What is the best music format and how to copy my cd’s to play using my new Naim NDX 2
Most would select a ripping program that can create flac files. The application you need to use depend on the os mac/pc you are using. The strangely named db poweramp is used by most on a Windows pc.
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Yes big thumbs up for ripping with dBpoweramp on both Windows or Mac and ripped to FLAC.
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Once ripped to a computer, you then need to present them to play on the ndx2. The easiest way would be to copy them to a usb stick or drive plugged directly into the ndx2. Alternatively you would need to run upnp software on your computer such as asset.
Obviously the simplest simplest way would be not to bother ripping at all and stream them from qobuz. Unless your taste in music is particularly niche, it’s all available online for £12.99 a month.
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I would like to know the following for ripping my cd collection so I can use my NDX 5 to play them.
- which HD formats do the NDX 5 accept for ext drives? (I use both Mac and Windows)
- which ripping program to use to rip in WAV in order to get
all metadata?
Since I am new to this all suggestions are welcome .
You can use dBpoweramp to rip to WAV and include all metadata
Ripping to .flac (e.g. using dBPoweramp) gives you greater compression so uses less storage space, and retain any metadata there is on the CDs. If you want to play in .wav, many people use serving software to transcode from .flac while playing, though IIUC it may have been just the first generation of Naim streamers that sounded better fed with .wav.
Someone mentioned online streaming as an alternative: The risk if you were to dispose of your CDs and/player and rely solely on online streaming, is that you could be without music in the event of an Internet problem, or your favourite album could disappear to some licensing change, and you would only be able to play music for as long as you paid a subscription.
Exfat would be best to use in a windows+Mac environment, and the nd5xs2 can read it.
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I would also consider Exact Audio Copy to rip your CDs to flac or wav (I prefer the latter format, to my ears wav sounds slightly better… but it’s a very personal choice, you need to decide it yourself).
Also mp3tag is a useful software to manage and edit metadata in mp3, flac and wav files.
Hi Jack, is it a one stop handling. I mean you rip the CD and that is it?
I googled it and I am getting dBpoweramp uses Wavpack not WAV.
Thanks Robert.
So are you saying Wave is the same as WAV Robert?
Yes wave = “wav”. This software does everything you need for ripping. Couple it with mp3tag and you should have all bases covered.
If you are not a pc skill guy, I would recommend more Flac , rather than Wav. Because with Flac you will have instantly the Metadata, with Wav, you will have to add it after.
The differences in sound vs both are very minimal, or inexistant.
DBPoweramp is “one stop” handling, at least to .flac (I haven’t used it to rip to .wav).
However when ripping with any software, it is wise to have a quick check of the metadata when done: I found that whilst the metadata (tags) from my CDs was always copied, it was not always consistent (which would have been the fault of the CDs, for which it is only informative not functional). Classical was particularly prone to thar, e.g. the genre for, say, three different symphonies, in one case being assigned “classical”, another “symphonic”, and another “orchestral”. And the album artist in some cases being assigned the composer’s name, and in other cases the conductor’s name. And then with some things, non-classical as well as classical, names might be surname first or first name first, or with artists like the Beatles some CDs might include “The” in the name and others not (and you may have your own preference for which). This is all important because playing software nowadays almost universally relies upon the metadata to search or for browsing.
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You are really helpful Robert. I tried it and it did rip end added the metadata. I am too tired to test it against a WAV file I have of the same CD. Talkin’ Bout A Revolution by Tracy Chapman. One more question. I do not lose any sound quality with wave?
Thanks Jack. I am new to this so it took a few more questions to get going. I have about 1000 CD’s and wanted to be sure in which format to rip my CD’s in. So I tried the trial package of dBpoweramp and intend to purchase the paid version after doing my testing.
Robert was a great help also.
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BTW, if you rip to any lossless format, such as .flac or .wav, and later change your mind which you want, dBPoweramp can be used to convert (of course losslessly), which can be done in batches so virtually zero effort.