If I rip all my CD's to flac files do I still need a CD transport?


I'm in the process of ripping all my CDs to .flac files with Exact Audio Copy. If I see a verified rip with no errors, is there any point in considering upgrading my CD player? Would I be better investing is a quality streamer and DAC?

markcasazza

Showing 1 response by designsfx

If asked my answer would be “Yes- you should always have a transport/player as a fallback”. I don’t know how many discs I own but a large majority of them (what I listen to most often) are ripped as .WAV files onto a playback server. When I buy a new CD it gets ripped and then stored away (99% of the time). The other 1% of the time is when I use a transport to listen to the music prior to deciding which discs to rip. An example being when you purchase a large box set. Two weeks ago I purchased two sets which combined contained close to 90 discs. This is a case where I want to listen to each disc first prior to deciding which to rip.

I stream a lot of music as well- helps me decide what to purchase on disc beforehand. But if internet service goes down a streamer is worthless. The server will still work via Wi-Fi but if it has an issue I can always play the disc. CD’s are cheap and compared to what you make selling them their not really worth getting rid of (unless space/clutter is the issue). 
Keep your player and your discs!