[sugbob21]

Hi,
I own over 4,000 CD'S and have finally decided to rip them into something.
I currently have a fairly old MAC Mini that I amusing but its at least 6-7 years old and am finally thinking of taking the plunge into something current.
Problem is I have no idea how to accomplish this and what the cost would be .

Can anyone help or point me in the right direction. I am a complete newbie at this.

Thanks !

[Phil A]

I use dBpoweramp and find it easy to use - https://www.dbpoweramp.com/

[sugbob21]

with dbpoweramp I can rip unlimited CD'S ? How is the audio quality? and also does it require certain amount of space on my hard drive.

[aldcoll]

The hard derive space will be set but the type of file you prefer.  You might want to check out https://www.computeraudiophile.com/.

There are folks that swear to this format or that format.

If you do rip you also need to practice computing and use some backup.  I have over 1400 flac files with no compression and I use 434 GB on one server.  And with the cheap usb storage I run dual backups.  And these are done in Mirror.


There is also choices in what art work and tags for who plays on the CD etc.

There is some extensive info here on ripping if you dig through this board.

Alan

[FullRangeMan]

Maybe suggestions from Empirical Audio help>
http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/

[Vincent Kars]

Can anyone help or point me in the right direction. I am a complete newbie at this.

Maybe this part of my website is of use: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Intro/Ripping.htm

[rif]

Does a Mac mini use a laptop cd drive? If so, I've heard that they don't last too long, but you can buy laptop cd drive replacement inexpensively,  at least for pc. Or even just take one from your counties computer recycling area.

Your other route is to use an external drive.  If you're interested , dbpowrramp has a ranking list of drives suited for ripping. I have a few on the list.

[WGH]

I own over 4,000 CD'S and have finally decided to rip them into something.
I currently have a fairly old MAC Mini that I amusing but its at least 6-7 years old and am finally thinking of taking the plunge into something current.

Get the fastest computer with a quad-core processor and Hyper-threading you can afford and then buy the next faster one or ripping will take forever. Computers with Intel i7's are very nice, you can actually use the computer while ripping and nothing slows down.
I use dbpoweramp and rip directly to .flac to preserve tagging
You will need a couple of 3-4 TB hard drives, one for ripped music, one for backup
Rip 50 albums, copy them to the backup, rip 50 more, backup, etc.
The backup drive should be external and unplugged when not in use so it is protected from catastrophic events like lightning or WannaCry ransomware.

[harley52]

 Stick with the dbpoweramp site. The text is understandable and it makes sense  to someone that isn't a pc geek. No worry of a virus screwing you up using their services.

[Tone Depth]

If I read your post correctly, you are looking for a streamer or a new computer. If so, check out the Salk StreamPlayer at http://www.salkstream.com/. It can be ordered with an internal HDD or SSD to store your ripped files via dbpoweramp, and can also stream other sources including internet radio broadcasts and streaming services.

Hi,
I own over 4,000 CD'S and have finally decided to rip them into something.
I currently have a fairly old MAC Mini that I amusing but its at least 6-7 years old and am finally thinking of taking the plunge into something current.
Problem is I have no idea how to accomplish this and what the cost would be .

Can anyone help or point me in the right direction. I am a complete newbie at this.

Thanks !

[jpm]

Get the fastest computer with a quad-core processor and Hyper-threading you can afford and then buy the next faster one or ripping will take forever.

I'm too lazy to dig deeply to prove the point, but I expect the maximum read speed of the CD is the primary limiting factor in how quickly a CD can be ripped more than processor speed.

PC World certainly seemed to think so back in 2009 - http://www.pcworld.com/article/166433/article.html

Also, ripping super fast could be at the expense of error correction quality - again, I don't know this for a fact, but it strikes me as very likely.

There are a couple of other options for ripping CD collections:

1 - use a service. Andrew P, owner of Esoteric Audio in Phoenix and a prolific poster on the Roon community forum recently posted the name of a service he recommends to his customers - if I can dig it up again I'll post it.

2 - invest in a robot. The Acronova Nimbie seems to be a popular choice for running batches of music CDs through dbpoweramp

In the end, I think it comes down to the old equation of Good, Fast, Cheap - pick any two.

------------

Update ...  it was easier to find that post than I expected

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/any-advice-for-ripping-services/23770/2

[sugbob21]

my Mac Mini has an internal hard drive...I have around 500 CD'S on there currently...was just looking for an inexpensive way to rip.

DBpoweramp sounds interesting and I don't need to worry about storage/hacking or other various catastrophic events,, especially since I am not sure what I am doing.

[avta]

If you want a free program for Mac I would suggest XLD. (http://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html ) I've used it for years and have no complaints. The web site looks a bit geeky but scroll down to the download link and off you go. Lots of Mac users are familiar with it so there's plenty of help available.

[WGH]

Just for my own education I opened the Resource Monitor while ripping a CD. My computer has an Intel i7-2600K @ 3.4Ghz, 4GB ram and a Samsung SSD hard drive.
The CD was Blues Guitar Legends All Stars with a runtime of 53:08.

Total rip time: 3 minutes 40 seconds using dbpoweramp with a double pass verified rip converted directly to .flac
CPU usage: 2% - 19% while converting to .flac
Rip speed: 40 RPM

Rip time does not change while streaming video: Dolphins: Spy in the Pod "an in-depth look into the secret lives of a variety of dolphins as the specially designed “spycams” often interact and engage the curiosity of their subjects and film examples of their intelligence, communication, and relationships. Thirteen animatronic spy cameras were designed to do the job including Spy Dolphin, Spy Turtle, Spy Squid, Spy Nautilus, Spy Baby Dolphin, Spy Tuna, Spy Ray, and Spy Puffer. Their eyes are state-of-the-art cameras. (In the case of Spy Tuna, the camera is its mouth.)"
Part 1: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dolphins-spy-pod-part-1-full-episode/15287/ (Expires June 3, 2017)
Part 2: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dolphins-spy-pod-full-episode-part-2/15324/ (Expires June 10, 2017)

Max CPU Usage while ripping and streaming: 34% while converting

Thunderbird email was also open, browsed the web and watched streaming video while ripping all without a hiccup.
An Intel i5 or even an i3 may be more than adequate to still be able to use your computer while ripping but I only have one computer so this is a test sample of 1.

Wayne 

[timind]

I ripped about 1000 cds and this took some time. I can't imagine the time investment for ripping 4000.

That said, I wish I had asked these questions before I started so I could have done it right from the beginning. My goal was to get bit perfect rips of the highest quality. This takes maximum hard drive space, but hard drive space is cheap now.
My files are ripped to AIFF using XLD to get perfect rips. The hardware is a 2010 Mac Mini with internal dvd drive and a Western Digital 2TB hard drive. It took some time, but it was worth it to me. I very rarely listen to the actual cds now as I prefer the ease of using the Mac.

Good luck.

[djbnh]

Rip time does not change while streaming video: Dolphins: Spy in the Pod "an in-depth look into the secret lives of a variety of dolphins as the specially designed “spycams” often interact and engage the curiosity of their subjects and film examples of their intelligence, communication, and relationships. Thirteen animatronic spy cameras were designed to do the job including Spy Dolphin, Spy Turtle, Spy Squid, Spy Nautilus, Spy Baby Dolphin, Spy Tuna, Spy Ray, and Spy Puffer. Their eyes are state-of-the-art cameras. (In the case of Spy Tuna, the camera is its mouth.)"
Part 1: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dolphins-spy-pod-part-1-full-episode/15287/ (Expires June 3, 2017)
Part 2: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dolphins-spy-pod-full-episode-part-2/15324/ (Expires June 10, 2017)


Wayne

Loved those videos, PBS nailed it

[WGH]

I ripped about 1000 cds and this took some time. I can't imagine the time investment for ripping 4000.

About 11 days, 3 hours if you don't sleep and wear a diaper.