murphyslaw1978 wrote: Hi Art,

That's good, but there are still plenty of ways to lose data - theft, flood, fire, lightening, virus, corruption.

...and pinholes

I am a big proselytizer of good backups. And they need to be offsite or its not a backup, its a copy. And copies can be destroyed right along with the the original. I use Crashplan because its cheap and its set-it-and-forget-it. I have data I can't reproduce regardless of time and effort e.g. I'm big into photography as well and have over 70,000 digital pictures. These are the keepers. I delete the crap shots and many similar "duplicate" shots as I'm post processing.

Back to the other thing I commented on... I can start a new thread if we don't want this one derailed but I firmly believe that you can equal a VERY high dollar CD setup with a much cheaper computer-based setup. I posted merely one link but as I said, I also take note when I see people driving quarter million dollar speakers at shows with a Mac front end rather than a CD transport. Sure they often use special software and they are still using a good DAC, but the software cost is trivial, and they'd be using the same DAC with a CD transport.

I don't consider that you have derailed this topic. I am new to the idea of ripping my CDs to flac files and playing them from my computer. So, I appreciate the comments addressing the various issues related to the time and effort I'll invest in storing my entire music collection digitally.

I am enjoying the Peachtree DAC-iT. I believe I hear a significant difference in the sound when I play my CDs through this DAC. I have listened to a few of my ripped flac files, using the player included with the Musichi software. The sound is nice.

I'll keep plugging until I have at least ripped my classical discs. I plan to purchase a separate computer to dedicate to playing these files when I am ready to stop ripping. The computer will be connected to the DAC via a short USB cable and the DAC will be connected to my system with a standard RCA-type audio cable. The HD will be connected to the dedicated computer visa a USB cable.

I plan to then retire my CD changers.

I estimate that it will take at least a year for me to rip all of my classical CDs.

Happy Listening,

Art

Ripping Progress Update:

Well, I am knee-deep into my ripping project. I have ripped over 500 CDs thus far - about 22% of my total collection. I am focused at present upon my classical CDs, which comprise the majority of my collection. I have learned how to categorize my CDs and I have streamlined the ripping process as much as possible.

In the process, I am re-discovering my music. I have dedicated an older PC, running Windows 10 Professional as my Music Player PC. This PC resides within my music system rack and is connected to my Peachtree DAC. I have a Seagate 3 TB HD connected to this PC because I anticipate that the 500 GB HD in the PC will be inadequate to handle the entire music file. I am ripping and storing in Low Compression FLAC files.

My new PC ( a Toshiba) is running Windows 10 Home and I am using this PC for the ripping and storing process, then copying the files to the Seagate HD for playback. I am using Remote Desktop on both computers to remotely control the Music PC from my PLP.

So far, so good. I continue to be impressed with the sound improvements resulting from listening to the FLAC files through my Peachtree DAC.

I still have a long way to go to finish the ripping and storage process. In NE Tennessee, Spring has Sprung and I am on the golf course almost every day. My goal is to average 10 CDs converted per day. So far, I am well ahead of my goal.

Happy listening to all,

Art

Art,

It's been a while and I was wondering how you've been. I'm glad the seasons have turned and you are hitting the course regularly. Sounds like a moderate pace and a good balance.

That's some great progress on an impressive collection! Sounds like you have almost 2500 CDs? That's incredible. Between you and Anthem, you guys have enough music to fill the Smithsonian!

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi T Cobe,

Yes, I have been busy lately. When I decided to purchase a new computer, initially I considered the purchase of a basic machine to dedicate to my music system. But, after a couple of false starts and some further consideration, I decided to "retire" my then-current Toshiba personal PC to dedicate it to my music system - which created the necessity to purchase a new PC for my personal use. I chose a mid-priced Toshiba running Windows 10 Home. All of our PCs are Toshiba - we have never had a crash and never had a hardware failure with any of them and the oldest one, now completely retired, is still functional (so old that it is running Windows Vista).

Purchasing a new PC for personal use brings forth all of the agonies and issues related to converting to a new PC. And, at least in my experience, Microsoft gets in the way as often as being helpful. After much effort, more than a few choice comments directed toward the folks at Microsoft, and several glasses of "spiritus fermentus", the job was done.

My older Toshiba, now move to the music system, is running Windows 10 Professional. For reasons known only to Microsoft, the Remote Desktop feature in Windows 10 is not implemented completely across all versions of Windows 10. Remote Desktop is implemented in Windows 10 Professional, but not in Windows 10 Home. However, it turns out that I can use Remote Desktop from my new PC to control my older Music PC. But, not the other way around. So, I am using my new PC to remotely control the music player in my Music PC, which is a great help and eliminates the need to physically go to the Music PC to select music, pause play, etc.

So, when I sit and work, or sit and read, I listen to music already ripped while happily ripping more, one disc at a time.

Best,

Art