brave new digital world

So I would suggest you rip with your laptop and the software dbpoweramp or eac. Then I would suggest you put your files on a nas like Qnap or Synology. Store the files in Flac and play them in Wav by using mimeserver or asset...

Software: as Bert says, you need good software to rip (copy) the CDs. Make sure you rip in a lossless format. I use dbpoweramp. You also need decent software to control playing the music - itunes will work but there are better. If as Bert (rightly) recommends you store your music on a network drive/NAS then asset or minimserver are favoured by the forum.

Hardware: you need a decent DAC between your laptop and pre-amp. This could be a stand-alone (Naim has Dac-V1 or nDac; Chord make various Dacs - is a Mojo too much? How about an Audioquest Dragonfly to get you going?) or included in a digital player (Naim ND5 XS and up). Cheap' has a variety of possible meanings but you could start with the dragonfly and work upwards from there. Not sure about a cable from dragonfly to Nac72 - others here may be able to help.

Search the forum with the above in mind and you'll start to get some ideas.

The cheapest way would be the Audioquest dragonfly black with a 1,2v. output that would not overload the NAC72 and a subscription to Tidal HiFi. No CD to rip and nothing else to buy.

Thanks for that guys.

I'll try some of your suggestions and report back.

Cheers

I started with iTunes and an analog patch cable from a laptop.  As long as you rip to AIFF, songs will be as good as they can get.  You can move them to a NAS later, if you want.  

Other rippers like XLD and dbPoweramp are better if you want album art embedded in the songs -- recommended.

After that, you can tinker with hardware upgrades infinitely -- the Dragonfly being an excellent first one.

Nick