TimH

Foodfiend, yeah, I've realized that in hindsight. I was trying to keep the final file/path of the drive unchanged, as opposed to relocating it to the Airport and re-pointing iTunes to it after the copy was done. Oh well. Kuma, ha, yes, let's hope so. I guess the positive thing here is maybe this thread will help someone in the future with my particular situation. Other than here it was surprisingly difficult to find advice for my specific situation.

Foodfiend and Kuma, the drive is in fact in an enclosure, from OWC/Macsales, a Mercury Elite Pro drive. Used them in the past and very happy. Wwald, yes indeed I considered a more "direct" method but I wanted to try to adhere to Kirk's "Best practices" approach that he linked above by keeping the folder/file path consistent with the desired end result and using the iTunes "Organize library" function to do the copying.

Yes, foodfiend, music files are on an external hard drive connected to an Airport Extreme via USB. And yes, it's still copying. Day Three now.

Yeah wwaldman, see my original post for the setup. So, yes, I'm assuming that between the wifi and at least one place in the chain being USB 2.0 rather than 3 the speed is way slow. Stuck with it for now but would probably do it differently in the future. Just hope one of the drives doesn't give out before it's done. Thanks for following up.

So, I bought a powered USB hub and connected the old and new HD to it and the Airport Extreme and followed Kirk's "best practices" method of copying the music using the "Organize Library" function in iTunes. It seems to be working but it is absurdly slow. I knew it would take awhile with 800GB but we are now in Day Two. I'll post here if and when it finishes. In the meantime I was wondering, what's the difference between using the "Organize Library" method and just doing the more typically used "Add to Library" method?

OK, wwaldman, advice noted, thanks. Thanks Kirk for the link to the procedure. It is clear and easy to follow and I like the logic of it. My situation is a bit different, but you probably knew that. I could still use a little more guidance. Since I'm not moving my music from an internal hard drive to an external hard drive, rather, swapping an old external drive with a new one (in the same location), and since the darn Airport Extreme only has one USB port, I'm not sure how to have both EHD's simultaneously connected in order to do the big "copy". Any suggestions? Thanks again.

OK, thanks wwaldman, I'll give it a try.

Greetings, I have my music files on an external hard drive and it is exhibiting worrisome signs of age (it's seven years old, getting close to capacity, getting unable to find songs, slow response time, etc) so I am going to replace it with a new, larger one (going from 1TB to 2TB, I have around 800gb of music). I thought about just trying to rebuild the .itl file but I think it's probably best just to replace the thing. My music set-up is: Macbook Pro (2015, Sierra 10.12.5) running latest iTunes (12.6.1.25), the iTunes library files like .itl and .xml are located on this Macbook ~~wifi ~~Airport Extreme (also 2015) __USB__external hard drive with music files. (The Macbook Pro connects to my home theater/stereo receiver for playback via HDMI and optical). I have a backup of the external drive and will soon make an additional copy when I get the new drive. So...I would welcome any guidance, ahead of time, on how to do the swap. I have read things like "just point iTunes at the new drive and you're good to go". Being paranoid and not that confident with concepts like "pointing iTunes", I could use some more detailed hand-holding. Do I leave the itl and xml files where they are, as they are? Do I need to make sure the folder/file path to the music on the new drive is exactly the same as on the old one? Any assistance here is truly appreciated. I've seen too many stories of either lost music or duplicated music. (Oh yeah, I don't use the Cloud or Apple Music.) Tim

Thanks for the clarification Barrows, I was obviously confuzzed. I'm with you, the original stereo mixes are fine and as you say, pretty definitive at this point, so likewise looking forward to a decent remastering job. Still not sure if I really need the scarf, marbles, and coasters.... Tim

Agree Barrows, likewise on the fence on the DSOTM immersion box. Also, if I've read the product descriptions correctly, I don't see a Blu-ray 24/96 two channel Guthrie re-mix anywhere. There is a 24/96 of the "Original stereo mix(1973)" and lots of multichannel and even quad. I must be misreading it because I can't imagine not providing what to me would be a major point of this whole effort - the re-mix in hi-res. Correct me if I'm wrong. There is mention in a couple of places about digital downloads to be announced so perhaps that's where we might be able to obtain the above without buying the box. Tim

This is indeed exciting news. A bit off-topic, but what exactly are "concert screen films"? I assume it's not live performance footage, but rather the mini-movies that play on the screens behind them? Always enjoyed the little trip on the hospital bed down the hall during "On The Run". Tim

Did anyone else see the short write-up in the latest Rolling Stone magazine titled "Computer Audio Goes Hi-Fi"? The subtitle is "The age of the MP3 is over - how to get killer sound from the computer you already have." They make reference to ripping at CD quality or visiting HDTracks for hi-res downloads; suggest two mid-range USB DACs; and suggest Decibel or JRiver Media Center interface. Purists could argue endlessly about their recommendations but I think this shows real progress with the mass market and is great news for what we enjoy around here. Perhaps CD quality and even hi-res downloads from the likes of iTunes and Amazon aren't too far away. Tim

One decision would be physical location. Will it be directly attached to the mini or placed elsewhere? I have found that even the drives recommended as the quietest still have a little bit of a hum or hiss to them. (Except solid state of course, but that's another story.) So, I have mine in another room attached to my Apple Airport Extreme router. The brand I settled on is by Other World Computing (OWC/Macsales). They cater to Mac people and I've been very happy with it. I have another generic (Seagate I think) drive that I occasionally back up with and keep in a fireproof safe. Tim

There is a thread going about sources for CD quality downloads and Rhino was mentioned. Has anyone had any recent successful (or not) experience with them? My most recent attempt in September was not good. Just wondering if maybe they got their act together since then. The_Other_Tim

Hey bottlerocket, yes, a good reminder. However, as you referred to, I tried to do a digital order from Rhino in September and failed miserably. It just kept having technical problems. Eventually got a refund. Like you said, maybe they've since gotten better. Really too bad, since I agree the catalog is the best of what's out there and I was pretty excited when they started. At least perhaps it's a sign that bigger vendors are starting to notice the market. The_Other_Tim