Topic: Sony VAIO XL1B3 Compatible with JRiver? (Read 6093 times)

Ripper · « **on:** August 16, 2007, 12:20:40 am »

I want to set up a 4-terabyte RAID system mirroring 2 terabytes of storage, which should comfortably hold the data of around 2,000 CDs. I would like to buy the Sony VAIO XL1B3 200-Disc Changer/Recorder, which can rip 200 CDs in one sitting. But I cannot get any decent information from Sony.

If I wanted to use the Sony to rip 2,000 CDs to this RAID system, would I be forced to use Sony's software? Sony tells me that it uses Windows Media Center. But I would like to use JRiver's software to rip the CDs. I am afraid of ripping 2,000 CDs with the Sony, only to learn that it saved them in some inferior format; ripped them without error checking; or stored them in a way that I cannot play the music using a standard application such as iTunes (or even JRiver's player).

I would like to rip the music without compression in full fidelity, with error checking, etc. Will the Sony allow this with JRiver's software? Or may I rip with the Sony and its software and then use JRiver's software to encode? I am concerned that Sony's software (which may simply be Microsoft's Windows Media Center, for all I know) will store the music with a bunch of worthless meta data or rip the music without error checking, etc.

In the end, I would like my computer to output the music digitally to a dejitterer, which would then send the signal to an external DAC, which would then output an analog signal to my tube amplifier.

Thanks very much for any help.

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** August 16, 2007, 06:55:30 am »

I'm not familiar with the device. Unless the specs tell you otherwise, I would assume it only works with Sony, maybe their SonicStage software. Sony used to do some very dumb things, but they seem to be becoming more open.

Ripper · « **Reply #2 on:** August 17, 2007, 01:17:30 pm »

I just opened the user manual. It says that all features of the recorder are controlled and accessed through Windows Vista Media Center. It looks like Media Center scans, identifies, and categorizes the CDs. The manual goes on to state that Sony installs software called My Changer to Media Center. My Changer lets one auto-rip CDs from the changer to the hard drive. The Copy Music feature rips the music to make it playable from the hard drive, "where you can take full advantage of the Music Library features in Media Center."

I'm not sure what this means. Does that mean that Media Center must control the ripping and the metadata? Or is there a way to use JRiver's software to rip (and especially to error-check), categorize, play, etc. What does JRiver's software need to control a ripping device? Can it does so through Media Center?

Andrew

Quote from: JimH on August 16, 2007, 06:55:30 am

I'm not familiar with the device. Unless the specs tell you otherwise, I would assume it only works with Sony, maybe their SonicStage software. Sony used to do some very dumb things, but they seem to be becoming more open.

Ripper · « **Reply #3 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:06:10 pm »

I just got off the phone with a supervisor at Sony's technical-support department. He says that the recorder generally is compatible with any third-party software and did not foresee a problem with JRiver's product. How would I get JRiver's product to recognize and use a standard multi-disc ripping device such as this? Does it know that a deviced is capable of ripping 200 CDs consecutively? Can it tell such a device apart from, say, a standard CD drive that can handle only one disc at a time?

I would like to use JRiver's Media Center to automate the ripping of 2,000 CDs, 200 at a time, with error checking to ensure a completely accurate copy of each disk in the best uncompressed format, which I assume is WAV.

Also, I would like the music stored in a RAID 5 array consisting of four 750-GB SATA-2 drives, leaving around 2 TB of useable data with redundancy so that the failure of one drive will not lose any data. Will your product do the trick, or must I worry about how it sees each of the four drives, perhaps treating them as three distinct 750-GB volumes?

Finally (for now, at least), I would like the software to output the music through my sound card's digital output to the dijitterer, which would then send the signal to the external DAC, which would output it to my tune amplifier. I assume that that process would be easy with any software, as whatever software I used would simply output the data from my sound card.

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I am just learning how to do all of this stuff and want to get it right.

Thanks so much.

Quote from: Ripper on August 17, 2007, 01:17:30 pm

I just opened the user manual. It says that all features of the recorder are controlled and accessed through Windows Vista Media Center. It looks like Media Center scans, identifies, and categorizes the CDs. The manual goes on to state that Sony installs software called My Changer to Media Center. My Changer lets one auto-rip CDs from the changer to the hard drive. The Copy Music feature rips the music to make it playable from the hard drive, "where you can take full advantage of the Music Library features in Media Center."

I'm not sure what this means. Does that mean that Media Center must control the ripping and the metadata? Or is there a way to use JRiver's software to rip (and especially to error-check), categorize, play, etc. What does JRiver's software need to control a ripping device? Can it does so through Media Center?

Andrew

JimH · « **Reply #4 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:13:16 pm »

The first thing would be to hook it up and see if it shows up as a drive on the PC.

Ripper · « **Reply #5 on:** August 17, 2007, 04:02:26 pm »

O.K. If it does show up, is there a way to get it to rip 200 CDs sequentially? (I read the manual online and did not see anything about multi-disc rippers.)

Thanks.

Quote from: JimH on August 17, 2007, 02:13:16 pm

The first thing would be to hook it up and see if it shows up as a drive on the PC.

Ripper · « **Reply #6 on:** August 21, 2007, 12:18:26 am »

The Sony recorder arrived. While Windows Vista recognizes it as a drive, MC seems to see it as a drive but fails to see any discs inside of it. At this point, I have been unable to install Sony's CD-changer software (it does not understand that I have Vista installed--it keeps demanding that I install Vista), so the problem may lie with Sony.

Is there anything special that I must do for MC to recognize the drive?

Andrew

Quote from: JimH on August 17, 2007, 02:13:16 pm

The first thing would be to hook it up and see if it shows up as a drive on the PC.

JimH · « **Reply #7 on:** August 21, 2007, 07:01:09 am »

No. It doesn't sound like it will work with MC.

Ripper · « **Reply #8 on:** September 04, 2007, 10:16:36 am »

I finally managed to set up my computer. JRiver Media Center does see the Sony player and recognizes whatever disc happens currently to be loaded. How do I get JRiver to understand that this is a 200-disc player and to rip the 200 CDs sequentially?

Quote from: JimH on August 21, 2007, 07:01:09 am

No. It doesn't sound like it will work with MC.

benn600 · « **Reply #9 on:** September 04, 2007, 11:44:39 am »

That's probably the issue. You need some way to have MC send the NEXT DISC command to the Sony player.

Now for ripping your music, this gets to be a mess discussing ripping techniques but I will give you some issues to consider. You should definitely consider something better than RAID 5. We had another user lose their entire RAID 5 array which contained their music that took hundreds or thousands of hours to organize. I use RAID 6 but am not the best example because I have 16 drives. You may want to consider an extra 750GB drive and RAID 6. You can get a Promise or other brand RAID controller for only 6 drives relatively cheaply. My 16-port card was $700. Also, you may want to consider getting a larger number of port card and then more, smaller drives (500GB). These smaller drives are about half price. I've heard a lot of people saying that the higher capacity drives are less reliable because they are cramming so many bits on the platters.

Take 6 500GB drives (instead of 4). You will use an extra for parity (RAID 6) but then gain the 6th drive. So you'll end up with just a little less than your 750GB setup but you'll get more redundancy, spend less on the drives and more on the controller (good idea), ...

Then, I'd say it goes without saying to rip to FLAC or APE. I personally use FLAC.

Ripper · « **Reply #10 on:** September 04, 2007, 09:16:51 pm »

Thank you for the information about RAIDs 5 and 6.

Is there a way for MC automatically to send the NEXT DISC command to the Sony player? Does it support multi-disc rippers? If not, is there another product that does?

I couldn't imagine feeding 2,000 CDs individually.

Thanks for your help.

Quote from: benn600 on September 04, 2007, 11:44:39 am

That's probably the issue. You need some way to have MC send the NEXT DISC command to the Sony player.

Now for ripping your music, this gets to be a mess discussing ripping techniques but I will give you some issues to consider. You should definitely consider something better than RAID 5. We had another user lose their entire RAID 5 array which contained their music that took hundreds or thousands of hours to organize. I use RAID 6 but am not the best example because I have 16 drives. You may want to consider an extra 750GB drive and RAID 6. You can get a Promise or other brand RAID controller for only 6 drives relatively cheaply. My 16-port card was $700. Also, you may want to consider getting a larger number of port card and then more, smaller drives (500GB). These smaller drives are about half price. I've heard a lot of people saying that the higher capacity drives are less reliable because they are cramming so many bits on the platters.

Take 6 500GB drives (instead of 4). You will use an extra for parity (RAID 6) but then gain the 6th drive. So you'll end up with just a little less than your 750GB setup but you'll get more redundancy, spend less on the drives and more on the controller (good idea), ...

Then, I'd say it goes without saying to rip to FLAC or APE. I personally use FLAC.

benn600 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 04, 2007, 10:12:42 pm »

I bet they could add the ability if they had a player and the software but they probably wouldn't want to buy one for such a limited request...that's why they bought an iPod (or two) to add support, lol.

So does MC see the disc that is currently visible? One thing you could do is test the included software a bit and see if using it to change the disc would be like an eject / new CD to MC. If so, you could setup MC to auto-rip and then calculate a very high end rip time requirement and setup a simple macro that would simply click Next Disc in the Sony software every 20 minutes or more. It would take longer but the key is that you don't have to do much--not necessarily that it's lightning fast.

It's not as elegant or cool but I personally just had four drives in my desktop. I could have added a few more, too. I bet there are some cheap USB CD drives...then I had 4 CD's auto-rip. That was good enough for me. At the time, it took about 15 minutes per CD because FLAC wasn't as fast back then and I was using a slower computer. Now, ripping is incredibly fast. Not sure exactly but I hardly walk away and do anything before I'm returning to find it already completed.

Back when I ripped our initial collection we had only 500 CDs or so! You've got a lot of work ahead of you even with a 200 at a time system! Now we're up to ~1080 CDs. I just rip each CD in my single drive now even though I tend to order 20-40 at a time. I made a quick web site where I track music I want to buy and then I go through and order the list on various sites, getting the best price.

Ripper · « **Reply #12 on:** September 05, 2007, 12:50:32 am »

JRiver's Media Center does recognize the CD currently loaded--it lists the album, artist, and track names.

Unfortunately, the software included with the Sony is Microsoft's Media Center (as distinguished from JRiver's). Microsoft's product resembles an XBox 360 media environment, complete with graphical embellishments but incredibly obtuse in terms of useability. I cannot even find where it saves the files, much less in what format. It will, however, rip all 200 CDs sequentially. I just don't know where or how.

How hard would it be for JRiver's Media Center to rip the discs sequentially? I haven't programmed much since the days of my Atari 400 BASIC, so I'm afraid that I am not up to the task, but isn't it just a matter of switching to the next disc after ripping the current one?

It seems to me that the future of CD ripping, if it is to become a conventional product for the average home user, is to automate the process as much as possible. I admire that you were able to rip over 1,000 CDs through four drives, but I don't have the patience--or the time. I suspect that I am not alone.

Thank you again for responding.

Quote from: benn600 on September 04, 2007, 10:12:42 pm

I bet they could add the ability if they had a player and the software but they probably wouldn't want to buy one for such a limited request...that's why they bought an iPod (or two) to add support, lol.

So does MC see the disc that is currently visible? One thing you could do is test the included software a bit and see if using it to change the disc would be like an eject / new CD to MC. If so, you could setup MC to auto-rip and then calculate a very high end rip time requirement and setup a simple macro that would simply click Next Disc in the Sony software every 20 minutes or more. It would take longer but the key is that you don't have to do much--not necessarily that it's lightning fast.

It's not as elegant or cool but I personally just had four drives in my desktop. I could have added a few more, too. I bet there are some cheap USB CD drives...then I had 4 CD's auto-rip. That was good enough for me. At the time, it took about 15 minutes per CD because FLAC wasn't as fast back then and I was using a slower computer. Now, ripping is incredibly fast. Not sure exactly but I hardly walk away and do anything before I'm returning to find it already completed.

Back when I ripped our initial collection we had only 500 CDs or so! You've got a lot of work ahead of you even with a 200 at a time system! Now we're up to ~1080 CDs. I just rip each CD in my single drive now even though I tend to order 20-40 at a time. I made a quick web site where I track music I want to buy and then I go through and order the list on various sites, getting the best price.

benn600 · « **Reply #13 on:** September 05, 2007, 09:14:57 am »

Quote

I admire that you were able to rip over 1,000 CDs through four drives, but I don't have the patience--or the time. I suspect that I am not alone.

I think you'd be surprised. I bet many people didn't even know what you have exists.

But search around. You might find a little EXE that you can execute that will simply send the next disc command. Find a forum for the device and ask if someone could investigate writing one for you. Shouldn't be too tough.

gappie · « **Reply #14 on:** September 05, 2007, 10:36:42 am »

i did rip my 1000 plus cds three times one by one. no fun.

i dont know those devices, but have you checked the options now already available in mc. go to options>cd & dvd>and check enable auto rip mode. and on the same page advanged ripping options>encode on the fly with one concurent ripping process?

soulcancer · « **Reply #15 on:** December 10, 2007, 11:05:54 am »

So, if i have that thing loaded with DVDs, will it show all the dvds in there like my video files and all i have to do is click on it and it will play the dvd or what?

soulcancer · « **Reply #16 on:** December 22, 2007, 03:07:53 am »

anyone know?

benn600 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 22, 2007, 11:00:13 am »

Sincerely doubtful. 200 DVDs would take about 1.4TB. Just buy 3 500GB drives for ~$270 total and RAID0 them if you'd like (I would) and keep your movies on that. Then, you don't have to deal with this proprietary system that people are unfamiliar with. Probably not too expensive compared to that unit. I'd say rip 5 CDs per day the slow way. You'll get there eventually.

PLUS, you can gradually rate as you are ripping so you'll essentially have the chance to listen to every CD if only for a few minutes without skipping any if you're careful.

soulcancer · « **Reply #18 on:** December 28, 2007, 10:50:48 am »

Any one know if it will read that dvds like the video files in MC? i mean, all at once so i click on it and it auto plays? this is kinda a deciding factor if i buy one or not.

Berg · « **Reply #19 on:** December 28, 2007, 06:51:26 pm »

Take a look at dbPowerAmp. I have been using it for some time now to rip CDs and could not be any happier. The current beta is supporting multi-cd or batch ripping and they support the Sony changer - http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=13598&page=1&pp=15

I have no experience with the batch ripper but the rest of the product is 1st class.

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Author Topic: Sony VAIO XL1B3 Compatible with JRiver? (Read 6093 times)