation, this CD is from Enya - The Celts:

As you can see there are lots of corrections taking place, red elements are elements which are wrong and have been corrected (in the final meta data on the left hand side). All four metadata providers had errors, but the final corrected result exactly matches the CD, truly remarkable, that is what PerfectMeta is all about.

View the RipNAS Essentials Installation and Operation Manual.