Just completed ripping 800 CDs to B2

[Davywhizz]

I was going to give this a dramatic title ("One Man's Journey" maybe) to attract your attention, but really it's been a smooth process. I thought I'd share my experience here, as I know some readers are still at the stage of deciding whether to take the B2 plunge. I was in two minds before buying: I loved the concept of the B2 and the company's commitment to support and continuous improvement, but I also saw some mixed reviews and a lot of issues being raised here. I'm really glad I went ahead.

I started the ripping process using the B2's internal CD drive. It worked well, but a small number of CDs froze so I added a cheap external drive (one of those mentioned on the Brennan website) which was certainly faster and quieter. But I was still getting some discs freezing and some not recognised. Coincidentally, I had a 21 day free trial of dBpoweramp (dBp) software, intending to use it to convert some high-resolution files to a level of FLAC the B2 could play. I'd imported them to the B2 from a memory stick but playback was stuttering. Once converted to CD quality they were fine. So I tried that software for ripping CDs on my laptop and since then have rarely ripped direct to the B2. I should stress I don't think there's anything wrong with the B2's approach to ripping, it's more likely I have problems with a few of my CDs. While dBp has ripped everything I've given it, it has flagged errors in some tracks which I've then been able to delete individually before loading the rest of the album to the B2. I suspect that when the B2 rips were freezing it was also finding a few tracks with problems but had no way of telling me. Also, dBp checks more widely than the B2 for track listings and album art. It still fails to find albums sometimes, but allows me to check that I'm happy with the artwork, album and artist titles and track lists and/or to type things in before ripping. I find it particularly useful for compilation albums and classical CDs where I can edit exactly what information I want. It just works better for me: all of that would be possible on the Brennan UI, apart from dealing with the ripping errors. There's a bit more work transferring files to the B2, but dBp will rip CDs direct to FLAC format, so there's no need to compress on the B2 later.

Other issues: I tested my wifi strength and found it was only just good enough to use the B2 as Network Attached Storage. It was fine for everything else. I got a new wifi dongle with an antenna, which improved the strength a lot. I also found I could improve the strength enough, but less dramatically, just by putting the supplied dongle on the end of a short (30cm) USB extension cable.

I haven't connected speakers to my B2. I use an optical cable into my hifi. I found the stereo channels were reversed, but there's an option ("L-R swap") in the B2 memory which fixed that and it's been fine since. I tested some really good headphones recently for someone I know and used the B2 as a source for part of the test  (though through the hifi amp): I was very impressed by the quality of the CD rips and the absence of background noise.

I have two external hard disk drives to backup what's on the B2, just in case. I bought both from the Brennan shop. Recently I've been using the instructions posted here by Peter Lowham, whose hard work has overcome some previous problems with larger backup volumes. I understand a solution is in sight which may be implemented by a web upgrade.

All in all, it's taken me longer than I expected - three months - to rip and catalogue my CDs in the way I want them. But, as others have said, you only do it once. I can now search for tracks and create playlists without getting out of the chair. I know this is not necessarily a good thing, but I promise to walk the dog more. Most importantly, I've rediscovered my CD collection, which had been pretty much just gathering dust for years. Also, I'd like to add a bit of praise for the  B2's quality as an internet radio player. I have the function on my hifi but have never used it  - too complicated - but on the B2 it's easy and very good. And finally, whoever thought of adding the YouTube search and cache facility to the B2 deserves a big medal of some sort. There's a lot of great music on Youtube and being able to access it  so easily and at such high quality is a B2 bonus which is rarely mentioned.

[Daniel Taylor]

 Well said.

[Stephen Winding]

Davywhizz,

Yes, you have it. I too have had ripping  problems but only a few. Bad disks but some from CDs I made from vinyl using Roxio Disk Doctor. Some work some don't. These are my highest ripping problems. Some of my vinyls are not in CD but God loves me these have ripped. I still have them all on my computer will try memory stick for the ones I want. I must give the optical cable a try to my hifi analog now.

Steve

[Les Stanley]

That's an interesting overview of the whole process. 

I bought my B2 around 3 years ago and went through many similar issues. Certainly using an external CD reader sped things up. With a few of the CDs which the B2 refused to rip I just used an MP3 version from a PC but of course ripping to FLAC with a third party software is the better solution.

As for the YouTube feature, I used it quite a bit at first but now prefer to download the required song to a PC using one of the many free download programs available and then copy it to the B2 using the Upload feature. Stuff doesn't always stay on YouTube for long and that way I have a permanent copy.

As for the UI, since losing my remote, it's all I use. My WiFi signal wasn't the best, which caused some frustration, but I found that swapping the dongles (Bluetooth and wifi) at the back of the unit helped. I only ever used the remote to switch Random on/off anyway.

[Mike W]

Just to add to the conversation, the B2 was seen as my "toy" which if we needed music my wife would ask me to sort it out on the B2.

Having updated the software to the latest with the Spotify functionality, my wife has suddenly become a convert wanting to know all about the web ui and all of the functions available finding it now very easy to play whatever she wants. Double edged sword really as I don't get to play what I want to now!

I've had the B2 for 3 year now and as with others, it has helped me re-discover my music collection and to easily play on-line feeds such as web based music stations and spotify.

Do back-ups regularly as you add music and follow the advice on this forum about not asking the B2 to do too much at one time, keep the software upgraded and you should have many trouble free hours of listening to music of your choice, that is if your wife isn't listening to her choice!

Mike

[Davywhizz]

Thanks all, it's nice to have a bit of discussion on this, Hopefully it's all useful to new and prospective B2 owners. 

I've now completed both my final B2 exports (backups), using Peter Lowham's excellent instructions on the forum. The contents of both external drives match exactly, so look like they are complete. As Peter has explained, the number of tracks on the B2 doesn't translate into the same number of items on a backup, as the latter includes extras such as album art, so it's not possible to make a direct comparison.  I have about 12100 tracks, but 13921 items show on each backup.  I've found that the total folders (artists plus albums on the B2) on each is a better guide for checking the completeness of backups and I consistently find there will be two more on my backups (which I think of as the "music" and "playlist" sub-folders, though actually I'm told it's more complicated than that). 

So I'm done, for now at least. I'll miss the (almost) daily ripping and checking of content in a funny kind of way.  I don't think I'll be buying many more CDs in the future - much more likely to head towards higher resolution streaming - but it's really good to have the collection saved safely in such an accessible way. 

I didn't mention the B2 remote control in my overview, as I didn't have anything to say. I've never felt the need to use it, but can see that others might, 

Just to add to Mike's advice on not asking the B2 to do too much at one time: I also find it useful to remind myself that it's a computer, so always remembering to stop and save before switching off is important. Also, "scan disk" is your friend: run it after making any sort of changes, including just tweaking the database on the Web UI. 

[PMB]

Hi Davywhizz,

Thank you (and others) for the user view on using the B2 and the positive comments.

Paul

Brennan Support.