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Going to rip 2000 cds. Which software?

At 63 years old I've decided it's finally time to make the move to a digital library.  I've spent hours and hours on this forum reading about servers, streamers, music servers, nas systems and modded Mac Minis.  I'm more than confused.  I'm pretty much ready to just buy a new transport and be done with it. 

But.... I play "cuts."  I hardly ever play an entire record or cd and would like the ability to choose what's playing from the couch.

I know that the first step is ripping cds.  I have a couple of questions;

1.  Which software should I use?  I am concerned about speed and indexing.  I'm a jazzhead and have quite a few recordings by the same artists that have recorded multiple versions of the same tune.  I want to make sure they are indexed properly.  I would also like a program that doesn't take all day to make a copy.

2.  I can use either Mac or PC.  I would prefer Mac but would use a PC if it is more future proof.  I have a Macbook Air and a PC laptop and both have dual 2 terrabyte external drives.

3. I would also consider a Music Server with a nas rig.

If I do a music server with nas I'd like to keep the price around $2000.

Thanks to all of you.

--Bob


jzzmusician
jzzmusician OP
156 posts
 
Wow!  You guy are great.  Thank you for your help!

Right now I've got three choices:

1.  Use my MacBook Air with an external drive
2.  The Naim UnitiServe
3.  Get a streamer that runs off a nas

Number 1 is the least costly.
Number 2 is the easiest and as long as I can get a good 5 years of use I see no reason other than budget to get one.
Number 3 is attractive in that a streamer would cost less (Cambridge Audio CXN) and the music would always be on the nas

And to answer a couple of questions;

My computer is 5 years old and uses USB 2.0
My Mac uses 3.0, I think.

Whichever way I go it's going to be at least a month before I buy anything.  I just heard from Kent at Electrostatic Solutions.  I sent my Quad 2805 speakers to him for some repair.  The repair cost was very reasonable, so reasonable that I'm springing for some upgraded mods, and there goes my budget.

I'm thinking that I'll rip some cds in a casual sort of way and start messing around just using my Macbook and next month make a long term decision.

Thank you all again for your input and I certainly don't mind keeping this thread alive.

-- Bob
macdude
187 posts
 
I would like to hear rips with the Unitiserve.

I use XLD and could never get my rips to sound anywhere near as good as CD playback.

To compound the problem, I found rips via dbpoweramp on a different Macbook sounded totally different.
mesch
3,530 posts
 
I guess I am much like Ghosthouse, jump in and take a pragmatic approach. I rip via itunes to AIFF with the error correction. Use both a Macbook pro and a Mac mini.  I have found that some CDs do take longer than others, however not 15 min.  I use Pure Music for playback. I have had little problem with the learning curve, and enjoy the flexibility of computer audio. The Macbook pro allows me to take my music where ever I go. 
mmporsche's avatar
mmporsche
144 posts
 
I don't know how to quote others since I am new here, however, I read that the seller of the Naim Unitiserve is including a 6TB external drive for full price offer.  

I have no affiliation, just trying to help the OP.

Good luck!
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,474 posts
 
Data loss due to scratches up to about 4mm along the track is automatically corrected by Cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon error correcting code.  Between 4-8mm player that operates in real time interpolates samples while scratches longer than 8mm result in pops and clicks.  Programs like XLD can be set to very high numbers of retries while MAX can be set to "never allow to skip".  Badly scratched disks can be completely recovered but it can take hours.  Itunes went over the same bad CDs much faster meaning that it probably quits and interpolates just after few tries.  In reality on decent CDs I cannot tell the difference between original CD and the copy made with Itunes/Toast.  Playing ripped CDs from the computer can sound worse not because of deficient rip but because of greater amount of jitter created or different signal path (different D/A converter, different analog circuit etc.)
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