I have been ripping my CDs to mp3 to use on my MP3 player and have been having a spot of trouble. When I am playing back my tracks every now and then the track jumps (this is actually in the track) some songs are OK but others jump. I have tried using MediaMonkey and Windows MediaPlayer.
My questions are
1. Is there a common reason for this
2. Can anyone rcommend a good mp3 ripper (Preferably with internet connection for tagging)
this is now getting on my nerves, I've ripped so many CDs and now don't know which ones will jump until I listen to them.
Skips are mostly due to poor ripping so you are right. There are two excelent rippers out there and they are free. The best is EAC (Exact Audio Copy). It's a bit hard to configure at first (for some people) and I wouldn't recommend it for laptop drives because it puts a strain on them. The second one (the one I use) is CDex (currently version 1.70). This is a bit less stressing but some people say is not as accurate as EAC. So far it has worked flawlessly for me. For the best results possible set Ripping Method in EAC to "Secure Mode" and CDex to "Paranoia, Full"
EAC is the only way to go for CD ripping. its the only software that guarantees a 100% accurate rip. We have a guide here on how to install, setup, and use EAC and LAME (mp3 external encoder.) You can find the link in my sig below.
I'm not going to start a battle here, but I prefer CDex for my laptop. Like I said, EAC puts too much strain on a fragile burner when set to Secure Mode. I ripped 4 scratchless CD's in a row with EAC and it blew my burner. I guess desktop burners are sturdier and can take the punishment.
I've never heard of a cd drive being fried just from ripping a CD. Its just a basic function of reading the data off the disc, even if it goes slow and repeats sectors over and over, just that alone should not destroy your drive. extensive burning puts way way more wear and tear on the drive than just ripping a CD. I used to use CDex before I got into EAC, and CDex is decent, but I would not trust anything else out there except EAC
