- rip the audio CD via EAC with acousticID (flac)
- retrieve metadata via beets in a script completely automated
- convert flac to mp3 via beets inplace convert (see below)
- backup the flac files to another location
- self-host navidrome and use the substreamer / dsub app and smart playlists to listen "on the go" (The Apple usb-c-to-audiojack adapter is pretty decent)
- transfer this via iTunes VM to my good old iPod Nano 7g as main listening device for audiobooks
If anyone is looking for fast and accurate ripping hardware, recently I updated my recommended hardware list including a linked tutorial for EAC:
~Why use MP3 instead of opus, vorbis or AAC ? All of them have (most of the time) better compression ratio (and better quality) than MP3. Is it for compatibility reason ?~
All iPods except for the very first and second one have supported AAC out of the box, and I believe there was a firmware update even for the two that didn't. Apple didn't invent the format, but was definitely its biggest proponent from early on.
Although the format might be superior in many ways, it has not replaced mp3 as the default format, because you can make mp3 sound pretty good and the space savings are not that important on modern devices.
Interestingly the iPod Nano 6th generation I think was the first device to support fast-forward and rewind via headphone remote. That's the main reason I don't use my 512GB iFlash iPod classic 2009 mod as often as I want to, although the support for m4b (m4a+aac) audio books is pretty good.
I've not tested ALAC on older iPods, which is a proprietary lossless format, but it might work on the newer more powerful ones (iPod touch)
My personal workflow:
If anyone is looking for fast and accurate ripping hardware, recently I updated my recommended hardware list including a linked tutorial for EAC:https://pilabor.com/blog/2022/10/audio-cd-ripping-hardware/
beets convert config: