Making hundreds of cd accessible and portable?

[bubs_42]

I'll try to make this short I have a shit load of CD's. The reason I still buy then is that I can take them where ever I go, I usually go every other week and buy 5 or so more. I have done the iTunes thing, where I ripped a bunch. But after my desktop took a dive and we moved to a laptop, I cannot access any of those CD's .

So what's the best way to be able to make my Library Digital, portable, and accessible? Without paying a monthly fee for shit I already paid for. This way I can leave the hard copies at home. 

[kizanski]

14 minutes ago, bubs_42 said:

...I usually go every other week and buy 5 or so more.

So you're the one!

[Jakeboy]

I am still doing the iTunes thing...but since my IPod Classic dies and cannot be replaced, I bought a Sony Walkman that with a SIM card will hold my entire library of @20k songs. Digital, portable, and accessible. I spent a lot of time ripping cds onto iTunes back in the 2000s.....

[kizanski]

CDs...??    Sony Walkman...??

What fucking year is this?

[Steve Haynie]

An external hard drive can be bought cheaper every year.  Get one for back up of all your files.  Get another external hard drive to back up your external hard drive. 

[hamerhead]

I have 6 or 8 Discmans - garage, shed, mixing board, right here at this PC, some on a shelf for when these crap out. I pick them up if we're out garage saleing. They're handy and sound better than MP3s.

But if you want to take a boatload of music with you, use flash drives. I mean, you'll still need something to plug them in to, but they hold as much as you could want in a pretty small place. 

Why didn't Sony make a Flashman?

[kizanski]

4 minutes ago, hamerhead said:

Why didn't Sony make a Flashman?

They did.  Don't recall what they called it, though.  i had one when I worked for Sony Electronics c.2003, after I found out that the Discman with the skip buffer wasn't worth a shit if you wanted to use it while you ran.
The one I had (below) worked pretty well, but I think it only had 256MB of memory.  Eventually, this thing called the iPod came out.
Sony pretty much invented/developed this "take your music with you" device, but allowed Apple to drive them out of relevance.

[hamerhead]

Never seen one one those. That's pretty weird.

[django49]

As above, there are many options for storage, so back up is easy. As compared to the effort, years ago, to rip countless thousands of tunes onto a hard drive. Nowadays, it is really quick and easy to duplicate an entire musical library or your favorite parts of it.

An  external drive, preferably solid state as opposed to a spinning drive that is more prone to failure,  is a good option. As are flash drives, which double as a portable sound source that can be plugged into many modern sound systems, not to mention all of our 3 cars. (So much easier than dragging along your favorite 50 homemade  "mix CDs" when hitting the road).

Also not to be overlooked......Memory in cell phones is not expensive. I think I have 7000 or more tunes loaded----I just set it on random play. And I have it all right there if I need to pull out one as a demo at a rehearsal. And I can back up the whole thing, let alone the larger music library at home, very quickly.

Finally, since we mostly seem to replace our cell phones fairly frequently, just keep the old one. It makes a good portable music box long after you stop using it as a phone. ......I can take it along with a set of headphones when working in the yard and have good music without the fear of damaging a new and expensive phone if it falls under the wheels of the tractor. Also, with the Bluetooth function, you can stream to many devices when back in the house. Or, for that matter, to your car system. And it can connect to WiFi.

[mathman]

1 hour ago, Jakeboy said:

I am still doing the iTunes thing...but since my IPod Classic dies and cannot be replaced, I bought a Sony Walkman that with a SIM card will hold my entire library of @20k songs. Digital, portable, and accessible. I spent a lot of time ripping cds onto iTunes back in the 2000s.....

I replaced the spinning hard drive in my ipod classic with a solid state drive and it works great now.  Did you throw the ipod classic away?

Many newer cars or replacement stereos can play from a usb stick.  I still love my ipod classic.  Works great with the updated drive.  I keep all my itunes music on an external drive.

[scottcald]

1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said:

An external hard drive can be bought cheaper every year.  Get one for back up of all your files.  Get another external hard drive to back up your external hard drive. 

I'd say get a drive for in your house and then something like Backblaze.  It's like $60/year/machine and will back up your data.  Set and forget.  

ETA: Also, for $25/year, Apple has iTunes Match.  Whatever you've ripped, it'll see if they have it in their catalog.  If they do, they use that.  If they don't, they upload the one from your machine so you can have it elsewhere.  

And yeah, the iTunes or other services files aren't full quality, but I look at where/how I'm listening.  

[Jakeboy]

46 minutes ago, mathman said:

I replaced the spinning hard drive in my ipod classic with a solid state drive and it works great now.  Did you throw the ipod classic away?

Many newer cars or replacement stereos can play from a usb stick.  I still love my ipod classic.  Works great with the updated drive.  I keep all my itunes music on an external drive.

I don’t know if I still have it. If I do, we’ll be in contact. I freaking loved that thing. My Walkman actually sounds better but is not as intuitive to use AT ALL.

[scottcald]

1 hour ago, kizanski said:

They did.  Don't recall what they called it, though.  i had one when I worked for Sony Electronics c.2003, after I found out that the Discman with the skip buffer wasn't worth a shit if you wanted to use it while you ran.
The one I had (below) worked pretty well, but I think it only had 256MB of memory.  Eventually, this thing called the iPod came out.
Sony pretty much invented/developed this "take your music with you" device, but allowed Apple to drive them out of relevance.

Wow.  It's amazing how Sony operates.  Sometimes their design is so cool and timeless and sometimes, it's ^^^

[Jakeboy]

Sony’s current Walkman...well one of them. It sounds great. 
 

 

[scottcald]

1 hour ago, hamerhead said:

Why didn't Sony make a Flashman?

There were some of the less expensive players that were a flash drive with a tiny screen on it.  They were for Windows machines only, but you plugged them in and dragged a folder in there.  The early ones wouldn't let you shuffle them, so you'd better like the order you had in that folder.  

[scottcald]

1 minute ago, Jakeboy said:

Sony’s current Walkman...well one of them. It sounds great. 
 

 

If it's good enough for Ralph G.......😆

[mathman]

6 minutes ago, Jakeboy said:

I don’t know if I still have it. If I do, we’ll be in contact. I freaking loved that thing. My Walkman actually sounds better but is not as intuitive to use AT ALL.

It is not considered an easy job but it really wasn't too difficult. If you decide to do it, we'll talk and I give you some hints.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Tarkan/SOLOUSD/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_campaign=googlebase&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4aWsk5DS6AIVk5OzCh0qTg5WEAQYASABEgJY7PD_BwE

 

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod+Classic+Hard+Drive+Replacement/564

[scottcald]

47 minutes ago, mathman said:

It is not considered an easy job but it really wasn't too difficult. If you decide to do it, we'll talk and I give you some hints.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Tarkan/SOLOUSD/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_campaign=googlebase&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4aWsk5DS6AIVk5OzCh0qTg5WEAQYASABEgJY7PD_BwE

 

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod+Classic+Hard+Drive+Replacement/564

You definitely have to be patient to do these.  If you're doing it, replace the battery at the same time, even if it's not worn out.  

[kizanski]

1 hour ago, scottcald said:

Sometimes their design is so cool and timeless and sometimes, it's ^^^

Trying to operate it (especially while running) was as confusing as it's visual design.  

[mathman]

2 hours ago, scottcald said:

You definitely have to be patient to do these.  If you're doing it, replace the battery at the same time, even if it's not worn out.  

Good Point!  

[bubs_42]

7 hours ago, kizanski said:

So you're the one!

I'm just stuck in my ways. I'm invested, and the hell if i'm going to pay someone again for the same music I already own. I do wish I would have never started the whole iTunes Thing, I barely use that anymore. 

 

[scottcald]

3 hours ago, kizanski said:

Trying to operate it (especially while running) was as confusing as it's visual design.  

Yeah, looks like they talked about features and built it without anyone actually testing it out. 

[Dutchman]

7 minutes ago, bubs_42 said:

I'm just stuck in my ways. I'm invested, and the hell if i'm going to pay someone again for the same music I already own. I do wish I would have never started the whole iTunes Thing, I barely use that anymore. 

 

I agree!! I’ve got 700+ cd’s ripped to itunes on a desktop. 
Now I use napster. My son had an open slot and gave it to me. Downfall, no internet no music....

[scottcald]

2 minutes ago, Dutchman said:

I agree!! I’ve got 700+ cd’s ripped to itunes on a desktop. 
Now I use napster. My son had an open slot and gave it to me. Downfall, no internet no music....

That’s why I don’t like the subscription stuff. The record companies or whomever currently holds rights can remove something randomly and it’s gone. 

[atomicwash]

10 hours ago, bubs_42 said:

I'll try to make this short I have a shit load of CD's. The reason I still buy then is that I can take them where ever I go, I usually go every other week and buy 5 or so more. I have done the iTunes thing, where I ripped a bunch. But after my desktop took a dive and we moved to a laptop, I cannot access any of those CD's .

So what's the best way to be able to make my Library Digital, portable, and accessible? Without paying a monthly fee for shit I already paid for. This way I can leave the hard copies at home. 

I’d love to sell you a BingBong cd. Contact me at atomicwash AT yah** d*t c*m.

Sample here:

https://bingbongband.bandcamp.com

Cheers, Dan

[gorch]

12 hours ago, bubs_42 said:

So what's the best way to be able to make my Library Digital, portable, and accessible?

The answer, actually, is quite simple. Rip them all in again. Preferably in a lossless format. And this time, make a backup!

In a way, I‘m in the same situation. I tend to buy CDs from small bands at concerts and listen to some special stuff here and there. With the new car, the CD player was lost and I subscribed to Qobuz. They offer CD quality and better. Since, I discovered some stuff I didn‘t know of and missed some stuff I have on CD. Mainstream, brainlessly, is all there. Sometimes I wonder about the quality provided of vintage stuff. Now, it‘s about a one time fee rather than per item pay.
 

If this doesn‘t help, buy a rucksack to wear the playlist.