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Ripping CD collection

Bsmooth

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Yes I really like CD's. I also now have access to streaming music as well(Amazon Music). I used to like LP's too, but I finally moved on(and now there back!).
I don't understand the CD's deteriorate with time thing. I haven't run into one yet anyways..
I could just do FLAC, and be done with it. Some recordings I must admit though sound literally like crap. I have remade some of them using Audacity, and they sound better than the originals. Granted there aren't a lot like this but there are some, even the streamed FLAC ones sound lousy, and why wouldn't they? There still the same badly engineered recordings.
I'm sure that paragraph alone is worth at least 20 entries into this thread, but these Audacity ones are just for me, and they do sound better to me.
Once all these different digital copies are made, whats the best way to actually find and play them ?
Or just not save them at all and just use streaming instead? I've seen some threads where people save the CD's to FLAC and donate there CD collection to the library. If you do that I'll take them gladly ! I couldn't give my LP collection away, and they were in just the same shape as my CD collection(not one fingerprint !)
Right now I am using dbpoweramp, Audacity, and Mp3 Gain when I need it. Just bought a new ASUS DVD Optical drive as my Samsung was giving me issues with the door getting stuck, and wouldn't work with Accuraterip anymore.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Once all these different digital copies are made, whats the best way to actually find and play them ?
Or just not save them at all and just use streaming instead?
Of course. Why use up more plastic.
 

vco1

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I don't understand the CD's deteriorate with time thing. I haven't run into one yet anyways..
I’m in the process of ripping my cd collection. And out of 1,000+ albums so far, I had a few (< 10) that I couldn’t rip without errors. Mostly cd-r, but also a couple of factory pressed ones. Even from some big labels. And some cd’s not that old. I was fortunate to find ways to get the music anyway, either as a download or by buying a new cd. But I’m even more convinced that ripping is the right thing to do to save my music collection.
 

Gorgonzola

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Yes I really like CD's. I also now have access to streaming music as well(Amazon Music). I used to like LP's too, but I finally moved on(and now there back!).
I don't understand the CD's deteriorate with time thing. I haven't run into one yet anyways..
I could just do FLAC, and be done with it. Some recordings I must admit though sound literally like crap. I have remade some of them using Audacity, and they sound better than the originals. Granted there aren't a lot like this but there are some, even the streamed FLAC ones sound lousy, and why wouldn't they? There still the same badly engineered recordings.
I'm sure that paragraph alone is worth at least 20 entries into this thread, but these Audacity ones are just for me, and they do sound better to me.
Once all these different digital copies are made, whats the best way to actually find and play them ?
Or just not save them at all and just use streaming instead? I've seen some threads where people save the CD's to FLAC and donate there CD collection to the library. If you do that I'll take them gladly ! I couldn't give my LP collection away, and they were in just the same shape as my CD collection(not one fingerprint !)
Right now I am using dbpoweramp, Audacity, and Mp3 Gain when I need it. Just bought a new ASUS DVD Optical drive as my Samsung was giving me issues with the door getting stuck, and wouldn't work with Accuraterip anymore.
OK ... well I just use dBpoweramp Ripper to rip CDs directly to FLAC (-- I don't listen to CDs). Then, mostly because I'm Classical music lover, I complete and adjust the metadata using Tag&Rename, (using various sources of info), and add a front cover picture at the same time.

"Some recordings ... sound like crap": who'd have thought? :rolleyes: I haven't used Audacity to try to "improve" recordings so I don't know what the even means.

Streaming services, IMHO, have inadequate Classical selection and search criteria to find them. So virtually all my listening is to my own collection which is stored on my NAS. Because I have meticulously corrected and complete metadata it is quite easy to find anything I want to listen to using my Foobar2000 player interface.
 

DVDdoug

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Once all these different digital copies are made, whats the best way to actually find and play them ?
Once your files are "tagged" with artist/title/album, etc., information your player software can sort and play by-artist, album, genre, year, or whatever. the physical location & organization doesn't matter as long as it's "linked" to your player's library.

Your ripping software will usually automatically find all of that information in an online database. Audacity can also add/edit the metadata (tagging) except that it doesn't support the album artwork. Or there are dedicated tagging programs. I use MP3Tag. With MP3Tag you can select a whole folder and enter all of the common information once. If you have MP3s (or other lossy files) don't use Audacity if you're just editing the metadata. The whole file will be decompressed & re-compressed so you're going through another generation of lossy compression.

The automatic-tagging will tag the whole CD with the same release year. For greatest hits or compilation albums I like to research the original release date for each song. And/or if the album was originally released on vinyl I use the original release year.

Some recordings I must admit though sound literally like crap.
In my experience, most CDs from 1960's recordings or later is pretty good... Much better and more consistent than the "original" vinyl. Earlier recordings usually aren't so good, but I'm not sure what's wrong with them... It seems like it has to be frequency balance but EQ doesn't seem to help so the high & low frequencies are probably completely missing and you can't boost "nothing". I had a CD from the 1980s with "dull sounding" highs and I used a "harmonic exciter" effect to add high frequency harmonics. That turned-out good! And, once I used Audacity's pitch shifting (along with filtering & mixing) to extend the bass on a VHS-to-DVD transfer, but I've never tried that with a CD.
 

julian_hughes

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Yes I really like CD's..... ASUS DVD Optical drive as my Samsung was giving me issues with the door getting stuck, and wouldn't work with Accuraterip anymore.
I like CDs too. But these days for extracting the lossless audio, not for using in an actual CD player. In time you will find some CDs do deteriorate. They are made of a metal layer containing the data, laminated inside transparent plastic layers. Those transparent layers can get scratched, the layers can start to separate allowing the disc to warp and the metal layer to oxidize. People living in very humid and hot places will experience this more often. The best quality CDs have the metal layer made of gold inside very hard scratch resistant laminate. They might last 100s of years. The worst quality ones can start separating in a few months in a hot climate, and have very poor laminate which is prone to scratches.

Having ripped thousands of CDs I'd say that it's worth having a couple of different optical drives. Some drives have trouble reading SACD/CD hybrid discs, some can read a scratched disc better than another drive etc. The difference between physical drives makes more difference than which software you use. If you do encounter discs which won't rip well on more than one good drive then don't waste any time trying different speeds, insane numbers of reads and so on. You'll probably just shorten the lifeof or kill your optical drive. Buy a new CD instead.
 

TheBatsEar

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Once all these different digital copies are made, whats the best way to actually find and play them ?
I rip the CD to FLACs, add meta information (interpret, title, coverart) using the free application Mp3tag and save them on my server at home.

I share them back into the network using Samba, which allows Windows clients to access the files. I also use NFS, for Linux clients, such as my RaspberryPi with Moode. Finally i use MiniDLNA to share the files to my TVs streaming client.

Recently i have installed Jellyfin, which adds even more relevant information and allows me to access my stuff via Browser:
1647728678851.png


So i have several options to play my music:
  • In the Browser
  • Using a computer with VLC or Foobar2000
  • Using a Streamer like a Yamaha NP-S303 or a TV or a RaspberryPi with Moode
Usually i use the RaspberryPi with Moode, using Firefox on my Android phone
 

amper42

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1. I rip my CD's in iTunes using the AIFF encoder on a MBP. This offers lossless audio and the same file can be used to burn a new audio CD in its original format should I ever wish to do so.
2. I use Audirvana for playback. It's setup to automatically load all my CD rips and play any of them or any of the selected Qobuz tracks I save. I use Qobuz to find the music I love and when I find an exceptional album I purchase it and rip the CD.
3. Audirvana supports UPnP which I use to stream the music to the RME ADI-2 DAC FS or the Denon 4700. Whether I want to play CD or Qobuz it's all there at my fingertips with Audirvana.

Audirvana.png
 

TheBatsEar

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amper42

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Audirvana runs as an application on a computer. No server required. Or you can run it on a computer and control it with an app on a tablet or a phone - your choice. Personally, I run it on my MBP. And sometimes I use screen sharing to control that Mac from another computer just for fun.

When I bought Audirvana 3.5 it was sold as a one time purchase. Now they sell it as a subscription.
 

TheBatsEar

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EB1000

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With the exception of very rare CDs not available on any streaming services, ripping a CD is a total waste of time. Just download a lossless digital copy (many streaming services allow it via unofficial 3rd party apps, usually found on GitHub).
 

SKBubba

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CD rips sound just like the original CD. (And so do vinyl recordings to digital.)

JRiver will play them back perfectly. So will roon, and roon (currently) also integrates streaming.

The convenience is worth it.
 

Martin

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I ripped several thousand CDs to FLAC many years ago using EAC. I’ve used MP3TAG over the years to manage tags. I now use JRiver when I need to rip a CD. I used to snag album cover images from Amazon, now I use AlbumArtExchange.

My music files are stored on a NAS.

I play music on my PC using JRiver. I have piCorePlayer with LMS embedded on a Raspberry Pi that I use in my main system.

I use a simple EQ in JRiver for my JBL 306P MkII in my office. I use custom-convert.conf on LMS to EQ for my Audeze LCD-3 headphones.

I’m still working with REW to create a custom-covert.conf to EQ for my main speakers.

Martin
 

JanesJr1

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OK ... well I just use dBpoweramp Ripper to rip CDs directly to FLAC (-- I don't listen to CDs). Then, mostly because I'm Classical music lover, I complete and adjust the metadata using Tag&Rename, (using various sources of info), and add a front cover picture at the same time.

"Some recordings ... sound like crap": who'd have thought? :rolleyes: I haven't used Audacity to try to "improve" recordings so I don't know what the even means.

Streaming services, IMHO, have inadequate Classical selection and search criteria to find them. So virtually all my listening is to my own collection which is stored on my NAS. Because I have meticulously corrected and complete metadata it is quite easy to find anything I want to listen to using my Foobar2000 player interface.
Two thoughts on classical catalog.

#1 if you are using Amazon Music HD, I find the catalog is more complete than it seems at first. Search responses appear to limit listing the full number of albums that meet search criteria. So I often find a missing performance by re-entering searches with different criteria or info. (E.g. soloist vs composer, vs orchestra vs composition title etc.) (Yes, I know it's a pain, but it often works.) Then tag the album for your library, so you won't have to hunt around for it again.

#2 I subscribe also to Idagio, which has a very detailed classical catalog of lossless/CD quality and much better search capabilities, playlists, and recommendations. Amazon only costs me $7.99/month for general interest music, and I mentally contribute the savings (vs Qobuz or Roon) to cover part of the ~$9.99/mo cost of Idagio.
 
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jae

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I am as much of a collector as I am a listener. I would say the best option for ripping is EAC on Windows or Linux (with WINE) and XLD or MAX on a Mac. All of these should have support for tagging databases built in automatically, that being said I do like mp3tag on Windows for fixing or mass-editing tags.

With the exception of very rare CDs not available on any streaming services, ripping a CD is a total waste of time. Just download a lossless digital copy (many streaming services allow it via unofficial 3rd party apps, usually found on GitHub).
The major issue with this that you will usually only get one version of an album on streaming services. Perhaps not as common these days but many albums have alternate releases or reissues specific to certain countries or regions that sometimes contain different track orders or bonus/hidden tracks, or even alternative versions of tracks mixed/mastered differently.

Those github projects can work great and be wonderful but they also break, and many of them are no longer maintained. It's not impossible for the service to deploy some security measures to make them unusable in the future, so relying on them for lossless is not a guaranteed thing.

Also, depending on what region you are paying your subscription from, certain albums or artists may simply not be on the streaming service at all. I don't listen to a lot of popular music so a lot of what I listen to isn't on streaming services. A lot of WEB released files also have no rhyme or reason in how they are created or distributed a lot of the time, sometimes many are even auto-transcoded and not done so losslessly contrary to what their filename would indicate. With a CD rip, at least know I am getting a perfect lossless file which can be computationally compared against the physical media.

I think @Martin has the right idea. Hard drive space is not expensive these days. It's not that prohibitive to store your collection on a home NAS or external HD plugged into your router so its accessible in your home or even remotely with the right apps/network config. Then use your software or hardware of choice to play your music over the network. I even have unlimited google drive for business (unlimited storage) and I backup my encrypted collection there just to be sure.

I like the idea of streaming services for artist discovery and convenience when on the go, but if I like an album I will download it, or if I love an artist and their works I will just download their discography. Once I've downloaded it, playing it locally is just as convenient as streaming, and playing my own local collection is even more enjoyable because I don't have to use the awful streaming software.
 

TheBatsEar

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With the exception of very rare CDs not available on any streaming services, ripping a CD is a total waste of time.
What if you don't want to pay for streaming because you have the CDs and only need to rip them?

Just download a lossless digital copy (many streaming services allow it via unofficial 3rd party apps, usually found on GitHub).
As a fellow pirate i condone this illegal act.
 

Anonamemouse

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With the exception of very rare CDs not available on any streaming services, ripping a CD is a total waste of time. Just download a lossless digital copy (many streaming services allow it via unofficial 3rd party apps, usually found on GitHub).
Wow... uhm... no.
It pays to go to www.stevehoffman.tv and figure out which mastering of any recording is the best and then find it and actually buy it.
Never ever "just download", you'll never know what you're going to get. It's like "hey, I want a car", then throwing out some money and wait to see what shows up.
 

Snoopy

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OK ... well I just use dBpoweramp Ripper to rip CDs directly to FLAC (-- I don't listen to CDs). Then, mostly because I'm Classical music lover, I complete and adjust the metadata using Tag&Rename, (using various sources of info), and add a front cover picture at the same time.

"Some recordings ... sound like crap": who'd have thought? :rolleyes: I haven't used Audacity to try to "improve" recordings so I don't know what the even means.

Streaming services, IMHO, have inadequate Classical selection and search criteria to find them. So virtually all my listening is to my own collection which is stored on my NAS. Because I have meticulously corrected and complete metadata it is quite easy to find anything I want to listen to using my Foobar2000 player interface.
Roon
 

TheBatsEar

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Well, just buy this computer for lots of money, bro.
Yes, you need another streamer too, bro.
Give us monthly money too, bro.
A, well, you have to buy CDs or rent streaming as well, bro.
Sorry bro, we are experiencing technical difficulties with Quobuz.
Sorry bro, not Roon certified.
Of course we support Linux bro, but we don't support THAT Linux.
Wontfix bro, no usecase.
Wontfix bro, expected behaviour.

I feel that ripping and playing my own CDs is where it's at.:cool:
 
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