There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that its easy and simpler then you think. The bad news is that you are going to have to take each CD out of the Jukebox and put it into your computers CDROM drive. The good news is that you can put the CD back in Jukebox afterward - heck you've got to keep all those discs somewhere =)
So no, good idea but you can't stream - besides which it would take forever to do it in real time. This will be tedious but much faster. Figure about 3 minutes for a disc in good condition.
The process of sucking the CD onto the hard drive is called ripping. Mac is highly recommended for overall ease of use (especially newbies) and excellent sound quality.
Every Mac comes with free software called iTunes that will manage the ripping process (you need to use Apple Lossless with error correction on and no other functions); it will let you tag your music (add information - much of it automatically like name, title etc as well as album artwork, and personal info you might want to add like ratings; and build playlists (thematic collections like the old cassette tape mixes some of us used to make).
You can of course do all this with a PC - and you will find PC diehards who will swear that they can hear the difference. The real difference is that you will have to make a number of different programs work together, where Apple has done the integration for you.
One iTunes library can support multiple devices including iPods, Airport Express, USB out and Ethernet based machines. The mantra is load once and use many.
You will probably want two external hard drives. One to store the iTunes Library on, and one to back up the disc. You won't want to have to do this twice. Drives are so cheap now it doesn't pay to buy anything smaller then 250Gb drive. That will hold between 800-1,000 CDs. If you have a really big collection get a pair of 500Gb drives. SATA is the best format, but Firewire and USB will work fine. Just make sure you get what are called enterprise drives - you can tell because they have 3-5 year warranties. I have had excellent luck with Western Digital and Seagate - everyone will have an opinion and the unlucky few will have horror stories. And no, the kind of drive you buy will not affect the sound....
The big decision is how you are going to get the data off your hard drive and into your sound system. So somewhere you need a DAC. If the Mac is going to be in the same room with the sound system, the USB DAC is the best way to go. (The Mac Mini is compact and very quiet)
You will plug a USB cable into your Mac and the DAC. Then you will take audio to your preamp. If you want to have the music available at a number of spots in your home, you should look into the Squeezebox offered by Logitech.
There are many different devices to operate the Mac remotely - one that comes free with all new Macs is called Front Row.
There is a vast amount of information on the 'Gon, and even more in Audio Asylums PC Forum. Plus the Mac magazines have all done articles. And of course there is the Apple site.
Have fun - you are going to be delighted with the improvement in audio quality and thrilled with the convenience and speed of access.
So no, good idea but you can't stream - besides which it would take forever to do it in real time. This will be tedious but much faster. Figure about 3 minutes for a disc in good condition.
The process of sucking the CD onto the hard drive is called ripping. Mac is highly recommended for overall ease of use (especially newbies) and excellent sound quality.
Every Mac comes with free software called iTunes that will manage the ripping process (you need to use Apple Lossless with error correction on and no other functions); it will let you tag your music (add information - much of it automatically like name, title etc as well as album artwork, and personal info you might want to add like ratings; and build playlists (thematic collections like the old cassette tape mixes some of us used to make).
You can of course do all this with a PC - and you will find PC diehards who will swear that they can hear the difference. The real difference is that you will have to make a number of different programs work together, where Apple has done the integration for you.
One iTunes library can support multiple devices including iPods, Airport Express, USB out and Ethernet based machines. The mantra is load once and use many.
You will probably want two external hard drives. One to store the iTunes Library on, and one to back up the disc. You won't want to have to do this twice. Drives are so cheap now it doesn't pay to buy anything smaller then 250Gb drive. That will hold between 800-1,000 CDs. If you have a really big collection get a pair of 500Gb drives. SATA is the best format, but Firewire and USB will work fine. Just make sure you get what are called enterprise drives - you can tell because they have 3-5 year warranties. I have had excellent luck with Western Digital and Seagate - everyone will have an opinion and the unlucky few will have horror stories. And no, the kind of drive you buy will not affect the sound....
The big decision is how you are going to get the data off your hard drive and into your sound system. So somewhere you need a DAC. If the Mac is going to be in the same room with the sound system, the USB DAC is the best way to go. (The Mac Mini is compact and very quiet)
You will plug a USB cable into your Mac and the DAC. Then you will take audio to your preamp. If you want to have the music available at a number of spots in your home, you should look into the Squeezebox offered by Logitech.
There are many different devices to operate the Mac remotely - one that comes free with all new Macs is called Front Row.
There is a vast amount of information on the 'Gon, and even more in Audio Asylums PC Forum. Plus the Mac magazines have all done articles. And of course there is the Apple site.
Have fun - you are going to be delighted with the improvement in audio quality and thrilled with the convenience and speed of access.