stymie miasma Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Hi all, So I'm going to jump on the Squeezebox train, and looking for advice on the best way to do it right, from the get-go. Right now, my computer audio situation is languishing in the 90s, as I am a big Sony/ATRAC fanboi. I have a bunch of stuff ripped to Sonicstage which I will most likely keep in the immediate future for portable use only. As for the Squeezebox thing, I want to rip my entire CD collection (350+ last count) into a lossless format and store it on an external HD or NAS/RAID setup. I'll be using a 1 year old Dell desktop, running Windows XP. I plan to hook everything up via ethernet. I suppose my main question concerns library management: What program works best for my intended application? I have read that Squeezebox can talk to an iTunes library, but are there other alternatives worth considering? My collection is album-based, so I won't have any DRM'ed songs or similar floating around. I would also like get album artwork that will be visible when using Squeezebox. I also have a lot of compilations that I would like to stay as compilations at the end of the day, not as individual tracks by the corresponding artist iTunes looks to be the easiest solution, and I like the interface for the most part. As I really have no ties to Apple, I am open to suggestions. I don't mind shelling out a little dough for a good program either. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 I'm not familiar with iTunes with Squeezebox, but if others are using it, then it must be so. Other than that, I would recommend using iTunes w/Apple lossless -- it does everything else that you ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stymie miasma Posted January 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Thanks Dusty, Yeah, i think iTunes will be the easiest route. Do you use iTunes for ripping? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 iTunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stymie miasma Posted January 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 That's two votes for iTunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinp6301 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 SlimServer (which is the application that squeezeboxes use) dont require you to have the music library affiliated with any other program then slimserver itself. So you dont really need to use itunes or any other program. EAC for burning if youre on a windows machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepak Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 EAC or dBPoweramp with AccurateRip will be more accurate than iTunes for discs that aren't in pristine condition. If you have a Mac xact is the ripping program of choice. And moved thread to the computer forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stymie miasma Posted January 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Thanks for the replies, and for moving to a more suitable locale Excuse the naive questions, but can I use EAC or dbPoweramp to associate artwork with the ripped audio files in a way that Squeezebox will recognize? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stymie miasma Posted January 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 RipNAS Essentials My goodness, this almost looks like it would be fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepak Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 RipNAS Essentials My goodness, this almost looks like it would be fun! That's a neat looking device with some great features. You can basically do all of that with any computer drive, but it looks like that automates everything to be quicker. dbpoweramp with AccurateRip can be fast and secure because it checks the CRC for each track in the AccurateRip database to make sure they match. If it matches it continues in "burst" mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 I would suggest you use the newest version of dbpoweramp for ripping and/or transcoding. If you have a multicore machine it will use the multiple cores for a nice speed increase. It also uses accuraterip so it will give you a bitperfect copy as quickly as possible. The newest version also works great for album art and metadata. You have a choice of sources and if you do not like the album art from those sources it is now very easy to add in any art work you want at the time of ripping. It is not free however, but well worth the cost, especially when you are starting a big project. There is no real advantage to using itunes with squeezecenter but there is no real disadvantage if you have nothing against using ALAC (apple lossless). With any of the current firmware revisions on the squeezbox family there is no longer any advantage to using FLAC over ALAC. If you already use itunes at all, then there is an advantage if you want one consolidated library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzziguy Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 EAC or dBPoweramp with AccurateRip will be more accurate than iTunes for discs that aren't in pristine condition. If you have a Mac xact is the ripping program of choice. And moved thread to the computer forum. To get maximum ripping accuracy with iTunes, go to edit>preferences>import settings (general) and click the "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs" check box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stymie miasma Posted January 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Great advice guys! I'm seriously considering the dbpoweramp drive and a Windows Home Server. It will cost a little extra over a NAS, but I think it will streamline the process greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duggeh Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 When I had a squeezebox I used the itunes library sync. I ripped all my CDs with iTunes too. I don't have a squeezebox anymore, but I still use itunes. The only time I rip with EAC is when I get audible errors like pops or clicks with itunes, but thats happened on three CDs out of hundreds and those three wouldn't read in EAC either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepak Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 (edited) To get maximum ripping accuracy with iTunes, go to edit>preferences>import settings (general) and click the "Use error correction when reading Audio CDs" check box. And that's the limit of iTunes. The error correction in EAC and dbpoweramp are far superior. And in my limited experience with Xact it is as well. Also being able to check and match CRC with EAC, Xact and dbpoweramp means you're getting a perfect copy. iTunes works fine for scratch free CDs. But for scratched discs and early pressed discs from West Germany (where the data layer is often very thin) the other programs work much better. Edited January 9, 2010 by deepak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salt Peanuts Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 And that's the limit of iTunes. The error correction in EAC and dbpoweramp are far superior. And in my limited experience with Xact it is as well. Also being able to check and match CRC with EAC, Xact and dbpoweramp means you're getting a perfect copy. iTunes works fine for scratch free CDs. But for scratched discs and early pressed discs from West Germany (where the data layer is often very thin) the other programs work much better. Basically echoes my experience with Mac and Windows machine (when I had one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzziguy Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Interesting. I've only had problems with one disk, and it sounds the same out of my iPod as it does when played in multiple CD players. Guess I've been lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefy Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Another vote for dbpoweramp. I liked it so much, I bought it. A rare thing for me...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger945 Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I also purchased db. Easy for me to use. Some more info on ripping and storage... Computer Audiophile CD Ripping Strategy and Methodology | Computer Audiophile and Current CA Music Servers and Diagram | Computer Audiophile Not the last word, but interesting reading. If your into the latest gadgets and really lazy like me, you could try one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stymie miasma Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I like what I am reading about dbpoweramp. Looking forward to getting this project started Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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