Creating My Lossless Library

[KenM10759]

I'm a simple guy with no desire to spend a lot of time ripping CD's. So I spent $600 on a dealer's demo model Bluesound Vault and started ripping with that as 1:1 WAV files. About a month into it, the disk reader failed but being under warranty I was offered the option of upgrading to Bluesound Vault 2 for the $200 list price difference between the two units. No problems since, and doing it I went from a 1TB drive to 2TB. I have room for about 2000 CD's, I'm only up to about 550-600.

It rips with all the metadata intact, and artwork. Works perfect, and in my system it's super easy to play whatever I want, stream Tidal HiFi (or many other services & internet radio), and I can create and save playlists with any combination of my files and Tidal. Work for me.

 

[Ryan00]

How do you figure EAC is a Microsoft file?

I wrote that wrong my bad...I was trying to rush

 

[lovinthehd]

And on the player topic... I wonder how I'm going to play this on that Denon Heos I decided on in the last thread. Well off to bed, goodnight.

I saw this when looking back, don't think it was addressed...use Foobar2000 to stream it to your avr via dlna is what I do.

 

[-Jim-]

Wow, I'm impressed at the discord caused by this thread, IMHO iTunes is fine, and I use it for MP3S in my car => except for lossless files; I won't tolerate a format owned exclusively by Apple and at their whim.

I much prefer open source FLAC files!

 

[sholling]

I went to give it a try and see it is $40 software. I'm not sure it's $40 better than EAC, is it?

You seem to have a relatively small CD collection but if you want to automate the ripping process then yes it may still be useful (see the youtube that I posted) to you. In addition to completely automating the process of ripping, tagging, and filing your rips, it allows for batch conversions of FLACs to MP3s or whatever format that you like. That way you can rip to FLAC and run the batch converter make additional copies in MP3 for your car.

 

[joshk03]

Silly forum went to a new page hours ago and I just noticed now...

@KenM10759, That things sounds super handy. I can only find 8 CDs in my house right now that haven't been lost to moving. I bought another 8 yesterday though, so I am doubling my collection overnight

@Ryan00, It seems Microsoft and IBM defined WAV, but never really controlled it.

@lovinthehd, so do you put foobar on random and stream out like a radio station, correct?

@sholling, I'll keep it in mind, but like I say, my collection will be at a whopping 16 CDs by next week. Unless I hit the jackpot in some moving box. I think there are many more hiding somewhere...

 

[lovinthehd]

You seem to have a relatively small CD collection but if you want to automate the ripping process then yes it may still be useful (see the youtube that I posted) to you. In addition to completely automating the process of ripping, tagging, and filing your rips, it allows for batch conversions of FLACs to MP3s or whatever format that you like. That way you can rip to FLAC and run the batch converter make additional copies in MP3 for your car.

You can also just do FLAC and MP3 simultaneously with dbpoweramp, can't you? Foobar does batch conversion.

 

[lovinthehd]

Silly forum went to a new page hours ago and I just noticed now...

@KenM10759, That things sounds super handy. I can only find 8 CDs in my house right now that haven't been lost to moving. I bought another 8 yesterday though, so I am doubling my collection overnight

@Ryan00, It seems Microsoft and IBM defined WAV, but never really controlled it.

@lovinthehd, so do you put foobar on random and stream out like a radio station, correct?

@sholling, I'll keep it in mind, but like I say, my collection will be at a whopping 16 CDs by next week. Unless I hit the jackpot in some moving box. I think there are many more hiding somewhere...

I can use foobar that way, yes. I don't usually, am somewhat of an album guy from my own collection, more likely to stack a few of those into a playlist. I use Spotify and Pandora for random playing/new ideas for CDs to buy. I have a bum knee I have to coddle now and then, so a few years ago during a long stretch of knee pain I ripped my collection of over 1000 CDs....16 is a cakewalk!

 

[sholling]

I'll keep it in mind, but like I say, my collection will be at a whopping 16 CDs by next week. Unless I hit the jackpot in some moving box. I think there are many more hiding somewhere...

With 16 CDs I wouldn't spend the money. Just rip them in EAC twice, once as a FLAC and once as aMP3. I had hundreds and hundreds of CDs to backup so I tend to think big.

 

[slipperybidness]

Yes, Airport Express in my system is optical S/PDIF at 16/44 to my pre/pro used for wireless from iTunes on computer and devices, i.e. iPhone and iPad; and, I stream from DLNA server (computers) to universal player (OPPO UDP-205) which works well with content other than that which needs gapless play. For example, The Firebird would not be something I would want to stream. I also have and prefer wired connections from computer to pre/pro, which are 1. Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD for usb to S/PDIF conversion from computer to pre/pro and 2. computer to usb DAC (OPPO UDP-205) to pre/pro analog input. These wired connections permit any of my music players to get signal to pre/pro.

Why have the USB to S/PDIF Converter? Doesn't seem ideal, maybe that is a workaround?

I would choose on mobo S/PDIF straight to the AVR, or even a cheap sound card that directly outputs S/PDIF, instead of a conversion.

Yeah, wired is best when possible.

For what it's worth, I have an RPi streamer, the digi output is fed to the DAC via I2S protocol via the GPIOs. That is the ideal way to feed a DAC, but in the real world, not many users go that route.

 

[sterling shoote]

Why have the USB to S/PDIF Converter? Doesn't seem ideal, maybe that is a workaround?

I would choose on mobo S/PDIF straight to the AVR, or even a cheap sound card that directly outputs S/PDIF, instead of a conversion.

Yeah, wired is best when possible.

For what it's worth, I have an RPi streamer, the digi output is fed to the DAC via I2S protocol via the GPIOs. That is the ideal way to feed a DAC, but in the real world, not many users go that route.

Thanks for your interest. I do not have optical audio output on my computers, both laptops, just usb and HDMI output. About 5 years ago, wanting to simply play my iTunes Library loaded in my laptop through my home theatre, I discovered that the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD external sound card was an interface which would get that job done via usb to optical S/PDIF at up to 24/96, which the is limit of my pre/pros DAC. This has worked out spectacularly and I also use this interface to rip LP's to my computer. My wife does not like the wire from laptop to pre/pro however so about 3 years ago I bought an Airport Express to get iTunes to my pre/pro wirelessly via Airplay. The AE is also connected to one of my pre/pros optical S/PDIF inputs, sending data at 16/44. This has made my X-Fi redundant, so now the X-Fi is connected to another laptop where wiring to pre/pro is along a wall which does not disturb my wife. A month ago I purchased an OPPO UDP-205 for the express purpose of multi-channel SACD pleasure; but, since the OPPO has a usb DAC, I thought I'd connect it to the laptop that I have been using with X-FI HD to get iTunes from computer to pre/pro. This is redundant too; but, with the OPPO, it is doing the decoding instead of my 18 year old Sony pre/pro. This route for iTunes enjoyment through home theatre sounds so much better than X-Fi or Airport Express, I am using the OPPO almost exclusively, except on occasion where I want to listen to iTunes through HT and have some mobility with the player too. The OPPO also is wirelessly connected to both of my laptops, where the laptop is used as a DLNA server. This permits me to enjoy music which is on the computer but not in my iTunes Library, although, since the DLNA service is not gapless, I do not use this feature often, as much of my music requires gapless play to enjoy it, like The Firebird. Now, everything I've shared so far is about Stereo. For multi-channel file playback I am using the OPPOs front usb input which BTW is also gapless, so I can enjoy music like The Firebird gaplessly and in multi-channel. Overall, I'm very satisfied, with iTunes and with the ways I can get iTunes Music to my pre/pro. For multi-channel SACD enjoyment I use another preamp, a 6 channel analog model.

 

[sholling]

You can also just do FLAC and MP3 simultaneously with dbpoweramp, can't you? Foobar does batch conversion.

There may be a new version that rips to both but I haven't seen it. What dbpoweramp's batch converter offers (if you choose) is batch conversion into a seperate file folder tree.

 

[lovinthehd]

There may be a new version that rips to both but I haven't seen it. What dbpoweramp's batch converter offers (if you choose) is batch conversion into a seperate file folder tree.

Saw this when I was looking up something about foobar https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-rip-music-cds-to-flac-and-mp3-at-the-same-time/

 

[sholling]

Saw this when I was looking up something about foobar https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-rip-music-cds-to-flac-and-mp3-at-the-same-time/

Thank you! That really is great information for those looking to burn mp3 compilation CDs or pack a ton of MP3 albums on a single CD. I still make MP3 copies each time I rip a new CD so it's very useful information and I'll try it soon.

 

[joshk03]

So what I ended up doing was ripping with Exact Audio Copy from CD to a FLAC folder, with the maximum quality settings. So now I have a perfect FLAC archive of each entire CD.

Then I have a seperate MP3 folder, where FooBar2000 creates my MP3 files. FooBar2000 only takes about 1 second per track to do the conversion. The difference with the MP3 folder is that if a song plays I don't want to ever hear again, I delete the MP3. Knowing that I can always get it back fast from the FLAC file. And the EAC + FooBar setup also saves into a folder tree automatically.

dbpoweramp is no doubt nice software. But for a small collection of CDs it doesn't really take me any longer than dbpoweramp. If I had a larger set of CDs, I would pay for dbpoweramp to save a little clicking. Or a dedicated ripper device to save maximum time.

 

[sterling shoote]

So what I ended up doing was ripping with Exact Audio Copy from CD to a FLAC folder, with the maximum quality settings. So now I have a perfect FLAC archive of each entire CD.

Then I have a seperate MP3 folder, where FooBar2000 creates my MP3 files. FooBar2000 only takes about 1 second per track to do the conversion. The difference with the MP3 folder is that if a song plays I don't want to ever hear again, I delete the MP3. Knowing that I can always get it back fast from the FLAC file. And the EAC + FooBar setup also saves into a folder tree automatically.

dbpoweramp is no doubt nice software. But for a small collection of CDs it doesn't really take me any longer than dbpoweramp. If I had a larger set of CDs, I would pay for dbpoweramp to save a little clicking. Or a dedicated ripper device to save maximum time.

Your flac files are a lot smaller than wav files, so small that on a recently produced computer you could have a 1000 or more CDs on flac. You have ZERO need to save space by deleting anything. Of course foobar 2000 is all about playing flac so just rip to flac with file anywhere you want it and foobar selected as player.

 

[lovinthehd]

So what I ended up doing was ripping with Exact Audio Copy from CD to a FLAC folder, with the maximum quality settings. So now I have a perfect FLAC archive of each entire CD.

Then I have a seperate MP3 folder, where FooBar2000 creates my MP3 files. FooBar2000 only takes about 1 second per track to do the conversion. The difference with the MP3 folder is that if a song plays I don't want to ever hear again, I delete the MP3. Knowing that I can always get it back fast from the FLAC file. And the EAC + FooBar setup also saves into a folder tree automatically.

dbpoweramp is no doubt nice software. But for a small collection of CDs it doesn't really take me any longer than dbpoweramp. If I had a larger set of CDs, I would pay for dbpoweramp to save a little clicking. Or a dedicated ripper device to save maximum time.

Yep, this is how I do it. You can burn replacement CDs with the FLAC....one of my vehicles only has a cd changer (no aux input) so that's what I do so as to keep my original CD as archive/backup. The other vehicle doesn't handle FLAC on a thumb drive so that's why I create a folder of MP3s, so I can create drives just for that vehicle.

 

[lovinthehd]

Your flac files are a lot smaller than wav files, so small that on a recently produced computer you could have a 1000 or more CDs on flac. You have ZERO need to save space by deleting anything. Of course foobar 2000 is all about playing flac so just rip to flac with file anywhere you want it and foobar selected as player.

I think he knows that, and that for the MP3s he creates he can discard tracks he doesn't want to listen to on the devices he's making mp3s for without consideration of losing the original file (if he had ripped only to mp3).

 

[Bucknekked]

I started down the CD ripping road when ripping was in its infancy. I can tell you this for sure, for the highest quality, convenience, and ease you cannot beat iTunes. You should just try it. Download the software, select from preferences one of 5 file types you want the rip to be stored: AIFF, wav, MP3, ALAC, or AAC, then, stick a CD in your drive, click import, and your CD will be placed in the iTunes Library with its album art. iTunes will even acquire track metadata. That's it. DONE! And, if you selected ALAC, the Apple Lossless Audio Codex file format you will not even have a statistical divergence between your CD and the ALAC file; but, you will not need to be concerned about running out of space as you might with wav. Now, what's really cool, as your library grows, iTunes will keep it logically organized, you can back-up files to iCloud, you'll have AirPlay wireless capability, you can have iTunes automatically put your library on iPhone and iPod, you can have iTunes create Genius Playlists, you can create CDs of your playlists, and so much more. There's nothing out there that's as easy to navigate. Also, iTunes will allow importation of files up to 24/192 if you have interest in hi-res downloading. At any rate, the bottom-line is iTunes being an integrated music access and storage suite, you not only have instant access to your CD's stored there, you have instant access and download capability if you wish from Apple Music or the iTunes Store to everything that's ever been recorded in recording history. And, one more thing, ALAC, AAC, and AIFF are file types which can be read on any universal player, or streamer out there today. No need to be saddled to flac, ALAC is the future.

sterling
I knew when I read this post you were going to get some pushback, pissing and moaning. All because you said iTunes was a good ripper and library organizer and whatever else you'd like to use it for. Sure enough, there are plenty of negative comments on how evil Apple is an how they are out to enslave us all.

I have Apple all over my house and family. While I have other rippers and apps, and I have used them and find them to be just fine, I still use iTunes to run the show here in the desert southwest. I applaud you for standing up for iTunes. What's nice is there are apps and companies galore and we are all free to choose.
I'm happy with my choice of iTunes and I'm giving you high fives for speaking up. For all the haters out there, well, go ahead. There's plenty of apps and solutions that aren't Apple.

 

[lovinthehd]

sterling
I knew when I read this post you were going to get some pushback, pissing and moaning. All because you said iTunes was a good ripper and library organizer and whatever else you'd like to use it for. Sure enough, there are plenty of negative comments on how evil Apple is an how they are out to enslave us all.

I have Apple all over my house and family. While I have other rippers and apps, and I have used them and find them to be just fine, I still use iTunes to run the show here in the desert southwest. I applaud you for standing up for iTunes. What's nice is there are apps and companies galore and we are all free to choose.
I'm happy with my choice of iTunes and I'm giving you high fives for speaking up. For all the haters out there, well, go ahead. There's plenty of apps and solutions that aren't Apple.

My complaint with iTunes is likely rooted in the differences in software between iTunes pc and apple....and I use nothing else apple. If iTunes had transferred over to different computers well I'd have no complaint, but that's an issue with the pc version (and have read others with similar experience).

ps I did have an iPod before, one reason I tried iTunes to begin with. Don't use it any more as it doesn't work any more.