2. pc-audio
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Ripping to Mac OSX

I have good ears, but no real computer knowledge. I've just purchased a Mac Mini with Snow Leopard, running it via USB (for now) into a PS Audio PWD.

I don't have a huge collection, so at this point, I've just decided to save into WAV format using Itunes.

Questions:

Is there a sonic reason to use another program other than Itunes to rip normal redbook CDs?

On non hirez, is there a reason to use a player other than Itunes for sound quality reasons?

I very much enjoy reading the posts on this thread. I've learned much, though quite a bit of the info shared is over my head!
ricky64
usblues
1,217 posts
 
All good replies.You also can try computeraudiophile.com.A great site for this question and all others your bound to have,good luck,Bob
hgeifman
2,295 posts
 
I have a MAC Book Pro (4 MB RAM) and use iTunes with AIFF with error correction to transfer my CD's to a Seagate Free Agent Go Pro 500 GB external hard drive connected to the MAC via Firewire. It takes around 4-5+ minutes per CD. AIFF takes more disk space and produces the best sound quality. My MAC is connected to an Ayre USB DAC connected (balanced cables) to my Ayre AX-7e Integrated amplifier.
coverto
44 posts
 
So I'm guessing that some folks would say - if you've already ripped your library to Apple Lossless and are looking to improve the sound, it's better to re-rip everything to AIFF than to simply convert the existing Apple Lossless files to AIFF by pushing a button? Or does it not make a difference?
jamesw20
270 posts
 
Now that I have my audio collection ripped to a hard drive connected to mac mini for streaming via usb dac, how do I create a file with mp3 files of my AIFF files for ipod use?
johnss
586 posts
 
Ricky, as long as you are using WAV as a file format, I don't think the ripping part will make a huge diff.

Audio card will def. make a dif.

Other comments:

1. as your music collection grows, you may quickly get beyond the typical artist, album type file structure. With a few cds this is ok, but quickly becomes unmanagable with more

2. I have a server running with 6 TB of HD space, and 6000+ CDs ripped all as WAV. As other posters have noted, storing the files as WAV, you loose the ability to track the file Meta data. The way I structured my file tree, its not too important.

since the folks who wrote the playback software were not typically into classical music, there is no search function for composer, so I structured my classical WAV files by composer first, then type, then artist, makes for much quicker searches.

For Jazz, rock and Pop, they each ahve their own main folder, with artist broken down under that.

HD space is pretty cheap these days, so why squish the file size down just to save on HD space?

3. Make sure you make a back up copy of your music files since the question to ask is not IF an HD crashes but WHEN.

best.
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