Summer Of Upgrades, Six
Posted on | September 8, 2007 at 4:34 pm | 6 Comments
“Sheesh”, you’re probably thinking at this point, “What more could this dude have possibly wasted money on lately?”
One of my goals is to rip my entire CD collection to MP3 files on the computer, like my bandmate DJ Smallberries recently did. I want to get everything into iTunes, or whatever will eventually replace it. Maybe someday I’ll be able to just get rid of the CD collection. Although to be strictly legal, I suppose I’d have to destroy them rather than sell them if I’ve got all the tracks ripped to the computer.
Anyway, I’ve got over 4100 albums, and many of those are double discs. Some are even triple disc sets or box sets. That’s a lot of music. And do I trust iTunes to rip ‘em the way I want ‘em? You bet I don’t. I use Exact Audio Copy. And am I happy with a standard 128kps bit rate? You bet I’m not! Smallberries determined that 256kps is the maximum bit rate at which he can tell the difference in audio fidelity, so that’s what he ripped his collection with (also using EAC). Since we’re similar in age and hearing abilities, I trust that’s probably a good rate to use to rip my collection also. I just know that 128 doesn’t do it for me – I hate that flanging effect on the cymbals caused by the higher compression, for example.
So, in order to rip that many CDs, I’d need more space than the 250GB internal drive on my computer, or the 250GB external drive I presently have. I estimate I’ll need between 350-400GB. Plus, I would need room for the digital albums I’ve downloaded from commercial sources like eMusic (which rips at variable bit rates that average around 190kps) and for future CDs and digital downloads. I want everything on one drive, not split between drives. And I would prefer to have it on an external drive so that I can easily move the files when I upgrade to a new computer.
So, I just bought another drive – this new one is a Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 2.0 External Disk Drive (WDE1U5000N), which I got for $118 and free shipping. It seems to work pretty good, though it has the same time delay problem when starting up as my WD MyBook 250GB drive. If you don’t use them for awhile, they go “asleep” and it takes them a little while to wake up when you want to access them. Access speed doesn’t seem to be much of an issue though once it’s woken up.
So now I have to actually buckle down and do the ripping. One problem is that I previously ripped hundreds of albums using iTunes and other programs at 128kps (both in MP3 and AAC formats) and I need to redo all of those. Oh well, that will allow me to get them cataloged more completely in Music Collector, as well as getting the cover art on the computer for iTunes, the iPods, and Music Collector.
Yeah, like I’ll have time for all that…
Next: Another crazy thing I’m doing with my MP3 files.
Pet Peeve Of The Day (this one is bound to be a bit controversial): Charities. I’m getting a little tired of being hit up for a dollar or two every time I buy something at the grocery store or a specialty store, or when I’m buying a movie ticket, or when I’m eating at a restaurant, or at numerous other places that charge money. It takes up extra time and it preys on public guilt. I like to pick the charities I donate to (#1 is this one). And though I’m sure they’re all worthy causes, I’m a bit annoyed at having to pony up for every Tom, Dick, and Jane Cause that some corporation feels is important. My guess is that charities must be having a hard time of it lately and this is all part of a shifting paradigm aimed at the heart of consumerdom. I used to give in out of guilt, but lately I’m just not feeling that guilt, only annoyance. I wonder if this strategy is causing a general backlash against the charities, or if it’s only selfish, uncaring me that is taking a petulant stand. “What’s he bitching about? He just spent $118 on a disk drive he doesn’t really need and will probably never fill up! What’s $1 to Help Prevent Floppy Ear Syndrome compared to that?”
Latre.
Comments
6 Responses to “Summer Of Upgrades, Six”
September 8th, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
Neat project. Is there any way you could use a CD changer to automate it somewhat?
September 8th, 2007 @ 6:37 pm
No, I’m too nitpicky and demand too much control.
September 8th, 2007 @ 8:30 pm
Solve both problems at once – hire someone with a terrible disease to feed CDs into the drive for you.
I have to think of everything around here.
September 8th, 2007 @ 10:01 pm
You can, of course, adjust iTunes to rip at higher than 128. But EAC remains the gold standard for accuracy (if not speed)… I generally use either CDEx or dB PowerAmp converter: both are set for joint-stereo VBR with 224 minimum. They average around 256, so I’m at about the same standards you are. More CDs, though…and no plans to rip all of ‘em…because that would be, you know, insane.
I mean “you know” in the last sentence literally!
September 9th, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
If I didn’t have my insane obsessions, what would I have to live for?
September 9th, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
Re: charities, I know what you mean, and when somebody asks me to give, I just say, “Not today, thanks.” That implies that perhaps tomorrow I’ll give something. Though I probably won’t. Like you, I have my fave charity and I have my credit card debited every month now instead of just giving a gift at the end of the year; their monthly giving program provides them with a more predictable source of income. So I can say no without guilt.