Hello! We are new Axiom/SN owners and would like to know what the best sounding digital music player would be. We're running two M80's with the Newcastle RX770.
We just have FAR too many music CD's and feel the need to convert them (without loosing sound quality) onto one unit.
Thanks!

I recently went through what you are contemplating. I had around 1100 CD’s and just got tired of messing with them….. There are a few options available, with varying costs and varying user interface. After much research, I decided to bight the bullet and rip them all to a lossless format (FLAC), store them on their own dedicated server that’s tied into my home network, and use a Squeeze Box Duet from Slim Devices to act as the “player”. After using this for about six months now, I absolutely love it.

The most painful part of this is ripping your CD collection. When ripping to a lossless format, expect it to take 10 minutes per CD. I did this over the course of several months. I think I’d rather shoot myself in the head then go through that again…..

If this is something of interest to you, there are several folks on this forum who have done it and can provide assistance.

An interesting perspective mdrew.

I'm in the same boat, though we only own about 500 cds between the wife and myself.
Finding the time to rip them all, sheesh.
I wish there was an online database of such a thing in existence to be able to buy the digital versions properly ripped. Copyright and all that though...
But the idea would be nice.
Granted, having to pay all over again for one's cd collection is the tradeoff.

That's encouraging... hahaha

Thanks for the input guys, this should take me a year or so (lol)

Cheers!

It depends a lot on the speed of your computer's PC and DVD drive and the software you are using. A good 32x/48x (using iTunes lossless formats) will take about 2 mins per CD.

It also depends what software you use. Something like EAC does a ton of error checking, but takes forever to complete.

The upside of EAC is that you won't end up with any bad tracks. Out of 50 discs, I have found 3 tracks that are un-playable.

So you didn't use EAC or you did?

Wow, thanks for the quick responses! Seems I have my work cut out for me.

Aside from the Squeeze Box recommended by mdrew, can anyone recommend a device that would play just about anything?

Thanks again, these forums are fantastic!

For playback I just use my PCs. Plenty of free software out there that will allow you to play anything you can rip to a disk I like Media Monkey for playing all my audio. Not as simple/elegant a something like Squeezbox but it cost me nothing but a little time to setup and learn the software. AFAIK PS3 and Xbox will play lots of media formats streamed directly from a NAS.

I also ripped all my standard Cds (don’t know of any way to rip SACDs) to a server (NAS) in FLAC format using EAC as fredk mentioned. Having all my media on a dedicated server give me the flexibility to sent it to anything on my network or in the case of the NAS I bought log in over the internet. If you have an old computer laying around you could set up a NAS with free software to get started. Should you later decide to buy a dedicated server just migrate the files to it with no need to rip them again.

The other big decision to make eluded to here is what format to rip them in. there have been a couple discursions about that here but I can’t seem to find them.

I just bought wdtv, which plays movies (converts them to 1080p via HDMI), music, and pictures. It's a sweet unit, might be something worth checking out.

Not the first time around...

Will be in the future. I would rather be sure than have to re-do half my library as I find bad tracks.

I haven't found any bad tracks with winamp, but I have only used it on my meager ~100 cds

If EAC gets a read error it usually means that it can’t get 8 of 16 bit for bit identical reads of the same sector in the time you given it. Switching to burst mode it will likely rip the track without complaining like any other ripper out there.

There are definitely easier rippers than EAC if you’re just copying music to a hard drive for listening. Even if you are archiving your CD collection other rippers will get you very good results but will not always be lossless due to unreported and/or unrecoverable ripping errors. EAC will ensure a bit for bit lossless copy or tell you that it found problems. So basically it’s for the truly paranoid and power users who want extreme customization and control.

DB Poweramp is the only way to go. I sure wish I would have used it instead of EAC. Anyone contemplating ripping their collection really needs to do themselves a favor and just buy Poweramp. Very simple to use and even more powerfull than EAC.

N.O.Icequeen - regarding digital players - I am a big fan of the Sonos system. It is definitely not the cheapest option, but I am hooked on the capabilities of the system and the ability to distribute audio throughout your house. Worth checking out if it's in your budget. Here's the list playable media formats Good luck!

I too use FLAC files(EAC ripped) sent to a Squeezebox. It offers a lot of functionality. It accepts MP3, FLAC and other music formats, lets you listen to Internet Radio Stations and lets you use some included music services like Pandora and others. (Assuming you live in the U.S.)

I also stream the same music, along with still pictures and video & movies from the same PC to my PS3. It is a great little remote media player once you get used to the controller as a remote but there are now remote control solutions.