How best to convert CDs for use in model S?

[esk8mw]

Apologies if this is a ridiculous question, but what's the best way to convert CDs to a user friendly medium? Is a usb drive the best way to go? My biggest concern is whether the library would be easily navigated. I have about 200 CDs to contend with...

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Yes USB.
Will you be using Mac or PC to read the CDs? I have done it on both with free programs.

 

[esk8mw]

Yes USB.
Will you be using Mac or PC to read the CDs? I have done it on both with free programs.

It will be a pc, no iTunes or anything like that. Was the end result a usable library allowing you to search by artist, etc? I assume info has to be entered manually in the program?

 

[meloccom]

If you are worried about sound quality then encoding your CD's onto a flash drive using FLAC (Fully Lossless Audio Codec) is the best way I understand.
Try this thread on TMC.
CD quality sound via FLAC files, my experience

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Was the end result a usable library allowing you to search by artist, etc? I assume info has to be entered manually in the program?

Using my daughter's laptop (wanted to test it after a cleanup/update weekend), and a Terabyte USB hard drive I had bought to back up said laptop, I followed These Instructions To Set Up And Use Exact Audio Copy. The song titles and album art pull down mostly automatically from Teh Web. It all worked very much like in that article.

I was very happy with being able to browse in the Tesla by album, genre, artist. I understand from those who have cars nicer than what I'd been driving, that there are better interfaces and Tesla's is still a work in progress. The reason for using a big hard drive and converting to FLAC is that the quality is like the original CD, and the Tesla reads those files.

I'd provide pictures of how it shows up in Pearlie May the car, but she's in the body shop. I have a loaner Toyota and I really miss the Tesla. Partly for the audio system...

I have all the rest of my collection to convert now too. Hundreds.

 

[esk8mw]

Using my daughter's laptop (wanted to test it after a cleanup/update weekend), and a Terabyte USB hard drive I had bought to back up said laptop, I followed These Instructions To Set Up And Use Exact Audio Copy. The song titles and album art pull down mostly automatically from Teh Web. It all worked very much like in that article.

I was very happy with being able to browse in the Tesla by album, genre, artist. I understand from those who have cars nicer than what I'd been driving, that there are better interfaces and Tesla's is still a work in progress. The reason for using a big hard drive and converting to FLAC is that the quality is like the original CD, and the Tesla reads those files.

I'd provide pictures of how it shows up in Pearlie May the car, but she's in the body shop. I have a loaner Toyota and I really miss the Tesla. Partly for the audio system...

I have all the rest of my collection to convert now too. Hundreds.

Nice, appreciate the responses. Any idea what size drive I'd need for 200 CDs? Time to hit up Amazon...

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Nice, appreciate the responses. Any idea what size drive I'd need for 200 CDs? Time to hit up Amazon...

I found this; don't know how close to reality it is:

"FLAC files are about 36 MB each and would be
about 500 MB/CD."

"How much hard drive space would I need for 300
CDs in lossless format?

Approximately 120 GB for FLAC or WMA; and 240 GB
for AIFF or WAV."

Go big. You'll buy more CDs at some point...

 

[doug]

Nice, appreciate the responses. Any idea what size drive I'd need for 200 CDs? Time to hit up Amazon...

Not an endorsement, but these guys have some ads on TMC and with 200 CDs, it might be worth giving them a call. They should at least be able to give some advise. Tesla music system

 

[Discoducky]

HA, I thought CD's = Certificates of Deposit

Lots of good suggestions in the thread already....carry on

 

[esk8mw]

HA, I thought CD's = Certificates of Deposit

Lots of good suggestions in the thread already....carry on

Lets see...if I invest 50k in a cd at 0.10% interest I should be able to convert it to a model s in....457 years.

 

[JenniferQ]

HA, I thought CD's = Certificates of Deposit

Lots of good suggestions in the thread already....carry on

Agree. I thought they quit making CDs, but checked with my kids and they vaguely remember them, although have never used them. I asked them about cassette tapes, 8 tracks, and VHS and Betamax and got a very quizzical response. Floppy disk, anyone?? Seriously, though, thanks for the flash to the past! :love:

 

[evp]

Get these two things:

1) 90 degree USB adapter (so your memory stick isn't sticking straight out) - Amazon.com: L.L. USB A Female to A Male Coupler cable Adapter 90 degrees, 2 Pack: Computers Accessories
2) 256GB USB 3.0 stick (so it doesn't take all afternoon to copy your music over) - Amazon.com: Patriot 256GB Supersonic Magnum Series USB 3.0 Flash Drive With Up To Read 260MB/sec Accessories

Organize your music in folders in some way intuitive to your personal collection. I have mine like this:
* Genre
** four folders A-F, G-L, M-S, T-Z (might have hundreds of artists to scroll thru otherwise)
*** Artist (or composer)
**** Album name
***** Music files, or Disc 1, 2, ...

Then you can use either the Tesla's Genre, Artist, or Song lists, or go to the Folder view and drill down to your selection.

The U/I would be even more useful if you could pick a sub-folder, say Rock->B->Beatles, and then play all their albums together on random. Sadly, the way it's designed you don't get to play anything except a song, and then the controls become available allowing you to choose random and repeat inside just that album. Sigh.

 

[jgs]

The U/I would be even more useful

You can say that again! At least they've finally gotten multi-disc albums right in 7.0. I think.

 

[FolsomMike]

FYI - if your laptop is a few years old, check that it accepts a 3.0 flash drive. My four year old Mac only takes 2.0 (which is slower).

 

[Law&Disorder]

I convert CDs to FLAC files using Exact Audio Copy. EAC is free software and it works great. A very good guide for using EAC to create FLAC files is available here.

You will need a music database to automatically look up textual metadata and to encode the information into the FLAC files. Many people use a free database called FreeDB, but I use a subscription service called GD3 that is already linked to EAC.

Once I've got my CD tracks recorded into FLAC files, I use another free product called MP3Tag to check the metadata and make any necessary edits. I also use MP3Tag to add album art to the tracks (just in case Tesla ever decides to implement pulling the album art off the embedded tracks in a future software release instead of using its own crappy album art database). MP3Tag allows for batch editing which really saves time in editing metadata off the same album.

When I'm sure my metadata is correct, I copy the files over to my trusty SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ43-128G-G46), This is the smallest 128GB flash drive available and it sits basically flush in the USB port in the Model S--so flush I use needle nose pliers to pull the drive out since I've broken one once by pulling on one side. The USB ports in the Model S are 2.0 but 3.0 definitely speeds up the file transfers from my computer.

Plug the drive into one of the two USB ports and the Model S will automatically detect it and begin pulling the metadata off to display in the media system. If you are an audiophile, you will be pleasantly surprised at how well the Premium Sound System in the Model S reproduces music in FLAC's lossless format. Vocals, in particular sound exceptionally clear.

Enjoy.

 

[Petra]

1) 90 degree USB adapter (so your memory stick isn't sticking straight out) - Amazon.com: L.L. USB A Female to A Male Coupler cable Adapter 90 degrees, 2 Pack: Computers Accessories

Alternately, you could go with tiny flash drives (that are barely bigger than a USB-A connector) assuming you don't need more than about 128GB: Like this one

 

[NielsHP]

A lot of people have already mentioned Exact Audio Copy, so I wont do that
Additionally, I use Tag and Rename ( http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm ) for managing IVxVy tags. Works for me...