Music Collection

[Bunnigal]

Dear all

Help needed here once again!

My bf (from Holland) is going to move to Thailand and plans to stay here for at least a couple of yrs. The issue we are facing is he has a huuuuuge collection of music (1,000 albums +) he'd like to bring along since he severely doubts if he will be able to find those in music stores here (plus it would take ages for him to download them from the internet -- we know how sucky the connection in Thailand is like right). As far as I know, as per European law you are allowed to make a copy of Cd's, programs, movies etc etc. for your home entertainment and as a backup. BUT ... would you suggest him to bring along all those music (possibly in form of mp3 or audio files in either a laptop or an external HD) onto the plane? Or will that be too risky?

I really have no clue

We definitely don't wanna pay a fortune amount of importing tax or any of those sort. He could leave his music collection behide but that will be a very sad story.... So .... any advice?

BIG thanks in advance

xx Bunnigal xx

[t.s]

Dear all

Help needed here once again!

My bf (from Holland) is going to move to Thailand and plans to stay here for at least a couple of yrs. The issue we are facing is he has a huuuuuge collection of music (1,000 albums +) he'd like to bring along since he severely doubts if he will be able to find those in music stores here (plus it would take ages for him to download them from the internet -- we know how sucky the connection in Thailand is like right). As far as I know, as per European law you are allowed to make a copy of Cd's, programs, movies etc etc. for your home entertainment and as a backup. BUT ... would you suggest him to bring along all those music (possibly in form of mp3 or audio files in either a laptop or an external HD) onto the plane? Or will that be too risky?

I really have no clue

We definitely don't wanna pay a fortune amount of importing tax or any of those sort. He could leave his music collection behide but that will be a very sad story.... So .... any advice?

BIG thanks in advance

xx Bunnigal xx

start burning now

[petecooper]

Burn them all into MP3's and bring them on a portable HD. We just did the same thing moving from Australia, bringing all the actual CDs was just way too bulky.

It takes some time though, like the previous poster said, start burning now!!

[jdinasia]

Dear all

Help needed here once again!

My bf (from Holland) is going to move to Thailand and plans to stay here for at least a couple of yrs. The issue we are facing is he has a huuuuuge collection of music (1,000 albums +) he'd like to bring along since he severely doubts if he will be able to find those in music stores here (plus it would take ages for him to download them from the internet -- we know how sucky the connection in Thailand is like right). As far as I know, as per European law you are allowed to make a copy of Cd's, programs, movies etc etc. for your home entertainment and as a backup. BUT ... would you suggest him to bring along all those music (possibly in form of mp3 or audio files in either a laptop or an external HD) onto the plane? Or will that be too risky?

I really have no clue

We definitely don't wanna pay a fortune amount of importing tax or any of those sort. He could leave his music collection behide but that will be a very sad story.... So .... any advice?

BIG thanks in advance

xx Bunnigal xx

I keep MANY copies of my files online in several e-mail accounts.

Google is giving about 2.8 GIGS per account

No need to carry much stuff with me when I travel

[Bunnigal]

Thanks all, appreciated your quide

All's burnt and ready to fly ... but since the HD's case is metal (or at least some parts of it must have been made from metal), will they CHECK what are saved on it once he's at the airport and the metal-detector goes **beeppppp**?

Thank you thank you thank you!

xx Bunnigal xx

[Upcountry]

Hi Bunnigal,

Your boy friend’s situation sounds similar to mine, except that I didn’t see a two-year time limit on my stay here with my wife. Since I expected to be here for a long time, I shipped all my vinyl records and CD’s. Before leaving, I copied as many CD’s from the local libraries as I could, particularly the music that I had on vinyl (since I wanted to convert them to digital anyway).

If he’ll only be here for a few years it doesn’t make sense to ship everything. Just make mp3’s or .flac’s of the most important music. You can’t count on being able to find music via file-sharing in the future of course. Buying it can get expensive, but we’ll probably all be “renting” music off the newer, faster, braver internet in the not too distant future anyway. The only music we probably won’t be able to get is old stuff that no-one has been interested in digitizing.

I’m starting to question making CD’s now, since that format will be obsolete soon. As suggested above, you can keep your digital music on a hard drive and then set up a computer connected to a stereo here in Thailand.

There are several high-end audio stores in Bangkok, so he can get his old Thorens fixed or replaced if he does want to bring the records.

As for shipping, I might as well share my technique. I packed the CD’s in protective sleeves, saved the artwork and tossed the cases. I wrapped the CD’s together in plastic and put them in boxes (I bought professional shipping boxes for the CD’s and the vinyl from a local record company back home).

In retrospect, shipping the CD cases separately in the shipping container wouldn’t have been a bad idea since finding decent cases here was a pain for me and cost money. Just don’t ship the CD’s in the cases because they could easily get damaged that way.

UC

Edited September 18, 2006 by Upcountry

[jasonc]

I've carried my external HD with me along with my laptop 100s of times through the airport. Just did it yesterday. If you ship CDs or vinyl you must be a special collector but you risk damage so why do it? Travel light and bring your mp3s as carry on. No problems.

Edited September 18, 2006 by jasonc

[libya 115]

Burn them all into MP3's and bring them on a portable HD. We just did the same thing moving from Australia, bringing all the actual CDs was just way too bulky.

It takes some time though, like the previous poster said, start burning now!!

Could you recommend some free software to burn Cd's into MP3 files. (For windows XP). Thanks.

[Bunnigal]

Upcountry:

Yes well, he would love to stay for the rest of his life I think. But the bereaucracy never always stands on our side right. We just hope for the best now The longer, the better.

Thanks for the shipping tips!

jasonc:

Ok.. that sounds easy lol.

As long as we won't get a huuuuge fine, anything goes ...

Seems like there are many options open hmmmm

Big THANKS to you guys!

I love Thaivisa *MWAH*

xx Bunnigal xx

[petecooper]

Could you recommend some free software to burn Cd's into MP3 files. (For windows XP). Thanks.

Apple's iTunes is great software regardless of if you have an "iPod" or not, works on Macs and PCs and it's free. Downloads the song titles from the internet automagically (an essential feature unless you fancy typing all the names in ) and the latest version will download the album art too.

Can't be beat.

www.itunes.com

[Upcountry]

Could you recommend some free software to burn Cd's into MP3 files. (For windows XP). Thanks.

For Windows, you can use EAC:

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

If you have a Linux system, I highly recommend CD Status:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdstatus/

I used the latter to make many dependable copies of CD’s. If there are defects it will make multiple attempts to capture all data, and indicate problems and attempts.

Nowadays iTunes or Toast, etc., may do a better job at dealing with system interruptions, but EAC and CD Status make attempts to “correct” errors if possible.

[Ijustwannateach]

I used a CD wallet to bring a few hundred original CDs here recently. No hassle at the airport; I don't even know if there was a risk of one. I'll do my MP3 sampling here and then take them back home later.

[dave111223]

If he wants to keep the CDs he could always toss the plastic cases, and buy some 100 disc spindles, pack the 10 spindles (1000 cds) into a box (along with the printed materials) and bring it on the plane as checked bag.

[Rdrokit]

Had the same situation. The next to last trip to Thailand before my final move I took an extra suitcase of the 200 CDs I could not part with. The remaining 1000 or so CDs I down loaded the best songs to my laptop (about 1600 songs).

[fxm88]

We definitely don't wanna pay a fortune amount of importing tax or any of those sort. He could leave his music collection behide but that will be a very sad story.... So .... any advice?

Sounds like a job for a mnemonic courier.

Had the same situation. The next to last trip to Thailand before my final move I took an extra suitcase of the 200 CDs I could not part with. The remaining 1000 or so CDs I down loaded the best songs to my laptop (about 1600 songs).

How long did that take? Someplaces have "ripping services" which will do this for you, maybe US$1 per disc.

I’m starting to question making CD’s now, since that format will be obsolete soon.

"Burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years". -- Do Burned CDs Have a Short Life Span?, John Blau, IDG News Service, January 10, 2006

Edited September 18, 2006 by fxm88

[Bunnigal]

Thanks guys You all've been great help.

fxm88:

Geeeeez thanks

That would come into handy though now that I think bout it....