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Finally Thinking of Going Digital!

Problem with services like Tidal and Spotify etc is that you no longer own the music (and you've given away your CD collection without backing-up). Who knows what the future looks like? Yes, there will always be streaming services out there but how long will Tidal/Qobuz survive once Apple/Amazon or whoever with deep pockets step-up their game (along with Spotify)?

And importantly: What versions of your favorite albums will be available to you? What artists will be on what streaming platform? You have no control and own nothing. Most likely you'll be able to listen to the most recent re-master (yay!) and not the equivalent to the original non-molested CD pressing. The industry as a whole does not care about protecting its legacy/history but rather wants you to buy/rent the same thing over again (but in an inferior version).
 
krenzler said:
Problem with services like Tidal and Spotify etc is that you no longer own the music (and you've given away your CD collection without backing-up). Who knows what the future looks like? Yes, there will always be streaming services out there but how long will Tidal/Qobuz survive once Apple/Amazon or whoever with deep pockets step-up their game (along with Spotify)?

And importantly: What versions of your favorite albums will be available to you? What artists will be on what streaming platform? You have no control and own nothing. Most likely you'll be able to listen to the most recent re-master (yay!) and not the equivalent to the original non-molested CD pressing. The industry as a whole does not care about protecting its legacy/history but rather wants you to buy/rent the same thing over again (but in an inferior version).
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Who said anything about giving away the cds??
 
Purité Audio said:
Before you rip anything I would give one of the lossless streaming services a try.
Keith
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I disagree. You should rip (FLAC, WAV or ALAC, lossless) and store some CDs locally and compare them to a lossless streaming service. You'll probably find the locally ripped copy is superior. Despite what any measurements might say. Largely to do with watermarking.
 
More or less any computer will be able to play ripped files. From as cheap as a Raspberry Pi to as much as you want to pay.

Like many others I use a Mac mini. It's over 10 years old but it works just fine. Add a cheap monitor if you want (got mine out of a skip), or run it without one and use another computer to control it remotely. If that interests you you could pick one up very cheaply. I have an old one sitting doing nothing, but it lacks memory and a hard drive.

Sure you can go further, get a dedicated hifi box/streamer thing, but you don't have to.
 
You have a choice. Either spend several weeks learning how to rip your cds using a standard computer or use a streaming service, which now has similar sound quality and buy an off the shelf streamer. It depends how you value your time, and whether computing interests you in the slightest.
 
I would give a streaming service a try first - they all offer free trial periods. Ripping CDs and then organising the resulting files is a time-consuming, tedious business. You may find that much of your collection is available in uncompressed form from a streaming service.

I listen to classical music and had about 1500 CDs, many of them quite obscure. Qobuz, the streaming service I chose, has about 70% of them... which means 1000 CDs I feel no need to rip. The sound quality from a Qobuz 16/44 stream is just as good as a CD.

I did rip all my non-classical CDs, and all the classical ones with more than composer, which are a pain to organise on the shelves - about 250 discs. I do still play CDs when the music I fancy is not on Qobuz - which is the case less and less often.

A cheap and good way of trying streaming, assuming that you are not yet equipped to do it, is to get a Google Chromecast Audio (new from eBay - they have stopped making them, so get one while you can - about £25) and "cast" the stream you want to it from a smartphone (each streaming service has an app to do this). The Chromecast plugs into an RCA line input on your amp. It can also output a digital signal, if you have a freestanding DAC or an optical digital input on your amplifier.
 
The disadvantage I see in streaming is you need to be online. My PC with ripped CDs is off line and I like to keep it that way.

If the OP is already using JRiver I presume he already has some ripped music? I use JRiver 18 on a Windows 8.1 fanless (no noise) PC and I've found this extremely stable over six years or so. I used EAC to rip with dbPoweramp as back up. I ripped to WAV files as I wasn't concerned about meta data. Files are stored on the PC standard hard drive with a separate SSD for the operating system. I use a monitor and mouse to operate. Files are backed up on an external hard drive.

This site is full of good advice if you go down this route:

https://audiophilestyle.com/

This offers advice on a ripping strategy:

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/ca-a...e-cd-ripping-strategy-and-methodology/page/1/
 
Problem with streaming services (esp tidal) is that most albums are compressed remasters rather than the original release.
 
evand said:
Problem with streaming services (esp tidal) is that most albums are compressed remasters rather than the original release.
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I don’t believe they’re any more (or less) compressed than their CD or digital download counterparts.

One of the great things about music streaming services is that you often get access to multiple releases of the same album, so you can decide for yourself which one you prefer.
 
They will be most of the time if we're talking releases from the 80's and 90's where you can seek out the original CD (before loudness wars became a thing) on places like discogs.

New album releases will be the same apart from possibly watermarking if anyone can hear that.
 
I have read all the posts so far & actually don't feel any wiser tbh :confused: A lot of the information just slides straight over my head and as with all hifi subjects there are wide & differing viewpoints all of which have merits.

Anyway a big thanks to anyone who has contributed I will refer to this thread as I progress along whichever route decided on.
 
I've posted on here before still with no luck, I have appx 4000 CDs most of them ripped to a WD 2TB NAS, I have (the bought) DB Poweramp and also use PerfectTunes.
I still rip on my Tosh laptop Satellite 210 windows 7 as my new laptop doesn't have a CD Drive. I bought a FiiO X3 Mk3 to playb my music on but i still have massive problems with lack meta data and finding and syncing my ripped music. I sometimes spend so long Faffing about that it's easier to look for the disc and play it.
However I also commute 1h 15 mins to from work and Travel once or twice a year for 3/4 weeks, so I'm desperate to get this sorted any suggestions (Idiot Guides) would be most welcome.
 
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Strictly Stereo said:
I don’t believe they’re any more (or less) compressed than their CD or digital download counterparts.
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That’s no been my experience trialing tidal - having ripped many of the originally released cd’s I’ve often found the tidal equivalent is a louder “remaster”, much like the many butchered remasters spawned during the height of the loudness wars.
 
MVJ said:
I have read all the posts so far & actually don't feel any wiser tbh :confused: A lot of the information just slides straight over my head and as with all hifi subjects there are wide & differing viewpoints all of which have merits.

Anyway a big thanks to anyone who has contributed I will refer to this thread as I progress along whichever route decided on.
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Sorry if it’s all a bit confusing, but it isn’t really like a new physical format such as cd, where all you need to do is buy a CD player. That said all the various suggestions will work up to a point. Probably best suck it and see
 
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teejjay said:
I've posted on here before still with no luck, I have appx 4000 CDs most of them ripped to a WD 2TB NAS, I have (the bought) DB Poweramp and also use PerfectTunes.
I still rip on my Tosh laptop Satellite 210 windows 7 as my new laptop doesn't have a CD Drive. I bought a FiiO X3 Mk3 to playb my music on but i still have massive problems with lack meta data and finding and syncing my ripped music. I sometimes spend so long Faffing about that it's easier to look for the disc and play it.
However I also commute 1h 15 mins to from work and Travel once or twice a year for 3/4 weeks, so I'm desperate to get this sorted any suggestions (Idiot Guides) would be most welcome.
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Sounds like the mess I would probably get into very easily....
 
Firstly - good choice I don't think you will regret it.

Secondly, as others have said, don't skimp on your backup strategy. This should include all your ripped files and any database that your chosen solution uses to catalogue them. Ripping can take ages and that time spent will be lost if you loose your data. Hard drives WILL fail - it's not a question of 'if' but 'when'. Also make sure your strategy is automated, if it relies on you connecting an external drive and making an ad-hoc copy this will likely be slow and laborious and the one time you forget to do it will be when you experience a catastrophic drive failure.

FWIW I suggest you think about stroring your ripped files on a NAS (Network attached storage) - ideally a RAID - that has the option to backup to the cloud. I use a Synology NAS and pay a small fee to have my 10,000+ lossless albums backed up in the cloud. This may of course get a bit techy - but I wince slightly when I see people rip 100s of CDs to an all in one unit with a single internal drive!

Sorry if it sounds like I'm making you run before you can walk - but a ROBUST backup strategy is an all too frequently understated keystone of ripped music. It should be as important as your choice of DAC - after all, if you loose your files your DAC is a paperweight!

Doug
 
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