Dropout when ripping CDs to wav or applelossless

Nothing is wrong with using a Mini as your platform.

I use iTunes to rip and out of 14,000 songs only 6 have dropouts. That's such a low failure rate that I haven't even tried going to more robust ripping programs. If you're getting a high rate of failed rips, then I suspect it's your ROM drive. You also might try using a CD cleaner. I use Shinola, but I assume others are also effective.

Thank you. I do use a CD cleaner fairly regularly. I found that there may have been two problems.

One was itunes. It did not rip as well as Max, which itself solved my problem. Also, I normally kept my mac mini on continuously. While it is well ventilated, the heat build-up may also affect the optical reading accuracy or something else through thermal expansion. I found the CD ROM would not take in CDs properly. I tried recycling the power and did everything I could to make it work. Frankly I thought it was broken and planned to take it to the Apple Store or send it to Apple. However, I did not have time to do this before my last trip. I shut it down for a couple days, and it was working fine when I returned. I checked the iTunes and it still made the same error on this new CD in the same place. XLD noted it too. I used Max, which is slower and it ripped it fine today. I have been playing around to get the best ripping in the minimum time and to get the info into iTunes, which I play back through Pure Music.

Thanks for all of the advice. I think I am getting very close to a solution. I will need to re-rip some of my CDs as they come up, but I will not re-rip the 1500+ Cds I have done, but the new ones will be ripped with Max.

After ripping 250+ cd's I discovered that my iMac in combination with iTunes is useless for ripping CD's

If you set error checking on and an error is encountered it stops copying!!!

If you don't set error checking is leaves you with a real crappy recording

So I got hold of a copy of MAX from http://sbooth.org/Max/

It worked like a charm and I am now in the process of re-copying all my CD's

I have noticed that cd's copied with MAX actually sound better, so I guess some bits were dropped somewhere along the line after I had turned off error checking.

Having been in computers for over 30 years - the iMac is the first machine that has ever failed to copy data from CD's and DVD's.

I guess it's sorta good for kids stuff and browsing the web, but I wouldn't trust my General Ledger on one - no telling how fast it could bankrupt me!

Also bought an apple TV and had all sorts of streaming problems with it - apple will not admit to problems and tell me to power the unit down - WALOC

Turns out Apple support is about as good as their computers.