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Digital Audio for Dummies

As I have stated before, I'm a bit of an audio dinosaur.  I love simple.  I love reliable.  I love a high performance/price ratio.  So no surprise I'm still happily spinning discs.  Give me a nice CD player direct to an integrated and I'm good to go.

But it is 2018.  Reading on this forum about the demise of Oppo was a bit of a wake up call. Also the Lyngdorf 2170 has inspired me.  An elegant all in one box product that is ready to connect with many of the digital options now available.  So I'd like to get educated on what's out there and what you suggest.  Basically I would want to know about ripping all my CD's--exactly how that is done.  Dedicated audio computer?  How big of a hard drive/other considerations?  Wired vs. wireless.  And then what streaming services are out there?  Cost, quality, ease of use?

PLEASE keep things simple and don't assume the reader knows, for example, what Roon is.  I've seen it mentioned, but would want to know exactly what this does, how it functions, etc.

THANKS!
corelli
corelli OP
386 posts
 
Thanks for the further clarification Steve.  Sure, that would bake sense as far as jitter in concerned.  And obviously streamed hi-res files can be superior.  But in that case we're comparing apples (Redbook) to oranges (Hi-res).  I was focused on apples to apples in my earlier comments.
jond's avatar
jond
3,400 posts
 
@corelli a lot of folks have said the same thing about ripped files sounding better. One theory the lack of the physical act of spinning the disc and attendant error correction. Take that away and certainly seems possible to have better sound. In my system it certainly sounds at least as good if not better.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

And obviously streamed hi-res files can be superior.

Not sure where you can get these. I only download hi-res files and own them. Download is not streaming.  Download is just a method to get the files on your hard drive rather than ripping a CD.

Streaming services are 44.1 FLAC files at best, and more often not even FLAC quality. You do not own these tracks.  They are not hi-res. This is why I do not pay for streaming services, I only play local files that I own, usually .wav files.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio


corelli OP
386 posts
 
Got it.  Now that I think about it I see where it would be very unlikely hi-res would be streamed.  Thanks for the correction.  A necessary part of learning!
sdj888
9 posts
 
On more vote for the bluesound vault 2. I just gave one to my 75 years young father. Works a treat, operated via tablet or computer. It’s bringing him great joy. He struggles with lots of tech incl vcr’s, pc’s ect.
The vault had great internals and is stable. Rca out or various digital. Will be good for another 15 years plus. All the best.
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