Ever since getting my SDTrans and discovering how good digital audio can be I started thinking about how we load our SD cards.
I came to this after using a purpose built computer as my player. After ten years I realized this is not getting anywhere and after hearing the SDTrans I realized how far it has to go.
Then I realized ... I am still using a computer to get the music from the CD and to copy it onto the SD card. Where my playback computer was highly refined with linear supplies and all sorts of gadgets I was using my regular computer for ripping.
Drawing on what was learned with cPLAYcMP with regards to minimizing XP I thought I will make a dedicated ripper/OS and the result is pretty amazing.
First off the whole thing is 31 mB including dBpoweramp.
AS was found when using XP with cPLAY - the more unnecessary stuff you remove the better it sounds.
At this point I had no idea just how good digital sound can be. AND yes, I know how many times that has been said.
I started on this with the thought: how could we be so particular and obsessive with the playback side and completely nonchalant about getting the information off of the disk? Now looking back I can see nothing but delusion but for many years I never thought about it much at all. I did wonder but then thought about how I did not want to go to the trouble.
Due to the prompting of randytsuch who posts here and at TIR NA about the neglect of ripping I thought this is a good time to find out. (Randy is expecting delivery of his SDTrans soon)
I am using an MSI H81 motherboard with a 4130T CPU. 2 gB of memory. CPUZ shows 0.144 vore voltage running at 800 mHz. Using an OPTIMA battery for P4 and the video card; using the ASROCK riser to make remote powering of the video card easy and allows one to get that heat producing thing away from the processor. The riser also allows use of the x1 slot. AS "Serge" instructed using the video card relieves the CPU of video duty. Serge is the father of XP modifications for music purposes.
Even without going full on with linear supplies the amount of information revealed is surprising. There IS lots of information on REDBOOK we have been denying ourselves.
I had initially used a USB writer - one of the nicer ones with a cable so I could splice in and power it with a linear supply - I also used a REGEN in the chain. AND THEN Greg Stewart suggested the SATA -SD writers and this is the only way to go. If you have only used some USB device to "fill" your SD cards you are in for quite a surprise. Not usre if they are all equal but I can report that this one works really well:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0078PVL8U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
It is inconvenient in that you have to turn the machine off to insert and remove the card and it could be even slower that USB but it is worth the trouble.
Getting the music off of the CD is every bit as important as any other aspect of digital playback. Obviously, has nothing to do with downloads but the SATA SD writer would be important for that also.
I am using two SSDs for the ripper and copier OSs. I switch back and forth as needed. The copy OS is much larger (256 mB) but then I have not been trying to whittle it down. I use it for copying and for maintenance of the ripper OS disk. I use a linear powered laptop HDD for music destination
Both OSs no longer have any USB capabilitiy. The ripper OS opens with dBpoweramp CDGrab.exe as its shell. There is no EXPLORER. There is nothing there that isn't needed for dBpoweramp and writing the files to the destination disk.
USB is a wonderful thing for everything BUT music. If you want to get music out of your digital playback chain DO NOT USE USB.
If you want to hear how good REDBOOK is you need a purpose built ripper.