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 3 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
There is a belief that the extra and slightly random timings involved in decompressing FLAC, ALAC, etc. cause a degradation in sound quality, while WAV, requiring none of this CPU effort, does not.

I have never ever heard this to be true. Especially not using USB connections.

I pretty much believe this to be pure BS. 

Best,

E
erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
Let's clarify something:

Lossless vs. Compression

Lossless means the bits played are identical to the bits copied. 

FLAC and ALAC compress but are lossless. 

MP3 , Ogg and other formats attain even more compression by throwing away a lot of the data in the recording.

A WAV file typically is lossless (PCM) But not always the case. More here:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/560011/compressed-and-uncompressed-wav-files


erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
Look into volumio or Picore player. 
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