Got a press release yesterday, a British company is using a US trade show to unveil a new box. Wow. It's aimed at high end audiophiles, it says, who demand the best from a CD ripping unit. It comes with a heft price tag although it is available in a variety of metalised colours. Wow, wow. This begs the questions of who the low end audiophiles might be, and those who just want rotten sound when they digitise their music.
Two questions - what do you get, and why do you need it?
You get a CD player obviously, there's no other way to rip a CD. Exactly which CD drive isn't explained but you can get a respectable unit (in volumes of around 50) for around £40. And you need some intelligence to run the thing, so you need some sort of computer. Along with that the lovely little bits of software that connect to the local network or maybe the internet. Oh, a hard drive too - another £20 at OEM prices. Typically the operating system would be Unix, the cost and difficulty of Windows would be too much in initial costs and ongoing support. In all what have you got - a PC that even in the third world looks poorly specified. Plus a massive bill.
Why would you need it? According to the press release this unit rips CDs while the enraptured owner "enjoys a cup of tea". Really? Chances are the owner is on the PC or laptop, checking Facebook or enjoying Youtube. Why not use that PC to convert CDs into digital music? Well, the CD drive is every bit as good, iTunes, Windows Media Player and other programs are available to manage ripping, and the hard drive is the same. In my opinion you'll get just as good a result.
"But I'm a high end audiophile" you say. "This unit is made for me". Sorry, but you'll get no better result from a dedicated ripping unit than you'll get from your PC. You need to reduce compression and select the best file type for your purposes, just as easily done on your PC as on any other unit.
Save yourself a lot of money, don't bother with a dedicated CD ripping unit, trust your PC or your Mac. Or outsource it all to a CD ripping service such as ours.
Jeff Underwood
www.podserve.co.uk
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