CD Ripping vs CD Extraction

Consumer music ripping and professional CD extraction can look similar but have different objectives. Archival extraction emphasises accurate recovery, verification and documentation.

Consumer ripping

Ordinary ripping software may be designed primarily to make music convenient to listen to. Archival extraction places greater emphasis on proving that the source was read correctly.

Archival extraction

Preservation workflows should retain uncompressed PCM where appropriate and avoid treating an MP3 as the master.

Error checking

Track boundaries, source identifiers, technical properties and checksums can be documented.

Metadata

Access files can be created after the preservation extraction has passed QA.

Preservation WAV

Archival extraction should be documented and verified so that the resulting files can be traced back to the original disc.

Reference guidance: This article is informed by optical-media preservation guidance from the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement. Where appropriate, the article distinguishes preservation guidance from practical extraction procedures.