Should I still buy a CD player? Suggest one?

@river251 — The Zen Mini does it all so would take the place of using a computer along with all the other stuff. Hook it into your internet and plug its analog output to your pre or it’s digital out to a DAC and you’re off and running. I was thinking this would make it as easy as possible to make the switch to streaming rather than dealing with a buncha computer crap, which I personally abhor. The Zen Mini also has its own disk drive where you can take your remaining CDs (especially more obscure CDs that might not be available through streaming subscriptions) and just feed them into the unit and it automatically and fairly quickly downloads them to its internal storage so they’d then be as easy to access and play as music through your streaming service. Butt removal from chair no longer required.

I looked and the price of the Zen Mini Mklll it’s actually $1249, but adding the separate power supply would bring a meaningful performance boost down the road. If it fits in State Farm’s budget it would be a big step up to their Zen model at $2599. I’d recommend reading Darko’s reviews of both units not only to get a better idea of their performance level and functionality but also for some good general info on the ins and outs of streamers. Hope this helps, and glad to hear you’re open to the idea of streaming. I find the streaming experience kinda like EZPass — once you have it, the thought of having to wait in line and dig for change to pay a toll seems absolutely absurd and there’s no going back. If that makes any sense. Anyway...

I too am sorry to hear about your unfortunate fire incident. Until recently I too was a streaming holdout, but I’ve converted and am very happy I did. I find the quality of streaming Qobuz comparable or better than spinning CDs, and although the convenience and flexibility is off-the-charts better than playing CDs, even better is the variety of music I now have at my fingertips. As a result I’ve got a whole new library of albums and tracks I probably would’ve never gotten exposed to otherwise. It’s like whole new musical worlds are being opened to me. So I’d highly recommend turning lemons into lemonade and take this opportunity to enter the streaming world. Very good DACs have never been so cheap, and you can buy a relatively cheap CD player as a transport and pair it with something like a Wired4Sound reclocker and get great results for spinning your CDs (although you may find yourself not spinning many anymore after entering the wonderful world of streaming — I don’t). Obviously going this route will also negate the need for you to repurchase most of your lost CDs as they’re probably already available for streaming. Or, alternatively, you might consider something like the Innuos Zen Mini Mklll, which at around $1500 could be your CD player, DAC, and streamer all in one. Upgrade the DAC later and you’d have a pretty killer front end.

Qobuz was recently offering a special $15/month for their hi-res streaming subscription to early subscribers, and I’d recommend taking advantage of that if it’s still available. I did, and it’s the best 15 bucks I spend every month. Sorry again for your loss, and best wishes for rebuilding better than ever.