What does everyone use to rip their music?

[Jim Casey]

Which Hard Drive etc?

[mp3jrick]

Do you mean which program to rip music with?

[Jim Casey]

I'm looking for hard drive recommendations...I would llike to purchase one and start ripping when I get back from the cruise.

[mp3jrick]

I'd have to figure you are going to use a laptop.
I like firewire so as to not overload the usb port which you will probably use for your soundcard.
Plan on a PCMCIA firewire card to attach the drive to the laptop.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-104-311&depa=0

A few things to consider:
Sealed drives will run hotter and require a wall wart power supply and they are not upgradable when they fill up.

I like these drive enclosures because they have exceptional cooling, utilize internal power supplies and if, down the road, I want to upgrade I can.

http://www.pcmicrostore.com/PartDeta...x?q=p:10500976

As for drives, it really depends on how much space you want.
200g drives are pretty cheap if you look around.
I found these recently:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...=THD-2000JB%20P
Typically as they fill up I retire them as back up drives.
As for brands, you will hear stories from users concerning failures from pretty much all of them. Sooner or later they all will fail, electro/mechanical things always do if given enough time. Personally I like Maxtor, then WD and don't care for Acomdata. Most drives will meet our requirements but look for 7200 rpm or better.

[Jim Casey]

What about external Hard Drives?

Would you recommend use of any of those?

[mp3jrick]

Jim,
Not exactly sure what you are asking here.
This basically is an external drive.
What I have suggested is using an internal drive mounted in an enclosure with an internal power supply and fan.
A conventional external drive is in a sealed case without a cooling fan utilizing a wall wart power supply.
I had a couple of these, one Acomdata that failed and a Maxtor 80G which I still have and use for backup.
The cost of the suggested set up is considerably less also, close to half in some cases if you shop. Couple that with the other benefits and you are way ahead.

Where are you cruising to?
Booked a 11 day to Panama for Feb 05, can't wait.

[Jim Casey]

I;m going on the WeDJ Cruise leaving next Sunday from Port Canaveral going to Freeport and another Bahamian port. Returning the 13th

www.wedjcruise.com

Best part...a write off!

[mp3jrick]

Looks like this:
4 screws, 2 plugs and less than 5 minutes.
Takes longer to quick format than it does to put together.




http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid1...33/f5ac222c.jpg
Imaging not working............

I'd be interested to know if it is a stag sausage fest, family thing and how many go.
What are the accomodations and costs for this trip.
I love cruising and the more days at sea the better.

[Cap]

External Storage Devices:

There's an explosion of advances in terms of portable storage size, modularity and interconnection techniques. Where to begin?

Consider first, what you already have for a laptop computer and what connections are available to you.
Are you going to use your home computer to rip and transfer? What connections are available to you on that machine?
USB? USB 1 or 2.
Firewire? A or B.
SCSI? I or II or III
PCMCIA? USB or Firewire or SCSI.
What size enclsoure? 3.5" drive capable or 2.5" drive capable.
How is it powered? Direct AC cable or an in-line transformer.
Size of the drive? 80-120-200-300gb
Rotational speed of the drive? 4200-5400-7200-10,000 rpm.
Data access time of the drive? 10ms-8ms-6ms-4ms.
BIOS restrictions? Can your machines recognize greater than xxx sized drives?

Whew, lots to think about. Have I missed anything, Rick?

For ripping (CD or vinyl or tape conversion to .wav files) I use AudioCatalyst 2.1. For .wav editing and conversion to .mp3, my tool choice is Adobe Audition 1.5 (formerly Syntrillium's Cool Edit Pro)

[mp3jrick]

Looks like you got 'em all Cap, but what specs do you prefer?

My recomendations were based on a basic laptop XP/P4@2.6 w/512mb ram.
I like the 3.5" enclosures like yours, and this drive:

Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 6B300S0, OEM Drive Only

Model# 6B300S0
Item # N82E16822144359

Specifications:
Capacity: 300GB
Average Seek Time: 9.3 ms
Buffer: 16MB
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Interface: Serial ATA 150
Features: SATA II, -NCQ [Native Command Queuing]
Manufacturer Warranty: 3 years
Packaging: OEM Drive Only

$194.00 at New Egg

Wuddya think?