I’m going to be retiring in a couple of months and - whilst my time is going to be pretty full - one of my early projects will be to rip all of my CDs. It’s not something I’m looking forward to particularly but I only have about 250 so it shouldn’t be hugely onerous. I’m also very conscious that the next major software update from Apple will render my Time Capsule obsolete so, for backup purposes alone, I’m going to need to invest in a NAS drive anyway (likely to be Synology) which will then double as a music server. My intention therefore ius to rip everything to a USB drive that I own at present, and in due course copy the entire music folder to the new NAS.
I’m pretty sure I’ll rip as FLAC as opposed to ALAC, and once on the NAS will want to access the files on both my Atom and WiiM Ultra via UPnP. I’ll want all metadata/cover art, obviously, and will need to be able to edit it before the rip itself as I know leaving everything automated will cause problems on a lot of my albums, particularly compilations.
I’ve done a few AI prompts and the favourite in terms of ripping software seems to be dBpoweramp for Mac. Can anyone give me some user feedback on this, or alternatively let me know whether there are better options based an actual user experience?
Also, is there any disadvantage in ripping to my current external drive and then copying to the NAS as and when (as opposed to waiting for the NAS and ripping straight onto that instead)? The latter isn’t my preference as I’m not planning to migrate away from the Time Capsule just yet.
Same here. Also used dbPoweramp and it was working like a treat. I think I had 2 CD’s (out of approx. 700) that did not rip without issue, due to copy protection. I have all rips now stored on a QNAP NAS.
When we had a Melco music library we used a Melco D100 optical drive/ripper to rip CD’s directly to it. You can use this to rip CD’s to a computer too, and the results are better than using a standard IT grade drive. It is very expensive though in comparison, especially if you use it with a Plixir PS instead of the supplied SMPS. It’s worth it IMO if you want to get the very best rips - and it’s something you’ll only be doing once.
In the same way a Melco music library used in a NAS configuration will give superior results to a Synology. But again it’s much more expensive.
These options probably don’t make much sense in the context of your Atom and WiiM, unless you really do want the very best. However if you end up upgrading the Atom to a Nova or something it then starts to seem a lot more sensible. Bear this in mind, as you really don’t want to have to re rip your CD collection.
I ripped about 1k CDs w dBpoweramp and the rest of the suite (PerfectTunes for cover art, etc.). Works flawlessly - there’s no reason to look for anything else.
Did the same as you. Not an issue, but depending on the size of your library, it may take some time to transfer it to a NAS. I think mine took about a day+ to copy everything over.
I will indeed bear it in mind, Pete, but I suspect it’s a step or two further than I want to go. I don’t really want to invest more in system components at the present time either (although a Nova is certainly a future possibility), save for the inevitable NAS drive.
I ripped my 1000’ish CD’s back in 2014.
I first started the process by ripping favourites to a Dell Windows laptop while the Synology DS214 was in shipping, then straight to Synology once it arrived and set up.
I used dBpoweramp for ripping, really excellent software, and the Dell onboard CD/DVD drive that proved slow, an old rattling Samsung was much faster and better able to read bad discs.
It took about 3 weeks of on/off sessions. I had to rework some as some metadata issues, but all part of the learning process and I found it rewarding. I now rip or download to laptop to check edit metadata before moving to Synology.
Originally I ripped all to WAV as it was reputed to be the best SQ. But a few years later when dBp published Asset UPnP software for Synology I changed all WAV to FLAC with dBp Batch Converter (huge saving in disc space) and now transcode FLAC (play as) WAV.
I now rarely buy CD’s, it’s all downloads in a higher resolution in either FLAC or DSD
Another thumbs up for dbpoweramps which has served me well ripping my 10,000+ CD collection.
You need to spend a bit of time checking the settings on dbpoweramps.
I am using a number of NAS’s but have recently bought a Synology DS223 which works well.
Spend some time reading up thinking about backup and using RAID.
You’ll find some CDs won’t rip or take some time to rip. Set them aside and come back here - there are a number of options.
When dbpoweramps reads the CD check carefully the information format of name and album it is easy to change it and it will save you a lot time rather than digital gardening (weeding and pruning the data) after it is on the hard drive.
DBpoweramp is very good, although even Apple Music is perfectly capable of producing lossless CD rips, as are a number of other apps for Mac or PC.
You don’t necessarily need a NAS running a server, as your Atom has a built in UPnP server. Once you have your rips on a USB drive, plug it into the Atom and you’ll see the rips in the Server input under Local Music. 250 albums will fit on a memory stick.
Turn on Server mode on the Atom and the music will be available to other UPnP streaming devices over your network.
Rip the files local then transfer them to the nas.
Here’s my workflow:-
Rip the CD using dBpoweramp CD Ripper as Apple lossless.
Tweak the tags if needed with mp3tag, I also add a tag called ENCODINGTIME
Import the files into Apple Music.
Copy the Apple lossless files over to /Music-HQ on my NAS
Convert the files on my Mac to MP3 to reduce the file space, make sure you check the import settings if you’re going to do this as the default setting is joint stereo.
Remove the Apple Lossless files.
Copy the MP3 files over to /Music on my nas, I use Carbon Copy Cloner to do this so any MP3 file that has been changed will be updated on my nas.
If you’re going to use FLAC use dBpoweramp Music Convertor to convert your files if you want them available on your Mac in a format that Apple Music likes.
My nas has an external USB drive connected to it and backs up /Music-hq and /Music weekly, I also once a month attach a USB and back up both folders and pop the USB in the car.
IMO the applications you need are dBpoweramp, Asset Upnp and mp3tag.
I have a Mac, I use an Apple Super Drive to Rip with XLD (free) to my desktop then move it to a Synology NAS . I also rip to AIFF , this is Apple’s completely uncompressed format (like WAV) I think AIFF sounds the best- my opinion only. I’d suggest you try ripping a few discs to your desktop, maybe add a folder that says Rips.
It certainly works well, but the Atom will be connected to a network, noisy or otherwise, in any case, so I don’t see how that would make a difference either way.
I disagree. You’re assuming that ones network is noisy. Mine certainly isn’t. Also I have 1500 CD’s plus numerous HiRes files on my Synology NAS. All in AIFF with all artwork. I use Minimserver to stream to my Auralic Aries G2.2 . Sounds excellent.
If I were doing it I would connect wirelessly to my network for app control only. Therefore no network noise and would still allow other wireless devices to access the stored files.
