Options
Digital formats, cloud storage, external hard drives... HELP!
OK so I'm pretty good at computers and such and understand pretty well how this all works, but I'm just wanting some opinions I guess... mostly because my music collection is important to me and I don't want to lose it (or lose quality by converting, etc).
We are Apple people. MacBook Pro, two iPhones, older iPad, etc. We also have a Western Digital MyCloud external hard drive, which is awesome btw. Finally, I have LOADS of music in all formats, but mostly FLAC.
My questions are:
-- When I convert files to ALAC (Apple Lossless for iTunes), is there any reason to keep the FLAC files? The ALAC files are just as lossless right? So I'm not risking losing any quality by keeping them and deleting the FLAC files? My intuition is to keep the original FLAC files but this seems stupid since I prefer to listen via iTunes.
-- Does anyone store their iTunes library on a Wireless hard drive like the MyCloud, or is this too limiting? My collection would far exceed the storage capacity of my laptop so I have to be selective about what I put on iTunes. It would be cool to just put my entire collection on iTunes, but this means I'd only have access to it when I'm at home. I'd have access to the files through the WD website from anywhere, but I'm not sure I'd be able to play the files on iTunes unless I was actually within range of my Wireless Hard drive.
-- How do you guys back up your files? Kind of scary having all of my music, videos and photos all in one place, on a drive that is constantly running and being used.
-- Anyone have and good/bad experiences w/ the WD MyCloud external drive, or similar products? So far it has changed the way we relax at home. I can watch and listen to any file on demand through my phone, laptop and even my TV! All wireless! No more PJ Twenty on the laptop... now it goes on the 40" TV!
We are Apple people. MacBook Pro, two iPhones, older iPad, etc. We also have a Western Digital MyCloud external hard drive, which is awesome btw. Finally, I have LOADS of music in all formats, but mostly FLAC.
My questions are:
-- When I convert files to ALAC (Apple Lossless for iTunes), is there any reason to keep the FLAC files? The ALAC files are just as lossless right? So I'm not risking losing any quality by keeping them and deleting the FLAC files? My intuition is to keep the original FLAC files but this seems stupid since I prefer to listen via iTunes.
-- Does anyone store their iTunes library on a Wireless hard drive like the MyCloud, or is this too limiting? My collection would far exceed the storage capacity of my laptop so I have to be selective about what I put on iTunes. It would be cool to just put my entire collection on iTunes, but this means I'd only have access to it when I'm at home. I'd have access to the files through the WD website from anywhere, but I'm not sure I'd be able to play the files on iTunes unless I was actually within range of my Wireless Hard drive.
-- How do you guys back up your files? Kind of scary having all of my music, videos and photos all in one place, on a drive that is constantly running and being used.
-- Anyone have and good/bad experiences w/ the WD MyCloud external drive, or similar products? So far it has changed the way we relax at home. I can watch and listen to any file on demand through my phone, laptop and even my TV! All wireless! No more PJ Twenty on the laptop... now it goes on the 40" TV!
0
Comments
Take my advice and clone your media drive ASAP. Hard drives die all the time and it's great to have a redundant clone immediately ready to go.
JH, I've been wondering about iTunes match. Seems pretty cool. To be clear, do you have access to any file that's in your iTunes library? At any time (obviously need a connection)? You download it into a cache on your device and then delete it when your done? Does the media show up in your music app on the phone or do you use another app to access it?
The wireless drive I have works the same way, but I don't have to upload the media to iTunes. I access it via an App. I can stream or download any media from anywhere, as long as my drive is on and the internet is up. Only problem is that my phone won't play .flac files so I have to convert them anyway. Not really any better.
Main reason we bought the wireless drive is because we have a smart TV. Now, every file on there can be watched, viewed, or listened to on the TV. But it's cloud capabilities have me excited as well.
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
I'd backup what JH is saying. I'm an iTunes Match user and to be honest I wouldn't be without it now. In PJ terms I have 185 PJ albums all available across my devices from the cloud. In fact the service has been that good I took the brave step a few months ago of getting rid of all my CDs. The only ones I have left are my PJ collection. All my digital files are backed up though.