How do you rip CDs on a new version mac mini?

Simple...you buy an optical drive. They are cheap and readily available.

Use Apple's external drive.

Go to Newegg.com or any one of the various computer peripheral websites and get one. You'd be hard pressed to be able to detect any difference between them and the conv. wisdom is that that the external ones are better than the internal one.

Apple doesn't make the external drive -- some nameless employer of slave child labor in Shenzen does.

Us an external USB or Firewire Drive and free XLD software for ripping. Dont use iTunes for ripping. XLD links:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

"Dont use iTunes for ripping."
Many, many folks here use iTunes quite happily. If you do go that route, be certain to rip in Apple Lossless, and make sure you check the error correction box.

With this

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MRF82SD22LS/

and this

http://tmkk.pv.land.to/xld/index_e.html

You could go cheaper on the drive but I like OWC's service, warranties and tech help. I also use their external hard drives, so, the one stop shop works well for me.

Audioengr is correct XLD is a much better ripper. Do not get me wrong I have heard good rips from I-tunes but in XLD they are a magnitude better

Apple's move to cut the built in drive wasn't a smart one. I own the newest Mini and it's certainly less elegant to have to add the the external drive. For 70 bucks you can add the matching Apple drive or a generic one for 35 bucks. The people I spoke with at Apple agreed that cutting the drive was premature as nearly every customer complains about it.
Still, adding the drive was simple and inexpensive and it's a fantastic server. I have not tried other ripping software yet, but I will.

Be sure to add memory to the mini! You can max it out for around 45 bucks!

Rob

How could one possibly rip their entire cd collection using a single drive? It would take far too long. Running 5 at once seams more suited to the task.