● Transferring Music from CD's to a Music Server
Extracting music from your CD's and transferring the files to your computer or music server can be very time consuming, assuming of course that you care about sound quality and you wish to do a good job—and if you listen to classical music it can be especially time consuming. So if you would like to set up a music server but don't want to spend the time necessary to get your CD library transferred you can simply call us and we will take care of getting it done for you.
However if you wish to devote untold hours to doing so yourself here are some suggestions:
Cleaning your CD's
If your CD's are new then you can simply blow any residual dust off with a photographer's bulb-type air blower. But if you CD's have some fingerprints on them you can run them under water and use your fingers to sweep them radially. Then use a smooth, clean cloth to dry them by sweeping radially from the center to the edge. If you can't get them clean that way then there are commercially available CD cleaning kits that you can obtain.
CD/DVD Computer Drives for Ripping
Unfortunately there are no high end CD drives for computers. And obviously some drives are better than others. We have had pretty good luck with a Plextor PX-880SA drive—although there certainly could be some unit-to-unit variability so YMMV (your mileage may vary). Once in while you may find a CD that won't work in the Plextor PX-880SA, or whatever drive you are utilizing, so if you have an older CD-ROM (not DVD/CD combo drive) you might find that though it is slower it might work on those problem CD's. If you have more than one computer of course you can try ripping on each of them and see which one has the drive that does the best job reading the CD's. You will also find that some drives rip more quickly than others.
Computer Hard Drives and SSD's for Music Storage
For SSD's (Solid State Drive) we are currently using the Intel MLC versions with good results. The Intel SSD SLC versions, while longer lasting, are quite a bit more expensive so for most people they aren't cost effective for storing music files at this time.
With every passing year hard drives are continually getting larger. Currently we are using either the Western Digital 1TB RE3 WD1002FBYS hard disks or the Western Digital 2TB RE4-GP WD2002FYPS hard disks for storing music files with good results. [Note: RE stands for RAID edition and that is one of the reasons why we are utilizing these two particular models.]
RAID
RAID is an acronym for "redundant array of inexpensive disks". We recommend using either RAID 1, 5 or 6 for redundancy on your music server. Alternatively if you are using a Netgear NAS (network attached storage) unit then we recommend using either RAID 1 or xRAID.
File Naming
If you are using Exact Audio Copy here are some tip: Before ripping any music, make sure that you set up Exact Audio Copy the way that you wish your name your files. One order that is possible is:
"%A" - %C - %N - %T
"%A" = CD or track artist
"%C" = CD title
"%N" = Track #
"%T" = Track title
"-" = a dash
However the method above can sometimes result in file names that are too long. So if you don't want to do as much text editing, this is the order that we recommend:
%N - %T
"%N" = Track #
"%T" = Track title
If you use this latter approach then you need to first create a folder for Artist. Then inside the Artist folder you need to create a folder for Album. Inside the Album folder you then would have your files which would be named with Track # and Track Title.
So it would look like this:
(Artist folder) / (Album folder) / (Track #) - (Track Title)
Which in Media Monkey would be this:a\<Artist>\<Album>\<Track#> - <Title>
The advantage to this second approach is that you won't have as much of a problem with long file names, especially with classical music. If you start working ripping files and then look at them in Media Monkey you will discover all of this for yourself.
But whatever file naming method and folder hierarchy you use, once you select it you should stay with it and not change it or you will create extra complications that you then will have to sort out.
Compilation CDs of Various Artists
If you have a compilation CD with a number of different artists on it then you may wish to activate the option in Exact Audio Copy for that precise purpose which is under EAC Options>Filename>"use various artists naming scheme".
File Name Length
With classical music especially you should be careful to not make the file names too long. If you do you may not be able to rename the file to a shorter file name. Plus you may even have trouble deleting it. If you do have trouble deleting it, you can move the file folder to the trash, recopy the good files back to a clone of the original file folder, and then re-rip the files that had names which were too long.
Also if the file name is too long when you copy it to another hard drive you will not be able to do so without a tilde (~) shortening of the name which can mean that your music server software will not give you any metadata. Then you will have to redo the original file transfer or go through a process of renaming copies of the files.
File Folder Organization
Before you start transferring your music it is important to think about how you will organize your recordings on your music server/computer. Of course you could put everything into one folder entitled "Music". Alternatively you could have a "Music" folder and inside that you could have folders named:
- Classical
- Jazz
- Rock
- Folk
Your collection might have many more categories than just those four of course!
For instance you might wish to break Jazz into two categories:
- Jazz
- Jazz Vocal
Or you might wish to further subcategorize Jazz into something like this:
- Dixieland
- Swing
- Bop
- Modal
- Cool
- Free
- Smooth
- Fusion
- Latin
Obviously your music collection—how large it is and what it is comprised of—and how you like to organize your music will determine how far you may wish to go in terms of categorization. If you are unsure of how to categorize a recording you could always use The All Music Guide which is an extensive database of just about every musician, recording, and song ever made.
However you arrange your categories, in each of those main folders should be "Artist" folders for each artist in that category.
So for a Rock collection you might have various groups such as:
- The Beatles
- Jimi Hendrix
- Led Zeppelin
- U2
Note that in the above example the listing is alphabetized such that the "The" is ignored for The Beatles.
For a "Classical" music folder there could also be folders for composers such as "Bach", "Mozart", "Beethoven", etc. In those composer folders could be folders for soloist (for example "Pollini" or "Horowitz" or "Stern") or conductor ("Karajan" or "Abbado" or "Bernstein") or soloist/conductor ("Pollini; Abbado" or "Stern; Bernstein").
Here are some specific suggestions and examples to get you thinking about how to organize your files:
The Naming of an Artist or Group
Think about how to name artists or groups. For instance "The Beatles" could be under "T" or you may wish to have them under "B" for "Beatles". Note that in some music server software (MediaMonkey music server software is one example) there may be the option to ignore the word "The" in the name of a band so that The Beatles would be listed alphabetically under "B" rather than "T".
Or for instance there are many different possible ways to spell Tchaikovsky, (Tchaikowsky, Tschaikowsky, Tsjaikovski, Tchaikowski, etc.).
The ideal is to make sure that each musician, group, or composer is always spelled the same way—which may mean that you have to retype some of the metadata in order to make your collection properly searchable.
Folder Hierarchy
Below the "Artist" folder level in the hierarchical tree structure there would then be an individual folder for each "Album"—the name of which would be the name, abbreviated or not, of the album. In each album folder would be the files of the actual tracks or movements as well as the track numbers. Most people prefer to have the track numbers before the track name rather than after—but ultimately that is a personal preference.
So then a hierarchical folder tree could look like this: Music>Genre>Artist>Album
Below are some real world examples which will illustrate various aspects of categorization for you to consider:
The Beatles: Abbey Road (2009 remastered CD)
For example:
Music>Rock>Beatles>Abbey_Road>songs
For Abbey Road there are 17 songs so there would be 17 files in the "Abbey_Road" folder.
Since the Beatles albums were remastered in 2009, if you have that new better sounding remastered version then you could include that information too. So then the folder tree would look like this:
Music>Rock>Beatles>Abbey_Road_2009>songs
(Note that the track numbers can be either before or after the name of the song in the file name for each track. The method we have normally use is track # before track name but as long as you always do it the same way you can do it either way.)
Note that in this example the remastering year and the rerelease year are the same, although there are cases when it can be different.
Bach: The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge) - played by pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva
Alternatively a hierarchical folder tree could look like this:
Music>Genre>Composer>Work>Artist>movements
For example:
Music>Classical>Bach>Art_of_Fugue>Nikolayeva>movements
[Note: There are 20 movements in The Art of the Fugue so there would be 20 files in the last folder entitled "Nikolayeva".]
There is another aspect to consider too. Let's say that you have The Art of Fugue that spans two CD's as in the case of this release—as The Art of Fugue actually starts in the middle of the first CD at Track #7 and runs through to the end of the 2nd CD. Then you may wish to put all of the tracks of that piece into one folder. If you do this then you would need to redo the track #'s for the 2nd CD so that they are arranged in the proper playing order. In addition you might wish to create one more folder for the first 6 tracks of the CD in this particular example.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - conducted by Herbert von Karajan
Sometimes a conductor does the same piece more than once. For instance von Karajan recorded at least 7 different performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He recorded 4 performances in mono (1947 Vienna Philharmonic & 1955 Vienna Symphony & 1955 London Philharmonia & 1957 Berlin Philharmonic) and 3 in stereo (1963, 1977, 1984 with the Berlin Philharmonic).
So then the hierarchical folder tree could look like this:
Music>Genre>Composer>Work>Artist_date>Movements
For example:
Music>Classical>Beethoven>Symphony_No9>Karajan_1963>tracks
[Note: Here there are 4 movements so there would be 4 files or tracks in the last folder.]
Then to make things even more complicated there are remastered versions of these performances available. So you could add in the remastering date of either 1997 or 2003—(which in the following example is 1997)—in which case the tree could look like this:
Music>Classical>Beethoven>Symphony_No9>Karajan_1963_2003>tracks
You could also name the artist Karajan_BPO which is the abbreviation for Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. (Alternatively you could abbreviate it as Karajan; Berlin.)
So then the tree would look like this:
Music>Classical>Beethoven>Symphony_No9>Karajan_BPO_1963_2003>tracks
Optionally, though it isn't necessary, you could also add in the release date if you wish so that would mean even a 3rd year designation. The reason for this is that, with at least one particular version (originally recorded in 1963) of von Karajan's Beethoven Ninth, first there was the original mastering for CD, then a 1997 remastering, and then a 2nd remastering done in 2003. However there have been more than 3 release dates as there have been a number of different CD pressings in different CD packaging.
The remastering date is the important one as that will affect the sound quality. However it isn't always easy to find out what the remastering date actually is as opposed to the release date which is easier. It depends upon how much you wish to know which version it is that you are listening to and how much time you are willing to invest in doing the requisite research.
In this particular example, at last count there were 21 different CD releases currently available that contain a von Karajan Beethoven's Ninth. You can see a listing of them all here.
Faure's Requiem - conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
Alternatively a conductor might record 2 different versions of the same piece. For instance there is an 1893 chamber version of Faure's Requiem and a 1901 concert version. The latter version was rewritten for a larger group and included more instruments.
So then the hierarchical folder tree could look like this:
Music>Genre>Composer>Work_date>Conductor>tracks
So for example:
Music>Classical>Faure>Requiem_1893>Herreweghe>movements
And then the listing for the other work would look like this:
Music>Classical>Faure>Requiem_1901>Herreweghe>movements
[Note there are 7 movements so there would be 7 files or tracks in the last folder.]
Compilations
If you have a compilation CD with a number of different artists, then you may wish to put each track into their respective artist's folder. Alternatively you may wish to include the artist name as a part of each track name, either at the beginning or end (possibly in parentheses).
Some music server software has an option which will handle compilations. In MediaMonkey software for example the "Artist" name can be different for each track—while at the same time the Album Artist can be listed as the same such as "Various". This means that all of the tracks will show up in one album but you still will be able to see the name of each individual artist for each individual track.
Final Thoughts on File Folder Organization
As you think about your collection, you may do it differently from the examples given above. For instance you might wish to further divide "Classical" into the various eras. And/or you might wish to divide "Classical" into categories such as:
- Orchestral
- Solo Piano
- String Quartet
- Choral
- Opera
Then under a folder such as Orchestral you could you have further subdivisions such as:
- Symphony
- Piano Concerto
- String Concerto
Of course you could further divide String Concerto into:
- Violin Concerto
- Cello Concerto
- Triple Concerto
Or for instance you might wish to rip a particular CD as one file—rather than the conventional way which is have an individual file for each individual track which then could be assembled into playlists. But however you do it, it is important to plan out an appropriate folder and file organization scheme and then stick to it.
Album Art
A nice touch is to add in the Album Art as you rip a CD. You can include the album art file in the same folder as the music files so that it is easily accessible. There are several sites which you can copy and paste from in order to get album art if you don't already have it.
http://www.albumartexchange.com/ - excellent quality large images, mostly for popular music (for search use exact spelling)
http://www.lala.com/ - many large higher quality images - though occasionally the contrast has been over-boosted
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/index.asp - after drilling down image quality very good (good advanced search, site is slow)
http://www.emusic.com/ - many large higher quality images (database large but not complete) (poor search function though)
http://www.cduniverse.com/default.asp - many better quality images (large database)
http://images.google.com/ image quality varies greatly (average hit-or-miss search function)
http://allmusic.com/ - quality of images not great (huge database)
http://www.amazon.com/ - an enormous collection of images and when expanded many are good (excellent search function)
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/main.jsp - quality of images not great (classical music only) (superb search function)
http://www.hbdirect.com/ quality of images not great - relatively large database
The first four sometimes have higher quality album cover images that can be seen if you click on the image to expand it—although sometimes if you click on the image in Amazon you can get good quality scans too. However the expanded Amazon scans are usually surrounded by a very large white border--which if you wish to perform that extra step can be cropped out in Picasa or any other photo editor.
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At the same time as you add the album cover artwork you also have the opportunity to add additional artist and/or album info in text form which you can write yourself or copy-and-paste. For instance you might wish to add in the name of the label or a list of additional albums by a particular artist that you would like to eventually acquire.
Ripping
We recommend that you use Exact Audio Copy to rip your CD's to WAV files. Obviously with the large hard disk or SSD drives available today it is both unnecessary and sonically deleterious to use lossy compression. Alternatively if you wish to use FLAC (or some other type of lossless compressed files) that is your choice. One advantage to using FLAC is for embedded metadata.
Specifically in Exact Audio Copy make sure you use:
- Secure mode
- "High" Error Recovery Quality
If you get a track that rips to less than 100% in terms of quality, you can always highlight that track and try ripping it again. Although sometimes if CD's have been scratched there is no way to accurately transfer the affected tracks. And sometimes CD have defective tracks from a bad pressing or plating right out of the shrinkwrap. We've even seen brand new CD's that were scratched before they were shrinkwrapped!
Data Redundancy & Backup
It is important to have a good backup scheme. The best approach however is to employ redundancy and as well as both onsite and offsite backup.
We recommend using either RAID 1, 5 or 6 for redundancy on your music server or NAS (network attached storage) unit. In addition to the RAID redundancy you should also have at least one external backup of your music files. Ideally you would have another backup or two offsite.
It is a lot of work to transfer a whole library of 100's or 1000's of CD's; you won't believe how many hours it takes until you try it for yourself! So make sure that you do it right the first time and back it all up properly!
How much time does it take to transfer a CD collection?
If you decide to do it yourself you will probably spend far, far more time ripping and organizing your CD collection than you would ever imagine—especially if you wish to do a high quality job! If you are retired and wish to make this a hobby or if you have plenty of spare time in the evenings and weekends and wish to use your time to do this then by all means go right ahead. If you are unsure whether you wish to tackle this yourself then you could try doing some CD's yourself and see how you feel. Make sure that you test out your results in Media Monkey (or whatever software you are using) before you do too many as you don't want to have to redo your entire collection once you learn how you would rather have done it!
For most people though it is recommended that you bring in or ship your CD collection to us and have it professionally transferred with proper searchable metadata and album art. After all time is a precious commodity!