Ripping CDs

@sandthemall yes, the .wav standard, established a very long time ago, made no provision for holding any metadata. I guess CDs have the metadata (when they do have it) in an index file, called a "schema" in computer-speak. Streamer/rippers might do the same. iTunes does that too. It creates an encrypted database of cover art and cross references that with your music file database, it doesn’t embed the cover art in the files themselves.

I would just wonder about say after a few years you decide to get a different streamer or a true NAS and wanted to move your files to it. Would you lose all the cover art and perhaps some of the more granular metadata? I’m not sure. Thanks.

At least when I rip to lossless FLAC or ALAC I know I can embed the cover art and other information inside the files themselves, so they are never lost. For those purists who think the processing of expanding these files adds some type of sonic artifact (most tests say there isn't on decent hardware), you can rip to FLAC level 0 I think it is, where there is no lossless compression at all, and of course, no reduction in file size. At that point the FLAC is merely a "container" hosting more metadata for the full-blown .wav file.   Good luck to the OP. 

Just wish they would have updated .wav file standards 20 years ago to enable hosting metadata, then there'd be no reason to discuss it. 

@sandthemall the reason I suggested FLAC or ALAC is to better natively contain any metadata instead of relying on some 3rd party database.  If your streamer/ripper or his Vault has that then more power to you, but I just don't trust such solutions and would rather have all that metadata and cover art embedded in the files themselves. YMMV. 

Sadly yes, rvpiano, you will need a PC or a laptop. Most laptops and PCs these days don’t have CD drives in them so you also need to buy a USB CD drive. These are fairly inexpensive, around $30. Perhaps you could borrow a laptop from someone. dbPowerAmp is great software but the free Exact Audio Copy works well too. I use a shareware program called mp3tag to snag cover art, album name, track names, and year of production, and add it in the metadata automatically. It finds stuff really well about 80% of the time. Note that .wav files never had the metadata header in them for holding cover art, but you could rip to lossless FLAC or ALAC and they both can contain the metadata for artwork, album name, track name, etc. Do be aware that ripping CDs can be time consuming.

My nephew conned one of his kids into doing it when they were 13 years old, offering them 10 cents for each CD they ripped. I think they felt ripped off. LOL.

Good luck. Long ago I ripped about 1300 CDs into iTunes and will never do that again. It took me a few months doing a few each night.

Another possibility if you don’t want to do it yourself is to make a deal with someone who does have a PC and pay them say a dollar a CD or so then simply get the data files from them.

I’d take a little time and properly clean the CDs before ripping them to help with any error correction. Note if you use iTunes make sure to check the checkbox for "Use Error Correction when reading CDs" in the Import Settings.

Finally, back up those data files in at least two locations for safety. Hardware can fail at any time. Oh and for your use case, that Brennan Helix recommended above by kingbr looks interesting.