[neekomax]

So, I pulled the trigger and ordered a base 2.5 Ghz i5 Mac Mini (2012 model) to use as a music server, and I have it hooked up and yay for me.

Except, no optical drive.

No worries, I'll use Remote Drive from my Mac Book Pro. First I try the dead simple approach- no iTunes -just drag the files from the CD in the MBP's optical drive into a folder on the Mini using network sharing in Finder. Works great, I have lovely AIFFs... but no meta data, except for track (file) names (like "1 Flying Easy"). That means I have to add artist, album, artwork, all that jazz, by hand. No way dude.

So I then try importing into iTunes on the Mini, but the CD doesn't show up in the iTunes (Mini) source list, nor can I choose it from the 'Import...' dialogue. It does show the remote disk, but then says something like 'items could not be found' when I try to select the disk for import.

So, anyone know a streamlined process for getting AIFFs from a CD on a networked machine into iTunes on another machine, complete with meta data?

My thanks in advance for the great sagacity that I am certain will follow... 

[skunark]

I use the USB optical drive, but I have used iTunes and Decibel (or Max) on my laptop to rip a CD and just copy that to a special iTunes folder "/Users/<username>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes".

Jim

[neekomax]

I use the USB optical drive, but I have used iTunes and Decibel (or Max) on my laptop to rip a CD and just copy that to a special iTunes folder "/Users/<username>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes".

Jim

Thanks. Could you elaborate on that process? The 'Automatically Add to iTunes' folder, is that something you create, and does it automatically add to iTunes on the Mini or the laptop?

I don't have an 'iTunes Media' folder, but I do have an 'iTunes Music' folder.

I was hoping to avoid having to spend yet more money on an optical drive...

[skunark]

On the Mac Mini, look in the folder where you point iTunes to store media files.   By default it's in your user home area, but most likely you are pointing things to an external USB or Thunderbolt drive.     So the path might be /Volumes/<Music Drive>/iTunes/....

On your MacBook Pro, rip the file like you normally would with iTunes, Max, Decibel, etc and once complete, copy them to that folder on your Mac Mini.  You might have enable file sharing and then login with the account name and password on your Mac Mini.

Another option is to enable home sharing within iTunes on both computers and instruct the Mac Mini to import that way. 

Jim

[neekomax]

On the Mac Mini, look in the folder where you point iTunes to store media files.   By default it's in your user home area, but most likely you are pointing things to an external USB or Thunderbolt drive.     So the path might be /Volumes/<Music Drive>/iTunes/....

On your MacBook Pro, rip the file like you normally would with iTunes, Max, Decibel, etc and once complete, copy them to that folder on your Mac Mini.  You might have enable file sharing and then login with the account name and password on your Mac Mini.

Another option is to enable home sharing within iTunes on both computers and instruct the Mac Mini to import that way. 

Jim

Thanks dude. I will give this a try and report back.