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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
mahler123
3,362 posts
 
“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 
ghdprentice
7,056 posts
 
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. 
mahler123
3,362 posts
 
Oh, geez, does anyone really want to reanimate the CD vs Vinyl argument? 
jw944ts's avatar
jw944ts
327 posts
 
+1 @mahler123...As my DAC shows the configuration of the file being played, it is absolutely true that a file listed as HD may not actually be so, which is most disappointing....and, of course if the original master  was crap, no HD conversion is going to make it sound good; all HD can promise is the best available digital conversion from analog....AND if some engineer chose to mess with the master recording while doing the conversion, well, then it might not be what you would expect, either....MANY unknowns, all along the way from the performance to you ears, sadly.....

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
990 posts
 
Bryston BDP series might be an option they will sound better than Blu Node. There is a BDP Pi over on Usaudiomart for $550. BDP-2 can be found for around $1.5K This could be used to stream a service like Qobuz and the Manic Moose interface can be used to control a optical drive such as a blue ray player. You can attach a external drive and rip CDs to and external disk. If you got 3K CD’s you could rip them to a NAS or TB storage. Keep your DAC1 now and upgrade it later.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/bryston-bdp-1-digital-audio-player-bryston-bdp-2
There is a BDP-2 over on USA audiomart as well with the upgraded sound card (BDP-3 I believe)   for around $1.7K.  Make them an offer.  Thats a sweet unit for that kind of money.

review: https://www.audiostream.com/content/bryston-bda-2-and-bdp-2


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