Hi to all & I hope you are safe & well. If anyone can give some guidance on the following issue I would really appreciate it.
Ok so at home I am running Rega planar 3, Naim Uniti , Chord Epic, B&W 602s. I have a large collection of cds & vinyl which is uploaded onto my QNAP nas drive using audacity & DB power amp. This is then controlled from the Naim app or Naim remote. What I want to do is get rid of my PC which has a cd drive built in to burn cds & buy a iPad Pro . Can anyone tell me if anyone else is using a iPad or iPad Pro to edit & upload your music in the same way as above. I am happy to buy the iPad Pro but only if I can keep using an adaptable cd drive of good quality that will then let me use DP power amp for the meta data & track editing. Thanking you all now for any input on this matter. Stay safe. Regards Marc.
Hi Marc -
Pretty sure you’ll still need some sort of computer to rip your CDs… even the latest iPadOS doesn’t support mounting USB CD-ROM or DVD drives, hence there are no ripping apps either.
Maybe a Raspberry Pi could stand in for this one missing aspect of your downsizing plan? You really need something with a full blown file system here, and that is a major difference between macOS and iPadOS. Waiting for an OS update (now that macOS runs on M1) will be a while (if ever). And I don’t think this task can be done on your QNAP either (but @CrystalGipsy might have insights as he dabbled with this previously).
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news… Good luck and please share if you work out a solution!
Regards alan
If you had a Uniti Core that would work with an iPad and no computer for ripping and editing, I’m not so sure for hi-res downloads.
Looks like your in the market for an Innuos server. You cannot use ipad for ripping cds. You need a computer based product but not necessarily a desktop or laptop.
The Innuos Zen mini would do all you need, it rips and stores all you music, allows it to be edited on iPad and play via Naims streamers via UPnP or its own server via other software such as iPeng. Itself can also be used as a player.
Way cheaper and more flexible than Naims Uniti Core which is overpriced and locked down to Naims stupid proprietary dea of storing metadata. It can be run without a monitor as its all controlled via web browser and it’s a small component that can sit in your rack as long as you have an ethernet cable to attach it to your network. Or stick it anywhere it can have a connection.
Unless your pc is dead, just keep it for ripping purposes
You can’t download & edit music files with an iPad/Pro, as a personal computer for doing everything in life, any tablet is not the right tool.
Assuming you also have a phone, the way to do this is use your phone for Naim iOS/Android app, & a PC/Mac with a built-in or external DVD drive for ripping & editing.
Plus any, all & everything else.
Can you explain why you want to get rid of the PC?
I am at the same stage, my mac is slowing dying and I need to replace but I could use an iPad pro for all my other computer needs. I have all my CD’s ripped to a NAS.
I have found that there is no way too rip or edit metadata with an iPad, however if you can live with purchased and downloaded hi res / Cd quality from the usual suspects, the iPad will transfer this files to a NAS with the files app.
Alternatively I am looking at a cheap laptop for CD ripping and editing.
Although ripping is not supported in iPadOS, there are a few tag editing apps out there… including one called MP3Tag, which may not be a port of the macOS version but offers the same sort of functionality, including ability to connect to offline (cloud or NAS) storage. I haven’t tried it, but similar file management programs (especially FileBrowser) have been working really well for years… not quite a native file system, but close (again, no device driver for a CD-ROM of course).
Regards alan
Thanks Alan
That solves one of the issues but unless the next iteration of the iPad pro supports a device driver for CD-ROM it will be a new mac mini.
Have you played around with the iFiles app that Apple now includes in IOS (since IOS 12 or 13 I think)? I can use that to interact with my UnitiCore and you can also now add external storage to iPad Pro. I have found that I can’t make a USB HDD work, despite trying the various workarounds suggested in several YouTube videos, but it does work with a Samsung 1TB SSD using the USB-C lead included in the packet with the SSD.
I suspect we are very close to or even at the point where you can buy and add files to the downloads folder in a Core just using an iPad Pro, but I haven’t tried to do it yet. Nor have I tried to edit metadata on downloads, but maybe someone else has?
Best
David
Hi David, no I haven’t gotten into any of this.
I have no interest in Apple other than using iPad.
I can’t see me moving far from Windows & ripping, editing into NAS.
Cheers Alan for your input. Looking like am going to have to keep the pc unfortunately.
Hi Mike, thanks for your time, do you think a Uniti star would also give me the same flexibility? Cheers Marc.
Hi & thanks for that great reply, I have just had a look at the innuos zen & I will need the £1100 one just to get all my tunes on & have space for my ever growing library. So I get from your advice that I can edit the meta data & tracks I do & don’t want to keep thru a browser on a iPad Pro? Cheers Marc.
Hi gadget man, yes it is inside a built in wardrobe in our bedroom taking up loads of space as the people who had the house before me must have built in a desk area which I now use for my pc, monitor, Samsung printer & loads of cables. We would like to get rid of the pc to convert that part of the wardrobe back into a place for clothes. Also I can cancel my expensive kaspersky security. Cheers Marc.
Hi David & thanks, yes there is a video on utube about this Samsung SSD & the guy has it connected to an iPad Pro . I will investigate this route as well as the innuos zed mini. Cheers Marc.
Thanks for all the feedbacks, have gathered some good bits of info to investigate here. Samsung SSD & innuos zed mini. Regards & keep safe my friends. Marc.
One option might be a second hand Laptop. I recall buying a thinkpad from eBay because they are X-company devices which were built to last but over 3 years old so companies have to swap them out -they then customise the memory/disk for you and put on Windows 10 all for about ÂŁ250
You may need also an external usb drive as well
Hmm, so here is my real view: start a ripping campaign with your current pc, use whatever ripper you wish and take a moment with each CD to look over the auto-populated tags to see if they make sense. Spend a few on a decent NAS (my flavour is Synology, others choose QNAP… don’t be tempted to save a buck in something with a crappy web interface that hinders rather than helps you). Rip away, store away, start serving away. By the time you finish, your “on its last legs” pc will be done; who knows, the iPadOS might be ready to make it a “real” computer rather than a “content consumption” device. You can choose then, is my point… Every other “convenience” device is a bigger spend and (after you’ve ripped two and established your workflow) a smaller convenience than you need. Once on your NAS, your iPad can be used to clean up any tags you decide are less helpful than you’d like… and the UPnP server options range from “included for free and good enough” to “a few bucks and even prettier than I thought I’d enjoy”.
For the Innuous or Core money, I’d buy a lifetime Roon membership, a NUC i3 (set up with Rock and a cheap USB CD-drive), and do all my ripping there leaving Roon to manage the metadata and merge my home library with my Tidal / Qobuz favourites. Again for me: the “integrated solution” of a server should offer something far more than ease of ripping and tagging and UPnP.
YMMV, IMHO, etc.!!!
You already have what you need to make huge strides forward; don’t rush to solve today’s ripping crisis by closing the door on tomorrow’s music enjoyment strategy.
Have fun! This stuff is easy! Everything sounds (pretty) fantastic! You can’t go wrong unless you regret something you did - or didn’t - do…
Regards, alan