Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone here has paid a CD ripping service to convert your collection to FLAC or ALAC, with complete metadata (slightly leaning toward ALAC for convenience as an iTunes user, especially since I could always convert later if need be). I'm thinking of doing a full rerip but 1200 CDs is going to be a massive undertaking and I'm at a very busy point in my life.

So, if you've used any of these services:

Who did you use?
Did you ship?
(if you know) How were they on metadata for rare or small-run CDs (indy bands, lesser known acts, etc)?
Were there unanticipated issues?
Once you ripped, did you put your CDs away in wallets or do it some other way?

Finally, who do you recommend and what should I expect to pay per CD?

I live in Montreal so local would be great, but I'm also okay with shipping within Canada. I want to avoid customs BS, though, so no US firms.

Thank you!

PS -- we have some films (yes, films), VCR tapes and DVDs to convert as well, so if you have suggestions there too, that would be great.

um, just do it yourself?

I can't imagine paying someone to rip CD's for me.

for doing films, I found it easiest to just display them on the screen as intented (assuming you still have the projector?) and then use a modern video camera to capture them (tripod, natch).

the nice thing about doing it that way, is that you can choose to narrate the film

for VCR or DVD you can pick up a $50 capture card for the PC and just grab them that way

um, just do it yourself?

Because it's 1200 discs!

I used to run a ripping business here in Toronto. Doing it right can take a long time depending on the condition of the disk. EAC was not fast and a CD in rough shape could take hours, some were in such rough shape some tracks wouldn't rip at all even after polishing them.

ALAC is lossless and would be a good choice as iTunes can re-compress on the fly if you want to pack more music on a portable player. 1200 disks would be around 350GB of drive space in ALAC format.

Getting the tag data and album art correct was another process. I sort of enjoyed doing it as it ran across several computers. If the OP was local I'd consider taking the job.

Shipping 1200 CDs would be another story.

"Because it's 1200 discs!"

Ding ding. We have a winner. Thanks for all the replies. If anyone has any good leads, please let me know.