Easy way to rip DVD-Audio discs

[RHO]

I used EAC to rip my CD collection to FLAC or WAV. Now I have some DVD-Audio discs that I want to rip too. I want to be able to play them in the car from a USB drive (stick).
What would be the easiest way to do this?

 

[staticV3]

With DVDs, can you not insert them into a USB DVD reader and on your computer, simply drag the files onto a USB stick?

 

[alvigg]

I think there is copy protection.

 

[RHO]

With DVDs, can you not insert them into a USB DVD reader and on your computer, simply drag the files onto a USB stick?

Also the high resolution DVD-audio? Those don't play on a normal DVD player.
How do I convert them to FLAC or WAV? Or do you think I can play the files on the disc from entertainment system in the car? (no possibility to play physical discs)

I think there is copy protection.

No idea actually.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

XRECODE 3​

DVD Audio Extractor​

 

[RHO]

XRECODE 3​

DVD Audio Extractor​

These work with a normal USB DVD drive? I do not need a device capable of decoding DVD-A?

 

[DVDdoug]

Are we allowed to discuss bypassing copy protection here?

I only have a couple of DVD-Audio discs and I've never tried it.

The easiest solution would be just to record it (digital-to-analog-to-digital). You do need a regular soundcard with line-in or a USB audio interface with line-in. (The mic input on a laptop is not "correct" for line-level audio and it's usually mono.)

There is a program called DVD Audio Extractor that clams to support MLP. DVDfab might have something too.

Some DVD-Audio discs are "dual discs" with regular video-DVD audio (Dolby or LPCM) in the VIDEO_TS folder. In that case they will play on a standard DVD player and you can use any DVD ripping software. My DVD-Audio discs have the "regular" DVD audio in the VIDEO_TS and that's the only way I can play them since I don't have a player that supports DVD-Audio. (You'd still need "illegal" software to crack the copy protection.)

 

[raif71]

I have used DVDA Explorer

More info here : https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/extracting-audio-files-from-a-dvda.274790/

 

[staticV3]

Are we allowed to discuss bypassing copy protection here?

Afaik, bypassing DRM has been deemed legal by some courts, when done for personal use and not for redistribution.

Edit:
Obviously, check the laws in your country before taking action

 

[RHO]

All 5 of them are playable with a normal DVD player. (dolby digital)
But all 5 also note that the advance resolution surround and stereo are only playable on a DVD-A compatible player.
I think I'll have to be happy with the dolby digital version for the ripped version.
I can still play the actual disc on my set in the living/tv room if I really want to hear the DVD-A advanced resolution stereo version.

 

[RHO]

Afaik, bypassing DRM has been deemed legal by some courts, when done for personal use and not for redistribution.

Edit:
Obviously, check the laws in your country before taking action

I think no-one will complain here. I keep the original disc and I'm only going to use the files for personal use.

 

[RHO]

I have used DVDA Explorer

More info here : https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/extracting-audio-files-from-a-dvda.274790/

Thanks for the links. I'll check it out.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

These work with a normal USB DVD drive? I do not need a device capable of decoding DVD-A?

They (and DVDA-Explorer) work with my PCs' DVD drives.

 

[RHO]

They (and DVDA-Explorer) work with my PCs' DVD drives.

Great!
I think I'll download the free version of DVD Audio Extractor and try that one out. I need it for just 5 disks.

 

[DVDdoug]

All 5 of them are playable with a normal DVD player. (dolby digital)

That gives you more options. The audio quality should be fine. If they have LPCM that's lossless (the same format as WAV). It's just not "high resolution". And when I 1st got a DVD player I didn't even know that Dolby Digital was lossy and it's always sounded great to me (assuming a great recording/performance).

If you don't already have DVD ripping software, here's what I'd do:

I Use DVDshrink. They don't advertise that it decrypts the DVD, but it does. It's an old FREE application. I have version 3.2.0.15. At some point they MAY have "updated" it to remove the decryption to make it fully-legal but that version can be found online.

The "shrinking" is optional (so a copy can fit on a single-layer DVD) and it only applies to video anyway. And as you may know, the audio/video files on a DVD are VOB files (MPEG-2 video with AC3 or LPCM audio). They are split into 1MB files so with my video concert DVDs the splits usually happen in the middle of a song. With audio only, the file may be less than 1MB so that may not be an issue, but DVDshrink has an option of not splitting the output files. It also allows you to select which audio tracks to include.

Then you can open the decrypted VOB file in Audacity (with a regular video DVD it will just open the audio). From there you can make individual song files and export as FLAC or MP3, etc. For Dolby AC3, you'll need to install FFmpeg for Audacity. If you only have 5.1 channel audio, here are the downmix "formulas".

I'm sure there are more straightforward ways to do it, but for me this is free software that I already have an I already know how to use.

 

[RHO]

That gives you more options. The audio quality should be fine. If they have LPCM that's lossless (the same format as WAV). It's just not "high resolution". And when I 1st got a DVD player I didn't even know that Dolby Digital was lossy and it's always sounded great to me (assuming a great recording/performance).

If you don't already have DVD ripping software, here's what I'd do:

I Use DVDshrink. They don't advertise that it decrypts the DVD, but it does. It's an old FREE application. I have version 3.2.0.15. At some point they MAY have "updated" it to remove the decryption to make it fully-legal but that version can be found online.

The "shrinking" is optional (so a copy can fit on a single-layer DVD) and it only applies to video anyway. And as you may know, the audio/video files on a DVD are VOB files (MPEG-2 video with AC3 or LPCM audio). They are split into 1MB files so with my video concert DVDs the splits usually happen in the middle of a song. With audio only, the file may be less than 1MB so that may not be an issue, but DVDshrink has an option of not splitting the output files. It also allows you to select which audio tracks to include.

Then you can open the decrypted VOB file in Audacity (with a regular video DVD it will just open the audio). From there you can make individual song files and export as FLAC or MP3, etc. For Dolby AC3, you'll need to install FFmpeg for Audacity. If you only have 5.1 channel audio, here are the downmix "formulas".

I'm sure there are more straightforward ways to do it, but for me this is free software that I already have an I already know how to use.

It looks like this is what DVD Audio Extractor does. There's a 30 day free trail version. I think I'll get it done within 30 days from installing the software. It looks like that would be the easiest way.