Mac mini or Synology (or something else)??

[baddog]

So you have a bunch of options.

A thousand CDs is going to be about 700-750GB if you store them uncompressed (i.e. AIFF).

You could add a second hard drive to the Mac Mini to store the music files if you got a Mac Mini.

Currently the Samsung EVO 850 1TB SSD is on sale at places like Amazon for $249.

If you can connect both your Mac Mini and Devialet to ethernet, that should resolve issues with AIR3 that you are experiencing with WiFi.

Or you could use a Windows 10 system. For example you could purchase an Intel NUC, add a M.2 drive for your boot drive, and then add a second drive (such as the Samsung I noted above to hold your music files).

That would run ~$715 for Intel NUC6i3SYH, 8GB memory, and both a M.2 boot drive and the Samsung SSD 1TB drive. Just add Windows 10, and connect via ethernet, USB, or Wireless.

BTW - I don't think connecting a Synology NAS via USB is an optimal path in your situation. You only really need the NAS if you anticipate a very high volume of music files and/or intend to use it for other purposes as well. IMHO.

Have fun! You have lots of options. Oh, and don't forget to backup all the music files after you rip them.