New Aurender N100H - total newbie Q's

[Matt Lan]

Took the plunge and am looking at a new N100H - Silver, 2TB model in my living room that I am sure will meet my modest collection needs. I am TOTALLY new to this and have some early questions before this even gets out of the box! Thanks in advance for your patience here - I've jumped in and apparently need water wings.



1. Ripping my CD's. I have a PC (Microsoft Surface laptop) without a CD drive. I'll need to pick one up to rip my library. Anything specific I should look for or are all outboard CD drives for this purpose essentially the same?

2. Software to create my digital library - is there specific software that I need to buy for this? Recommendations appreciated.

3. Format - based on some reading, I think AIFF is a good format to use. Thoughts on this? Better ideas?

4. I now have maxed out all my electrical outlets. I need a second power strip. This is a condo that we will be leaving, so would be glad to purchase something with some meaningful surge/spike protection that is very well made and does not degrade sound. If it can be repurposed in a new home, so much the better. Recommendations?

5. UPS - I am thinking ahead and wondering if a UPS would be a good idea for the Aurender to avoid hard restarts. Thoughts or recommendations?

6. USB cable - I will be running into the K-03 as DAC. Looking for a good quality cable that will be on par with what the N100 delivers. Not looking for something too esoteric (pardon the pun )

That's it for now, but as you can sense, this is going to be a steep learning curve for me. Thanks in advance for the assistance!

Best regards,

Matt