Ripping CDs to Tidal or Qobuz on a Macbook

I am trying to rip some of my CDs to my Tidal and/or Qobuz apps on my MacBook Pro using an external Apple drive. I’d like to get the highest res possible. It was easy to rip to iTunes but I rarely use Apple Music anymore. All of my search attempts focus on ripping Tidal TO a CD. Not what I need. Or maybe best solution is the simplest, I.e., d/l the cd on Tidal or Quobuz? MANY thanks.

dBpoweramp is a consensus “best in class” software for ripping, among other things.

Just buy it.

You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers.

[PS, I could be mistaken, but I don’t believe Qobuz or Tidal will play ripped CDs. They are cloud-based services for streaming from the internet. I think you would need something like JRiver Media Center or Roon to manage and play a library of ripped CDs. Maybe others will chime in on this.]

3 Likes

You’ll need to rip your discs to an SSD or HD. you can’t store on Tidal or Qobuz.

1 Like

Yeah I’m 99% sure that you can’t add your own music to Tidal or Qobuz. And since apple no longer supports iTunes your best bet might be a uPnP program like Audirvana or the previously mentioned Roon. Also the Bluesound Node streamers can function as a catalog and library (via external storage) for your own music, and the app is free and pretty user friendly. However both Bluesound and Roon (kinda) require an investment in a piece of hardware before you can get up and running. Audirvana, I believe, can be run right from your laptop…

You might also be able to find a previous version of iTunes out there and install it on your computer, I have not done this personally, but there are tips out there on apple forums that have info on how to install ‘retired’ programs on your Mac.

Or, and I don’t mean this to be pithy, you could get a CD player… both Cambridge and Audiolab make pretty good ones for about $300.

Thanks guys much appreciated. Roon tells me I can play the ripped discs via their s/w. I’d have to use the laptop as the core and my iPad for the control.

I do this currently - iMac hosts Roon Core (as well as my ripped files) and my iPhone and iPad host the Roon player/controller app.

FWIW, my iMac is connected to my system initially via Wi-Fi (then the signal is passed on from the router via Ethernet to my DAC through the PSA Bridge II Ethernet card). This is a very stable set up, both reliable and without dropouts.

Have fun.

1 Like

Very nice! And good to know. I have my Mac hardwired via Moon cable to my amp since it has a 1Tb SSD. But I’ve never quite understood the difference/functional need between the core machine and the controller machine. Just following Roon guidance as I set my system up for the first time. Thanks for the feedback.