[Bodhi]

What would Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper have to say about all this?

[Tyson]

What would Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper have to say about all this?

He'd say "screw the hard drives, we need to do something about my impotence.  Maybe bomb Russia!"

[newzooreview]

Do you know if this could be used as a USB transport?  I am looking for a usb CD transport, for the occasional CD listen.  One I could connect my Channel Islands DMC-1 Music Streamer.  I tried a Pioneer Blu ray/DVD ripper, but it would pause and spin between every track.

I don't know. I doubt it, however. The OWC Mercury Pro is designed to be controlled by the computer it's connected to. A CD transport for music playback typically has built-in controls to start and stop playback: the device that it's connected to is passively receiving the output from the transport, not controlling the transport.

[rif]

Since you're starting a library from scratch I'd say a laptop or small PC as suggested as you'll likely need a tagging program to keep your files clean as well as ripping software (dbPoweramp recommended). Depending on what program you use to stream, they can be extremely fussy about tags. I check and modify as needed to keep things organized or inevitably you'll be unable to find the record you're looking for.

Also, you can have a separate backup of the library on the laptop/PC. Store them there with full FLAC compression to save space (still lossless), and export them to the NAS as full size files as you'll have plenty of storage space there.

dbPoweramp sounds very familiar.  Are they the ones who rank cd drives?  I'm going to have to go digging through old storage bins and boxes.  This could be good!

[newzooreview]

Their rankings are here: https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/forum/dbpoweramp/cd-ripper/324732-cd-drive-accuracy-2024

But it's not meaningful. All the drives are ≥ 98% "accurate."

The differences are in the noise of the data set. In addition, the ripping software and setup of the software makes a big difference. If a CD is ripped in burst mode then it's much more likely to be inaccurate compared to using an error-correcting mode in the ripping app.

[cameraman]

For a cd drive, you might consider the $85 OWC Mercury Pro:

https://www.owc.com/solutions/mercury-pro-optical

I've been using one with no issues for a few years (knock on wood). It's much sturdier than the paper-thin ones for $20 on Amazon, and the cost is still reasonable.

The website comes up initially with the price for the enclosure, but if you select the "24X DVD/CD R/W" drive to go in the enclosure then the $85 price is shown:

All I see is a 16x Blu-ray Disc burner option for $179.99.

Since this is an enclosure, it seems I could buy any internal burner and install it in the enclosure? Hard to tell what brand they include in a package but the image shows an LG.

"5.25-inch SATA I and SATA II optical drives (all CD, DVD, and Blu-ray drives with a depth up to 6.77 inches/17.2 cm)"

I just bought an Innuos Stream1 and put a 4TB M.2 SSD in it and have started to rip my CD collection to it.

Unfortunately my ASUS BW-16D1X-U External Blu-ray Drive seems to have stopped working after successfully ripping 50 CD's. I'll see if ASUS can fix it under warranty but it doesn't seem very robust even when working or I have a faulty unit.

Thank you.

[newzooreview]

Yes, it looks as if they do not currently list the CD option. I don't know if they plan to re-stock the CD option that was available when I first posted, but you could probably give them a call: 1-800-275-4576

The photos show an LG drive (if you buy a drive installed rather than just the enclosure).

I bought the Blu-ray version from them a long while ago, and it came with an LG drive. I've used it for 100s of CDs. I recall that when I bought it, there were reviews suggesting that the LG drives were reliable. It seems to have been the case for me, at least.

[cameraman]

Yes, it looks as if they do not currently list the CD option. I don't know if they plan to re-stock the CD option that was available when I first posted, but you could probably give them a call: 1-800-275-4576

The photos show an LG drive (if you buy a drive installed rather than just the enclosure).

I bought the Blu-ray version from them a long while ago, and it came with an LG drive. I've used it for 100s of CDs. I recall that when I bought it, there were reviews suggesting that the LG drives were reliable. It seems to have been the case for me, at least.

Both internal and external drives are scarce. The LG is listed as discontinued, the ASUS BW-16D1HT Internal SATA 16X Blu-ray Disc Rewriter is out of stock. My ASUS external USB drive seems to be working again but makes more noise than I think it should. OWC may have some old LG inventory.

The Pioneer BDR-X13E-X had been recommended as a ripper transport but is also discontinued. Wouldn't it be nice if a decent CD transport like the Caimbridge I own supported ripping to a PC or streamer. Thanks.

[cameraman]

Both internal and external drives are scarce. The LG is listed as discontinued, the ASUS BW-16D1HT Internal SATA 16X Blu-ray Disc Rewriter is out of stock. My ASUS external USB drive seems to be working again but makes more noise than I think it should. OWC may have some old LG inventory.

The Pioneer BDR-X13E-X had been recommended as a ripper transport but is also discontinued. Wouldn't it be nice if a decent CD transport like the Caimbridge I own supported ripping to a PC or streamer. Thanks.

Since I am not confident my external ASUS BW-16D1X-U will hold up I bought an OWC enclosure with an LG BH16NS40 Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter in it, at least that is what Windows Properties lists. I think even the LG drive they use may be discontinued. BH Photo Video reviews on it are not stellar but it may be OK for simple CD ripping. The enclose is nice though. Thanks.

[yamaha626]

Since I am not confident my external ASUS BW-16D1X-U will hold up I bought an OWC enclosure with an LG BH16NS40 Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter in it, at least that is what Windows Properties lists. I think even the LG drive they use may be discontinued. BH Photo Video reviews on it are not stellar but it may be OK for simple CD ripping. The enclose is nice though. Thanks.

That LG drive probably is discontinued; but in my experience, the LG drives have easily had the longest lifespans. I've owned them from Pioneer, Sony, Asus and LG. My personal opinion is the LG's were the most reliable, followed by the Asus. The Pioneer's were the least...really aggravating when you consider the Pioneer's were easily the most expensive, most error-prone and had the shortest lifespan.

[rif]

Their rankings are here: https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/forum/dbpoweramp/cd-ripper/324732-cd-drive-accuracy-2024

But it's not meaningful. All the drives are ≥ 98% "accurate."

The differences are in the noise of the data set. In addition, the ripping software and setup of the software makes a big difference. If a CD is ripped in burst mode then it's much more likely to be inaccurate compared to using an error-correcting mode in the ripping app.

I have a few drives from their list several year's ago.  Unfortunately they predate SATA (IDE?).