Dumb file size question.

You are right. And I’ve already done it. I’ve got about 60 of my 150 or CDs on the hard drive of an old iMac via iTunes running into a Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC via USB cable.

A very modest setup no doubt. But very convenient. Apple Remote works very well from my cell phone.

SQ? Well, not that bad really. When my Arcam CD92 was fully functional I felt like played CDs were a bit brighter through the CDP. My wife agreed but actually liked the warmer less strident SQ from the ripped CDs.

Now that the DAC in the Arcam is dead I’m using it as a transport running through the Schiit and there is very little difference in SQ between a played CD and the ripped CDs.

This suggests to me that a better DAC will yield some SQ improvement. I’m watching Bifrosts on eBay.

But to be completely honest, when I’m listening to a well produced high quality ripped CD through the DAC I don’t feel like anything is necessarily lacking.

Definitely not inclined to fill up my hard drive with massive HD Tracks files whenever I can get a used $6 CD that sounds just as good, ripped or played.

Have also been studying the BlueSound Vault 2i. Seems like a one component solution. But that's $1200. My current set up set me back $110.

Disk is cheap, well worth the extra space used. Hopefully you have a high speed internet connection with unlimited data.

You can buy a decent 2TB Seagate usb drive for about $80 on Amazon, etc. Someday you might upgrade your rig and you will be kicking yourself if you compressed files due to the cost of storage. Always go with the larger file sizes and best sound quality available. 

Unfortunately, SQ will depend on the provenance of the recording. If you read that the source of the hirez is an analog master, you will usually get good SQ. Too many labels and HD Tracks in particular often upsample from a CD quality original to sell hirez for more profit. Especially on newer releases. Read the details where possible before buying and be selective! Cheers,
Spencer

n80, I have all my ripped CDs on HD in ALAC transmitted by WiFi to DAC.  Since transmission, similar to your Schiitt USB is asynchronous, nothing on the side of computer matters as long as the data has lossless compression (ALAC, FLAC etc).

CD DR can be poor since it is made for average person that plays it on the boombox or small system (that requires compression) but some of CDs are sounding incredible showing no limitation of the media (at least to me).  Limitations of the sampling rate should show at high frequency short bursts (like sound of cymbals) since Nyquist's 2x applies only to continuous waves, but I cannot hear that.  (at least I couldn't before, since recently I suffer hearing problems).

There is a chance that LPs today are mixed/intended for audiophiles since everybody else uses CD players at best.

n80,

As stated above, do not go for lower resolution just because of memory capacity. With a little luck, you can get 4TB for $100 at major stores. Higher resolution files are frequently worth it in the long run.

In case you are looking for a one-box solution, make sure you can attach it to a different DAC. You have already been playing with those things so you are more likely going to do it again at some point than not. It may not matter right now, but Bluesound Vault 2i does not seem to play DSD which is one of the high-resolution formats many people use. Check other brands, too.