Best format or tips for burning my CD collection

Veni Vidi Vici

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Hi all

After spending hours burning my CD's to Windows Media Player, and now realising they are all DRM protected it looks like I will have to re-burn them all to my new laptop (when I buy one).

Are there any tips re type of file I should use so I have the freedom to copy and move to another PC in the future?
 
I would rip everything to FLAC. It's lossless and non-proprietary.
In doing this, you can just go through the arduous task of ripping all your CDs once, and then you can get a script to make any future conversions for you all at once (flac to mp3 etc)
 
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I would rip everything to FLAC. It's lossless and non-proprietary.
In doing this, you can just go through the arduous task of ripping all your CDs once, and then you can get a script to make any future conversions for you all at once (flac to mp3 etc)

Sorry what do you mean by getting a script? I currently use Windows Media Player but I don't think that supports FLAC files so how do I do this?
 
If you're sticking to Windows for your new laptop I couldn't tell you the details (I'm a Linux user), but it's a very easy-to-write computer program that runs at command line, to do something. In your case it would look at every .flac file in your music directory and convert it to an mp3 file in a matching directory.

In linux it would be a .sh file that just contains a series of command-line instructions. Under Windows I believe that it's a .bat file. When you come to it I can probably work it out for you if nobody more windows-savvy can help.

I don't know whether WMP supports flac. Everything *should* (it is a free codec after all), but not all do. I keep my music as .flac on my server, but when streaming to my internet TV I have to use a mirrored directory full of .mp3, as Bravias don't play flac :-(
So for you I'd definitely stand by my original recommendation of flac as your 'master copy'. Then as your working copy I'd take mp3 over wma any day.
 
Foobar 2000 can batch convert FLAC to mp3. I use EAC to rip my CD's to FLAC then convert them using Foobar for use on my mobile devices and car etc.
 
Foobar 2000 can batch convert FLAC to mp3. I use EAC to rip my CD's to FLAC then convert them using Foobar for use on my mobile devices and car etc.

So how do you initially import your CD onto your laptop?
 
Just in case THE AMATUER is not aware -
EAC = Exact Audio Copy

If you just stick EAC into Google you will find all you need to know about it including where to download it from etc :thumbsup:

Mark.
 
If you are an absolute purist then rip to flac, but you sound like a newbie.(no offense). so ripping your CD's to MP3 @ 320kb might be better for you. This means the music is still at a very high quality and can be copied and played by every device, including pod, phones etc, without drm. I would endorse the choice of EAC to rip and convert your CD's but if that is too technical, then Itunes is a friendly alternative BUT you do have to search around in the options to change the filetype to MP3
 

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