I do everything with foobar, including using it as nothing but a DSP stack for my back-end 'crossover PC', and as a source (plus some DSP) on the front-end machine (I use 2 machines since the soundcard has to be close to the speaker array which is a distance from my listening area). Foobar2000 has excellent rip options, fine results. Use FLAC if you want lossless.
Back things up. I use a 1TB USB3 hard drive for music and occasionally back up on my C drive. I've already lost one USB flash drive (it was backed up though). BTW I've seen no speed issues with any of the above. Both machines are inexpensive desktops, somewhat optimized but with full functionality. Else I wouldn't be able to safely download new apps/plugins to try.
Back things up. I use a 1TB USB3 hard drive for music and occasionally back up on my C drive. I've already lost one USB flash drive (it was backed up though). BTW I've seen no speed issues with any of the above. Both machines are inexpensive desktops, somewhat optimized but with full functionality. Else I wouldn't be able to safely download new apps/plugins to try.