CD’s

[Diane Powell]

Hi I’m thinking and wanting to get the B2 but can I ask please are all CD’s the same, I’ve looked through various questions but not found an answer. There’s mention of ripping MP3 CD’s and I’m just wondering if all are the same. I have CDs from when they first came out up till now and hoping this lovely bit of kit can copy all of my CDs but I’m not very tech.

Thank you in advance

[Florencio Sud]

Cds are the same,but you MAY run into problems with "mixed media" or "enhanced" CDs (i.e. CDs that have content other than audio tracks....e.g. video etc).

I've had no such CD so can't be100% sure.....there'll be someone who can answer for certain I'm sure

[Diane Powell]

Thank you, so far so good..

[Daniel Taylor]

For the most part, all of the CDs you're likely to encounter are the same and can be read by the B2.  There are discs, not officially CDs, that the B2 cannot read.  It cannot read DVDs, Blu-ray discs, true MP3 discs, Super Audio discs, or DVD-A discs (which are technically DVDs, anyway).  It's unlikely that most people would try to get the B2 to read those discs.  But for those who would, there you have it.

There have been questions about MP3 discs.  A true MP3 disc is a data disc (not an audio disc) which contains data files that are MP3s.  The B2 cannot read a data disc.  However, an audio CD-R can be made using MP3 source files.  But in the case of the B2, there's no point in doing that, as the original MP3s can be copied directly to the B2 without need of burning a CD-R.

It has been requested that the B2 be made to read DVDs.  It's quite unlikely that that will ever happen.

[Diane Powell]

Thank you, not sure of all you’ve said but sounds marvellous, I think I’m pretty safe though so shall get my order in…
Cheers

[Diane Powell]

So I have about 1,000 CDs, not that many really so where it says B2 240G, 2250 MP3 CDs is that just CDs, that’s more than big enough? Or do I need the 480

[RandyT]

The first thing I would suggest is to rip your CDs as FLAC files and not MP3s when loading them into the B2. You'll maintain MUCH better quality audio with FLAC vs. MP3. One note here, the CDs you purchase are WAV files and the B2 will convert those to FLAC, MP3 or leave them as WAV files. I believe FLAC is the default. Yes FLAC will take up more room but in the long run you'll appreciate the FLAC files more.

For these reasons I'd suggest going with the 480GB capacity B2 if at all possible. I have a 480GB and 2TB unit (SSD vs. HDD) and I've noticed that the 480GB unit is a bit faster when maneuvering thru menus and a few other operations. Not enough to influence a purchase decision but simply a note about the difference.

Also, plan on using the Web UI (user interface) via your computer. Anything can be done via a stand alone B2 but the Web UI makes life much much simpler. Be sure to explore the internet radio functions also. I've gotten more enjoyment from that than most of my CD!

Enjoy your B2!

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Diane,

If you rip your 1000 CDs to mp3 format at 256Kb, then your collection will require about 100 GB of space, so the B2 240 GB model would be fine.

However, as Randy has suggested, ripping to flac format will give you lossless copies which have somewhat better playback quality.  However the space required for your 1000 CD collection would increase to something like 300 GB, so the B2 480 GB model would be required in this case.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi Diane,

And after all that effort make sure you do a backup. We can help with that.

Paul

Brennan Support.