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 2 responses by kijanki

I second XLD on the Mac (used MAX before).  Set highest possible amount of retries - otherwise it will interpolate missing samples.  Rip while listening - it won't be a huge chore that way.  Make backups (I use SuperDuper).  I  have two backups and alternate update only one about every 5 rips.  Two backups prevent loosing everything in case of controller malfunction or virus.  I keep one backup at work (fire theft etc.).
Data loss due to scratches up to about 4mm along the track is automatically corrected by Cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon error correcting code.  Between 4-8mm player that operates in real time interpolates samples while scratches longer than 8mm result in pops and clicks.  Programs like XLD can be set to very high numbers of retries while MAX can be set to "never allow to skip".  Badly scratched disks can be completely recovered but it can take hours.  Itunes went over the same bad CDs much faster meaning that it probably quits and interpolates just after few tries.  In reality on decent CDs I cannot tell the difference between original CD and the copy made with Itunes/Toast.  Playing ripped CDs from the computer can sound worse not because of deficient rip but because of greater amount of jitter created or different signal path (different D/A converter, different analog circuit etc.)