I have a number of CDs I want to rip again to FLAC, does anyone have recommendations for MacOS software on which I can do it?
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Iāve used XLD for several years now. You can rip to a number of formats, including FLAC. It does get updates from time to time, including a couple in 2024. Iām using the latest version on an Apple Silicon Mac without any issues. Like you I still rip CDs well into the 2000s.
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I also use XLD to rip. I ripped all my CDs earlier this year, and it mostly worked great. It is not particularly user friendly, so you might want to watch some YouTube guides.
Music Brainz Picard for metadata, which works well for mass changes, but when I want to get in and change tags manually, I found Yates better (it does cost money though).
I used this guys guide:
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XLD (X Lossless Decoder) - best and free
dBpoweramp - good and not free.
Here also a recommendation for XLD.
whoa. I just realized I donāt remember the names of any cd tools except Nero Burning Romā¦ I must be old.
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You donāt care for Apple Lossless that the Apple Music app and XLD creates? Itās basically an m4a (mp4) file with lossless encoding. Pretty much most if not all apps will play m4a audio.
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Iād prefer to stick to MP3 or Flac just for true compatibility.
Thanks Everyone, XLD it is.
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Thank you for mentioning XLD!
It was the first time I ever heard about this tool. 
Talking about the 2000ās, I found myself ripping and encoding DVDās this past month - first time Iāve done that in probably a decade. Also impressive how quickly an M4 chip can get through the encoding in comparison to the time it used to take!
Was in my local CEX store and couldnāt resist picking up the Sharpe boxset as the UKTV (now U) app is so poor on the Apple TV that Iāve not been able to finish the series!
Somehow I started getting audiophile videos in my YouTube playlist recently. l have a decent set up from 20 years and now I see the case being made for using CDās again. Oddly enough, I have about 250-300 sitting in boxes in my basement. I thought about getting back into more high end audio by buying a DAC or using my home theatre speakers (Infinityās purchased 20 years ago) in stereo mode. But then I realized my kids use that rec room for true REC at times and the hobby can get pricey.
Once the kids are gone though, I could see creating a simpler, more high quality set up. A DAC, some Bowers and Wilkins, and who knows.
But yes, those boxes of CDās have kind of gone from āoh god, what am I going to do with theseā to āoh yeah, this is a treasure you curated through your late teens and 20ās.ā
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Yup, Iāve been doing that too. You can pickup DVDs and Blu-Rays for a pound or two in charity shops (also good for books) and I rip them into Plex. It saves me paying for multiple Streaming services.
Like you and @drezha i too have been ripping DVDs and Blu-rays into Plex for years now. All of my media library is on there. CEX in the UK is a great source for used discs. I recently spent Ā£20 and got two TV series box sets (on DVD) along with three films on Blu-ray.
I donāt convert the films to mp4 once ripped. I use MakeMKV to convert the disc to a single file. You do end up with large files (a Blu-ray film can be 30-40GB) but I have plenty of storage so I donāt run them through something like Handbrake to make them smaller.
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I hear ya. Unfortunately, my cars say otherwise. I loaded up a USB thumb drive with Apple Lossless audio and was able to play it with the built-in stereo player. If I wanted to play FLAC files using the stock car audio player, I wouldnāt be able to.
Apple Lossless is now open source so adoption will speed up.
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