how do i get audio from a dualdisc into my digital library?

ontheline

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2013
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i have loads of dualdiscs for example michael jackson's visionary boxset where the collection is dualdisc, cd on one side and dvd on the other. as with all my cd's i rip them into my itunes library but because dualdisc does not conform to cd specifications i am unable to rip these into my itunes library. can someone advise what would be the best and easiest way to achieve this or is this even possible? my imac 2007 desktop is just spitting those discs out when i insert them into the cd drive. thanks
 
The DualDisc format was a nightmare. The 'non-DVD' side was not required to be CD-A (Red Book) standard and the manufacturers could muck about with the content as much as they liked. Seeing that you've already paid to purchase the discs but presumably it's too long ago for you to play the dumb-card ("Hi I just bought these discs but I can't seem to rip them to my iPod??"), I know what I'd be doing, And generally I'm the one who venomously opposes piracy and illegal downloading. But sometimes they deserve what they get.
 
ontheline said:
i have loads of dualdiscs for example michael jackson's visionary boxset where the collection is dualdisc, cd on one side and dvd on the other. as with all my cd's i rip them into my itunes library but because dualdisc does not conform to cd specifications i am unable to rip these into my itunes library. can someone advise what would be the best and easiest way to achieve this or is this even possible? my imac 2007 desktop is just spitting those discs out when i insert them into the cd drive. thanks

The easiest way to import the CD side of a Dualdisc is to get a tray loading external DVD writer. Macs have had slot loading drives for ages and they don't read Dualdiscs (which don't comply to the Redbook CD specs anyway, so don't blame Apple!).

Since Macs no longer have optical drives we bought a Samsung DVD writer (USB powered) for ripping CDs and DVDs and occasional disc burning. It's a Samsung SE-208 and were happy with it. (Actually, it was not such a bad idea from Apple to drop the optical drives from laptops. Basically you lug an optical drive around that you hardly ever use. For occasional use, simply plug in an external drive. Not so sure about dropping the optical drive from the Mac Mini. But that's where the Samsung drive comes in.)

Here's some more information from 10 years ago about Dualdiscs and Macs.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/155864

If you also want to rip the DVD side of the Dualdisc it becomes a bit more complicated. You need software to rip the DVD and most likely you will need to transcode the ripped audio files before you can import them into iTunes. I have done this with a couple music DVDs and the results aren't bad at all and it's great to be able to listen to stuff that's only ever been released on DVD on my iPod, which also works in the car.
 
superb. thanks for that information. yes had these dualdiscs for quite a long time and it's only now i have decided to rip them to my itunes library. i have ordered the samsung dvd writer as mentioned, does that package include everything i need to get the music( cd only required) from the dualdisc into my itunes library and is it easy done? thanks again for your help guys, much appreciated.
 
ontheline said:
superb. thanks for that information. yes had these dualdiscs for quite a long time and it's only now i have decided to rip them to my itunes library. i have ordered the samsung dvd writer as mentioned, does that package include everything i need to get the music( cd only required) from the dualdisc into my itunes library and is it easy done? thanks again for your help guys, much appreciated.

The Samsung DVD writer comes with one USB cable. Just plug it into a USB 2.0 (or higher) port on your Mac. No drivers needed and this writer gets enough power from just one USB port.

The Samsung DVD writers (other brands are available) are a cheap alternative for broken DVD writers in older Macs or as an extra for Macs without optical drive.

If your Dualdisc can be read by the writer, hopefully iTunes will recognize the disc. I would set iTunes to import the disc as Apple Lossless files and set error correction on.

I'm not sure if the CD side of the Dualdisc will be in the Gracenote database, so maybe you have to name the tracks manually.
 
iMark said:
ontheline said:
superb. thanks for that information. yes had these dualdiscs for quite a long time and it's only now i have decided to rip them to my itunes library. i have ordered the samsung dvd writer as mentioned, does that package include everything i need to get the music( cd only required) from the dualdisc into my itunes library and is it easy done? thanks again for your help guys, much appreciated.

The Samsung DVD writer comes with one USB cable. Just plug it into a USB 2.0 (or higher) port on your Mac. No drivers needed and this writer gets enough power from just one USB port.

The Samsung DVD writers (other brands are available) are a cheap alternative for broken DVD writers in older Macs or as an extra for Macs without optical drive.

If your Dualdisc can be read by the writer, hopefully iTunes will recognize the disc. I would set iTunes to import the disc as Apple Lossless files and set error correction on.

I'm not sure if the CD side of the Dualdisc will be in the Gracenote database, so maybe you have to name the tracks manually.

many thanks received the writer this morning and it worked with every dual disc i have first time with no problems, didn't have to manually name them either. thanks pal. best matt
 
ontheline said:
many thanks received the writer this morning and it worked with every dual disc i have first time with no problems, didn't have to manually name them either. thanks pal. best matt

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.

I had a look at your box set and it seems to be quite a collector's item.

Mark
 

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