2. pc-audio
  3. 119532-70365

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 1 response by bondmanp

bondmanp
1,782 posts
 

Another vote for dBPoweramp.  I rip on a laptop which is networked to my router.  The rip is sent to my Vortexbox Appliance, a Linux dedicated server connected by ethernet to the router.  Yes, the Vortexbox Appliance has an internal optical drive and ripper, but it is a basic program and dBPoweramp is much more flexible.  I use the free program MP3Tag to edit tags.  I rip to FLAC, but dBPoweramp is flexible, with many codecs to choose from (including several levels of FLAC compression) and also has a format converter.  At $38, dBPoweramp is a bargain, IMO.

But, for Heaven's sake, please BACK UP your rips.  I have two back up drives, one I keep at home and one I keep at the office (in case of fire or theft).  I have already restored my files from back up after a hard drive crash.  And since it took me three years to rip my CD collection, you can imagine how relieved I was not to have to start all over again!

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