Ripping CDs

[thebraketester]

I am about to endeavour on a thankless task but it will free me from iTunes which is becoming a hateful thing to use, and I just cannot get on with Tidal.

What’s the best software (must be macOS) to rip CDs? All files to go onto my Synology NAS.

Thanks
TBT

[Percy Cushion]

Handbrake.

However, streaming is so much easier and better. Have you tried Apple Music?

[thebraketester]

Percy Cushion said:

Handbrake.

However, streaming is so much easier and better. Have you tried Apple Music?

Yes. I have 6months free at the moment. It's ok, but I'm still not convinced.

[C n C]

I've used DbPowerAmp before on OSX.

You can download a 21 day trial for free and it's £41 if you decide to buy it (I did).

It works well.

I've ripped over 1000 CDs with it to FLAC format which are stored on a NAS and would recommend, after trying a couple of other products (can't remember their names) which weren't as good.

ETA - I now remember I initially started ripping CDs with Exact Audio Copy (EAC) on a Windows machine. It was/is free, and did a good job of creating FLAC files, although it was a little clunky.

I then moved to a Mac platform and was disappointed EAC wasn't available on OSX, did some research, and settled on DBPowerAmp. Not only does it do a good job, but it is also a lot easier to use, so if I was to move back to Windows, I'd still use it in preference to EAC.

Also, I agree with you re. not being a fan of iTunes. Despite being an Apple fan - Mac laptop, desktop, iPhone etc.. I've never been a fan of iTunes and do not use it at all.

Edited by C n C on Saturday 25th February 18:56

[anonymous-user]

Ironically, iTunes. You can rip them using ALAC so lossless and works well if you have an iPhone.

[Miserablegit]

I’ve been using dbPoweramp for many years with my macs and highly recommend it.
As part of the package there is a batch converter so, once I’ve ripped everything to Flac, it’s an easy process to convert to other formats if required (some of the cars didn't read FLAC so I had to convert an sd card of tunes to MP3)

[dorset_clive]

+ another one for dbpoweramp. Pretty simple to use, cheapish, and enduring license, so when I changed laptops recently just found the email with the link and seemlessly download in the new computer.

[GravelBen]

I use EAC, but if it isn't Mac compatible that scuppers that option for you.

[ThunderSpook]

iTunes is great at ripping CD’s. You can just rip them
In to mp3 format or whatever format you choose and then use them in something else.

[thebraketester]

Dbpoweramp looks great, thanks for all the suggestions

[thebraketester]

I suppose the next question is, FLAC or 320kbps MP3? I don’t have a huge amount of CDs to rip… maybe 160ish, as a lot of my collecting was ripped years ago and hard copies not retained stupidly.

[OutInTheShed]

thebraketester said:

I suppose the next question is, FLAC or 320kbps MP3? I don’t have a huge amount of CDs to rip… maybe 160ish, as a lot of my collecting was ripped years ago and hard copies not retained stupidly.

Try ripping a few and see if you can tell the difference?
(and If you can tell they're different, do you always guess which is which?)
If everything you want to play it on does FLAC, is there any reason to use MP3?
If you want to convert FLAC to MP3, that's do-able, the reverse, not really so.

The best thing about this is going through your collection and listening to stuff not heard for a while, although in my case there were a few cases of 'Did I really buy that?'.

[Panamax]

Seriously; why?

Buy CD player
Insert CD
Play CD

What's the problem??

[ARHarh]

Panamax said:

Seriously; why?

Buy CD player
Insert CD
Play CD

What's the problem??

Because when your CD player is 100 miles away it's difficult to insert a cd. And if you turn the volume up enough to hear it the neighbours complain. Where as logging into your nas from your phone and listening through a pair of car buds is easy.

[Panamax]

ARHarh said:

Because when your CD player is 100 miles away it's difficult to insert a cd. And if you turn the volume up enough to hear it the neighbours complain. Where as logging into your nas from your phone and listening through a pair of car buds is easy.

Never heard of Youtube?

[thebraketester]

Panamax said:

Seriously; why?

Buy CD player
Insert CD
Play CD

What's the problem??

I’ve got one thanks but it’s not overly convenient to take on the London Underground.

[Panamax]

thebraketester said:

I’ve got one thanks but it’s not overly convenient to take on the London Underground.

That's the musical equivalent of trying to enjoy a fine Bordeaux in McDonalds.

[legzr1]

Panamax said:

thebraketester said:

I’ve got one thanks but it’s not overly convenient to take on the London Underground.

That's the musical equivalent of trying to enjoy a fine Bordeaux in McDonalds.

Do you have an analogy for replacing decent quality with YouTube?

[OutInTheShed]

legzr1 said:

Panamax said:

thebraketester said:

I’ve got one thanks but it’s not overly convenient to take on the London Underground.

That's the musical equivalent of trying to enjoy a fine Bordeaux in McDonalds.

Do you have an analogy for replacing decent quality with YouTube?

Youtube is obviously Deliveroo.

Immense choice, but it sometimes arrives tepid, slightly out of shape and with dubious timing.
And randomly unavailable out of town.

Youtube is great for music though, you can access so much different stuff, explore genres you may not like or want to buy, when you want. For free.
It's not so long ago people used to listen to whatever their radio station told them to listen to and bought CDs of the same stuff.
Sometimes musical content trumps reproduction quality, like a thai takeaway beats meat and potato.

[ARHarh]

Panamax said:

ARHarh said:

Because when your CD player is 100 miles away it's difficult to insert a cd. And if you turn the volume up enough to hear it the neighbours complain. Where as logging into your nas from your phone and listening through a pair of car buds is easy.

Never heard of Youtube?

so how much does that cost?