Frequently Asked Questions

An Android phone with a USB-C port, a USB CD/DVD drive, and a USB-C OTG adapter if your drive uses USB-A. No computer required.

Most standard USB CD/DVD drives will work, both name-brand and generic. A small number of older drives use an incompatible protocol, and Discs will let you know if you connect one. Power draw also varies from drive to drive, and some drives need more power than a phone can reliably supply on its own; a USB-C adapter with a power passthrough port covers this. You get two free rips to confirm your setup before buying.

If your drive has a USB-A connector, you'll need a USB-C OTG adapter. Most will work, but build quality varies. Cheap adapters, especially Y-cables, power injectors, and junk bundled OTG cables, often cause "Connection Unavailable" or "not enough power" loops. Prefer a simple USB-C OTG adapter with a power passthrough port so you can keep the phone charged while ripping; depending on your phone and drive, it can be the difference between intermittent and consistent rips.

Connect the powered USB-C adapter to the phone first, then attach the drive. If you plug the drive in before the adapter has power, some phones won't detect it or will drop the connection.

Discs supports Android 8 and above, on phones, tablets, and Chromebooks. If your device has USB-C and was made in the last several years, it should work. The most common compatibility issue isn't the device, it's power: USB CD drives can pull more than a phone reliably delivers, so if a drive isn't detected or rips drop out, a USB-C adapter with a power passthrough port almost always fixes it. Contact us at support@discsmusic.com if you run into trouble.

FLAC (lossless), MP3, and AAC (high-quality compressed). The default is FLAC, labeled "Perfect quality" in the app, but you can switch to MP3 or AAC at any time if you prefer smaller files, with encoder settings you control.

FLAC is a bit-perfect copy of the CD audio, identical to the original disc, but files are larger (roughly 300 to 500 MB per album). AAC sounds great at about a quarter of the size. If you're not sure, stick with FLAC. You can always re-rip later.

About 5 to 10 minutes for a typical album, depending on your drive. You can use your phone normally while it rips in the background.

Yes, automatically. When you insert a disc, Discs pulls track names and artist information from our metadata server, and album art from the Cover Art Archive. You'll need an internet connection for the lookup, but not for ripping or playback.

Yes. Discs checks every rip against CTDB, the CueTools Database, a public database of known-good rips, and can often repair small read errors using its recovery data. Verification is on by default and can be turned off in settings. A log is saved with each ripped disc.

Yes. Discs supports Android Auto, so your full library shows up on your car's display. You can browse by album or artist and control playback from the dashboard.

Yes. From your phone or tablet, Discs supports Bluetooth and Google Cast, so you can stream to any Bluetooth speaker, Chromecast, Google Home, or other Cast-enabled device. Google Cast isn't available on Chromebooks (a ChromeOS limitation, covered in the Chromebook section).

Yes. Live albums, concept records, and DJ mixes play seamlessly with no gaps between tracks.

Yes. You can create playlists in the app and import existing M3U playlists.

Yes. You can edit album titles, artist names, track numbers, disc numbers, year, genre, and album art. Tag editing works on FLAC, M4A, MP3, and WAV files. You can also edit metadata before ripping a disc.

Discs can sync music between your devices. Connect a dedicated media player (DAP), another Android phone, a tablet, or a Chromebook, and move albums or artists between it and your library. Connect over USB or insert a micro SD card, then drag what you want from one side to the other. It works in both directions.

Yes. Discs syncs to and from other Android phones, tablets, and Chromebooks, not just dedicated players. Connect the other device, pick a folder once, then push an album or a whole artist with the Send to picker, or pull its library into your own.

Discs supports a wide range of media players, including simple MP3 players, Android DAPs, phones, and tablets. If your player supports Mass Storage (appears as a USB drive) or MTP, it will likely work with Discs. You can also sync between an Android tablet and an Android phone, you'll just need to make sure that file transfer is enabled on the device to be synced. We have tested the following players: FiiO/Snowsky Disc, FiiO/Snowsky Echo & Echo Mini, Hiby R1, Hiby R3 Pro II, Hiby R4, HIDIZS AP80 Pro Max, Innioasis Y1. Due to the databases used, iPods are not currently supported.

Yes. If your media player uses a micro SD card, you can insert the card directly into your phone and Discs will treat it as removable storage. Sync works the same as with a connected player.

No. Media sync is included with the $10 CD Ripping & Media Sync purchase. If you've already bought CD ripping, you get media sync at no extra cost.

Yes. Discs runs on Chromebooks through ChromeOS's Android app support. You can rip CDs, manage your library, sync media players, and play music.

Not currently. ChromeOS runs Android apps in an isolated container that doesn't have the local-network access Google Cast requires to serve music from the device. This is a current limitation for all Android apps in ChromeOS.

ChromeOS doesn't automatically share USB devices with Android apps. You need to enable your CD drive manually: open ChromeOS Settings, go to Apps, then Manage Google Play Preferences, then Manage USB Devices, and enable your CD drive. Discs includes a built-in help screen with these steps.

For players that use USB mass storage, go to ChromeOS Settings, then Apps, then Manage Google Play Preferences, then External Storage Preferences, and enable the player's storage. ChromeOS needs to share the storage with the Android container before Discs can see it.

Discs is free to download and use as a music player. If you'd like to rip CDs or sync music to a media player, you can purchase CD Ripping & Media Sync for $10 through Google Play. You also get two free rips to test your setup before buying.

No. CD ripping, media sync, and music playback will never require a subscription. Purchase it once and you own it for life.

No. The purchase is tied to your Google account, not your phone. If you get a new phone or lose the old one, install Discs, sign in with the same Google account you used to buy, and restore the purchase from the paywall. Don't buy again.

The purchase is tied to your Google account. Confirm the Play Store on that phone is signed into the same account you used to buy, then open Discs and return to the paywall to restore. Don't buy again. If it still isn't recognized, force-stop Discs and reopen it, or restart the phone, then try restore again. If that doesn't work, contact support@discsmusic.com.

Discs requires an internet connection when ripping CDs in order to retrieve CD information, including album name, track names, and album art. Playback and everything else work offline.

On your device, in a folder of your choice. Discs will never move or upload your music without your permission.

Discs uses an anonymous user ID to manage your free rip allowance. No personal information is collected. When you rip a CD, disc information is sent to our metadata server to look up track details, album art is fetched from the Cover Art Archive, and, if verification is on, track checksums are sent to CTDB to verify and repair your rip. We also collect anonymous crash logs to help fix bugs. Our Privacy Policy has the full breakdown.

First, allow USB access when Android asks. If you're using a powered USB-C adapter, connect the adapter to the phone first, then attach the drive. If the drive still isn't detected, make sure your adapter supports USB OTG and try another adapter if possible; cheap Y-cables and bundled OTG cables are a common cause. Some phone and drive combinations also need external power before the drive will appear. If none of that helps, contact support@discsmusic.com.

Android opens Discs because the "Always" option was selected for that drive in a system prompt. Go to Settings, Apps, Discs, then Open by default, and tap Clear defaults. The exact menu names may differ depending on your device. The next time you connect the drive, allow USB access but don't select "Always." Android saves this setting separately for each drive, so you may need to repeat these steps for other drives.

This usually means the drive isn't getting enough power. It browns out: the supply dips, the drive drops off, and it comes back a moment later, which fails the rip. If you're using a multifunction dock, unplug accessories you don't need—its HDMI or Ethernet ports can draw power even with nothing else connected. Cheap adapters and Y-cables cause the same dropouts. Use a USB-C adapter with power passthrough and a 15W or higher charger, or a powered USB hub. Some drives may need their own powered connection.

We're aware of this on some drives and are actively tracking it. The app may show "Drive disconnected" or "Drive stopped responding," and suggest a power adapter.

Go to Settings, Ripping, then Advanced, turn Error Detection off, and try that disc again. If that works, with the drive connected, open Settings, then Ripping and tap Send Debug Info. Email that to support@discsmusic.com with a note on what it was doing before Error Detection was turned off.

USB CD drives need more power than some phones can give. The same drive can run on one phone and drop off on another. Use a USB-C adapter with power passthrough and a 15W or higher charger so the drive is powered from the charger, not the phone.

Metadata comes from an online database and occasionally has errors or missing entries. You can fix tags directly in the app using the tag editor, or before ripping by editing the metadata on the rip screen. If something looks off and you think the database entry is wrong, let us know at support@discsmusic.com.