# Batch CD ripping on macOS **URL:** \ **Category:** Audio Gear Talk\ **Created:** [December 30, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791 "2023-12-30T01:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/mark_sealey/32/157075_2.png) [@Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Mark_Sealey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/1 "2023-12-30T01:20:21Z")
Having now made _Roon_ my definitive music app, I am facing the gigantic task of ripping as many CDs as sanity will permit and importing them into _Roon_. I have explored/experimented with both [_dBpoweramp_](https://www.dbpoweramp.com) and [_XLD_](https://sourceforge.net/projects/xld/) (and looked at [To FLAC Converter](https://amvidia.com/to-flac-converter?amsrc=mas-toflaa) (Amvidia)). _dBpoweramp_ appears only to have a Windows add-on that claims to allow actual batch (load-rip-tag-save) ripping. Nor is the interface of _XLD_ particularly intuitive. Although I am prepared to put in the effort. I’m also looking for hardware to make things even more streamlined. I have four USB CD/DVD drives of various ages, all of which work well with my ‘Late 2017’ iMac running 13.6.1. Does anyone have any suggestions, please, about both hardware and software which will make a gigantic ripping project even vaguely manageable… hundreds and hundreds (a lifetime’s worth) of CDs, many box sets? TIA! ---
**Author:** ![DDPS](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/ddps/32/162722_2.png) [@DDPS](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/DDPS)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/2 "2023-12-30T01:42:27Z")
I’m an old Mac user and while I admire your wishes very much, in my mind, highest quality ripping is a bit like driving a car. It involves some engagement and review, and automation isn’t ready for prime time. I love/strongly prefer dBpoweramp, and have used it for years. But proper ripping involves reviewing and engaging with the software’s metadata interface and selection of good album artwork (which is typically best sourced from albumartexchange or Google image search), making interactivity worth the effort. I am sure this is not the answer you desire, and I am sorry for that. The worst issues happen when you have double (or more) albums where each disc’s default metadata is inconsistent. Ick. And while Roon may be able to sort this out, it doesn’t always, and it will not make your music collection work well in other ecosystems like many of us like to use in parallel. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/mark_sealey/32/157075_2.png) [@Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Mark_Sealey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/3 "2023-12-30T02:44:55Z")
Thanks, @DDPS. I know it’s a bit hit and miss, ripping. I’m prepared to put in the work, compared with the ideal of everything being done for me. But I’m just looking for the best (reliability + automatic) software and hardware that will allow me to streamline the process. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Coulthard](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/alan_coulthard/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Alan\_Coulthard](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Alan_Coulthard)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/4 "2023-12-30T08:49:46Z")
I have gone through the same process myself recently. At first was going to rip to a SSD on my Eversolo but the interface is terrible compared to room. So added the SSD to my Synology 923+ to run Roon Server and ripped from Mac to Synology using an external CD:DVD player. It’s pretty fast. Even though the task seems huge I actually found it quite therapeutic to interact with the collection. I found a few albums I had forgotten I had for one. And Synology as the server has worked flawlessly. as has ARC. Not sure I get the reason for ROCK or Nucleus… ---
**Author:** ![anon77144803](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/anon77144803/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@anon77144803](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/anon77144803)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:26am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/5 "2023-12-30T09:26:43Z")
You really can’t trust automated ripping to get it right as adding the correct metadata is key. There are often multiple versions to choose from and it really won’t know which is the exact one. Dbpoweamp when left to do it automatically gets it wrong especially with multidisc albums and box sets. Just do them in small batches when you have spare time and get them right or you’ll end up fixing them anyway. There are no shortcuts to getting a library ripped and metadata added correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Mikael\_Ollars](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/mikael_ollars/32/48291_2.png) [@Mikael\_Ollars](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Mikael_Ollars)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:47am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/6 "2023-12-30T09:47:43Z")
I did see that you wanted a Mac solution, which XLD will assist with. But like some wise dudes said, it’s not a fully automated solution. There will be some fixes and polishing to sequre quality metadata assignment, primarily. But, i’d like to recommend a good look at a Linux based solution called Vortexbox. It might be a litlle bit fiddly to set up, but once there you have a pretty much automated solution. It will rip a disc, assign metadata, store in a folder accessible by the network, and then eject the ripped disc. All you do is replace the disc when passing by. I have set up two of these devices for some friends, on small(-ish) cheap office computers that simply run without screens, keyboard or mouse. They have ripped some thousand CD’s each. And while your Vortexbox is up and running you have a Roon backup plan should your internet go down! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DDPS](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/ddps/32/162722_2.png) [@DDPS](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/DDPS)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:22am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/7 "2023-12-30T11:22:13Z")
> [@Alan\_Coulthard](#): > > And Synology as the server has worked flawlessly. as has ARC. Not sure I get the reason for ROCK or Nucleus… Amen. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/garym/32/47990_2.png) [@garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/8 "2023-12-30T14:44:23Z")
I used Vortexbox back in the day as an LMS streamer. But didn’t use its ripping capabilities. This was because its ripper didn’t have the capability of checking a rip against the AccurateRip database (to me the gold standard in confirming a bit perfect rip). I have used dbpoweramp (windows) to rip about 5,000 CDs. I agree about the automation problem. Yes, you can automate ripping with a batch ripper, but the ripping is the easy part. The metadata management is the hard part, and I find it best to do that one CD at a time and even double checking things before adding to my library. Do keep in mind that even without “batch” ripping in dbpa, one can still rip more than one disk at a time. I had a setup with 4 attached CD drives, and could simply start 4 instances of dbpa running. Then I could have 4 CDs being ripped at one time. I assume one could do the same thing with dbpa on a Mac. As others have said, it wasn’t that hard to rip once I had everything setup. I could easily rip 50 to 100 CDs in one day, just dealing with it while I was otherwise working on my computer doing other things. ---
**Author:** ![Tuong](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/tuong/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Tuong](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Tuong)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/9 "2023-12-30T15:11:34Z")
With XLD you can setup multiple “profiles”: - One in burst mode to rip amazingly fast, but be sure to configure AccurateRip - Another one with much more secure ripping (multiple reads and compare them to be sure all reads have the same value) - only when AccurateRip shows errors in burst mode or when the CD is not present in the AccurateRip database you fall back to this profile. ---
**Author:** ![anon77144803](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/anon77144803/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@anon77144803](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/anon77144803)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:41pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/10 "2023-12-30T15:41:32Z")
Most of the bad metadata I had came from Vortexbox ripper aunfortunatley. I gave up on it and went manual. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/mark_sealey/32/157075_2.png) [@Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Mark_Sealey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/11 "2023-12-30T20:31:48Z")
Thanks, @Alan_Coulthard, @Simon_Arnold3, @Mikael_Ollars, @DDPS! All noted… > [@garym](#): > > …but the ripping is the easy part… So I can see I should have been more specific ☹ I am ready to attend to renaming and tagging etc as separate process afterwards. I know that’s (almost?) unavoidable. For that I use [_Yate_](https://2manyrobots.com/yate/). Although with a single test I made yesterday using _XLD_, I selected the right CD and watched what _Roon_ itself did to amend the metadata. It came through 100% error free. No, my real roadblock in this is the one which you address, @garym: > [@garym](#): > > …a setup with 4 attached CD drives, and could simply start 4 instances of dbpa running. Then I could have 4 CDs being ripped at one time. I assume one could do the same thing with dbpa on a Mac… It’s mostly about the time. I’m thinking of a ‘jukebox’ solution: load 'em up; go and have a cup of something; come back and attend to the metatags. Perhaps I’m asking for the impossible. I was also looking at hardware like [this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GI3H6M8/?tag=roonlabs0b-20). ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/mark_sealey/32/157075_2.png) [@Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Mark_Sealey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/12 "2023-12-30T20:33:28Z")
Thanks, Tuong! > [@Tuong](#): > > …With XLD you can setup multiple “profiles”… Got it. But can _XLD_ be made to rip (in either of its modes/profiles) across multiple CD drives; I couldn’t see a way to do that **automatically**? ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/garym/32/47990_2.png) [@garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/13 "2023-12-30T20:38:24Z")
the hardware you link to seems like a bulk disc COPIER rather than a batch ripper. You need something like a Nimbie, connected to a batch ripper program. Of course this will work with dbpa, but only the windows version. (maybe buy a cheap windows computer then resell later…doesn’t need to be that powerful to rip CDs) > **[Integrated Nimbie and dBpoweramp Solution - Acronova](https://disc.acronova.com/page/dbpoweramp.html)** > > Illustrate, the developer of popular CD conversion software, introduced Nimbie USB disc autoloader with dBpoweramp as the hands-free solution for ripping large amount of music CDs. > **[Batch Ripper and Nimbie USB+ on Windows 11](https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?47991-Batch-Ripper-and-Nimbie-USB-on-Windows-11)** > > I made most of the mistakes mentioned in several of the community threads. Community answers have been very helpful - thank you! > > Here is a summary in case it can help others: > 1. Download and install the Acronova 1.1.3 driver manually (clears all... ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/mark_sealey/32/157075_2.png) [@Mark\_Sealey](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Mark_Sealey)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/14 "2023-12-30T20:47:39Z")
> [@garym](#): > > …a bulk disc COPIER rather than a batch ripper… Yes, I think it is. But the idea of multiple stacked readers of some sort is appealing. > [@](#): > > …something like a Nimble… I’d seen it mentioned on the illustrate site but ignored it. But it does seem to be the kind of device I need. Maybe I can find a way to get something like this to work with _XLD_? Thanks, Gary! ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/garym/32/47990_2.png) [@garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/15 "2023-12-30T20:48:24Z")
maybe you can find something discussed at the Nimbie mfg site. [https://disc.acronova.com/solution/article/12/review.html](https://disc.acronova.com/solution/article/12/review.html) ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/garym/32/47990_2.png) [@garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/16 "2023-12-30T21:03:55Z")
How many CDs do you need to rip? It could always be worse…way back in the day when I got one of the original ipods, I ripped about 3,000 CDs to 192kbps mp3 files with musicmatch software. 😬 I knew nothing about digital music back then (obviously), just that I wanted my CDs on my computer so I could load them on my ipod. I ultimately reripped all those to FLAC with dbpa. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Harris](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/michael_harris/32/208975_2.png) [@Michael\_Harris](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Michael_Harris)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/17 "2023-12-30T21:10:30Z")
> [@garym](#): > > I ripped about 3,000 CDs to 192kbps mp3 Oh yeah I did around 1,500 CD’s at 192KB MP3 and then again about 2,000 CDS at 320KB a few years later (which was a big step up) and finally I saw the light and bought dbPoweramp and did it all again this time as FLAC. Been doing that for the last 12 years or so. Now I do between 75 and 150 CDs a year depending on how many I buy. ---
**Author:** ![WiWavelength](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/wiwavelength/32/50562_2.png) [@WiWavelength](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/WiWavelength)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/18 "2023-12-30T21:14:23Z")
> [@Mark\_Sealey](#): > > …load 'em up; go and have a cup of something; come back and attend to the metatags. Perhaps I’m asking for the impossible. Not advisable. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. AJ ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/garym/32/47990_2.png) [@garym](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/19 "2023-12-30T21:18:26Z")
Yeah, switched to dbpa in 2007 and in addition to reripping all CDs to that point, since then I have always immediately ripped every CD that I acquired immediately upon opening! ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Harris](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/michael_harris/32/208975_2.png) [@Michael\_Harris](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Michael_Harris)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791/20 "2023-12-30T21:24:54Z")
You were a couple of years ahead of me. One of the best purchases I have made and continue to upgrade it on a regular basis. And yes CD’s are ripped as soon as they arrive at the house [Next page](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/batch-cd-ripping-on-macos/260791.md?page=2)