I am having trouble deciding on how to go about ripping my CD collections (~400). I want to be able to play lossless on the HTPC/home setup vis vista media center and mp3 on an iPod nano. I'd like to have album art for both collections. My initial thought are to use dbpowerAmp to rip to FLAC which will automatically get the album art and then use it again to convert it to mp3 for iTunes/ipod usage. Is there an easier way to do this where I don't have two copies? Any other recommendations?
If you are considering using FLAC for your lossless HTPC version, the MP3 copy will be only add about an extra 15% to 20% storage requirement (at circa 128 kbit/s).
Is there an easier way to do this where I don't have two copies?
If you need two versions for each track, one lossless and one lossy, then, yes, you need two copies.
The only other option is to have your program transcode your FLAC to MP3 during the transfer process to the nano. I know Winamp can do this, but there are many other programs that can also do it.
The only other option is to have your program transcode your FLAC to MP3 during the transfer process to the nano. I know Winamp can do this, but there are many other programs that can also do it.
Another option you have is Rockbox, if you Nano is first generation and you are willing to do away with the Apple software on that Nano.
Rockbox can play .flac and supports viewing album art (though usually not while a track is playing).
Just another option on the table. Problem with that is the largest 1st gen Nano is only 4GB, so that fills up pretty quickly using .flac and album art.
The Rockbox (http://www.rockbox.org)-firmware is installed in addition to the apple firmare on ipods. (I have tried it on a classic) All you have to do is hard-reset (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1320?viewlocale=en_US) and you will be back to apple firmware. You can even get a bootloader installed to choose between the different firmwares when you start it.
rockbox ipodfaq (http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodFAQ#Can_I_have_the_regular_iPod_firm)
JRiver Media Center will do the trascoding on the fly... it supports Nanos. It will keep a cached version (if you tell it to) so that the next time you transfer a given song it will go quickly. Or you can pre-cache. The mp3s can be stored in a separate location (separate drive, even) so that it doesn't confuse your HTPC software. The software maintains common tags, cover art, play stats, etc. The mp3s are stacked so that you don't see two copies of everything. If you play a song through the software you'll get the FLAC version; if you transfer to the iPod it will move your mp3 version.
I used to use this setup and have XBMC scan my FLAC directory for playing throughout the house, then JRMC could transfer the 192 kbps mp3s to my iPod. Then I got an iPod touch, and I'm back to managing two collections since JRMC can't talk to the touch. I don't think any 3rd part software does this well?