Any great advantage of buying a dedicated CD-Ripper?

[Christian Sunderland]

Hello,

I note that the Brennan webpage suggests buying a separate CD-ripper (I'm looking at the £40+ LG version), as it's saves wear against the Brennan CD-ripper.  Is there any positive point to this, other that it might rip CD's that the Brennan B2, can't?

Christian

[Daniel Taylor]

External C drives usually rip noticably faster than the B2's internal drive.  Or, you can just rip on your computer - even faster.

[David L Raines]

I have the LG 24X CD/DVD-RW and it is much faster than the internal drive.  I highly suggest it. 

[Ian Longman]

Are we saying that Brennan should have fitted a better ripper into the B2 then?

[David L Raines]

Well.... The Brennan CD unit isn't bad but if you look at the LG unit it's a beast. The Brennan would need to be twice as tall to fit it.  Take a look at my setup. 

 

[Daniel Taylor]

Christian sent me this message:

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"Without trying to sound sarcastic!, I bought the Brennan, as my computer can't rip CD's (doesn't have the appropriate drive...).  If I buy an external CD-ripper, am I just saving time (not an issue), or is there some clear advantage?"

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The clear advantage is that an external drive is faster.  Some would consider it to be more reliable, as well.  Other than that, I don't know of any other advantage.

[JFBUK]

There are several threads running about the performance of the B2 CD drive.

My questions are :

1. Are slot CD drives going to be intrinsically slower at reading discs , and thus slower at ripping, than tray based CD drives ?

2. Is the drive firmware and the ripping software on the B2 a bigger influence on the ripping speed than the physical drive ?

3. Given the problems that the B2 seems to have with certain CDs is there an opportunity for the ripping software to be upgraded to at least reject a CD elegantly with more info on why it can’t be ripped and perhaps the option to still rip the tracks it can ?

Also more resilient at ignoring non-audio files which plague a number of the CDs that people have problems ripping ?

John

[Joseph Caputo]

I used both a PC with an internal CD drive and a external CD drive attached to the B2 to rip simultaneously.  The doggedly slow transfer of files from PC to B2 via wireless, since the HD connected directly would not work for me, was the only downside.  It all came together eventually and the laborious task of ripping multiple CD's is a thing of the past (at least I hope to never have to do that again), and now I am listening to music I own that I have not played in years.  It was all worth it.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi write...

I do hope you have at least one good backup of your B2's music!!

Fred

[Joseph Caputo]

Certainly.  One on an external and a second on the PC- I'm slowly curating from my drives some MP3's to add to the B2.  There is also a complete backup on my B1.  I'm good.

[PMB]

Hi All,

I have only ever used the internal CD Drive to rip my modest 1000 odd CDs apart from testing various external drives.

We do suggest ripping 20-30 CDs at a time and leaving the B2 powered overnight to compress these so it is ready for use the next day. This also prevents ripping becoming a task.

It is (hopefully) something you only have to do once.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi JFBUK,

Thanks for the suggestions.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Anthony Deighton]

Hi I bought the recommended LG drive and it certainly speeds up the whole process, I've ripped around 1500 albums still a few hundred to go. What I have found is the LG unit seems to have problems with any cd that has some video or cd rom material, normally hanging around 70% on the last track. That locks up the B2 and I have to switch off and repower to clear it. Strangely though disconnecting the LG while powered down the B2 drive then handles those discs without a problem. The quirkiness of the whole thing for me adds to the appeal!

[Davywhizz]

I suppose the other benefit is that an external CD drive can be used with a laptop  etc that doesn't have one, which is increasingly common. This morning, coincidentally, I've got the drive I sometimes use with my B2 attached to my wife's new laptop to add some music to it. 

[Willet Thomas]

I Debated and Priced the same scenario last year and here's what I wound up doing.

I bought a 2nd Brennan B2 (new).   SD Card version 240gb for around $400+.  I Rip on it exclusively now and will be putting a new 1TB SD Card ($200) in it eventually.  Brennans also make great little Network Servers so here's what I gained with the new B2 purchase;

1- New Integrated CD Ripping mechanism/workstation

(Allowing me to multitask - Ripping and ART retrieval on new #2, Editing on #1). Its also great to have a spare as a Production backup.

1- New Network Server allowing me to further Segregate my 10,000 CD collection (storing Christmas & other Odd Categories on IT, away from my Jazz / Rock primary collection that I otherwise enjoy Randomized on my #1 B2.

PRO TIPs

1) The Crossfade / Sequeway function is my favorite feature.  I call it the "Fire the DJ" function.  Btw, I run All ANDROID / Flac, utilizing Rooted Amazon Tablets (1TB) that act as Backups to the Brennans as well as multipoint User Stations. WD NAS,  X-plore Android Dashboard.

2) YouTube Cache is also a way COOL Feature to explore/add relevant Content to your Collection.

WISHLIST:

1) B2 Software Window with a "Randomize" button allowing you to Mixup whatever you can Sort into that View.  A Dynamic Playlist feature instead of just Static Playlists that require continual maintenance & updating.  

2) FOLDER > SUBFOLDERS oriented Dynamic Playlists.  I'm finding great value in storing/organizing Albums via folders/subfolders on my other devices including my 1TB Android Phone (sorry iPhoners).

3) Network Libraries Support via WebUI. - Span the Network for Music files. Not unlike what PLEX / KODI do.

I am Now Beginning to integrate Bluesound NODE for HiRes which also has an HDMI port to interface with B2.

Summary

B2 is a great Solo Nucleus for Modest 16bit/44.1khz  CD Collections (250-2500), transforming and evolving as needed into a key building block component for monster collections (2500+).

Great Value for modest needs.  Great Price/Performance Ratio.  Raspberry PI Core has lots of capabilities, and commensurate Limitations (not a Cray).

All comments welcomed...

Bill Thomas

On Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 10:31:00 AM UTC-4 clsunder...@gmail.com wrote:

[JFBUK]

Hi Bill,

so how are you managing playback from your collection ? 

Just the B2 Web UI or some other control software accessing the B2s as NAS ?

John

[PMB]

Hi Bill,

Thank you for the user feedback and suggestions.

Paul

Brennan Support.