I am in the process of ripping my CDs (have many) and it seems to never end. Want all CDs in Roon although I also have Qobuz.
Currently I am tagging a lot (reason for the lengthy process) incl composer, involved people etc.
I am thinking about ripping each CD with absolutely bare minimum and then re-visit in the future as and when. Not sure if this will work as I would feel like I at some point would be done with it all.
Asking you all - how do YOU get a steady CD ripping flow that works for you?
Thanks all - would appreciate your thoughts (as need help)!!
SukieInTheGraveyard
(This one time, at Bandcamp... I spent too much money!)
2
Can’t help with the ripping, but you could try running SongKong over the whole lot when done to minimize manual tagging, latest version is tuned to work well with Roon
How do you eat an elephant?
One piece at a time… we have all been there if we have a library.
My advice, set achievable daily goals. 20 CD’s Don’t worry if you miss and before you know it, it’s done.
Back up! Back up! Back up!
What platform are you using to rip, Mac or Windows?
If Windows I would go with DBPoweramp. I have ripped several thousand CDs with this package and it is amazing. Also has excellent conversion tools for your ripped files in case you want to make an MP3 or convert a hi res file to cd quality etc.
It links to all the metadata and I rarely do any editing.
This link points to a company that makes devices to rip multiple CDs at a time. I’ve heard of them but never used one - nor am I able to determine if it will rip to your desired format.
Perhaps the cost and trouble will give you assurance you are currently on the right path.
Like the comment above, I set up my ripping using XLD on an iMac on the same network as Roon in a workflow with a minimum number of CDs as a session goal. As a CD was ripping to a folder I had named earlier, I created and named the folders for the next CD.
I added the finished rips to my iTunes library immediately and inspected whether they were properly identified by iTunes. This was particularly important with multi-CD albums, making sure the disk numbering and tracks were assigned correctly. Why did I use iTunes? Because, for me, it was much much easier to edit the metadata and track info using iTunes. (Still is, for me,)
But then, my album collection has very few classical albums and large box sets. Others may have better advice for handling them.
All the while binging a long TV series on the large screen TV across the room. Definitely multi-tasking.
Good luck with your project. I find that my rips always sound better than the same album streamed.
SukieInTheGraveyard
(This one time, at Bandcamp... I spent too much money!)
9
+1 on the DBPoweramp suggestion if using Windows.
I finally got around to ripping my collection (a more modest 600 albums) during the 1st lockdown. I was still working (form home) but with a lighter workload. I just did a few at a time and kept reminding myself that eventually I’d be finished. Even with DBPoweramp I had to do a little bit of tweeking.
The funny thing is that I was rather miss those carefree days of ripping in lockdown 1.0.
@Henkemannen I don’t know much about Yate, but you’ll want to eliminate (or minimize) the post rip tweaks, dbpoweramp gets it right first time most of the time. Otherwise, as suggested, grit your teath and work through it in manageable portions. Do it well, do it once!
If your ripped cd is properly recognised by roon, you won’t need to add all the tag details manually.
I usually check/edit the tags quickly with my tag editor while the next cd is being ripped with dbpoweramp.
If roon messes up with tags (which frequently happens on classical recordings) then I later revisit them in details (work, movement…) and try a re-scan/re-identification, with tracks groupings as on file in the album’s meta data options. I do this step by step when I have some time available.
I’ve not found it to be the case that dbpoweramp gets it right most of the time. In fact I would say it normally gets artwork wrong in my case. It does a good job on track names though.
I used (and still use) MediaMonkey + AccurateRip & their Discogs metadata plug-in for ripping.
I had >2,500 CDs and just worked through them - it’s obviously easy to crunch through them while you’re sitting at your Computer, but leave it on & pop another disc in every time you’re passing…you’ll be surprised how quickly you get through it!
Hi, I use dbpoweramp with a mac. Works great. You can choose between different metadata services i.e. discogs, freedb and others. You can try dbpa for 21 days with all options. That is really fair and it convinced me. I bought after the trial period.
Since the OP hasn’t mentioned the ripper and doesn’t want to buy dBpoweramp (my first choice) I believe Picard is a good addition as it has a really simple UI and workflow … and it’s the MusicBrainz data he needs.
Perhaps you know, but in dbpoweramp, you can click the artwork and it bings up a window of alternatives… or just select another data provider as @Hartmut_Berg suggests.
we have all been there if we have a library.
