Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

I wanted to convert these to the same bit depth and sample rate and in .wav format (storage is so cheap now).

While I certainly do agree that "cheap" or "expensive" is subjective, I humbly submit you are probably making a mistake to store as wav (instead of a lossless compressed alternative).

Assuming your collection grows, at some point you will be compelled to rethink storing files in wav format.

In my particular case, I have 20+ terabytes of music stored as flac. If I stored in wav, I suppose I could say I have 40 terabytes. Besides the fact the cost of three additional western digital drives would be $600, I’d also need another cubic feet or more of physical space. Not clear to me where the benefit lies.

@gdhal
Ethernet renderers, as audioengr refers to, are the way to go.

How do you get time to listen to it all?

I listen at a rate of 12 hours of live concert recordings weekly, for many years now. Each day I listen to a completely different show. In my case, I primarily, but not exclusively, listen to Grateful Dead. To date, I’ve listened to 4772 *unique* show hours and 2026 *unique* dates . My 20 terabytes is not all unique shows. Much of the material is the same show, but a different source. For instance, a show can be a soundboard, audience or matrix. I have about 1 year of music in queue. This is music I’ve already obtained but haven’t listened to it yet. I also have videos of many shows. Videos are typically 12Gb whereas a show in 24bit is 3.5Gb. Details are on my website http://halr.x10.mx/shows.html

Ethernet renderers, as audioengr refers to, are the way to go.

This isn’t practical in my case because I obtain and trade via client peer-to-peer bit torrent. I "collect" the music so as to retain in my personal possession. Grateful Dead can be streamed via ethernet rendering from archive.org, but my collection far surpasses what’s available on the site and is usually better quality sources. Note that at one time archive.org permitted downloading the files and not simply streaming as they do now. Moreover, IMO streaming is not as good as having the source files and playing locally. Streaming invariably involves occasional drop outs, especially if wireless is involved. My opinion on streaming music is that quality suffers in comparison to having the same music available locally. Streaming might be viable if I were just casually listening and not collecting on top of it. Additionally, not all types of music - especially live recordings - are available to stream.