[John Jordan]

Hi Matt-

Congratulations on your N100H. While I do not own one, over the past year I have been seriously incorporating "computer audio" into my system using a 2010 MacBook pro.
So painting a picture in these broad strokes may be of help to you.

To rip CD's, i used a 2008 MacPro desktop. When the built in CD/DVD crapped, I used with a Version Tech USB external DVDRW from Amazon for about $30 until installing a new internal built in unit. The Version Tech worked well.

I began the ripping in I-Tunes but later switched to dbpower amp after reading Dan's (AKA JDandy) comments on this software. It works great and has a trial period. Upon registering, it seemed smoother and able to hunt album art better. It also makes use of the MacPro's dual processors.

Ripping format has many options but I prefer AIFF. It is uncompressed and although the files are larger than FLAC, they can always be converted to other formats if your HD gets full. External storage for the master collection is cheap these days.

Plugs; again lots of options. You could keep it simple and use a simple extension, say a short high current one a contractor may use for power tools. Hubbell also makes one with "hospital grade" sockets. PS Audio has the "Dectet Power Center" that looks very interesting and Ivan has offered from time to time at a very good price. Perhaps someone that has used the Dectet can chime in. UPS seems like a good thought but I'll leave that to others as well.

USB cable. In my system, I prefer using the Toslink out of the MacBook. Experiences with USB have shown a shorter, better cable is more reliable; going from a Belkin Gold 5 meter to a Straight Wire 3 foot. Neither of these would be considered "premium audiophile choices." Shielding seems important as is the separation of power and data lines within the cable itself.

I hope you are able to gleam some useful information from this.