Simon

I'm putting these question sup again in the hope that someone (Eloise perhaps?) may know..... Thank you Eloise - very helpful. Some follow up questions: 1. I can see the benefit in doing everything [digitising in a lossless format] through Apple because they'll still be supported (in years to come) - and I intend this to be an ongoing process. Are there really many CDs that iTunes cannot handle in your experience? 2. If one has ALAC files, am I right in thinking that because all the underlying digital data is there, that I could always convert it to FLAC later? 3. Once I have ripped my CDs into a lossless format, I don't plan on controlling all the music from a Mac, but plan on having a dedicated hard drive co-located with the hifi. Does anyone know the best device that can act as a DAC into my Rotel hifi, but allows me to choose what to listen to easily from the hard drive? 4. What's the best hard drive to get that I can co-locate with my Rotel hifi? Simon

Thank you Eloise - very helpful. Some follow up questions: 1. I can see the benefit in doing everything through Apple because they'll still be supported (in years to come) - and I intend this to be an ongoing process. Are there really many CDs that iTunes cannot handle in your experience? 2. If one has ALAC files, am I right in thinking that because all the underlying digital data is there, that you are saying I could always convert it to FLAC later? 3. Once I have ripped my CDs into a lossless format, I don't plan on controlling all the music from a Mac, but plan on having a dedicated hard drive co-located with the hifi. Does anyone know the best device that can act as a DAC into my Rotel hifi, but allows me to choose what to listen to easily from the hard drive 4. What's the best hard drive to get that I can co-locate with my Rotel hifi? Simon

I'm looking for clear advice on the best way to digitise about 2,000 CDs. My goal is to: * digitise onto a lossless format - probably FLAC or Apple * keep all on a hard drive * be able to play on my traditional hifi * then compress some disks into lossy format to play on an iPhone etc. * I want to avoid setting it all up then having to re-do it all in a few years' time. I am an Apple user but would prefer not to get locked into an Apple only format. I'm seeking advice on: 1. Whether I can do this using Toast and my iMac? 2. The best format to use to ensure longevity and non redundancy of the format 3. Any guidelines on the most suitable hard drives - I will purchase a dedicated hard drive - fyi I have a Rotel hifi system. Thanks