Question about 2014 Mac for Apple Music only

[KR500]

A question.
Purchased a new 2024 M1 Apple Mac Mini last fall and replaced my 2014 Mac Mini which had reached ten years and security was no longer kept up to date by Apple.
I have used iTunes going back to my first Mini importing AIFF 1411 kbps files from my CD collection and kept it up over the years through various models.
When Apple Music added the Match option and started replacing some of my AIFF files with their AAC 256 kbps one I turned that off.
My 2014 Mini is for AIFF Apple Music playback wired via USB through my system and not connected to the internet.
I connect the 2014 Mini to the internet to retrieve song artist and album data when importing a CD then disconnect.
I deleted the AAC matched Apple Music files and am now re-importing the original CD’s in my preference of AIFF. Also new Discs purchased.
How much risk is there for me doing this on a 10 year old machine ?
Home password protected network and no other surfing or online work.
Only Apple Music playback and metadata and album artwork retrieval.
Thanks for any advice

 

[DVDdoug]

How much risk is there for me doing this on a 10 year old machine ?

You should have back-ups, no matter what. Disc space is cheap. Of course the original CD also serves as a backup, but they aren't 100% reliable either.

I have MP3s because when I started ripping CDs I just wanted to play them on an iPod and I'm too lazy to go-back and re-rip them all. BUT, I have copies on multiple computers and USB drives. I've even got copies on my computer at work so if my house burns down I lose all of my computers and the CDs I have a backup. (That's not why I have them on my work computer but it does serve as another backup.)

You might want to consider FLAC which is lossless compression (or ALAC, which is Apple's version). AIFF or WAV are the least standardized & supported for metadata/tagging and the files will be almost half the size. Not a big deal if you aren't having problems with metadata (and you won't if you stick with Apple Music) so that's just a suggestion. And as long as you stay lossless, you can always convert to a different lossless or lossy format any time in the future. A lot of people keep a lossless archive and make AAC or MP3 files for portable use.

When Apple Music added the Match option and started replacing some of my AIFF files with their AAC 256 kbps one I turned that off.

I'm a Windows guy but that's only files stored in the cloud, right? They shouldn't be touching anything on your computer (without your permission). They do that so they don't have to save multiple copies. You and I can upload the same song and they only keep their master copy so we are seeing virtual personal copies. A long time ago, somebody told me you can upload a song digitized from "scratchy vinyl" and when you download or play it, you get a clean digital original (assuming the song is in their database).

 

[KR500]

Thanks for your post Doug, appreciate it your input
I have always kept back up hard drives of my ginormous music library and replace drives every 3 years or so.
I still have my three older Mini’s and an IMac and drives that contain the library. Some contain burned discs from our public lending library that are out of print or no longer in their catalog, damaged etc.
I had given some thought to FLAC and maybe using Linux also.

 

[Martini]

I encode using AIFF, since disc/memory space is cheap. AIFF has no problem with META data, unlike WAV files.

 

[Madlop26]

A question.
Purchased a new 2024 M1 Apple Mac Mini last fall and replaced my 2014 Mac Mini which had reached ten years and security was no longer kept up to date by Apple.
I have used iTunes going back to my first Mini importing AIFF 1411 kbps files from my CD collection and kept it up over the years through various models.
When Apple Music added the Match option and started replacing some of my AIFF files with their AAC 256 kbps one I turned that off.
My 2014 Mini is for AIFF Apple Music playback wired via USB through my system and not connected to the internet.
I connect the 2014 Mini to the internet to retrieve song artist and album data when importing a CD then disconnect.
I deleted the AAC matched Apple Music files and am now re-importing the original CD’s in my preference of AIFF. Also new Discs purchased.
How much risk is there for me doing this on a 10 year old machine ?
Home password protected network and no other surfing or online work.
Only Apple Music playback and metadata and album artwork retrieval.
Thanks for any advice

Similar situation as you, I use a 2012 iMac to listen to music in my garage from my NAS, and occasionally watch Youtube videos.
How Risky it is? every time somebody ask that question related to unsupported MACs they will be the ones telling is risky, you should not do it.......I know, I know, ....but again how risky exactly?? you wont find an absolute answer, many factors involved:
- Your router has a firewall?
- Do you use only few trusted program?
- Download and install new programs should be avoided
- Are you a high value target? let's face it; bad guys are interested in millionaires and famous people, if you are among the billions of regular Joe's, chances to be targeted are quite low.
- One good thing: it is a Mac not windows
- I do not keep any personal information in that computer and I turn it off after use.

So far so good for me, but it is your personal decision, again somebody will be strike by a lighting somewhere...but I am the ones how do not think much about lighting strikes.