2. digital
  3. 138230-115924

CD ripping for the lower end.

I have a decent hifi system. I listen to CDs mostly. Thinking about going modestly digital just to test the waters. Right now I have an old iMac that will be my server. It is too old for all current ripping and cataloging software so it will probably be iTunes for ripping and playing. I will use Apple Remote on my cell phone which is a fairly capable remote at this level and works with the older version of iTunes on this old iMac.This is all probably commensurate with the entry level DAC I just got used off eBay, a Schiit Modi 2 Uber. I’ll get a Monoprice USB cable for it. I’ve got some high end RCA cables for DAC to Pre-amp.

If this works out okay and the SQ is tolerable I might step things up and use my MacBook Pro in which case I could get dBpoweramp for ripping and something to bypass iTunes for playback. Might even upgrade the DAC.

The first question I have is that for right now, what format should I rip the CDs to? Space is not a big concern. I’ve only got about 150 CDs and won’t rip them all. The primary consideration would be sound quality and future ’portability’ if I move up to higher end DAC and all that.

The second question is should I use my MacBook or new iMac to rip using dBpoweramp and then move the files to the old iMac?

Thanks for your help.

George
n80

Showing 1 response by audioengr

audioengr
3,282 posts
 

I would recommend to use XLD on a Mac to rip CD's.  Every bit as good as dbpoweramp and it's free.  I use both.

As for format, I want the very best quality, so I rip to .wav files.  If you want all lf the tags, then FLAC is probably best for you.  You lose a bit of SQ, but if you don't have an uber system, you probably won't notice.

As for player S/W, I have found Amarra to be best and I've tried them all.  I do use a previous version of Amarra that is no longer available though.  Others use Audirvana and Jriver.   I have these also because I' im the biz.

Steve N.

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