What to do with 300+ CD's

[playinketchup]

Our 15 year old 5.1 system (based around a Sony STR-DE575 Receiver with a 300 CD changer) has served us well through the years, but my growing family has an assortment of smartphones and tablets. I already figured out how to patch into the flatscreen (with HDMI cables) and into the receiver (with a mini RCA) but there are cables everywhere. Therefore I'm considering receiver and digital media upgrade options.

So my question is in 2-parts:

1) Are there wifi/ bluetooth add-on's for old receivers or is it time to pick up a new Sony STR-DN840 or something similar?

2) What are the best options to convert 300+ CD's of music for long-term storage and ease of playback?

Thanks and I look forward to your replies!

 

[ImcLoud]

Welcome to the forum, I think you would be better off just buying a new receiver with air play and networking capabilities.... As far as converting cd's that is as easy as using your pc and loading them on your storage device.. http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR1613/DENON-AVR-1613-5.1ch-Networking-Receiver-w/AirPlay-3D-ready/1.html

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

There are varying opinions on this forum (and elsewhere) regarding the best file formats and best software to use when converting CDs. For me, iTunes works just fine. It has an option to "Import CD and Eject" when you insert a CD, so it makes the process pretty fluid. If you have two optical drives, all the better. I haven't done it in years, but I used one of the higher quality formats and was happy with it. Well, until my hard drive crashed and I lost them all.

So...my advice is to have a backup copy of those files. After you spend all of the time to load 300+ CDs into a drive, it makes sense to copy those files onto a second hard drive. I wish that hard drives were as cheap as they are now back when I did it.

 

[its phillip]

I have ripped most of my cds to flac using exact audio copy and then just let them gather dust on a shelf

 

[playinketchup]

That Denon looks like a great deal, and I really appreciate the tips on backups and file formats.

 

[bikemig]

If you like iTunes (it is a good front end for your music), then you can just rip your music using apple lossless and error correction (these settings can be found in preferences). It works great.

 

[ImcLoud]

That Denon looks like a great deal, and I really appreciate the tips on backups and file formats.

You are very welcome, let us know how you make out...

 

[sholling]

The easiest way to rip 300 CDs is with your own homemade RipMonster 3000 (see youtube video link below) or a smaller more affordable version . The second easiest way is with your PC, 2-3 CD/DVD drives and a $39 copy of dbPowerAmp Reference - see youtube video link below for details. Just remember to use a lossless file format and to make and store backups of your music.


New Core CPUs, SSDs Improve Gaming, IDF 2010! RipMonster 3000, Sync FIles Across Win 7, OS X ... - YouTube

 

[Ponzio]

The easiest way to rip 300 CDs is with your own homemade RipMonster 3000 (see youtube video link below) or a smaller more affordable version . The second easiest way is with your PC, 2-3 CD/DVD drives and a $39 copy of dbPowerAmp Reference - see youtube video link below for details. Just remember to use a lossless file format and to make and store backups of your music.


New Core CPUs, SSDs Improve Gaming, IDF 2010! RipMonster 3000, Sync FIles Across Win 7, OS X ... - YouTube

+1

I can vouch for the ease and quality of the dBPowerAmp software for converting your cd track's into Flac/mp3 files and with a newer model AVR, you can use the networking features to play them.

 

[playinketchup]

Thanks again for the great advice, this will be a good winter project.

 

[Adam]

...my growing family...

The easiest way to rip 300 CDs is with your own homemade RipMonster 3000...

I'd argue that the easiest way to rip the CDs is to have one of the kids do it.

 

[sholling]

I forgot to note that one of the advantages of dbPowerAmp, besides fully automated multi-drive rips, is that you can rip your collection to a lossless format and then run the conversion module on your ripped library to create a second copy (automatically filed how you like) in your favorite lossy (MP3 etc) format. That gives you lossless copies for home and lossy copies for your portable just about painlessly.

 

[Ponzio]

I have ripped most of my cds to flac using exact audio copy and then just let them gather dust on a shelf

I'm a bit late on thanking you for recommending Exact Audio Copy. Previously I was using dB PowerAmp for all my CD rip's/conversions and I was happy overall. When I read your post I decided to give EAC a twirl and boy am I glad I did. Much better sound quality without the compression. I'm still using dB PowerAmp to convert the EAC WAV files to MP3 but there is definite difference in the files. At first I thought my ears were playing tricks on me so I used both programs to convert the CD track to a WAV file and then convert that to a MP3 file. In my opinion the EAC copy was way better than the one generated by dB PowerAmp. Thanks again.

Now all I have to do is go back and re-convert 7,000 + songs in my Old Juke Box folder.