Going digital with music collection

[RosieH]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but couldn't find it when searching.

So, has anyone got rid of all their CDs? Did you regret it? Am I mental for considering it?

I need to get rid of a lot of stuff, and CDs might make a small start.

[????]

Mine are in the loft...... with the vinyl.

[RosieH]

Hmm, vinyl I still play. But all my CDs have been loaded onto my laptop, and therefore also ipod, so I wonder about the point of keeping them.

I'm moving, and going to have to put some stuff in storage for a while, so I figure the more I can clear out in advance, the better. Just don't want to live to regret it.

[Sue]

I've just done it.

Not keeping the CDs, but am backing up the whole of the digital collection to an external hard drive.

I got this:

http://www.cocktailaudio.com/home.html

Very pleased with it so far and it gets loads of useful firmware updates which are automatic as long it's connected to the internet (which mine permanently is via a WiFi dongle).

I'm not particularly attached to any physical items, though I am keeping a few of the CDs which have got a lot of info in the bookets.

[Siduhe]

Technically, you need to keep the CDs. The Government is planning to change the law to make it legal to rip cds, but pending that, you're relying on a 2010/2011 statement from the BPS that they won't prosecute anyone who makes a digital copy of a CD for personal use, so long as they retain the original CD. We have boxes of them for that reason...sigh...

Edited to add link to article: http://www.zdnet.com/uk/cd-ripping-to-be-permitted-following-uk-copyright-reform-7000009127/

[StraferJack]

I presume you have already run a cable from laptop or iPod to speakers and decided if sound is good enough?

If so, what other reasons would hold you back?

[DJKillaQueen]

Even if the sound from the laptop is a bit rubbish you can fix that by buying an external sound card, like those used by DJ's (I use the Numark DJIO) and connect that to anything you like - such as your hi fi aux or directly to speakers.

[RosieH]

Good points. Yeah, Strafer, it does me fine, and to be honest, I never use my CDs anymore.

But then the panic at the thought of losing a laptop and breaking my external hard drive (I've managed to do it before) makes me pause. That said, I've learned how to get things back off my ipod, so I'm sure it's all good.

[????]

Then do an itunesmatch for ?20 odd quid a year as well and then you need apple to go bust as well.....plus you get better versions of compressed mp3 files (presuming you uploaded your CDs the quick and easy but lower quality)

[RosieH]

Ooh, that's an idea. Thanks Quids.

Getting rid then!

[right-clicking]

If space is not an issue (hard drives are cheap enough) I would rip the cd's using WAV This format is uncompressed and will give cd quality, most phones support playback as do a lot of tablets and apple products. if you need MP3 then make a copy and convert it. Built into itunes is a file conversion tool.

DJKQ made a good point as the sound card on laptops are crap due to electromagnetic interference picked up from the hardware on the main board, going via the usb to a external sound card will lift the sound to a decent reproduction level.

I use a turtle beach http://www.turtlebeach.com/search/sound+card

right-clicking

[DJKillaQueen]

I only ever use WAV. MP3 compression is so far away from the original quality that even the least knowledgeable audiophile will notice the difference when plugged into decent speakers. When you pay the tenner for an original CD you are paying for studio quality sound. To then rip that to such a poor format as MP3 and then get rid of the original CD is putting that tenner down the drain. So I agree with RC....rip to WAV (and keep that). If you need an MP3 copy (for the phone etc) convert and copy from the stored WAV.

[????]

I think iTunes Match does that for you as long as it finds your Song in its catalogue, so why bother ripping them all again?

[El Pibe]

thirded, if you're going to get rid then make sure you rip well.

WAV is big so if space is an issue then try FLAC or apple lossless which does do some compression and struggles sometimes, the bass on Heaven or Las Vegas is constatnly breaking up for instance.

adding the usual about high compression algorithms mp3, aac et al making music sound like it's being played by zombies in a swimming pool.

[Sue]

I use FLAC because it's smaller than WAV but still lossless. However I don't use iTunes at all for anything.

But anything I want to play on my car stereo I also have to rip as MP3 (or convert it later if I could be bothered) as it won't play FLAC files.

Re backing up, I'm also somewhat paranoid about the possibility of two hard drives failing, even though it's unlikely, so belt and braces I use Carbonite as well.

I'm not sure Carbonite is the best option actually, but I found it quite confusing comparing them all, so in the end I stuck with it.

[Siduhe]

We also use FLAC - lossless, open source but supports proper tagging (which WAV doesn't).

[Michael Palaeologus]

I put all of mine onto Itunes and sold the CDs to Music Magpie. They collect from Barrys Supermarket. Very efficient.

[El Pibe]

Thinking about it I still haven't ruled out the DAC as to why some stuff sounds worse than the CD on lossless.

[titch juicy]

Michael Palaeologus Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I put all of mine onto Itunes and sold the CDs to

> Music Magpie. They collect from Barrys

> Supermarket. Very efficient.

been thinking long and hard about getting rid of my 1000 odd cd's- but the thought of giving them to music magpie for 30p a pop breaks my heart

[Sue]

titch juicy Wrote:

>

> been thinking long and hard about getting rid of

> my 1000 odd cd's- but the thought of giving them

> to music magpie for 30p a pop breaks my heart

xxxxxx

30p a pop?

How much are they selling them on for, and where, I wonder?

[Sue]

El Pibe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thinking about it I still haven't ruled out the

> DAC as to why some stuff sounds worse than the CD

> on lossless.

xxxxxx

Extremely stupid question I know, but presumably you're listening to them through the same system?

Because that theoretically shouldn't be the case if it's really lossless conversion, should it? Weird.

Not that I'm a techie at all so I don't even know why I'm commenting .....

[El Pibe]

yep same system.

Of course 'theoretically/mathematically lossless' doesn't necessarily mean it is.

But CD's are on decent mid-range hifi seperate CD player, with quality components and much of that going into the Digital Analog Conversion (DAC).

Digital format going from line-out from iPod classic which costs about a fifth as much and I can't imagine the components are that great and the DAC is probably pretty cheap.

Both going into top end budget headphone amp into good studio reference headphones, as well as bottom end audiophile amp and good mid-range speakers, which also produce that same bass distortion on the same tracks, so it has to be either the digital source or the conversion.

The difference between CD and soft digital format is staggering from mp3 but certainly noticeable from lossless.

Will have to go from PC to seperate DAC (which I'm still umming and ahhing about) to be absolutely sure, but will be a pain getting that feeding into hifi in living room whereas the ipod dock into amps is so convenient!

[KidKruger]

titch juicy:

"been thinking long and hard about getting rid of my 1000 odd cd's- but the thought of giving them to music magpie for 30p a pop breaks my heart"

you'd do better selling to me for 50p surely ?

[titch juicy]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> titch juicy Wrote:

> >

> > been thinking long and hard about getting rid

> of

> > my 1000 odd cd's- but the thought of giving

> them

> > to music magpie for 30p a pop breaks my heart

>

> xxxxxx

>

> 30p a pop?

>

> How much are they selling them on for, and where,

> I wonder?

that's what I wonder.

I think i need to dedicate a weekend to listing them all on discogs and at least aim for a couple of quid each.

[StraferJack]

Having looked at various Sonos configurations I decided against that option as I had a few outdated amps already in the house so I've gone with Airport Express at a fraction of the price

no ipod dock, no cables - so now I can just fling music from phone/tablet/pc to whichever set of speakers in the house I want

I recommend them

Sound quality dependant on source rips of course but whilst I take everyone's comments about "quality" seriously, ultimately I rarely, if ever, sit down and say "now I shall listen to The North Sea Scrolls as intended!"

What happens is, I have music playing in the house with people, cooking and chores all happening at once. I get plenty good quality and volume for that. I still read up on what would make it "better" but it's wasted money on me really