On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 11:16:28AM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote: <SNIP> > given lots of disk space, my initial idea is to rip everything to FLAC > format, which is of course the least efficient but is lossless. for now, > i won't care about space efficiency, i can always convert to a different > format later once i decide how to set up my in-house media centre. I would highly recommend the abcde (A Better CD Encoder) script. You can rip to multiple formats at the same time, so FLAC + a lossy format. I'd personally avoid MP3, yes it's widely supported, but it's a non-free format. OGG is technically superior and FAIF, win-win. I chose my portable player based on support for OGG. > thoughts? all i want is the recipe for how i can start loading up that > new hard drive with my tunes, and not have to facepalm myself a few months > from now, muttering, "crap, i forget to do X so i have to start all > over." > > rday Also, don't use "normalize" it will result in decreased quality, instead consider using the various reply-gain programs. Good luck, George