Applications :: How Do You Digitize Your CD Collection?
Nov 1, 2010
I've been researching the issue of how to digitize my CD collection (about 150 -200 CDs) for a few weeks now. Here are my requirements:
- I want to preserve the original CD quality music (master copy). This will most likely be stored on an external disk and/or a bunch of high-capacity SD cards.
- I want to be able to convert to "itunes store quality" for playing on an iPod.
The sticky part of course is the first requirement. I want it to be able to play easily on any player. In other words, even though I'm will Apple today, I might not be tomorrow.
So the choices for the lossless copy are:
- WAV: The problem with wav is they don't support tagging. Ordinarily I would not have thought this to be a big deal, but everyone seems to think it is. As I understand it, when ripping to something like Apple Lossless, iTunes will automatically tag the music for me which it can't do if I decide to rip to wav. The thing I like about wav is there aren't versions of it so there will likely be players that will handle it 10, 20 or whatever years down the line.
- Apple lossless: No support in other players. Probably not the option that I want to go with for the master copy. The reason I'm hesitant to use Apple Lossless for the master is because I don't want to end up with some unsupported version sitting on my offline disks 10 years from now. For instance, I have old Word files that cannot be read by Pages...I want to avoid something like that happening with my music.
- FLAC: No support in iTunes.
So here's what I'm thinking of doing. I will rip using iTunes to Apple Lossless, and then convert to wav using Max and also convert to "iTunes store quality". The undesirable part is that I end up with an Apple Lossless file that I don't care for.
A question that I have is: If I were to rip to wav and then convert to "iTunes store quality" audio, then would iTunes/Max still automatically do tagging for me for those files?
I'm sure many of you folks have had to deal with similar requirements so I'd be grateful if you can share your stories of how you addressed them.
I have completed transferring my cd collection to itunes in mp3 format, I now wish to back up my collection on to my hard drive, so I can burn a cd exactly as the original, to play in my cd player, if original gets damaged. Is there a way to do this with software already on my Mac (have leopard system) or is there any freeware or non expensive third party software to do the job
I'm looking for a free databasing software for my iMac that will allow me to input all of my DVDs and Blu Rays. Is there anything out there that someone could recommend?
Hi everybody...I have to do a slideshow using iPhoto for one of my classes. Last time i did a slideshow it was reallt annoying because it continually played one song over and over. I'm just wondering if there is a way to play a collection of songs? Kind of like a playlist for my slideshow, if that makes any sense...
My mac took a crap and had to rebuild the os. I have all my itunes music tagged properly with embedded album covers in the mp3 files and everything.
I want to have my music in this order: artist (alphabetically) ,year (ascending 2001 to 2008 for example for each artist) and albums that have various artist with them with to stay grouped together in itunes. Even though I click make a compilation. It wont order that way. I had it last time.
For example UNKLE's war stories has various artists collaborating on the album, it stays spread apart...I want it to be listed together as one album and not spread apart. But, i want to keep the artist names.
I must have between 2-4k books in my possession and it has got to the stage where I am buying novels from Amazon because I don't know whether I have them already or can't find them.
I've been very impressed with RedLaser and its speed at a barcode reader. I've also noticed that it has the ability to export a list of raw barcode numbers as an email attachment. Line separated values.
Does a Mac application exist that could import that .txt list and load up a 'library' of my books, searching the raw barcode number with some online source to give the title, author and maybe jacket cover image?
It would be cool if I could then enter more information as to where the book was in the house 'upstairs bathroom bookcase' or such.. At present my books are organised aesthetically, that is they are clumped together in contrasting or complementing colours with the walls depending on the room.
Such a mythical app probably doesn't exist but I'd appreciate it if anyone who knew of one (or who could propose a viable alternative aside from rearranging) would let me know.
I have a huge MP3 collection, tag information is sometimes not correct, some tracks in a album are missing, covers are sometimes missing.
is there a program, that recognizes all albums with no missing tracks and good sampling rate, corrects the tag information and downloads the covers from the internet. automatically.... I would then delete all other songs and albums with missing tracks.
I have about 13000 photos that total about 42 gigs in my iphoto library. I have an external hd and do regular time machine backups. I use mozy for extra regular backups of smaller stuff like documents and mail folder, but the free version is only 2 gigs unless I can get like a million referrals. Consequently, I try to do iphoto backups on dvd every once in a while, maybe monthly. My issue is that it is a pain in the ass to do it in iphoto, to play with each of about 10 dvds to get it right...
I would like it if there was an easy (and free) way to backup the library to dvd in one go. A plugin for iphoto would be nice, but anything that can do it relatively easily would be very welcome. I downloaded "Backup," "Data Backup" and "iBackup" but none seemed to do what I want. (Well, Backup did seem to do exactly what I want, but the free version won't do it for the amount of files I have). So, I figured I'd ask if you know of a program that suits what I'm looking for...
I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for software geared to vinyl collectors. I've toyed with delicious library, but that was ok. I found some dead links for an app called Vinyl Tracker, but that seems to be no longer available. I am wondering if there is anything for OSX more specifically designed for collecting records.
I'd like to use Bento and the iPhone Bento app to help me to keep track of my music and dvd collections so that I don't end up buying cd's over again that I already own.
The iTunes database is an XML file and so far I haven't had much luck importing it into Bento. Is there another way to get where I want to go? When I was beta testing Bento a few years ago I kept telling their people that having a one or two step import of iTunes information would be a very good idea. Well, they didn't apparently think so as it's now at rev 3 and no iTunes import that I've been able to find.
Also neither Excel or Numbers will touch the XML file, even after heavy editing.
Anyone done this with Bento? Is there an easier way?
I was thinking about picking up an EyeTV 250 (not plus) or EyeTV Hybrid on eBay. I wanted to use it not for TV on my computer, but to digitize VHS tapes. Would the EyeTV Hybrid be capable of this or would the EyeTV 250 be higher quality?
I have a sizable DVD collection (over 400 DVDs) that I want to get rid of. I may be moving to a much smaller apartemnt, and I'm just getting tired of moving these boxes/shelves all over the country, and having them take up space (especially since I watch them so rarely). I recently got rid of my entire CD collection (ripped to Apple Lossless) and find I don't miss the physical CDs at all. I'm hoping to have a similar experience w/ the DVDs. I want to move toward an all-digital existence (Kindle/iBooks, iTunes Music, Archived DVDs). I'm getting sick of storing/displaying physical media.
I have a nice home theater, so I don't want to rip compressed iPhone/AppleTV quality versions of these DVDs. I want true archival quality, as good as having the actual physical DVD (with extras, 5.1/7.1, all audio tracks, etc....if it's possible, of course).
I plan to soon buy a Mac Mini (whenever they're updated), that will store/run all these DVDs. I also want the option to re-burn physical DVDs from the digital copies (I don't think I'll be utilizing it, but I like to not back myself into a corner).
CAN I do this?
If so, what's the best way? Anyone have a similar experience?
I want to digitize my DVD collection, first to get everything in one spot and two, to stop my kids from wrecking all the DVD's we have. Hopefully the end result will be to move all our DVD's (maybe 50 or so) onto our MacBook Pro, into iTunes and be able to access them through Home Sharing on the new Apple TV.
Researching this for a while, it seems like a I need to download Mac The Ripper and/or Handbrake. I'm not sure if I need both of them or just one to do this. I can't seem to find something that addresses this for a newbie like myself.
I searched for this up and down and for some reason can't come to a solution.
I was making a double-backup of my music folder (merely copying the folder over to another external hard drive), and I noticed my mp3 collection has doubled in size!
I've tried finding duplicates but it pulls up a very short list of the usual suspects that I know aren't dupes. I looked in my music folder directly only to see my regular mp3s with no duplicated files.
I just downloaded the MIT Introduction to Algorithms on iTunes U but when I look in my iTunes U section of iTunes the videos are showing up as a separate collection to the notes. I have given them both th exact same metadata in the hope that this would 'merge' them as a single collection but no luck.
I recently bought a Macbook Pro that came loaded with Adobe Master Collection CS4. Where can i find the serial numbers for each of the programs.
Also, on the same computer that i bought, It has the Full master collection of Adobe CS3 as well. Is there a way i can find the serial numbers for those and sell them??
Third, If i was to get a new computer, how would could i transfer all of my software ( Final cut pro, Adobe CS4 etc) to the new computer?
my friend has a macbookpro 15' version 3.1 with a 2,4 Ghrtz core 2 duo and 2 GB of ram. will he be able to run adobe CS5 master collection (mainly photoshop) in his computer? i'm finding quite hard/impossible to find some info on CS5's system requirements.
I want to download my classical CD collection but find that iTunes is too complex and not really suited.  I need a simple APP that will result in a simple file by Composer and work title. Nothing more needed,except time of play, and that not really critical. I have iMac Mavericks OSX
I am thinking about adding a pair of Sandforce SSD drives in RAID0 on my Mac OSX device. Since OSX does not support trim I am dependent entirely on over-provisioning and idle garbage collection to keep SSD drives in good shape long term.
My question is if you use two drives that support BGC in a software RAID0 configuration does the BGC still work as effectively as with a single drive long term?
I've been a happy MacBook owner for two years now, and would like to add a desktop to my collection...or at least the experience of one. So, should I just buy a large lcd screen, mouse and keyboard for my MacBook, or should I get an actual desktop, like a mac mini (and all the peripherals)? Are the mac minis worth buying, or should I only consider an iMac and up? I have a desktop running Vista, and I used to share its lcd with my MacBook via a switch.
I just got tired of having to move everything around on my desk to make room for the MacBook, and then plugging everything up was a chore. I'd kind of like a permanent, Mac desktop solution the more I think about it. With a mini I could use all the Vista peripherals and just change between the two via the switch...which wouldn't be too bad actually. I do audio / video editing, as well as graphic design work. I do my gaming on either my xbox 360 or my Vista desktop, so I'm not looking for a gaming rig.
My music collection is entirely on a 500 GB MyBook running through my current desktop PC. I am interested in a new Mac, but I am wondering, how will I be able to transfer all of my music files to the new Mac?
Can the new iMacs read MyBook external hard drives? Do I have to burn all of my music files onto dvds? Must I get bootcamp and purchase Windows for the Mac?
I am running 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, and I just ordered The Sims: Complete Collection for Mac, and I know it's an extremely old game so I'm just nervous it won't run. I know Lion will not play it, so I'm not going to update to it, but will Snow Leopard?
I have backed up my image files to an external drive. I use Bridge to view and sort images that came with Photoshop CS5.0 i have built some collections and would like these to move with the images on to to my back up drive so i can acess them from both my MacBook and my iMac, both are 10.7.3 mid 2007 machines. the images appear along with and labels (colours and stars) but collections do not!
Hope you can shed some light on an issue I'm currently having. I'm new on Mac - just bought the new Air about a month ago What I want to do is to have iTunes manage all my media, since well...since it's supposed to do this. I have my media storred on a NAS, both music and ripped movies.
Music was imported into iTunes without any problems at all, but for the life of me I can't get the movies to import. They are ripped in an .mp4 format, so iTunes should be able to play them, but for some reason I can't import them at all. I've tried by simply dragging them into iTunes, and via the "Open.." function in iTunes as well. Same result - no imported file, and no error messages.
Am I missing something here? Shouldn't I be able to simply import and play them via iTunes?
Doesn't seem to matter if they are placed on the desktop either.
I created my own album artwork and when I want to put songs (each with its own artwork) inside it, iTunes replace my main album picture with 1st song artwork. Is it possible to have my own collection of songs, all with different artworks, inside one album with my own artwork? (No playlist)Â
I got my macbook pro yesterday and I am already loving it - I was looking for some advice on some accessories and things.
When I got the macbook with my student discount I got a printer for �20 from apple, as well as applecare for 3 years and a �18 ipod nano and a case/sleeve for when I have to bring it travelling.
1. I am at university/college and I was wondering what accessories you would recommend me?
2. I am looking at getting an external USB hard drive - for either my music and movie collection or for time machine.
What drive would you recommend? The apple one is too expensive, I assume any standard USB one will work though?
And is it possible to partition the drive, if it was big enough, and make like a 320gb partition for time machine and then have the rest for normal storage?
3. I know everyone says there are no viruses for macs etc. and stuff, but there is antivirus software available, which there must be a reason for? Is it wise to get antivirus software for a mac, or is it completely un-needed? I have also enabled the firewall.
4. Does anyone think mobileme is worth paying that much for? The guy in the apple store said it would be especially good since I have an iphone as well. And would it work with my gmail account?
I have music with correct IDE tags in a "Music Collection" folder, though they are all unorganized and in sub folders. These folders have names like "Other iTunes", "More Music", "New Music", etc. I would like to reorganize all this music into one iTunes folder. I have gone into preferences and tried checkmarking the boxes "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when to library". My iTunes Media folder is a fresh new folder in "My Music". When I check that exact location, I see none of my music has moved there. All I see is an empty "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder. All my files are still in the unorganized "Music Collection" folder.
What can I do to literally move all my unorganized music files from this folder to a completely fresh and new iTunes Media folder, all with very organized sub folders categorized by artist and/or album? My main goal is to make an organized and updated library, because I spent a good amount of time deleting duplicates that have not gone to the recycle bin (and it would take FOREVER to find all those duplicates and delete them permanently).
I have an extensive collection of fonts (60,0000+). Several hundred of them will crash my system when I open one of them in Finder (double-click the suitcase). I picked one at random for some serious examination. I looked at my sample with many font tools. My latest tool was FontDoctor (v5 and v7). FontDoctor reported "no problems found" with my font. Yet the crash persists. Any tool that can do a thorough job of investigating and repairing my corrupt fonts.
