Linn DS as outboard digital converter

You should take that extra step and get rid of the cd's. If you are considering the DS system (any of their models),Linn's stream players are very to extremely musical, encroaching on analog with their top model the Klimax DS. You will find that the top Linn models are far Superior to any of Linn's own cd players. Even Linn states this.
As for ripping sacd and dvd audio, I believe there is a program for dvd audio, but perhaps someone else could chime in.
Also many people feel the Linn DS players are very close to sacd (top models). Check the forum out.

One other thing I forgot to mention in my previous post. At the Linn website there is a users' forum, one of which is dedicated to the new DS components. That would be a good source of information from other Linn users. Here is the link.

http://www.linn.co.uk/community

The Linn DS does not have inputs other than ethernet so it can't connect directly to a CD player. You mnight be able to do it indirectly through a multi room Knekt system but I'm not sure as I'm not familiar with Linn Knekt systems.