Ripping CDs to iPod or iMac
Ripping CDs to iPod or iMac: a reader asks…
We have a box full of CDs that we would like to download to our IPOD or to our IMAC Unfortunately, our computers do not have disc drives. How do we do this?
Both your iPod and iMac use Apple’s Music app to play and manage your music library. Most likely that’s what you’re using, so here are two options for you:
First, you could skip the importing of those CDs all together and just subscribe to the Apple Music service. This costs $9.99/month (first three months free), and you can listen to any of the 75 million songs in Apple’s music library. Most likely, all your CDs are included in that huge library.
All you need to do is make sure both iPod and iMac are using the same Apple ID, and subscribe to Apple Music on either device – Apple generally pops up an advertisement nearly every time you start the Apple Music app, and that advertisement includes a button to quickly subscribe. Once subscribed, both devices will have access to the full library of the Apple Music service.
Second, you could purchase an external CD/DVD drive, such as Apple’s Superdrive ($79, from the Apple Store), or purchase any generic CD/DVD drive (such as this one for $22 from Amazon.com). Plug that drive into an available USB port on your iMac, open the Apple Music app and start importing each CD, one at a time, to add them to your personal music library. Then connect your iPod to the iMac and sync the music library.
Apple also has a service called iTunes Match for $25/year, which syncs your personal music library using iCloud instead of having to physically connect your iPod to your iMac. You can subscribe to that in the Apple Music app on your iMac. Since the Apple Music subscription service came out, Apple has pushed that heavily over iTunes Match, so you may have to hunt around for it.
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Author: Chris Gardner
Your Tech Coach at PosiTek.net
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