Hi all,
I have spent the past several days combing through endless blogs, posts, and explanations on the subject of copying CDs to digital format... and have learned enough to know that I don't know enough! Really, I just have a very simple question with a straightforward set of parameters. I need advice from someone who knows enough to help me resolve it!
The question of course is: in what format, and with what software should I copy my CD collection to my hard drive? I know by now that the answer is a matter of wide debate. So to narrow it down, here are my parameters:
- I have a small collection, approximately 100 CDs. No, that's not a typo... I know the audiophiles out there have collections in the thousands, but I listen to the radio a lot and just buy what I want to hear "on demand."
- I don't want to buy additional hard drives. This almost certainly rules out lossless formats... right?
- At the same time, I flatter myself that I CAN hear the difference between a quality playback and more lossy ones, so if I have to use a lossy format, I'd like it to be above 192k... maybe as high as 320k.
- While I can hear the quality difference, the reality is that I'll probably never own more than a mid-range player system. Of course, today's high-end system is tomorrow's mid-range, so with that in mind I want a fairly decent recording.
- I will almost certainly want to be able to download them into MP3 files so I can play them in my car or office. However, I have not yet invested in the hardware for that, so I'm still somewhat open to alternate suggestions.
- I want to be sure that, as the industry changes formats (5, 10, 25 years from now), I can easily transfer to the new format and also not kick myself later for using a very lossy format that gives mediocre playback in said future format. These two reasons are why I am not simply going straight to MP3.
- I would strongly prefer to NOT have to keep the CDs afterward, for storage space reasons. I have a backup external drive, so I'm not worried about losing the collection. But I won't have a bit-perfect master to go back to later.
- Finally, I'm no recording expert. I downloaded Audiograbber and still don't know what 90% of the options mean. Well, maybe 85%. And I really don't need to. But this means I do need something fairly easy to understand.
For someone who didn't know much more than "the CD goes into the little slot" about a week ago, I've come a long way. At least enough to be able to clearly state (I hope) my desired end result. But I could really use straightforward advice on the solution! Thoughts?
Brian
I have spent the past several days combing through endless blogs, posts, and explanations on the subject of copying CDs to digital format... and have learned enough to know that I don't know enough! Really, I just have a very simple question with a straightforward set of parameters. I need advice from someone who knows enough to help me resolve it!
The question of course is: in what format, and with what software should I copy my CD collection to my hard drive? I know by now that the answer is a matter of wide debate. So to narrow it down, here are my parameters:
- I have a small collection, approximately 100 CDs. No, that's not a typo... I know the audiophiles out there have collections in the thousands, but I listen to the radio a lot and just buy what I want to hear "on demand."
- I don't want to buy additional hard drives. This almost certainly rules out lossless formats... right?
- At the same time, I flatter myself that I CAN hear the difference between a quality playback and more lossy ones, so if I have to use a lossy format, I'd like it to be above 192k... maybe as high as 320k.
- While I can hear the quality difference, the reality is that I'll probably never own more than a mid-range player system. Of course, today's high-end system is tomorrow's mid-range, so with that in mind I want a fairly decent recording.
- I will almost certainly want to be able to download them into MP3 files so I can play them in my car or office. However, I have not yet invested in the hardware for that, so I'm still somewhat open to alternate suggestions.
- I want to be sure that, as the industry changes formats (5, 10, 25 years from now), I can easily transfer to the new format and also not kick myself later for using a very lossy format that gives mediocre playback in said future format. These two reasons are why I am not simply going straight to MP3.
- I would strongly prefer to NOT have to keep the CDs afterward, for storage space reasons. I have a backup external drive, so I'm not worried about losing the collection. But I won't have a bit-perfect master to go back to later.
- Finally, I'm no recording expert. I downloaded Audiograbber and still don't know what 90% of the options mean. Well, maybe 85%. And I really don't need to. But this means I do need something fairly easy to understand.
For someone who didn't know much more than "the CD goes into the little slot" about a week ago, I've come a long way. At least enough to be able to clearly state (I hope) my desired end result. But I could really use straightforward advice on the solution! Thoughts?
Brian
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