How to rip an audio CD to FLAC

Use Save audio CD as files in Burn by Zaweba and choose FLAC. Burn reads each track from your own CD, saves it as a FLAC file, tags it from the disc's CD-Text or names you type, and puts the album in a folder of its own. Then it decodes each FLAC back and compares it bit for bit with what was read, so you know the copy is exact.

FLAC is the format to choose when you want a perfect copy of a CD on your computer. It's lossless, so nothing about the sound changes, but the files are smaller than plain WAV.

Starting the rip

Put the CD in and open Save audio CD as files, from Home or Tools > Save audio CD as files. Choose FLAC as the format. Check the track names. If the disc has CD-Text, the titles come from it, and if it doesn't, you can type them in. Album, artist and track titles are written as tags into each file. Then start, and Burn saves the tracks to a folder named for the album.

What happens if a disc is scratched

Burn reads plainly, with three tries at each read. If a part of the disc still can't be read after that, it stops and tells you, rather than quietly saving a track with a gap or a click in it. That honesty matters with lossless copies: the reason to rip to FLAC is that you get exactly what's on the disc.

If a disc stops, cleaning it gently and trying again is the usual first step. A different drive sometimes reads a disc that another won't.

Why the bit-for-bit check matters

After saving, Burn decodes each FLAC and compares it with the audio it read from the disc. Only when they match is the track counted as good. It means a fault in writing the file, or a problem on the drive you're saving to, is caught straight away instead of years later when you play the song.

Building a library you can trust

A folder per album, with every track tagged, slots straight into a music player such as Play by Zaweba. If the CD's text was messy, take a moment to correct names before saving, since a tidy library is easier to search later.

Burn is for your own CDs and never works around copy protection. It reads exactly what the drive returns.

The trip works both ways, too. FLAC files can go back onto an audio CD from the Audio CD page, decoded by Burn's own FFmpeg, with CD-Text titles and the option to normalise. So a CD you ripped years ago can become a fresh disc for the car whenever the original gets worn.

If you'd rather have smaller files for a phone, Save audio CD as files can also save MP3, and WAV is there for programs that want plain audio. FLAC remains the best master copy: you can always make MP3s from it, but never the other way round without losing quality.