Help with XLD for ripping ALAC files in Mac OSX iTunes

[RobR]

As my first post to this great group, I thought I'd shout out for some help with setting up XLD for ripping to Mac OSX. I gave XLD a try on my Mac Mini, using Mac OS 10.5.7, based on reports that Max is having some issues with ALAC files (at least with SqueezeCenter) and Rydenfan's post here on CA in May that he really likes this ripping and conversion software. Unlike Max, I see that XLD is using the more advanced cdparanoia III-10.2 engine, and just today XLD was updated to be compatible with Snow Leopard. So it surely looks like a great upgrade over iTunes ripping, which has given me fits with unpredictable glitches, even with immaculate CD's. Still, I like using iTunes for organizing my library, and like the fact that both iTunes and XLD use CDDB for tags.

 

After ripping a couple CD's with XLD, I noticed that the new ALAC files show up properly in my standard iTunes menus just like the older ALAC albums, and they play perfectly-- even with one CD that gave trouble with iTunes rips, so I am very happy. But I also see what appears to be duplicate ALAC files in the new folder I created as the output destination I specified in XLD's preferences (username>Music>iTunes>Special Rips). In XLD's preferences I also checked the box that says "Add encoded files to iTunes if possible".

 

Has anyone else tried XLD with iTunes organizing in Mac OS 10.5? Should I just delete my new "Special Rips" folder (containing all the apparently dupe ALAC files) which I created in my master iTunes folder for the XLD rips , since the ALAC files also seem to be showing fine within the standard iTunes Music folder? Both sets of ALAC files seem to be originals, not aliases. And I have no idea what the XLD "cue sheets" mean (mentioned in the XLD documentation) although I can find no such files in my Music folder. I just want to be sure I will not mess up iTunes library and Music folders as I add new XLD rips to my earlier iTunes rips.

 

Here's the link to XLD for those of you wanting to check out what appears to be excellent Mac ripping software.

 

http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Rob

 

 

[Bob Stern]

In iTunes preferences > Advanced, be sure you un-check the checkbox "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to Library."

 

[Audio_ELF]

XLD creates it's rips in the designated folder, then afterwards imports them into iTunes.

 

If you have "copy files to iTunes library" selected this will reate duplicate files. Unlike Bob's advice, I would keep the option selected and just delete the files in the xLD folder. This way all you music is stored in the iTunes hyararchy correctly.

 

Eloise

 

[RobR]

Thanks for your suggestions, Bob and Eloise. I like Eloise's approach best--just periodically clear out the folder containing the jumble of unsorted XLD tracks and rely on iTunes dupes for the organization.

 

I'm slow in responding because my Mac Mini crashed this morning on a rip in XLD. My monitor was flashing random noise/ colored lines and then a hang in the whole computer. Upon hard rebooting, I got a series of beeps coming from my computer (hadn't heard that before), until I unplugged my NEC monitor and hard rebooted yet again. After hours of a blank white screen, I reconnected my monitor, hard rebooted again this afternoon, and I'm now OK. Disk Utility and the Apple Hardware Test reported no problems.

 

A very similar but less crippling crash happened a day earlier with just iTunes ripping a problem CD from the internal optical drive (not my ext. drive), so this seems more an OSX issue than a XLD or drive problem. Still, this was very discouraging--I now have to watch the rips more closely than I'd like. Before this week I'd sailed along with over 200 rips in iTunes alone without any crashes (but getting some gaps in a handful of tracks). Any advice on these ripping crashes would be much appreciated. I've been reluctant to upgrade to 10.5.8 because of a variety of problems I read about online, but maybe that would help. I'd rather hold out for another three months till 10.6.2.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

 

Rob