You could even have a dedicated machine for this if you wanted to, something like a Raspberry Pi with an external disc drive and remote into it to have a dedicated ripping station. I think you mentioned you are on Windows, but maybe this will help you. It sounds excellent, but you will need a decent network. After that, I upload the files to the appropriate folder on my SFTP server, where I then either use VLC on that machine (I'm not picky about convenience for my HiFi) or use Kodi on other devices to stream music from my server anywhere in the world over SFTP. I'm on Linux, but I use a tool called RipperX to rip all of my CDs to WAV, and then convert them to FLAC with an FFMPEG script, where I then tag them with a program called Kid3. Now I just need to put in the work, re-ripping CDs and replacing them in my main iTunes library.
![kid3 not finding cover art kid3 not finding cover art](https://dms.licdn.com/video-thumbs/C5605AQHQcK49u9AlNQ/3d6bfce5377549b3b3b54bf7c157c15b/feedshare-videocover_low/270x270-00001.jpg)
The converter lets you batch convert between formats, so if you really want to go FLAC later, it’s pretty easy to do. It also seems to be doing an excellent job with meta-data. Any that show as suspect, I can listen to and determine if they sound ok or need to be redone/resourced. ITunes on my PC will still rip CDs, but I decided to go with dBpoweramp Music Converter & CD Ripper because I like how it can compare the rips for accuracy against an online DB. Spent a few days deciding if I should run two library’s (one mp3, one FLAC) but in the end determined that ALAC is lossless, the same as FLAC and works better with my ecosystem. I use iTunes (on Windows) to manage my music, build playlists and sync with my iPhone and Logitech Media Server. Night and day difference and started me down the same path you’re on. I did a little experiment over the holidays - ripped a CD to FLAC and then did A/B comparisons against 320kbps VBR rips I made years ago. TLDR: I want to build a library from my CD collection in a lossless format. What I'm looking for here is the convenience of iTunes in terms of the UI, file naming, indexing, general library organisation, album art, etc. I know that I could backup my CD's any number of (mostly laborious) ways. and have access to various professional DAWs and all that stuff.
![kid3 not finding cover art kid3 not finding cover art](http://townsquare.media/site/622/files/2013/03/6927810152575526950433305172254n-1.jpg)
Just for a bit of context, I am very comfortable with different formats, codecs, compression types etc. Is there a better alternative? It would be cool to keep some playlists from my old iTunes library though if there was a way to integrate them. I find Apple Music and the way the app pushes you towards it pretty annoying though.
![kid3 not finding cover art kid3 not finding cover art](https://www.nostalgicinvestments.com/sites/default/files/img_comicart/Blackhawk_170_cover.jpg)
I am assuming iTunes will still import CD's? I don't have a disk drive right now to check. Even better if there's a way to sync the library to a few devices or stream it or access it via my home network. Something with the convenience and functionality that iTunes has/had.
![kid3 not finding cover art kid3 not finding cover art](https://ctl.s6img.com/society6/img/Laz6gPqdfBFved86kWplQuxaw_M/h_264,w_264/prints/~artwork/s6-original-art-uploads/society6/uploads/misc/804dd8ba2aab411fb98a6009a804279e/~~/one-day-you-will-look-back-and-find-you-were-growing-in-ways-you-could-not-see-at-the-time-prints.jpg)
Now, I don't have any issues with swapping CD's in and out of a player as needed at home, but it would be nice to have my CD's backed up as a lossless music library created from my CD collection. Anyway, this was all before the introduction of ALAC). For a few years I've played music out of my old iTunes library, Spotify, youtube or on vinyl, whilst my CD collection has sat in the loft.īack in the day I imported all of my CD's into my iTunes library, and although I seem to remember selecting the "high quality" option (or whatever it was they called it), no doubt this was still a fairly lossy format (AAC I suppose, at perhaps the rough equivalent of a 320kbps mp3. So I came to the (very obvious) realisation that I should go back to my CD collection as the best lossless media version of my favourite albums.