FLAC It
To get FLAC to work with EAC you'll need the latest FLAC encoder. The download will include a handful of files, including a basic front end, but what you need to install is the codec itself. The installer will place the FLAC executable (FLAC.exe) in its own folder within your program folder. Copy the file into the EAC folder for simplicity's sake.
(Note: I gleaned the following instructions from several EAC/FLAC online guides, including this one.)
From within EAC, click the EAC File menu and select Compression Options and then the External Compression tab. Check Use external program for compression box, change the Parameter passing scheme to Use Defined Encoder, and type in the .flac file extension.
In the next window the software asks for the program, including the path, used for compression. Point toward the flac.exe file you've just dropped into the EAC folder. Finally, uncheck the Use CRC Check and Add ID3 Tag boxes, and then paste this string into the command-line option box:
-T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" -5 %s
Hit OK, and you're ready to get started.
To rip a CD, you place it in your drive and launch EAC. Once the app sees your disc, you can click the CD icon to grab the disc information from the online database. Then you click the MP3 icon (yes, that's confusing, but most people are using it that way). A Save Waveform dialog box appears. Don't type in a file name, but be sure you save the files to a location you'll remember, and then click Save. The program will now start its work.
It's pretty interesting to watch EAC rip a file, deal with error corrections when necessary, and then feed the file to the external compressor. Once it completes a full rip, you have the option of creating a log of the process, which details the success (or failure) of each track.
For those who would like to get even more out of EAC and FLAC, an EAC fan named Jared Breland has created a great little add-on program called AutoFLAC. In addition to automating some of the EAC process, the program restores a few features that break when you use FLAC instead of MP3 with EAC.
The most important of these features is cue-sheet generation. A cue sheet is a text file containing track details about a CD; with a cue sheet you can create an exact duplicate of the original .wav-encoded CD using your FLAC file. You can read more about AutoFLAC, and download the free app, here.
Ad Choices