Digital Audio for Dummies


As I have stated before, I'm a bit of an audio dinosaur.  I love simple.  I love reliable.  I love a high performance/price ratio.  So no surprise I'm still happily spinning discs.  Give me a nice CD player direct to an integrated and I'm good to go.

But it is 2018.  Reading on this forum about the demise of Oppo was a bit of a wake up call. Also the Lyngdorf 2170 has inspired me.  An elegant all in one box product that is ready to connect with many of the digital options now available.  So I'd like to get educated on what's out there and what you suggest.  Basically I would want to know about ripping all my CD's--exactly how that is done.  Dedicated audio computer?  How big of a hard drive/other considerations?  Wired vs. wireless.  And then what streaming services are out there?  Cost, quality, ease of use?

PLEASE keep things simple and don't assume the reader knows, for example, what Roon is.  I've seen it mentioned, but would want to know exactly what this does, how it functions, etc.

THANKS!
corelli

Showing 2 responses by jond

There are lots of streaming devices that are easy to use and fairly affordable Blue Sound has been mentioned the Auralic Aries and Aries Mini are another. On the subject of ripping, I guess I don't see the need to spend extra on a device that also rips. For me $35.99 spent on dbPoweramp and my laptops disc drive did the trick. Since you presumably only will rip once I don't personally see the point in putting extra money into a ripper. Unless of course you don't have an optical drive on your computer. Just my opinion of course.
@corelli a lot of folks have said the same thing about ripped files sounding better. One theory the lack of the physical act of spinning the disc and attendant error correction. Take that away and certainly seems possible to have better sound. In my system it certainly sounds at least as good if not better.