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Going to rip 2000 cds. Which software?

At 63 years old I've decided it's finally time to make the move to a digital library.  I've spent hours and hours on this forum reading about servers, streamers, music servers, nas systems and modded Mac Minis.  I'm more than confused.  I'm pretty much ready to just buy a new transport and be done with it. 

But.... I play "cuts."  I hardly ever play an entire record or cd and would like the ability to choose what's playing from the couch.

I know that the first step is ripping cds.  I have a couple of questions;

1.  Which software should I use?  I am concerned about speed and indexing.  I'm a jazzhead and have quite a few recordings by the same artists that have recorded multiple versions of the same tune.  I want to make sure they are indexed properly.  I would also like a program that doesn't take all day to make a copy.

2.  I can use either Mac or PC.  I would prefer Mac but would use a PC if it is more future proof.  I have a Macbook Air and a PC laptop and both have dual 2 terrabyte external drives.

3. I would also consider a Music Server with a nas rig.

If I do a music server with nas I'd like to keep the price around $2000.

Thanks to all of you.

--Bob


jzzmusician

Showing 3 responses by jzzmusician

jzzmusician OP
149 posts
 
Wow!  You guy are great.  Thank you for your help!

Right now I've got three choices:

1.  Use my MacBook Air with an external drive
2.  The Naim UnitiServe
3.  Get a streamer that runs off a nas

Number 1 is the least costly.
Number 2 is the easiest and as long as I can get a good 5 years of use I see no reason other than budget to get one.
Number 3 is attractive in that a streamer would cost less (Cambridge Audio CXN) and the music would always be on the nas

And to answer a couple of questions;

My computer is 5 years old and uses USB 2.0
My Mac uses 3.0, I think.

Whichever way I go it's going to be at least a month before I buy anything.  I just heard from Kent at Electrostatic Solutions.  I sent my Quad 2805 speakers to him for some repair.  The repair cost was very reasonable, so reasonable that I'm springing for some upgraded mods, and there goes my budget.

I'm thinking that I'll rip some cds in a casual sort of way and start messing around just using my Macbook and next month make a long term decision.

Thank you all again for your input and I certainly don't mind keeping this thread alive.

-- Bob
jzzmusician OP
149 posts
 
Thank for your replies.

The Music Vault and the Naim server are both way out of my budget.  They are, however cool as hell and would be nice to have. 

Ghosthouse:  I ripped a couple of cds using ALAC and it took almost 15 minutes to rip each cd.  If that's normal, it's too long.  The number of hours I would spend just ripping approaches 500!  I'm guessing I've got my settings wrong. 
jzzmusician OP
149 posts
 
Update:

I've begun ripping my cds.  I'm using a MacBook Air with an Apple Superdrive and an external hard drive both attached via USB.  I am using iTunes as the software.

Settings are AIFF with error correction on.

My first couple of cds ripped at about 18-20x.  All subsequent cds dropped to about 5-8x.  No idea why.

My cds are all mint.  No visible scratches or dust. 

I'm ready to give dbpoweramp a try.  Does anyone know if it manages files as well as iTunes?

Thanks in advance,

Bob
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