Almost every time I talk to a potential customer about getting their CDs converted, I get the same question: “So how long is this going to take?” and with that, I have our absolutely truthful answer: “It depends!”

Believe it or not, the actual “ripping” process (the action of turning your physical discs into digital files) is the fastest part. In fact, almost every job we have come through our facility can be ripped in less than 24 hours. The two longest time-takers are also two of the most crucial: shipping and love!

When you place an order, we send you our shipping kit for your discs. This takes between 1 and 4 business days, depending on where in the United States you live. You then get the boxes, pack your CDs with our materials, and put the return label on the box. We then receive your discs in a few more business days.

Once we’ve received your order, you get placed into queue. We have a system that determines who gets placed at what position in the queue based on when you ordered, how long it took you to ship your media to us, and how big your collection is. Your CDs are then ripped into the first format you specified, and are moved to be groomed. This is where we get to the “love” stage.

“Love” is the part of the process that is the most crucial – remember, we love your CD collection as much as you do, and we want to make sure that you get the best possible product back. We make sure we find as much album art for your collection as possible, we check for inconsistencies in names between composers and artists, and generally try and clean up the digital files from any irregularities as best as possible. If you have a second or third format you’d like, your collection is queued on our server cluster to be converted into those formats, and then your music is loaded onto the device you’ve sent to or purchased from us.

Usually your collection is in our facility for 3-4 business days. However, this is a general rule of thumb, because we don’t prioritize timing. Our philosophy is “If it’s not right, we don’t ship it.” End of story. If we can’t make it pass our quality control, we hold and fix until it’s correct. It is, however, rare when we have to hold a collection beyond the usual time frame.

All said and done, the process usually takes about 2-3 weeks, depending on how fast your CDs get to us and how large your collection is. If you need your CDs back by a certain date, we’re happy to quote you on a rush job, it just might cost a little extra per disc.

If you’re interested in hearing more about a specific part of the process, or want more information about anything, give us a call, send us an email, or reach out to us on Twitter or Facebook!

Tagged: cd conversion process, how long, ripping, shipping, shipping time