Ripping & Compression
If you are new to the B2 watch this CD Ripping video
Martin has written a brief explanation of compression
Also see this post on How to Rip
Album databases and track labeling
On 31st March 2020 the Freedb website - previously used by B2 to assign track names to CDs - was shut down. All B2 and BB1 software since 2nd February has used an alternative website - Musicbrainz.
B2 can also use an offline copy of the entire Freedb database - as it stood on 31st March - to provide candidate track names if Musicbrainz does not have a match - so you get the best of both worlds.
You can load the Freedb database using Settings->Maintenance->Get Mydb. You only need to do this once as it will not change - and its a big file 1.5G so will take many minutes (20 with my broadband) to download and unzip.
Cover Art
B2 will attempt to find cover art at Musicbrainz when a CD is ripped.
The cover art will show on the web UI. Sometimes there will be several potential matches so pick the right one then click Rip.
If it finds an image then it will be saved with the music and will display when you play that album.
You can load an image after ripping.
First you need to find cover art (I use Amazon) - and save it to your computer.
Then click on the cover art box of the album. That will open the upload panel.
Click on Choose Files and find and select the image file you saved.
Click on Send to Brennan.
Using an External CD Drive
You can rip CDs using an external USB CD/DVD drive. You just need to plug an external USB drive into USB C and use it as you would the internal drive.
There are a couple of reasons why you might do this.
1) You can rip more quickly with an external drive
2) If you plan to rip a lot of CDs it will save wear and tear on the internal drive
We tested a handful of cheap USB drives like this and they all worked. Tray loaders generally work faster than the B2 internal slot load drive.
To ensure the B2 detects the CD Drive, power off the B2 before plugging in the CD Drive and then power on again.