Will I still be able to Rip CDs in the new music app?

There is no indication that that functionality has changed. Both in the article Jim linked to and statements in the Keynote mentioned ripped content.

With that article, you have as much information as the rest of us users do.

Thanks IdrisSeabright! You’re certainly right there is no indication that that functionality has changed, just as there is no indication that it hasn’t. There is mention of other important things that haven’t changed but considering the original iTunes tag line of « Rip, Mix, Burn » it would have been nice to see some reference to the « Rip » and « Burn ».

I continue to hope that someone with more information than what is available in that linked article and the keynote can weigh in since I’m sure there are more than a few of us who’d really like to know.

wesayhowdyhere wrote:

I continue to hope that someone with more information than what is available in that linked article and the keynote can weigh in since I’m sure there are more than a few of us who’d really like to know.

This is a user-to-user forum. No one here has more information than Apple has made publicly available. Until they do, we're just going to have to be patient.

Don’t worry too much, I’ve not used iTunes for the two processes you describe (Rip and Burn) for quite some time now, instead favouring Xld.

https://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html

https://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=XLD_Configuration

I can appreciation iTunes for some is simple and straight forward but Xld does have a few advantages that if you can overcome the lack of available instructions will make better Rips and far better Burns, especially if your intention is to play the end result on your domestic HiFi.

Personally I don’t believe Apple would remove those functions (yet) but all bets are off for the future, especially if their business model includes “streaming”!

I know I am a bit late to the game, but hippiman24’s inquiry is a make or break for me. My iTunes library consists of 1,650 albums ripped from CDs, and I still have roughly 500 CDs in waiting. When I started using iTunes I had to weigh the size of my music collection, which was still growing considerably, against (affordable) hard drive capacity; a 500GB hard drive cost a few hundred dollars. So the music currently in my iTunes library were ripped as 160 kbit/s AAC files.

Now that storage is cheap, I have been planning ripping the new(er) CDs and re-ripping the existing library in the lossless ALAC format.¹ That being the case, it will be years before I complete the processing of ripping my CD collection in a high-quality audio format. Additionally, I have a collection of more than 1,200 records that need to be digitized and then added to iTunes.² Therefore, dropping the ability to rip music would be a major deal breaker for me.

¹ 2TB HDDs hover around the $100.00 point, but SSDs, especially those of the blade variety, are still relatively expensive.

² Some of my vinyl are albums that have since been purchased as CDs, so in those cases I would only digitize those LPs that have tracks that are not on the CD.

Catalina is beta software, as is the new Music app. By definition, that means that the features of the app are fluid and may change at any point prior to its release. So, even if someone did break their NDA and give you an answer it wouldn't be definitive.

What I would say is that even if the app has no ability to rip, then there are always alternatives:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/best-alternatives-itunes-ripping-cds-3659456/

Hi,

About the upcoming changes with iTunes on Mac - Apple Support

Jim

Thanks, Jim, but the linked page doesn’t answer the question about ripping and formats... I’m still very curious about that.

I’m feeling optimistic. Let’s just say that then.