Quote Originally Posted by JoeE SP9
Going through that process is a waste of time for me. I don't have an ipod or any kind of dedicated mp3 player. I don't store my CD's on my HDD's and am not interested in doing so. The whole idea of compressing CD's was something I tried and rejected. Why throw out the baby with the bath water? I guess I'm just old fashioned when it comes to playing music.
There are many reasons to store your music on your computer.

First of all, you can get about 50% compression through a completely lossless format like FLAC, so sound quality isn't an issue. In fact you can get sound superior to a CD player at a lower cost by using a high quality DAC.

More importantly, having your music on your computer gives you the ability to manage and manipulate it effortlessly. I handle a new CD exactly *once* -- when I put it in the computer for ripping. After that, I never touch it again unless I want to.

My entire collection is on a hard drive, instantly accessible. I can pick one song out of thousands in about five seconds, without even getting out of my chair. I can make playlists, play songs at random, burn mixed CDs for friends or the car, you name it.

Then, put the music on an iPod, and my entire collection is completely portable. Take it on a trip, to the gym, a friend's house, wherever I like.

Anybody who doesn't jump on this is really missing out on a lot.