Hi All
New member to the forum. Have been hovering for a while trying to get my head around what I need to do to complete my set up.
I listen to most of my music now through my laptop. Over the years I have gathered music and ripped at various bitrates and qualities as I was new to the whole computer audio but now I have the space, time and funds to do it properly.
Component wise I think I’m OK for now but have allowed for future upgrades…
Macbook Pro
1tb External hard drive (poss a NAS) – yet to be purchased
Either Cambridge audio dacmagic or Arcam Rdac
Nad C350 Amp
High Quality Interconnects and speaker cable
Qual 11l (or soon to be Monitor audio BX2’s or Quad 22l2 floor standers)
Decent Stands for the Speakers
Not high end by any means but this should give excellent sound for the price
So, now I need to understand the following
I need to re rip all my music as it’s at shoddy bit rates etc. I use I tunes mainly with Tuneup to get artwork etc. I also have downloaded all sorts of music at various bitrates which I want to wipe clean and re download/buy the CD and rip at at full cd quality.
What software is best to rip the music through(I believe Itunes is ALAC but I need FLAC software if I ever want SACD, keep reading about XLD but have no idea how this would fit in!)
What is the best work flow/set up/configuration to rip CDs to my external NAS/drive.
My DAC needs to be able to handle SACD (24/96???)
Any other info that helps!!
My dream is to have my music collection stored digitally (CD’s as back up tucked away in the loft), wirelessly sent through my macbook to my system….simple really!!!
I have approx 1000 albums (that need re ripping to ALAC or flac) which I will do over time in order of what I listen to the most…..Is there a music streaming service that streams at full CD quality?
Many Thanks in advance as I’m a complete newb to this …..
