Best Way to Upgrade Digital


I have over 3K CD's and I am building a new system & not sure what is the best way to set up my digital.  Should I get A DAC & CD Ripper or a CD/SACD?  I'm leaning towards a CD Ripper with a DAC, given the number of CD's I have it will make it easier to play them & store tehm.  I have an old Benchmark DAC1, should I use this with a ripper?  Or get a new DAC? Do I need to update my Benchmark DAC?  Or should I just get a CD/SACD?  Trying to keep cost under $1,200 if possible.  Technology is changing so rapidly, that I don't want to spend lots of $$ for something that may be absolete or wothless in a couple of years.  Any suggestions?? I do own a Blunode Streamer, sounds ok, hoping the CD's will sound better.   
nyrican
You want to do the rips well, particularly if you are discarding the CDs afterwards .

I've thought about what to do with my CDs. If space was at a premium, I would store the discs in CD binders in disc pages, or some method, and ditch the jewel boxes. I'd keep the liner notes. I could probably store all 600+ CDs in 2 book boxes, but I would have them as backups or to re-rip. For now, they are in a wall rack that holds about 800 CDs.

Exact Audio Copy EAC. FREE!
A little setup is required and once you work out the naming conventions you want your music ripped to, you simply lookup the inserted disk on the online database, it fills in the names of tracks without the need to type, select the album cover and go do whatever you want and come back in 10 mins.

It has built in checking of data integrity and checksum, if you're not getting 100% perfect rips, you can polish the disk for another rip of just the songs and write over the imperfect rip.

I use a laptop, rip new discs to a USB stick and drop in into my server when I am ready.

You might want to rip the ones you want to listen to most, and while you're having a listening session, do a dozen every couple of days, most enjoyable to least enjoyable?


“HD Quality “ as used by the streaming services can be confusing.  Many of them are using the term for Redbook CD Quality recordings.  Amazon and Apple are particularly guilty of this.  Audiophiles think of High Resolution as 24/96 minimum.
Would I rather listen to a 24/96 Qobuz file than a red book CD from my collection?  In general, yes, but not all HD files are truly High Resolution…so Buyer Beware 
Keeping your CDs is of course fine. Liking the ritual to play, or copying them to a hard drive. The pursuit is for enjoyment in any way you choose. But make no mistake about it, there is no similarity between vinyl and CD discs. CDs have a set maximum fidelity as @jw944ts points out. Vinyl and streaming offer significantly greater sound quality.