Import massive spoken audio (.cda) collection, then add meta tags

I am a 62 year old grandfather with a $3000 dollar collection of audio cd’s and I want to rip them and configure the album artwork and other tags. I thought MetaBrainz Picard would help but it won’t import the .cda files from the CD. Would you suggest a simple solution?

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Hello and welcome, @gwerking!

The .cda files in Windows are a bit misleading, since they are not really files as such. In order to transfer the CD audio tracks into files on your computer, you can use an app that you have already have: Windows Media Player (here’s a guide). This is a pretty easy option.

If you’re concerned about making the most accurate copies possible, there are a few other apps, such as Exact Audio Copy, that make a special effort to minimize errors when reading from the CD.

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Welcome!

If you have the time and the enthusiasm I would definitely use Exact Audio Copy, and rip your CD’s in FLAC (lossless).

Changing them all to mp3 or similar later is then easy to do from FLAC, but if you have spent a year ripping CD’s to mp3 and then decide you actually want them in FLAC… you get to start over.

There are a lot of guides around but feel free to ask any other further questions here :slight_smile:

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Here is another welcome from another [older] Grandpa. FLAC is the way to go and EAC does a great job. It has been a mainstay for ripping my collection and has not let me down for decades. Create a folder on your desktop ie… “EAC rips” and have EAC put the completed files there. You can then decide exactly how you want to place :thinking:them in your music library.

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I am now using Exact Audio Copy for my first rip. I watched a 12 minute video from YouTube for instruction.

Another question. How do I add album art that is not found automatically, but I have an image that I want to use manually?

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You can drag and drop image files onto the cover art box on the lower right

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Further to @outsidecontext’s response, there are step-by-step instructions (with pictures) in the Setting the Cover Art section of the Picard User Guide.

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That worked just as advertised!

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