iPod I need help loading 500 CDs to iPOD Touch

[cscott58]

Thanks everyone for some educational posts. I have 500+ CDs, and am very busy. So I've been waiting and waiting for a good way to get the CDs ripped onto my computer, and then to an iPod Touch. I cannot conceive of sitting and ripping them myself one by one. So I need an automated solution. I don't like the idea of using a service that puts them on an iPOD but then you lose the material with a syncing mistake or if you upgrade.

Now, I think it is very likely Apple, the music artists, the music companies and just about everyone in business does NOT want people to widely rip their CD collection to the iPOD. Why? Because they want you to store or throw away the CDs and buy the music from the store. Easier for you, and lucrative for them. A win win solution, but still takes a lot of time, time I don't have.

So the choices are:
1) Hire a teenager to rip them laboriously, one by one, on a fast computer. They sync to the ipod. Cost $12/hr x .2 hr/CD x 500 CDs = $1200 bucks
2) Set aside the CDs and buy the music a second time thru the mac store. cost = 500 CDs x 10 songs x 50 cents to $1.00/song = $2500 to $5000
3) Use loadpod type service, but risk losing everything if you make a mistake or upgrade your player. Cost = 500 CDs x $1.3 = $650.
4) Find an automated solution. Does anyone know if you can load a multi CD player, then have the player and computer hooked up together, and play/rip the CDs sequentially until finished? Say 100 or 200 CDs a time? Cost = cost of automated player + some teenage labor = $600 + 200 = $800.

Thanks!!

 

[Jason Beck]

Thanks everyone for some educational posts. I have 500+ CDs, and am very busy. So I've been waiting and waiting for a good way to get the CDs ripped onto my computer, and then to an iPod Touch. I cannot conceive of sitting and ripping them myself one by one. So I need an automated solution. I don't like the idea of using a service that puts them on an iPOD but then you lose the material with a syncing mistake or if you upgrade.

Now, I think it is very likely Apple, the music artists, the music companies and just about everyone in business does NOT want people to widely rip their CD collection to the iPOD. Why? Because they want you to store or throw away the CDs and buy the music from the store. Easier for you, and lucrative for them. A win win solution, but still takes a lot of time, time I don't have.

So the choices are:
1) Hire a teenager to rip them laboriously, one by one, on a fast computer. They sync to the ipod. Cost $12/hr x .2 hr/CD x 500 CDs = $1200 bucks
2) Set aside the CDs and buy the music a second time thru the mac store. cost = 500 CDs x 10 songs x 50 cents to $1.00/song = $2500 to $5000
3) Use loadpod type service, but risk losing everything if you make a mistake or upgrade your player. Cost = 500 CDs x $1.3 = $650.
4) Find an automated solution. Does anyone know if you can load a multi CD player, then have the player and computer hooked up together, and play/rip the CDs sequentially until finished? Say 100 or 200 CDs a time? Cost = cost of automated player + some teenage labor = $600 + 200 = $800.

Thanks!!

Just set the preferences to rip cds automatically when you insert a disc. Then when you are done, synch device. Could it be any simpler? You are using Apple software for Jeebus' sake. Seriously now.

 

[Jason Beck]

Just set the preferences to rip cds automatically when you insert a disc. Then when you are done, synch device. Could it be any simpler? You are using Apple software for Jeebus' sake. Seriously now.

Also by the time your done waiting for the replies on these posts you could be halfway done! Well.. or a good way through. haha

 

[mkrishnan]

LOL... If your time is precious enough, then pay the $1200. Otherwise, just set it to auto-rip, auto-eject, leave your notebook on the coffee table, and every time you walk by and see a disc sticking out, pull it out and put in a new one. It honestly is not that bad.

 

[Jason Beck]

Also wtf..? You can rip just about any music cd you want. Insert and rip.
500 times. Might take all day, but it won't be any faster if you hired a "teenager" to come do it. Unless that's what you really want. Some pimply face kid sweating in your house.... now is it?
ahhaah
Just do it yourself.
Please. For our sanity.

This thread made me laugh. It's 10am on Sunday and I just woke up.. can't evengo make my coffee, I am interested in the replies that will surely come.

 

[cscott58]

Thanks....good input. Does anyone know of any automated CD changers (100 to 300 CDs) that work best? (or at all?). Thx

 

[Consultant]

Just do it when you work or surf the web.

It's 5 minutes per cd if you have a fast system.

 

[TJRiver]

Certainly you have to take a bathroom break from time to time in that busy, busy day of yours. Slap a CD in the computer when you walk into the head, and put anther in on the way out to your busy day. A couple of weeks and voi la! one filled up iPod.


I have not seen a cd drive that works like a cd changer, as they are very different critters, looks like you either take the time to rip the cds, or pay someone else to do it.

 

[gan6660]

Ill do it for a $1000!

 

[instaxgirl]

Seriously, just read a book while you do it.

 

[MWPULSE]

It wont seriously take that long to do it, it will be a bit dull, but get all your cds in a pile.. an in pile, laptop, out pile on the other side, n just set it on automatic rip, and eject while your watching tv or sommat will be almost fun lol

PTP

 

[Jason Beck]

meh, I watch porn while I rip cd's.
haha

 

[techfreak85]

Ill do it for a $1000!

Heck, Id probably do it for 200-250.

 

[Blinkwing]

Download them instead?

Just kidding, but 500+ CDs? ... I'd go insane.

 

[alfonsog]

Whenever you get it done don't forget to back it up. I had my iTunes drive crash just after importing 1200 cd's. Now I'm starting over. What really sucked is all were Apple Lossless and all were classical music... which usually needs lots of work fixing track listings... and for me the time-killer is scanning the cover art (usually not available or wrong for classical music)..
This time using mirrored RAID internal drives and and external back up after every batch.

Also if you used option 3, a loadpod service, you could use iPodRip and copy back to iTunes.

 

[notjustjay]

I just went through this same exercise. I don't have 500 CDs, but maybe 300? So I feel your pain.

I just bought a SONOS system, and I am ripping my CDs to store the music on a NAS.

I just did it slowly over a long period of time. I keep a stack of CDs beside the computer (as I type this there are about 6 left... and then I'm finally done!) and as I sit and browse YouTube or Facebook or Macrumors, I run iTunes in the background. iTunes is set to automatically import on CD insertion and automatically eject when complete, so I just pop in a new CD every so often and let it do its thing behind the scenes.

It's taken me about a month, ripping a few CDs at a time this way, but the effort has been hardly noticeable.

 

[trip1ex]

Rip them yourself. You don't have to do it all in one day. You can do a few cds per day.

My recommendation would be to purchase a fast external cd drive to speed things up. Here's an external FW/USB DVD/CD drive. It's $88 plus shipping.

I found that my old pc ripped discs faster and ripped discs my new iMac could not rip (discs that were scratched up a bit.) That's why I recommend purchasing an external drive.

It might take a few months, but do 5-10 cds here and there and you'll get there. No hurry. You waited this long so...


btw, your calculation is off. You can rip 10 cds an hour easy. 50 hours total. $600 max to the teenager @ $12/hr.