What's your strategy in ripping your CDs into your digital library?

My thoughts on ripping my CDs into my digital library has changed over time. At first I only ripped some of my most-played CDs as AAC files. Then I decided to re-rip my CDs as high-res files, AIFF in my case. Unfortunately I had so many CDs I had to change all my files as ALAC to conserve space. I then decided to rip all my CDs but when I had multiple versions of a title I would pick what i felt was the best version, usually the one that had the most tracks. Now I've gone back and I'm adding all versions I have for a title since this site has made me aware of mastering differences for the same title.

So I'm curious to know what folks here do. I've allowed multiple picks to help paint a better picture.

 

I rip my CDs to 320 Kbps CBR MP3. I don't really see a point in using FLAC or some other lossless format because I can't even tell the difference between 128 Kbps and 320 Kbps MP3. When I have multiple copies of an album, I copy the one that is the least affected by the loudness war.

 

I started with 320kbit/s CBR MP3 in 2004 and still do it that way. I don't hear the difference and as I own lots of CDs I couldn't bring myself to start over. If I did I would have to buy a dedicated desktop computer also. Those slim external cdrom-drives for notebooks are so cheap and slow these days. Maybe the internal drives are better. Ah yes, and I rip everything rip-able, but I don't have many different pressings.

 

AAC, all of 'em.

 

I rip bonus tracks from later editions (if they have them but I don't keep mulitple versions generally speaking UNLESS they have something the others lack) but generally stay with the best sounding source for most of the albums.

 

ALAC all the way for me at this point; I'm already in the Apple ecosystem so convenience won out over trying to find something to play FLAC. Years ago I ripped my entire cd collection to 192kbs AAC, because I couldn't hear the difference between that and the CD playing from my Apple desktop speakers... Those died, and on my replacement speakers, I could hear a difference - so no longer f'king around on format (though conceivably I wouldn't hear a difference from 320kbs, just don't want to take a chance on some future upgrade.)

My strategy at this point is to just rip CDs I'm planning on dumping at some point - don't anyone tell me this practice is illegal. I DON'T CARE. Paid $15, getting .25 cents in return. I'm keeping some value out of that transaction!

If I have multiple versions, I'll usually denote in parenthesis after the title, such as "Kind Of Blue (MFSL)" or "Kind Of Blue (Legacy Edition)" to denote different versions. At some point I'll likely delete superfluous editions that have no extra material for the preferred mastering. Maybe "hopefully" is a better term instead of "likely"...

 

FLAC (ripped with Exact Audio Copy) goes to my external drive, from which I usually make a lossy copy for mobile listening. I've done this for a few years and it works well, and matching volume of FLAC rips of different CD mastering allows for easier shootouts. Only a handful of inaccessible CDs in storage now that I haven't ripped.

 

ALAC; can't imagine ever having a Windows anything here (not a critique). FLAC or ALAC seem like the sweet spot for file size and metadata retention. Might as well retain the CD resolution I originally bought. I don't have mobile anything; music is played on an old school stereo with big full-range floorstanders.

Two hard drives here, and one off-site.

I absolutely keep the CDs, for yet one more backup. Ditched the jewel cases, and threw 'em all into compact storage out of the way.

Organizing and playback done on regular ol' iTunes. With an assist from BitPerfect.

There are only a couple artists for whom I'll buy multiples. I just add a brief note to the album title, so they stay close.

 

Everything ripped to flac with cueripper (EAC if I get a difficult disc)

Still only have about a 3rd of my collection ripped.

 

Rip everything, lossless. Use an accurate rip program such as EAC or XLD. Backup, backup, backup.

 

Everything to FLAC (or DSF for a few SACD rips). Don't use iTunes so FLAC is ideal.

Tim

 

All my CDs, DVD-As, etc. are ripped to FLAC using EAC (for CDs) or Foobar (for DVD-As), though lately I have been buying lossless or hi-res downloads mostly. Some of the albums I have different versions of are stored in a folder called "Alternate Versions", which is not part of my library (the "inferior" versions). I have 2 back-up hard drives, one at home. one at my brother's place.

For listening on my phone I have a selection of albums converted to mp3 (V2 - V0).

 

I rip to ALAC and keep my CDs stored safely away. If I'm honest, I don't think I can tell a difference between ALAC (lossless) and AAC at 256kbps (lossy) but it's all on an external hard drive and these are cheap these days and I'd rather know that I've got a lossless copy rather than be left wondering if I could have done better.

 

I've recently switched from iTunes to JRiver Media Center for my digital music needs, so after years of listening to mp3 rips (320kbps) I can finally "upgrade" to FLAC. For most pop/rock albums the difference in quality is very subtle, but for most jazz and classical albums it's great to be able to hear them in their full sonic splendor again on all my devices.

I intend to re-rip all of my 2500 CDs eventually, but I've started with artists that are well represented in my collection (Zappa, Dylan, Beatles, Miles, Monk, Mingus, etc.) and yes, I do include multiple versions of albums if there are differences (Zappa's "You are what you is" for example; the releases on Ryko, EMI and Zappa Records are noticeably different).

It's a bit of work (....) but it's also a great way to rediscover all kinds of stuff in your own collection!

 

Everything (DVD-A, CD's, LP's) FLAC uncompressed w/DBPoweramp, An old Beta version of EAC for cheching pre-emph cd's in TOC or SUB, de-emphed using WaveEmph, played via SBTouch

 

I've had my entire collection ripped to FLAC for many years now, multiple versions included. I've had just a single digital backup, but keep meaning to have another offsite, especially now with acquisition of hi-rez files. I still have all of the original CDs and LPs, with the vast majority of CDs stored in plastic sleeves instead of jewel cases to conserve shelf space.

My last car's stereo did not have a line-in, so I used to keep a collection of 50 or so CD-Rs in the car; never original CDs. My new car does have a line-in, so I get to take my Fiio X5 with me with close to 256 GB of FLAC files. I just use shuffle play to avoid fumbling around with the unit while driving.

 

If you rip to lossless you have a perfect archive and never have to rip the discs again, ever. Then it's easy enough to make some MP3 or AAC files if you want them for portable devices. If you rip straight to MP3 or AAC then you're kinda stuck with that.

 

ALAC for me.

 

Unless, of course, you have a catastrophic hard drive failure that you fail to see coming.

 

Backup, backup, backup, guys.

 

Luckily in that case you always have your backups, both locally and in the cloud

 

Three separate hard drive failures would probably be a harbinger of an event so catastrophic that my music collection would be a lesser concern.

 

Rip AAC or MP3. If I want to hear it in lossless quality I'll get the CD or an LP. Most of the stuff on my media server is stuff I don't like enough to be really concerned about sound quality.

 

I rip to flac, keep only my beloved cds, have an cloud back up and buy a new external hard drive every 9 months. Yeah, they stack up, but at this point I have too much too lose.

Neil

 

Not going to happen beyond what's on my iPod