Mu so newbie questions-soundbar ? ALAC files?

I use mine as a sound bar via an RCA to Mini plug.    My 2006 Sony XBR TV is not smart.

You can rip your CD's using ALAC into iTunes, then sync with your iPad using the cable that comes with it.  I use AIFF instead and think it sounds better than ALAC.  You can always rip into AIFF and downsample into ALAC to save space on your iPad.   It does not work going from ALAC to AIFF.

Thanks. So I found an old Mac w a CD player so I am ripping down a CD now in AIFF as you suggested. Then how do I get the files from my Mac laptop to Itunes or to my Ipad? Keeping in mind this is an old laptop not tricked out with Airdrop or anything fancy to share files across the network….Thx

Time for a new tv bud

You plug in the iPad with the iPad cable into the Mac USB.  iTunes will open and you can drag your files from the library and drop them on the iPad icon in iTunes.