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Archiving CDs to HD...suggestions?

i'm thinking of moving and wondering the best way to consolidate my 3k CD collection to a hard drive, which would be much easier to move.

clearly i'd go into PC/Mac-based audio in my new abode.

but a few questions first:
1) does the cd drive matter to the rip? or do i just need to use a good software like EAC or the like to ensure an accurate rip?

2) if i rip on a PC, do i have to use a PC in the future, or can i use a Mac against my external music store if it was created under a PC?

3) what sort of redundancy is in order? RAID 1? RAID 5? or just another HD the same as the one i plan on playing from, and simply use it as a backup?

4) which uncompressed file format should i use? AAC or something else?

5) any estimate of how much storage would be required for 3k CDs? or would it be feasible to split my music collection across 2 primary HDs...like A-L, M-Z...which is really asking if playback software can read across multiple drives in one virtual "library"

6) are rips sensitive to vibrations, power conditioning, etc?

thanks for any suggestions
RC
rhyno

Showing 1 response by lostbears

lostbears's avatar
lostbears
538 posts
 

The drive you rip from does not really matter.

Use EAC for a bit perfect extraction and watch the log for errors. I use the test and copy mode. The Accurip database will tell you if your rip matches others. The higher the match the more you can be certain it is bit perfect.

Rip your CDs to either wav files or flac. Personally I compress my files to flac. I also create a cue and sfv file. With 3000 CDs you want to do this right the first time. I personally do not like AAC files.

You can have files on more than one drive. I create 2% par files in case a file becomes corrupt. I also use an online backup service. I also have a few thousand CDs.
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