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[TheSearcher007]

I am trying to setup a shared enviroment for my family but don't seem to be able to accomplish what I want. Here is what I want to do:

- I have a NAS and want to rip and store all the CD's .WAV format to this drive.
Basically CD images so I can always go back and recreate the origianl CD or convert to whatever new format comes out in the future. This I can do using MC or EAC. The only problem with MC is it add's these WAV's to the library of the PC used to rip.

- NAS is stand alone storage. There is no other PC always running to run some server software. The NAS is the library.

- Laptops: everyone in the family has laptops and iPod. I want them to be able to access the NAS (WAV) and sync up to their laptop. In doing this the .WAV's would be converted to MP3 (or other specificied format) and stored in the laptops My Music folder

- iPods can sync off each users laptops, where they can have their own playlists, etc.

I have tried libraries and import in MC. But these either just play from the NAS on the laptop and/or add the music on the NAS to the library but without actually converting the file and storing it on the laptop. So if the laptop leaves the network it has no music.

[JimH]

You are better off to encode to APE, FLAC, or any lossless format.  Storing as WAV gains nothing.  You can always re-create the identical WAV file.

From any PC, you can rip to the NAS drive.  Just set the file location for ripping in MC options.

You could rip on one PC and use Explorer to transfer files.  If you do that, WAV will not include that metadata (artist, album, track, etc.).  Other formats will.  Try a few before you rip everything.

Auto Import can automatically import certain folders.

You can set up a "Handheld" sync to any device, including a laptop.

Library Server can serve files to multiple PC's and can convert them if needed.  Read about "Servers" in our wiki (link above).  In MC14, Library Server can be read/write.

Good luck.

[hit_ny]

I have a NAS and want to rip and store all the CD's .WAV format to this drive.
Basically CD images so I can always go back and recreate the origianl CD or convert to whatever new format comes out in the future.

It simplifies things greatly if you stick with a format that can be played on the portables without conversion. Invariably this means mp3.

You will take a (very) slight hit in quality but the transfers to the ipods will complete faster. Lame with alt-preset-extreme would be a good encoding option to go with, nearly indistinguishable from the WAV. alt-preset-standard will work with 95% of music out there as well.

However if most of the time (> 70%) is spent listening with MC vs on portables then lossless might be a better option to choose. All depends if you are an audiophile. Personally i'm quite happy with mp3 for the ease of use it provides and universal availability on any portable.

If you do choose to go with a lossless format there is a delay to convert chosen files to mp3 before being able to transfer to the ipod. It means a longer sync which i think over time could get overbearing if the ipod has a large capacity.

I would suggest taking more time to consider the many options available so as to find the best solution for your scenario.

[ruze]

I too rip losslessly and sync with my external USB drive so I can take a subset with me.  This can be done by setting up a handheld sync, with conversion options specified for the receiving device.  So the external USB drive is a "handheld device" for the purpose of the sync.

The only issue is of course, you have to have the external drive connected directly or via network and mapped to a drive letter.  There's also a library sync feature, but I haven't used it.

You will have to use a master machine hooked up to your NAS to run Media Center and do this.  (Unless your NAS is running WHS in which case you should be able to run MC on it.)

Hope this helps.

[jolo]

You are better off to encode to APE, FLAC, or any lossless format.  Storing as WAV gains nothing.  You can always re-create the identical WAV file.

From any PC, you can rip to the NAS drive.  Just set the file location for ripping in MC options.

You could rip on one PC and use Explorer to transfer files.  If you do that, WAV will not include that metadata (artist, album, track, etc.).  Other formats will.  Try a few before you rip everything.

Auto Import can automatically import certain folders.

You can set up a "Handheld" sync to any device, including a laptop.

Library Server can serve files to multiple PC's and can convert them if needed.  Read about "Servers" in our wiki (link above).  In MC14, Library Server can be read/write.

Good luck.

Jim,

I totally agree with you.

I am a big believer in open source and standardization.
I encode my audio in two different formats.

• First is to encode in the losless, free license FLAC. Saves files in about 50-55% of WAV and is totally losless.
• I then can always Play FLAC,  in FLAC format on my PC on applications, like MC. It sounds 100% as good as the original.
• I would very much select FLAC over APE as my license free, open source format, onlybecause, it appears that further acceptance and development is going on with FLAC and not with APE. For me it is not a quality issue. Heck, even Sir Paul Mccartney is allowing his fans to download his music, in losless FLAC.
  
• I also take my FLAC files and create another set in Ogg audio format. I use a pretty hight quality, Q6 and darn if I can hear a difference between the Ogg and FLAC.
• Ogg is the best. lossy audio format that I am aware of and tests and my ear tell me that it is clearly superior in fidelity than MP3 or any of those wxx, Microsoft. proprietary formats.  The sizes will be about the same as MP3, and it sounds better at lower quality, than MP3 sounds at a lower bitrate.
  
• Ogg is license free and open source and available are many specialized versions of it, including a 64 bit version. Funny that I see Ogg being used for audio when installing some games on my son's PC.
• Mc plays Ogg great, my Cowon family of portable audio mult-media plays both FLAC and Ogg natively.
• Industry standards. I urge all of you to stay away of proprietary, non-industry standard formats. With the release of W3 Internet International Standards with Firefox 3.5x -  HTML 5 is supported. All browsers will be recognizing industry web standards, except, Microsoft/Apple. To stop the craziness pf what video format to use and buying all sorts of codecs, Ogg VIDEO is becoming the International standard for Video  and is already integrated. within Firefox 3.5x, no additional codec needed. Chrome will be doing the same, as it is accepting the standard on HTML 5.

Thanks,

Jon

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