Amp for Neat Motive Sx2

[iMark]

@Gonepostal
Over the years there have been many discussions about the best software to rip CDs. People who have done measurements with all sorts of different drives and software have come to the conclusion that the ripper in iTunes/Apple Music will give you a bit perfect rip from a CD. Always use error correction. The rip takes a bit longer but then you only want to do the rip once.

I have ripped all our CDs to Apple Lossless (ALAC) using the following settings:


The great thing about ripping your own CDs is that you never have to worry about the music no longer being available on a streaming service. Very often CDs now come in special editions with bonus discs or tracks that are not available anywhere else. Or you can buy a different master of a specific CD second hand.

Any Mac will recognise an external drive, so that's never an issue.

I often transfer music from my Mac to my iPhone. The iPhone will show up in iTunes or Apple Music (depending on the version of macOS you use). You simply drop and drag the selected album or playlist to the iPhone.
The titling of tracks is generally OK but classical music still is a pain in the proverbial. A lot of manual corrections are still needed if you want to keep consistent titling.

DVD drives aren't very expensive but not as cheap as a couple of years ago. They should all work for ripping CDs. I bought a Bluray drive for my Mac last year so I can rip Bluray discs. That's quite expensive and you need to buy extra software. But I think it's it worth it to be able to listen to music on the go that is otherwise locked away on DVDs or Blurays.

 

[Gonepostal]

might be a sideways move but I would take the Creek if it has all the facilities you need, it certainly will not have Bluetooth for example but this can easily be added, even more so if it were the Evo 100

Well I waited too long and it's been sold on eBay anyway, was £550 with the sequel MK4 phono board installed.

 

[Gonepostal]

@Gonepostal
Over the years there have been many discussions about the best software to rip CDs. People who have done measurements with all sorts of different drives and software have come to the conclusion that the ripper in iTunes/Apple Music will give you a bit perfect rip from a CD. Always use error correction. The rip takes a bit longer but then you only want to do the rip once.

I have ripped all our CDs to Apple Lossless (ALAC) using the following settings:
View attachment 2450

The great thing about ripping your own CDs is that you never have to worry about the music no longer being available on a streaming service. Very often CDs now come in special editions with bonus discs or tracks that are not available anywhere else. Or you can buy a different master of a specific CD second hand.

Any Mac will recognise an external drive, so that's never an issue.

I often transfer music from my Mac to my iPhone. The iPhone will show up in iTunes or Apple Music (depending on the version of macOS you use). You simply drop and drag the selected album or playlist to the iPhone.
The titling of tracks is generally OK but classical music still is a pain in the proverbial. A lot of manual corrections are still needed if you want to keep consistent titling.

DVD drives aren't very expensive but not as cheap as a couple of years ago. They should all work for ripping CDs. I bought a Bluray drive for my Mac last year so I can rip Bluray discs. That's quite expensive and you need to buy extra software. But I think it's it worth it to be able to listen to music on the go that is otherwise locked away on DVDs or Blurays.

Thanks for the detained reply.