Exact Audio Copy
Developer(s) | Andre Wiethoff |
---|---|
Initial release | 25 June 1998 [1] |
Stable release | 1.1 / 2 July 2015 [1] |
Development status | Active |
Operating system | Windows XP, Vista, 7 |
Size | 5.0 MB |
Type | CD ripper |
License | Proprietary, Freeware |
Website |
exactaudiocopy |
Exact Audio Copy (EAC) is a CD ripping program for Microsoft Windows. It has also been tested to work under newer versions of Wine on Linux.[2] This program was created by Andre Wiethoff in 1998, while he was a student at the University of Dortmund in Germany, stating he became "fed up with other audio grabbers",[3] and decided to develop his own.
Exact Audio Copy is proprietary freeware, free for non-commercial use,[4] and popular among audiophiles for its accuracy and ability to rip slightly damaged audio compact discs.
Overview
EAC is used to convert the tracks on standard audio CDs to WAV files, which can then be transcoded into other formats. These include lossy ones such as MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, or lossless ones such as ALAC, FLAC, or WavPack using external encoders. It also has the option of using the Windows Audio Compression Manager (ACM Codecs) for direct compression. It supports AccurateRip, which automatically compares the copy with rips made by others,[5] and can automatically create cue sheets, with all gaps, track attributes, ISRC, and CD-Text included. EAC also supports automatic ID3 tagging using Internet-based databases such as freedb, GD3 (see below), or a local database.
If there are uncorrectable errors the software reports the error location.
History
In release 1.0b1, EAC supported the downloading of CD cover art, and in b2, an option was added to have the ID3 information, such as artist, CD title, track names, and cover art downloaded automatically from the GD3 database. The GD3 option allowed a user who set up an account to make 10 free initial queries, but afterwards required them to pay a fee of US$7.99, after which they could make an unlimited number of queries. Release 1.0b1 removed support for Windows 2000 and older versions of Windows.
Version 1.1 was released on July 2, 2015; recent releases have focused on bug fixes and updates to plugins and external components rather than significant new features.
See also
References
- 1 2 "What's new – Exact Audio Copy"
- ↑ Wine Application DB entry for EAC
- ↑ "AudioMastermind Weblog". audiomastermind.us. Archived from the original on 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
- ↑ Registration Information
- ↑ AccurateRip
External links
- Exact Audio Copy - official website
- CD Audio Extraction (by using EAC)
- An independent guide to EAC