How To Rip a Music CD Using iTunes.
I know what you are thinking. What is a Music CD? It’s 2019 and we’re all busy buying digital music or streaming it via Spotify. So what is this CD? Call of 1999 – they want their technology back.
Jokes aside, people still use CDs. Amazon still sells them, and you can obviously still get them second hand from eBay and flea markets. Hell, if LPs refuse to die, what are the chances that the CD will disappear anytime soon?
However, you should still back up these CDs as discs do scratch and you will need a digital copy for your smartphone.
How to Rip a Music CD in Less than 90 Seconds Using iTunes
iTunes has always been a reliable CD ripping tool. Everyone loves waving their hands in iTunes, but I’ve always found it to do what I wanted it to. This makes it the best in my book.
I have struggled to find a music CD in my home since I have been buying digital for a very long time. But in the end I found one of my wife’s Beauty and the Beast CDs to show you how. Honestly, it’s not mine.
You will also need a CD-ROM drive on your computer, which not many modern computers have these days. If you haven’t, consider buying a cheap portable device from Amazon that plugs into a USB port.
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Launch iTunes and insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive. Everything is going well, iTunes will detect it and show you on the screen.
Right now the tracks are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. This will happen when iTunes reads the disc’s metadata and finds more than one possible CD in its database. Then a pop-up window will appear asking you to choose which drive it is.
When you do this, the titles of each track will be inserted automatically. ITunes will then ask you if you want to import the CD to your iTunes library. Make your choice.
If you accidentally close the box and ask you to choose which CD it is, you can get it again. In the upper right corner of the iTunes window, you will see the settings logo. By clicking on it, you will get “Get track names” and return the parameters of the album.
If you now click CD Information, you can view the metadata that iTunes was able to retrieve from the CD (if any). CDs purchased from retail stores usually contain flawless metadata and you rarely need to fix anything. Still worth checking out.
It’s time to click on Import CD. This window will appear.
“Bug fixes” need not be checked. This means that you only need to decide which format you want to use it in. I’m an old fashioned traditionalist, so I always go for MP3.
And then choose a setting. Always strive for the highest, why not?
Now click OK to start the CD burning process.
When each track has been successfully recorded (or “imported”), you will see a green check mark next to it.
The finished tracks will be located in the iTunes Media folder on your computer. If you don’t know where it is, go to your iTunes preferences and click Advanced.
And in this place you will find all your tracks neatly organized with titles, track numbers and other album information.
And to show you how fast iTunes is, the entire album was recorded in less than 90 seconds. There is nothing better than this.
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