Also going CD-less

McRibbons

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First world problems.....I'm after some advice please

I want to rip about 300 cd's then store them on a suitable device... maybe an external hard-drive? Then hook it up to a suitable player such as a Pioneer N50-a or Marantz NA8005 or similar. I also have about 700 tracks on my iPad/iPod so apple compatibility is important.

I can can use my existing laptop to rip the cd's but I don't really want to have it hooked up to my system if I can help it. That's why I am looking for the best way of storing the files and then a new unit to play them. Suggestions welcome

Got a modest budget of around £800,
 
McRibbons said:
First world problems.....I'm after some advice please

I want to rip about 300 cd's then store them on a suitable device... maybe an external hard-drive? Then hook it up to a suitable player such as a Pioneer N50-a or Marantz NA8005 or similar. I also have about 700 tracks on my iPad/iPod so apple compatibility is important.

I can can use my existing laptop to rip the cd's but I don't really want to have it hooked up to my system if I can help it. That's why I am looking for the best way of storing the files and then a new unit to play them. Suggestions welcome

Got a modest budget of around £800,

Perhaps you could do like I do and use a USB hard drive and a universal disc player (older Oppo 105eu if you can find one in budget). The app for ipad can then enable it to be used as the controller.
 

insider9

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Storage is cheap nowadays. With the number of CDs you're looking to rip even a 256GB USB flash drive will be enough. Although the better value would be external drive 1TB/2TB which would fit more over time if necessary.

Your laptop will be enough to rip all your CDs. I use dbpoweramp which is excellent.

Playback wise there's lots of options depending on additional features you need. I believe that the Yamaha WXC-50 I use is very good in regards to flexibility it give you. Preamp, streamer, dac with a decent app. Including even a large external drive and a Yamaha you should be able to do it within £400.

Another one worth looking at is Raumfeld Connector. Crazy value if you consider its been further reduce and can be had for £119. Lots of forum's residents have and recommend them. Add external drive and you have a streamer + player for under £200.
 

tino

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A couple of suggestions, both within budget:-

* Sony HAP-S1 - does everything - amp, hard disc music player, 500GB internal hard disc (easily enough for your 300 CDs)

* Auralic Aeries Mini - Streamer (with Bluetooth), integrated hard disc option

Question to ask yourself - will you need access to internet radio or subscription streaming services e.g. Spotify, Tidal etc. If so, it's worth checking the compatibility of any product you go for with those types of services, or you may have to pay extra for something like a Chromecast device.
 

jjbomber

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McRibbons said:
First world problems.....I'm after some advice please

I want to rip about 300 cd's then store them on a suitable device... maybe an external hard-drive? Then hook it up to a suitable player such as a Pioneer N50-a or Marantz NA8005 or similar. I also have about 700 tracks on my iPad/iPod so apple compatibility is important.

I can can use my existing laptop to rip the cd's but I don't really want to have it hooked up to my system if I can help it. That's why I am looking for the best way of storing the files and then a new unit to play them. Suggestions welcome

Got a modest budget of around £800,

WD My Passport 2TB Ultra, about £75, and rip 300CDs to that. Use dBpoweramp as free CD ripper.

USB 3.0 lead to:

Oppo bdp-203 for playback and streaming from the Cr-Apple. You could also copy the 700 tracks to the WD. Cost £649.

That's roughly what I did, with the Oppo bdp-105.
 

muljao

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I use a Raumfeld connector. I am aware people often recommend what they have, but I have no brand loyalty.

The connector cost me 179 euro, add a 128gb usb from Amazon for 40 euro/ 30 ish pounds, stick it in the back and you have simple access through an app.

If you download musicbee player and rip to flac it's all a very simple process.

It's not the only option, and maybe there are better, but this thing sounds great. I use RCA out, but there is an optical out also if you have a better dac. Good value overall and you get an eight weeks trial period
 

tino

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McRibbons said:
Thanks guys, getting myself a hard-drive this week and rip my cd's. Then I'll decide on what to hook it up to.
OK, so how will you be ripping the CDs? You might want advice from those that have been there before to save you a lot of time and effort for what will be a very time consuming task in the weeks / months to come.
 

tino

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PS before you splash out on a hard disc drive ... are you sure you don't want some form of network attached storage option instead of / as well as? That way your music could be made available to multiple devices in your home. Still a cheap hard disc is about £50 and could be the primary storage you use or a backup solution for whatever you decide to go for in the future.
 

McRibbons

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tino said:
McRibbons said:
Thanks guys, getting myself a hard-drive this week and rip my cd's. Then I'll decide on what to hook it up to.
OK, so how will you be ripping the CDs? You might want advice from those that have been there before to save you a lot of time and effort for what will be a very time consuming task in the weeks / months to come.

was going to use musicbee or dbpoweramp or similar to rip the cd's on my laptop..... unless someone had a better suggestion ;-)

at this stage a NAS can be a future addition I think.
 
jjbomber said:
McRibbons said:
First world problems.....I'm after some advice please

I want to rip about 300 cd's then store them on a suitable device... maybe an external hard-drive? Then hook it up to a suitable player such as a Pioneer N50-a or Marantz NA8005 or similar. I also have about 700 tracks on my iPad/iPod so apple compatibility is important.

I can can use my existing laptop to rip the cd's but I don't really want to have it hooked up to my system if I can help it. That's why I am looking for the best way of storing the files and then a new unit to play them. Suggestions welcome

Got a modest budget of around £800,

WD My Passport 2TB Ultra, about £75, and rip 300CDs to that. Use dBpoweramp as free CD ripper.

USB 3.0 lead to:

Oppo bdp-203 for playback and streaming from the Cr-Apple. You could also copy the 700 tracks to the WD. Cost £649.

That's roughly what I did, with the Oppo bdp-105.

Me too but different hard-drive + one large USB memory stick . ;-)
 

rainsoothe

Well-known member
Hey. I use dbPoweramp for ripping, stuff gets ripped to a NAS with 2x 2TB Western Digital HDD that work in raid 0 or 1 configuration (can't remember, but it's the configuration in which one mirrors the other. Less space, but safe, since if one fails, everything is still on the other, and you can just replace the defective one).

Having a NAS gives you great flexibility, you can play from it from whichever room on whatever compatible device (phone, PC, laptop, even movies on a smart TV).

Cambridge Audio CXN is very, very good - full sounding and refined, unlike most CA lean stuff.
 

daveh75

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It's worth noting many routers have USB ports these days and will provide NAS/Media server functionality if you connect an HDD.

It obviously won't give you the redundancy, or performance provided by a standalone NAS but it's worth considering....
 

insider9

Well-known member
Some very good tips above.

I'd consider another couple of things. When choosing player and NAS or USB storage check whether it can playback gapless. Some players won't do it via streaming. Also, when streaming large local files over WiFi requires good WiFi signal hence connection via LAN or USB might be preferable.
 

MajorFubar

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As already mentioned, once you've ripped your CDs, you need to consider backup options. Don't take this consideration lightly. It takes an age to rip and tag CDs, you only want to do it once.

Another option for backup not so far mentioned is to subscribe to one of the various cloud services. Using Dropbox as an example, you can set it's home folder to any drive you choose, be it on your computer or on a network drive, which will automatically get sync'd to the cloud. I use this service. For £7.99 a month I essentially have remote cloudbased backups for everything on my network drive, which contains all my music, about 50 films and serves as a Time Machine for three Macs.
 

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