Digital music storage question

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Andersoncouncil, Oct 12, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    upstate NY
    My 12 year old Sony Vaio laptop bit the dust. I can't get it to start. I even took it to an expert. Simple fact: it's dead!

    I knew this day would come. I will eventually get a new laptop, but I am wondering if the rumors are true about Itunes being finished. Since I can't open my laptop, my Itunes (which had my entire collection) is also unable to be accessed. I do have my entire collection in CD form, so that is essentially my music backup. I should note that most of my music listening is done on Ipod, so I like to sync music in and out of my Ipod (Which I obviously can't do right now).

    I know it will be quite a long process to re-burn my collection to itunes on another laptop, or use another program. I'm prepared to do this. I just want to know about any options (I don't keep up on the latest technology). I actually like Itunes as a music storage program, especially it's compatibility with Ipods (which I also love) but I'm thinking it is going to be completely phased out (If it hasn't been already).

    Two other things: I'm NOT a Mac user and I don't stream.

    Thanks in advance for any advice on the options out there.
     
  2. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    upstate NY
    I should also note that I know high storage capacity Ipods have been discontinued, but I luckily have five 120 gb working ipods I have hoarded away!
     
  3. mrwolk

    mrwolk One and a half ears...no waiting!

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    You may want to consider ripping your cd collection as Flac files and save to an external solid state hard drive..which are quite affordable these days...should your PC bite the dust..you still have your music content archived on an external hard drive.
    You might also consider acquiring a Digital Audio Player i.e. Fiio , Sony etc...as a playback system. I use dbPoweramp to rip my cds to my hard drive..not a free program...but worth every penny.
    You might be able to find a work around for your five working iPods...i am pretty sure
    you will be able to use the iTunes platform under the Apple Music app.
    I also have a few iPods..but i find that the batteries are not holding a full charge.
     
  4. Boltman92124

    Boltman92124 Go Padres!!

    Location:
    San Diego
    I used ITunes to RIP my entire collection (ALAC format)> stored to 1TB hard drive and backed up on two more HD's. I playback with JRiver Media Center. About 450gb of music.
     
    Andersoncouncil likes this.
  5. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    upstate NY
    Good point. I meant to rip my collection as FLAC but kept putting it off. Lesson learned!
     
  6. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    iTunes for Windows is still around, so far it's just the MacOS version that's been changed.

    If you are looking for a short-term solution to access your old setup...it depends on what you mean by your laptop being "dead". If the HDD inside hasn't crapped out you could potentially pull that out, put it into a USB external storage unit you can then retrieve your entire iTunes library and migrate it to a new system.

    Taking a guess it's a 2.5 inch mechanical drive, given the time period.
     
  7. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    If you want to retrieve your music off your iPod you can do this with a program such as imaze.
     
    rodentdog and Andersoncouncil like this.
  8. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    FLAC files are not playable on any Apple device. Next time, rip your CD's to AIFF format, or transcode them to AIFF from FLAC. They will be playable on virtually any platform.
    Always back up your digital music library to external media. External hard drives are cheap.
     
  9. Time Is On My Side

    Time Is On My Side Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Did everybody miss where they said they are not a Mac user? My recommendation - spend the money on dBpoweramp Reference because of all the metadata and tagging options it has over Exact Audio Copy. Rip to FLAC onto an external HDD (a WD 1TB is pretty cheap) and use MusicBee for music management.
     
    gd0 and FVDnz like this.
  10. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    The OP plays his file on iPods. That is an Apple device that does not support flac. He probably has them loaded with MP3's.
     
  11. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    upstate NY
    Yes this is correct---they are MP3's 256kb.
     
  12. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    why can't one just plug in the Ipod into the usb port of a PC and extract them to the desktop? O' wait it's APPLE!
     
  13. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    :doh:

    Get a media player with HDD, and this time rip your CDs to FLAC, not low-bitrate mp3 !
     
  14. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    The Pinhead and Michael like this.
  15. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

  16. whoman4says

    whoman4says Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The laptop's dead, the hard-drive isn't necessarily dead! Take the drive out of the laptop, buy a SATA to USB drive for about a quid off eBay, hook the drive up to another PC/Laptop, you'll probably find all your files intact on there.

    Strikes me that your 'expert', wasn't much of an expert.
     
    gd0, Veni Vidi Vici, toddfan and 5 others like this.
  17. wolfyboy3

    wolfyboy3 99 Red Balloons Go By...

    Location:
    Indiana
    That is exactly what I was thinking. But also if your files are MP3 why not re-rip to flac? or Alac if you prefer, although that would be insane.
     
    mattdm11 likes this.
  18. whoman4says

    whoman4says Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    A 6TB external drive is dirt cheap these days!

    I use both MusicBee and iTunes but only because I have a lot of auto-tagging scripts that run against my iTunes library that make my life MUCH easier.
     
    JimmyCool and Andersoncouncil like this.
  19. whoman4says

    whoman4says Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Cable, not drive!
     
    Andersoncouncil likes this.
  20. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    upstate NY
    I'm not an audiophile. 256 sounds just as good as lossless to my ears. That being said I can hear the difference for lower bitrates.
     
    anorak2 and The Pinhead like this.
  21. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    upstate NY
    Thank you for all your replies. I have looked into this program and I think it is exactly what I am looking for.
     
    The Pinhead likes this.
  22. BayouTiger

    BayouTiger Forum Resident

    the Apple device is not the limiting factor, just iTunes. FLAC can be played via the VLC app or several other 3rd party apps on nearly any Apple device.
     
    The Pinhead likes this.
  23. mrwolk

    mrwolk One and a half ears...no waiting!

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Actually the program is iMazing...and i have been using it to transfer PDF files and photos from my iPad to my PC..works great!
     
    Pancat likes this.
  24. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    I rip similar to that rate, MP3 as well due to compatibility. Sounds super enjoyable, and the files will play not just on iPods/iPhones but little protable or USB sticks into rental cars or whatever. Transfers faster and doesn't take up as much space as lossless. Since you have your original CDs as the ultimate backup, and feel your files sound fine, I wouldn't stress about FLAC or ALAC or AIFF or whatever.

    Now, you didn't have ANY backup?!?!? If so, BAD DOG, get TWO externals for the future! And for now, pull out your drive as @whoman4says noted and get someone to try and recover that before re-ripping so much stuff. And also, try a different expert to try and start your VAIO, can't hurt.
     
    anorak2 and bever70 like this.
  25. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Yes that's the one. Just checking you guys are awake out there.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine