Years ago I ripped my close to 2K cds into various disks which I then used to make USB “sticks” for my cars and my very old iPod for my travels.
I am now looking to re do all ripping at the highest resolution possible. Thus, looking for suggestions on what to get and how to go about it.
The Innuos ZenMini S looks promising as a simple 2 box solution.
Thoughts and recommendations?
Ripping CDs are much simpler as there is no protection. Use any CD transport with a USB into a computer and get a real nice App like Phile Audio from the App store and you are done.
I use an Apple CD transport.
But SACDs requires an old DVD player and a special process. Check this out.
https://forum.psaudio.com/t/ripping-sacds-means-and-methods/31326
I have two Innuos products, ZEN Mk3 and ZENith Mk3. One thing I learned the hard way was to get a 4Tb, or even and 8Tb SSD. Innuos, charges mightily for either. As a streamer/server it is excellent.
If you are streaming only then there is the GRIMM MU2.
I should add, I think SACDs are a bother, and should I consider them I’d opt for a Hi-Rez download instead.
I also use an Apple superdrive into my MacBook Air. There are many options on the software side but since I already had a licence for it I use JRiver. Once ripped to FLAC I then transfer the files to my SynologyNAS where they get picked up by Roon and included in the library along with my streaming tracks. The NAS is in an upstairs room with the Roon server and the streamer is in the listening room where there is no fan noise. works well for me but I have never ripped an SACD only CDs
I also use the Apple SuperDrive. It has been a work horse and performed flawlessly in tandem with dBpoweramp, my preferred ripping/conversion software.
I want to rip all of my cd’s to a drive but I’ll be looking for service to do the task. I got burned out on making copies back in the day when I copied all my LP’s to cassettes so i could listen to them in my vehicle and Sony Walkmen.
I have used a Synology NAS for years; QNAP is also a popular brand. I’ve had very good success with Western Digital Red drives, but opinions vary considerably about this. Music playback does not demand a lot of computing power, so you don’t need a high-end NAS unless you have teenagers who want to stream movies while you listen to your audio or something similar. I do avoid the low -end Synology J models, which may be a tad underpowered. I have MinimServer installed on the NAS.
For ripping software, I use dBpoweramp.
There is just no easy way to rip SACD, and I have used two of those old Sony Blue Rays and both stopped working after ripping a few. I rebooted my software, and reloaded the software, but it just stopped working.
I wish Sony makes a SACD ripper, that will be much easier!
The old Oppo 103 and 105 work great for ripping SACD, plus other machines like some older Pioneers and the like. Way easier than using a PS3 (which I used to use), but it requires an Ethernet connection back to a computer.
dBPoweramp makes CD ripping very easy and accurate.
SACDs are a whole other matter. dBPoweramp does NOT do them.
I’ll second the use of dBPoweramp. It has ripped 99+% of my CDs very successfully. For those few CDs which were scratched or otherwise damaged I used Exact Audio Copy, which is very slow but does extract all recognisable bits.
Good old EAC. Virtually unstoppable.
Why the highest resolution? You are ripping CDs.
16.44.1 saved as 24.192 sounds exactly the same. But it takes up 1/4 the disc space for the 16.44.1. I rip my CDs to 16.44.1 AIFF. I strongly recommend this.
I’ve been using a free Sony Music Center Ripper that does FLAC CD rips at 950kbps (Music Center for PC | Sony USA). To my ears, indistinguishable from the original CD and very fast. For BluRay Audio discs, I use MakeMKV. For DVD-Audio discs, I just download a trial version the DVD-Audio ripper since I don’t own too many of those. I just can’t be bothered with ripping my ever expanding collection of SACD 2.0 & 5.0 (there is no “.1” unless I tap off my speakers to my subs speaker in’s). I memory required will be huge. I’m using that memory allocation for all my LP to DSD64 rips using my Tascam DA-3000.
My 2 cents,
Joe
Just a note, audio CDs have a bitrate of 1,411 kilobits per second.
Indeed! (44.1 X 16 X 2) 
First I ripped to FLAC, 5 on the scale. Then I started doing 0 compression FLACs.
Someone here suggested as dBPoweramp encodes DSD128, rip to that. So I tried it. In comparison the DSD files brought zip zip zero to be worth the four times increase in file sizes.
Finally I started ripping to AIFF and it is my current gold standard. The only real advantage over FLAC is not the sound, but the tagging benefits with AIFF.
The Absolute Sound once did an article where they said using any compressed format is not as good as .wav files. I protested loudly and said oh hell no to re-ripping everything. Okay guys, all new rips are your way, save for the format. This hobby.
Mine too…and AIFF IS uncompressed, which is nice.
More on file format options here:
https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/whats-the-difference-between-file-formats.html
