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rarora

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
46
0
Would you pay to have your CD's converted to MP3's? Most people have 100+ CD's, that can add up to a lot of weekends and late nights of ripping. Would you pay to have the ripped for you and if so about how much per CD?
 

atari1356

macrumors 68000
Feb 27, 2004
1,582
32
No. I don't pay for things I can easily do myself... and I wouldn't trust the ripping service to do it right. Sometimes CD's have bonus tracks... I like to rip those as a separate track in iTunes.

I'm ripping my entire CD collection onto my desktop PC right now with iTunes. I'll use the iTunes sharing feature and use the PC as a music server since it doesn't get used for anything else right now. :D
 

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
I don't usually pay for things I can do myself--especially when it's something easy.

I ripped all my CDs (over 500) last summer and it took about 2 weeks of evenings and weekends. That really isn't that bad. Actually, now that I think about it I had to start over. I started off ripping to AAC, but halfway through I realized that Tivo won't play AAC so I did them all over again in mp3.

It's too easy to pay someone else to do--plus you want to retain control over track names, organization, etc. It's your music.
 

rarora

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
46
0
Agreed, it's not a difficult process, anyone could do it. It's a time consuming process. I understand your concern about the tagging and organization. Almost all tagging is done via CDDB anyway, so I dont see how that is a problem. If you seriously have the time to rip 500 CD's, then you I'm guessing you aren't a working professional?
 

DavidLeblond

macrumors 68020
Jan 6, 2004
2,321
599
Raleigh, NC
rarora said:
Agreed, it's not a difficult process, anyone could do it. It's a time consuming process. I understand your concern about the tagging and organization. Almost all tagging is done via CDDB anyway, so I dont see how that is a problem. If you seriously have the time to rip 500 CD's, then you I'm guessing you aren't a working professional?

Note he said "evenings and weekends." I'd say he's probably a working professional.
 

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
You know a lot of people pay to get their oil changed, when its a pretty easy task to do yourself.

Personally, if you don't have the time (and you have the money), I don't see a problem paying someone to rip your CDs. Just don't pay too much.
 

gemio17

macrumors regular
Nov 13, 2003
166
0
NYC
hell no. would you pay someone to wipe your butt when you're done too? What is this world coming to?

-Insert CD
-Press import
-walk away or do something else and leave iTunes in the background.
Really not difficult even for a busy person.
 

wrldwzrd89

macrumors G5
Jun 6, 2003
12,110
77
Solon, OH
I say no. I wouldn't trust someone else to rip the music and tag it either via CDDB or by myself for cases where CDDB has no data. Besides, I don't collect CDs anyway, so I'd have no need for such a service - my point is that I wouldn't use it if I had a CD collection.
 

rarora

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
46
0
note that you forgot to multiply your process (quoted below) by 500.

gemio17 said:
hell no. would you pay someone to wipe your butt when you're done too? What is this world coming to?

-Insert CD
-Press import
-walk away or do something else and leave iTunes in the background.
Really not difficult even for a busy person.
 

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
rarora said:
If you seriously have the time to rip 500 CD's, then you I'm guessing you aren't a working professional?
And you'd be wrong. I'm a teacher, working 40+ hours a week, and a graduate student. I'm the poster child for people who don't have a lot of spare time.

You know that you can do other things while ripping a CD, right? In the time it took to write this message I could have imported a whole album. Add 20 more seconds and Fetch Art would have downloaded the cover art.
 

Westside guy

macrumors 603
Oct 15, 2003
6,333
4,152
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
Nope. I don't see the point.

I have fewer CDs than a lot of folks here, but I ripped my 100+ CDs over 1-2 days while working. Since I'm a Web dude / sysadmin, I'm sitting right at the computer anyway. It hardly takes any attention at all with iTunes - just push a CD in, go about your business, and when you hear the CD eject take it out and put the nest one in.

BTW I ripped to AAC (160) since I only listen to music off my iPod or the computer itself; so it wasn't worth the quality vs. portability tradeoff to rip to MP3. Of course, I also don't have a Tivo yet... :( (still trying to convince the wife that it's a basic human need) :D
 

sigamy

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2003
1,392
181
NJ USA
Well, as you can see from the replies, you've asked this question to the wrong crowd. People here not only know how to rip CDs but they probably also enjoy doing it--playing with bitrates, etc.

But...there is a whole world out there. If you are thinking of a small business for nights/weekends I think you could be on to something. You need to find a good set of upper-middle class to upper-class people who love music and want to move into the "next big thing", i.e., the iPod.

Your company can provide an "iPod Programming Service". You can determine the appropriate iPod and accessories for each client, then rip all of their CDs to "prestine digital format" and then download to the iPod and provide back-ups on CD or DVD.

You could handle car and home installations too where you determine if the iPod can be hard-wired into their existing car stereo or if a simple cassette adapter or FM modulator will work.

Find a few rich 30-somethings who don't like to muck with computers and you could be off and running with a nice side business.

I know we all think ripping and downloading to an iPod is a no-brainer but there are 50,000 people for everyone of us who think it is very complicated or who just don't care to do it.
 

aldo

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2003
242
0
England, UK
Well I'm very confused how you would work this out. If you are planning to get people to mail them to you, it's surely going to be very expensive and you will run the risk of getting them broke in the post.

Also, while I know cable and DSL connections are fast, most are capped at extremely limited upstream. If you plan on sending them back, expect 128-512kbit/sec (I know some do more but the max DSL can go to is 1mbit) which is going to be a lot, lot slower than ripping them yourself.

You may have to consider the legality of such a service aswell. I'm sure the RIAA woudln't be too pleased.
 

sigamy

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2003
1,392
181
NJ USA
aldo,

My idea was much more local. I was thinking about local advertising and word of mouth. You would consult with the client in person to determine their needs, then you pick up *their* CDs and take them home to rip into AAC or MP3 and to load onto an iPod. You would have to delete all the files from your PC after the job is done. No legal issues there. They only get back their music--and you do not keep their music or transfer music between clients. You go to the store an buy the iPod and all accessories. The client doesn't have to think about MP3, AAC, 128kpbs/160kps, 15gb, 30gb, iTrip, iRock, etc.

Again, this is for a pretty small niche of people but it could work. Get a few yuppies from your local country club signed up and then their friends, wives, kids will want the same thing.

Maybe work out a deal with a local high-end audio/home theater store to outsource this service to their existing clients. That may get sticky if they are not Apple authorized dealers though.

Fees:
500 Songs converted and 15gb iPod: $500
500 - 1,000 songs converted and 15gb iPod programmed: $700
then $50 per 100 songs
 

BrianKonarsMac

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2004
1,102
83
this is far too simple to ask people to pay for this service. a better approach would be as an Analog to Digital Conversion Service, updating people's old LP's to Apple Lossless Compression, etc.
 

varmit

macrumors 68000
Aug 5, 2003
1,830
0
UM, no, here are some steps

Steps to rip lots of cds

1) set iTunes to rip cds when inserted, and eject when done.
2) eject cd drive

3) pick cd, put cd in tray
4) close cd drive
5) do other work
6) on eject, take cd out of tray and put away

7) repeat steps 3 - 6 until satisfied
 
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