I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

All about the tools and techniques involved in capturing sound, in the studio or on location.

Moderator: Moderators

I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Sam Spoons »

What file format should I use? When I last did it, over a period of years, HDD storage was expensive and I used either mp3 or AAC. Now, as various HDD failures and computer changes have resulted in my library being fragmented and some being lost I intend to re-import all my CDs (and, eventually, selected vinyl LPs) into a single library. I want iDevice compatability but don't want that to prevent me playing stuff on non-Apple devices in the future. FLAC seems the obvious choice but iTunes doesn't play (or rip to) FLAC, would ALAC be the best alternative (non-Apple compatibility being the possible issue) or should I just store everything as .wav and to hell with the file size?
User avatar
Sam Spoons
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19589 Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:00 am Location: Manchester UK
People often mistake me for a grown-up because of my age.

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

Tiz a dilemma...

Even though storage space is now cheap and plentiful, it seems silly to store as raw-pcm Wav files when lossless saves half the space (and therefore cost) for the same quality.

And while it is possible to store metadata within Wav files, there still doesn't seem to be a universal standard like there is with mp3.

So, personally, I opted for ALAC (Apple Lossless), predominantly to maintain iThingy compatibility (I have iPods in both cars), but also because the metadata handling is massively better than FLAC so it has all the convenience of MP3s when it comes to being able to search for composers, or artists or whatever.

I've been using ALAC for years now and get on very well with it.

Lots of things are compatible with ALAC -- I use SONOS systems around the house which works fine with it, for example -- and there are various converters of course for the PC.

If I need a linear PCM file from the archive for something, I generally drag and drop into iZotope RX and then re-save in whatever format I need, but other audio editors can do the same just as easily. (I think you usually need to have installed Quicktime to access the format converter).

Foobar can also handle ALAC files natively, and I use that a lot.
User avatar
Hugh Robjohns
Moderator
Posts: 38835 Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:00 am Location: Worcestershire, UK
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual... 

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Sam Spoons »

Thanks Hugh, that is exactly what I wanted to hear (though iDidn't really know that when I posted) :thumbup::D
User avatar
Sam Spoons
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19589 Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:00 am Location: Manchester UK
People often mistake me for a grown-up because of my age.

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Of course the delight that is UK copyright law means you will be breaking the law. Though you might not have been when you first ripped them. Ripping audio CDs has gone from illegal to legal and back to illegal. :headbang:
User avatar
Drew Stephenson
Jedi Poster
Posts: 24450 Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:00 am Location: York
(The forumuser formerly known as Blinddrew)
Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
https://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Sam Spoons »

I highly doubt that anybody is going to find out TBH and i have no moral qualms as all the CDs I will rip are ones I have bough and paid for.

Interesting to know how all those Brennan B2 owners get on too... I did consider buying a B2 but decided that it would just be me succumbing to a case of "shiny thing syndrome" (again :blush: ).

edit:- So technically it's legal for manufacturers to sell devices like the Brennan B2*, HDD TV recorders, Smart TVs etc but it is in breach of UK copyright law for me to use them to actually record anything! Utter madness...

* iPods are ok if you only use them to play content you have paid to download from the iTunes music store or similar...
User avatar
Sam Spoons
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19589 Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:00 am Location: Manchester UK
People often mistake me for a grown-up because of my age.

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by shufflebeat »

Sam Spoons wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 1:45 pm (though iDidn't really know that when I posted)

iLike what uDid there.
shufflebeat
Jedi Poster
Posts: 9091 Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:00 am Location: Manchester, UK
“…I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career” - (folk musician, Manchester).

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Sam Spoons »

:D

blinddrew wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 1:57 pm Of course the delight that is UK copyright law means you will be breaking the law. Though you might not have been when you first ripped them. Ripping audio CDs has gone from illegal to legal and back to illegal. :headbang:

As long as I ripped them between 01/10/14 and 17/08/15 I'll be alright :headbang: Do you think I should change the clock in my Mac for a few weeks so the new rips will be time stamped 01/01/15?
User avatar
Sam Spoons
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19589 Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:00 am Location: Manchester UK
People often mistake me for a grown-up because of my age.

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Sam Spoons wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 2:02 pm I highly doubt that anybody is going to find out TBH and i have no moral qualms as all the CDs I will rip are ones I have bough and paid for.

Interesting to know how all those Brennan B2 owners get on too... I did consider buying a B2 but decided that it would just be me succumbing to a case of "shiny thing syndrome" (again :blush: ).

edit:- So technically it's legal for manufacturers to sell devices like the Brennan B2*, HDD TV recorders, Smart TVs etc but it is in breach of UK copyright law for me to use them to actually record anything! Utter madness...

* iPods are ok if you only use them to play content you have paid to download from the iTunes music store or similar...

Yep, for a while, before things became legal, the Brennan adverts used to have a little bit of small print at the bottom basically saying, "this is technically illegal but the major labels have all, rather sensibly, agreed that copying your own cds for your own use, is actually fine with us."
Then the law changed to keep up with reality and all was good.
Then for reasons that no-one I've ever met or talked to about copyright (and that's actually quite a lot* of people) understood, about a year or two later this exemption was taken off the list and it became illegal again.

In order to preserve the public's faith in the copyright regime I've taken the liberty of reporting you to the correct authorities, if I tell the bailiffs that you'll be in on Monday morning is that convenient?
;)

* I'm all kinds of fun** at parties.
** This might not actually be true.
User avatar
Drew Stephenson
Jedi Poster
Posts: 24450 Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:00 am Location: York
(The forumuser formerly known as Blinddrew)
Ignore the post count, I still have no idea what I'm doing...
https://drewstephenson.bandcamp.com/

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Sam Spoons »

See above :bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:

Apparently it was the High Court that removed the 'private copying' amendment, their reasons are probably in the transcript but I CBA reading it (assuming I would understand more than one word in ten if I did).
User avatar
Sam Spoons
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19589 Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:00 am Location: Manchester UK
People often mistake me for a grown-up because of my age.

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Wonks »

Sam Spoons wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 2:02 pm I highly doubt that anybody is going to find out TBH and i have no moral qualms as all the CDs I will rip are ones I have bough and paid for.

Interesting to know how all those Brennan B2 owners get on too... I did consider buying a B2 but decided that it would just be me succumbing to a case of "shiny thing syndrome" (again :blush: ).

I have recently acquired one. It is good in parts. Not 100% convinced that it sounds just as good as the original CDs in my CD player for all the albums. Some sound fine but some sound a bit 'congested'. Possibly me imagining it, with one album following on from another album seamlessly highlight the differences in sound quality between the original CDs without the break induced by having to take a CD out and put another one in the machine. I was also wondering whether FLAC suffered from MP3-style distortion issues when compressing .wavs if they are heavily limited and touching 0dBFS with possible inter-sample overs.

As mentioned, the meta-data storage is limited with FLACs, no genre-style indexing. I'd say that the Brennan software has grown organically from an initial bright idea, which means that it is frustrating at times that it can't do some simple things you think it should do. But it is being improved all the time and it does support Sonus speakers over wi-fi, something I'm just about to try out.

And it's ability to also play internet radio stations is cool.

It has a reasonable web interface, and a pretty basic iOS app.

It accesses one CD database for info, so if your CD hasn't been entered by someone on the database, or it has a country-specific album ID that's not on the database despite it being a multi-platinum album, then it's manual album and track data entry time.

Overall I like it, but it could be better.

It took a while to rip 1300 CDs, but at least they are now all up in the loft, not taking up space in the lounge.

And I probably ended up buying at least 80-100 new CDs to fill in gaps in my collection that were made obvious when ripping.
User avatar
Wonks
Jedi Poster
Posts: 17003 Joined: Thu May 29, 2003 12:00 am Location: Reading, UK
Reliably fallible.

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

Wonks wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 2:32 pmAnd I probably ended up buying at least 80-100 new CDs to fill in gaps in my collection that were made obvious when ripping.

:lol: that happened to me too...
User avatar
Hugh Robjohns
Moderator
Posts: 38835 Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:00 am Location: Worcestershire, UK
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual... 

Re: I'm going to rip my whole CD collection.

Post by The Elf »

FLAC here. No regrets. I can always convert them back to WAV, should the need arise and then to another format. I see no downside to FLAC at all.
User avatar
The Elf
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19938 Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2001 12:00 am Location: Sheffield, UK
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.
Post Reply