MacOS cd ripper that works (2023)?

[JTC]

Hey all, I'm struggling to find a MacOS native CD ripper that works. I used to use a tool called Max which seems to have not been updated for around 12 years, and is no longer available. Other things I tried either fell foul of Apple installation rules or simply didn't work. However, I can't be the only person to use a modern Mac and want to rip my CDs to FLAC with reliable metadata. Thanks.

 

[garyi]

You might be to be fair.

 

[garyi]

though in fairness you could build a vortex box or similar to achieve this then just turn it off and get it out when you need it. It’s not silly money.

 

[Craig B]

X Lossless Decoder (XLD)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xld/files/xld-20230627.dmg

 

[uncl_nigel]

My MACoS is Catalina 10.15.7 and I'm using dbpoweramp

I seem to remember there's a ripping function in iTunes or Music or whatever it's called these days.

 

[JTC]

XLD doesn’t pass modern MacOS app signing so won’t execute.

 

[geetee1972]

dbPoweramp works just fine on a Mac. I've used it extensively.

 

[Craig B]

XLD doesn’t pass modern MacOS app signing so won’t execute.

Have you tried the modern macOS 'Open Anyway' list under 'Privacy & Security'?

Safely open apps on your Mac - Apple Support

macOS includes a technology called Gatekeeper, that's designed to ensure that only trusted software runs on your Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[tuga]

My MACoS is Catalina 10.15.7 and I'm using dbpoweramp

I seem to remember there's a ripping function in iTunes or Music or whatever it's called these days.

Music doesn't do FLAC unfortunately.

 

[JTC]

Have you tried the modern macOS 'Open Anyway' list under 'Privacy & Security'?

Safely open apps on your Mac - Apple Support

macOS includes a technology called Gatekeeper, that's designed to ensure that only trusted software runs on your Mac.

support.apple.com

I will check.

 

[mikechadwick]

dbPoweramp works just fine on a Mac. I've used it extensively.

+1 - no problem at all with latest OSX

 

[Barkiss]

I will check.

I'm currently using it under MacOS 13.6 (Ventura)

 

[misterc6]

+1 for dbPoweramp

 

[julifriend]

IIRC you right click on the app and then click Open it will also give you the Open Anyway option. That’s how I run MakeMKV which also normally yields the unapproved developer message.

 

[chartz]

These days, with cheap disc space, you might just want to drag and drop the CD contents in a folder (press alt) – what I’ve done for 20 + years actually. Why bother with FLAC ?

 

[SteveS1]

XLD doesn’t pass modern MacOS app signing so won’t execute.

Working fine here. (OSX 14.0 Sonoma)

 

[Craig B]

IIRC you right click on the app and then click Open it will also give you the Open Anyway option. That’s how I run MakeMKV which also normally yields the unapproved developer message.

Yes, this shortcut adds 'unidentified developer' apps to the 'Open Anyway' list under 'Privacy & Security'.

I started out using Max back on Tiger but soon found XLD to be the best tool for the job. XLD is now a three architecture universal binary meaning anything from Mac OS X 10.4 on PowerPC through to the lastest macOS on ARM64/Apple Silicon (I don't know of any other app that is so cross platform/OS version compatible). The developer, tmkk, even managed to come up with a working ARM64 compatible release ticket without having an Apple Silicon Mac to hand.

 

[Dingbat]

+1 for dbPoweramp as well, although I'm running it on an old Mac and it's not the current MacOS version.

 

[uncl_nigel]

These days, with cheap disc space, you might just want to drag and drop the CD contents in a folder (press alt) – what I’ve done for 20 + years actually. Why bother with FLAC ?

Indeed!
Besides on really high end (aka silly price) DACs some of us can hear the difference between FLAC and WAV/AIFF (for dCS users, ir's a bit like forgetting to switch the external clock on).

 

[Al M]

+1 for dBpoweramp. Works fine with no errors for me. There's the odd disc it won't rip though, normally due to too many errors but I can live with that. For extra tagging duties I use MP3tag - don't be fooled by the name it has tagged every file I've thrown at it ok - both ALAC and FLAC and you can add artwork which dBpoweramp doesn't do.