Why Rip Your CDs to FLAC?

Your CD collection represents a real investment — in money, in time, and in memories. Ripping those discs to FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) gives you a perfect digital copy that you can play anywhere, back up safely, and never worry about the disc getting scratched. FLAC is lossless, meaning your digital files are bit-for-bit identical to what's on the CD.

This guide uses Exact Audio Copy (EAC), the gold standard for accurate CD ripping on Windows. It's free and has been trusted by audiophiles and archivists for years.

What You'll Need

  • A Windows PC with a CD/DVD drive
  • Exact Audio Copy (EAC) — free download from the official site
  • FLAC encoder — included in EAC or downloadable separately from xiph.org
  • Enough storage space (~300–500 MB per album in FLAC)

Step 1: Install Exact Audio Copy

  1. Download EAC from exactaudiocopy.de (the official source).
  2. Run the installer and accept defaults.
  3. When prompted during first launch, run the EAC Setup Wizard. This is important — don't skip it.

Step 2: Run the Setup Wizard

The Setup Wizard configures EAC for your specific CD drive. Follow these key settings:

  1. Drive selection: EAC will detect your drive automatically. Select it.
  2. Test for accurate stream: Let EAC run the drive test. This determines if your drive can read CDs accurately.
  3. AccurateRip: Enable this when prompted. AccurateRip compares your rip against a database of other users' rips of the same disc — if they match, you know your rip is accurate.
  4. Encoder selection: Choose FLAC as your output format. Point EAC to the FLAC encoder executable if needed.

Step 3: Configure Output Settings

Go to EAC → Compression Options → External Compression:

  • Set Parameter passing scheme to: "User Defined Encoder"
  • Encoder: browse to your flac.exe file
  • Additional command-line options: -8 %s (this uses maximum compression — smaller files, same quality)
  • Output file format: .flac

Step 4: Configure Naming and Folders

In EAC → Filename, set your naming pattern. A recommended pattern that matches the Artist/Album/Track structure is:

%albumartist%\%albumtitle% (%year%)\%tracknr2% - %title%

This creates a well-organized folder structure automatically as you rip.

Step 5: Rip Your CD

  1. Insert a CD. EAC will read the disc and attempt to fetch track names via the freedb or MusicBrainz database. Confirm the correct metadata when prompted.
  2. Review the track list and correct any metadata errors before ripping.
  3. Click Action → Copy Image and Create CUE Sheet (for a single-file rip with cue sheet) or Action → Test & Copy Selected Tracks → Compressed for individual track files.
  4. EAC will rip each track, verify it against AccurateRip, and report any errors.

Step 6: Check Your Results

After ripping, EAC generates a log file for each disc. Look for:

  • "No errors occurred" — your rip is perfect.
  • AccurateRip confirmation — matches other users' rips of the same disc.
  • Any reported read errors may indicate a scratched or damaged disc section.

Save the log file alongside your FLAC files — it's proof of a verified lossless rip.

After Ripping: Tag and Archive

Once you've ripped your CDs:

  • Use MusicBrainz Picard to verify and clean up tags across your newly ripped files.
  • Add embedded album art using a tool like Mp3tag (which also handles FLAC tags).
  • Back up your FLAC library to at least one additional location — an external drive or cloud storage.

Ripping a CD collection is a time investment, but the result — a permanent, perfect digital archive of music you own — is absolutely worth it.