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Programs for File management - HELP

I know it is only a matter of time before my cd player becomes a thing of the past. I have ripped some of my music in a lossless format (WAV) and want to invest the time to rip the remaining music. I am actually going to selectively rip songs I love from about 1000 cd's, so you can see my concern with doing this right the first, and hopefully only time.

My frustration in my past experience with ripping discs is the organizational issues that occur with proper labels, tagging and access of the library that has been ripped. I am not an APPLE user, so Itunes is not for me.

What programs provide the best or most efficient system for ripping and tagging the music? What system/program will be best for the future as technology becomes better to access and identify this digital data?

As I am just starting to develop a plan to develop a PC based system to adjunt (Not replace) my high end source, I don't want to wait. I have purchased a few 320gig dedicated hard drives to store and backup the music I rip.

I have always found these forums to be incredibly honest and useful...please take the time to share your thoughts and advice.
gerarddunn
gerarddunn OP
14 posts
 
Thanks for the responses so far. I suspect that Kublakhan has the most realistic answer. There are no shortcuts. Practice makes perfect. Please continue contributing with ongoing advice. Thanks in advance! Gerry
gerarddunn OP
14 posts
 
With that said Kublakhan, what would you recommend for a interface. From simple...with the ability to upgrade as needs and equipment change?
nabil98
16 posts
 
In my opinion the best program is Mpeg audio collection (MAC), it is an incredible program that can do all of the organization for you, in addition it is also free, I am using it to organize my few thousand albums.

http://mac.sourceforge.net/

It is worth to give it a try..
kublakhan
717 posts
 
Gararddunn, I'll get back to you on that question. I know an expert that I can ask. Basically you want to make sure that the ID tag info remains formulated the same in itunes as it does for foobar or media monkey, for example. if it does then the question becomes whether or not your playlists can be exported properly from one program to another. If so, then any playback program is fine because you can always switch. The only thing then to make sure of is that the cds are tagged properly when you burn them onto your hard drives.

There is a book called something like 'iPod and iTunes for dummies.' With that kind of support it's going to be hard to beat. Foobar has the most flexibility for customization but it's difficult to learn how to customize it. there are programmer sites that have screen captures of what their personal foobar interfaces look like and it's very interesting - those are the coolest looking interfaces i've seen.

Media monkey is what I am using (so is the expert I know) and it's easy to use right from the start. for now it's all I need.

But again, the question is about reading ID tags and exporting playlists. I would not want to create interesting playlists for different types of jazz and different types of rock, etc from a 1000+ cd catalogue and then have to redo it when i changed playback programs.
gerarddunn OP
14 posts
 
Kublakhan;
You truly understand my concern. Although for now, whatever program I choose will be fine, I am most concerned about the future. I guess I should stop worrying so much, and make some decisions. I will give media monkey a shot. I will let you know what my thoughts are after I get up and running. Let me know what your expert contact thinks as well. Warmest regards and have a great weekend! Gerry
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