---
title: "Building an offline lossless music library from CDs"
language: en
topics: ["Freedom", "MacBook", "apple", "howto", "lifestyle", "music"]
full_article_url: https://willem.com/en/2022-07-17_offline-music/
---
# Building an offline lossless music library from CDs

*Ripping, tagging and playing music you actually own.*

> I buy albums on CD, new and second hand, and rip them to lossless files. In 2022 my workflow was an old MacBook Air with iTunes, checking metadata and album art by hand, keeping every CD in storage.

Owning your music has concrete advantages over streaming: nobody demands periodic payments, the artist's intended album order stays intact, and a CD holds more than a lossy stream, which literally throws away bits of the music.
I hunt for albums in Amsterdam record stores, at festivals and in recycle stores, buying new and second hand. The collection runs to thousands of songs across hundreds of albums, and every disc stays in storage after ripping.
For ripping I use an old MacBook Air with iTunes, correcting metadata and album art by hand. On the road I play the files on an Astell&Kern Ultima SP2000 player driving Shure SE846 sound isolating earphones through a balanced DreamDuet cable.