Ripping my CD collection to FLAC - any advice before I start?

[PaulH]

Once ripped to FLAC I use MP3Tag (it's free to download) to check ALL the metadata.

It's shocking how much data can be missing/wrong/incorrect. Even the album art can often be wrong.
Just edit any track info that needs it and (if the art is wrong) search google for a decent correct image.

If it was a Multi CD, I would not bother with the auto track labels of disc1/track1-12 & disc2/track1-13 etc. Just make it one album and re-number the tracks 01-25 (or whatever).

Took me about 5-6 months to rip/check about 1000 CD's.
Yes, it was a PITA to check every single one... but I should only need to do the process once.

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

not a lot to add from me. I’ve used both dbpoweramp and EAC. As others have said, I found dbpoweramp more straightforward to use. EAC a bit longer to get my head round & setup but not an issue. If I remember correctly, although EAC is “free”, it limits you to 10 uses of the on-line music database (sorry, I can’t recall the name), after which continued use is subject to payment for a licence (under $10 I think).

And once you’ve ripped your CDs to FLAC, another big rabbit hole/can of worms opens up - how do you intend playing them back on your equipment? I’m sure you’ve already thought about this and may or may not have come up with a solution. For me, I’m a devoted Raspberry Pi user and have done exactly the same as you - CDs to FLAC, which I’ve then loaded to a USB stick and into the Pi.

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

oh and apologies. I’ve just noticed that the previous reply was to a thread started several months ago, so this may now all be water under the bridge.