Can the Sonic Transporter play a CD without ripping it first?
No it can’t.
Edit: but why would one want to. I have at least 8,000 CDs but haven’t played an actual cd for at least 12 years.
@David_Hunter, can you confirm that you are only interested in stereo music files (no multi-channel)?
Also, you mentioned wanting audio in 6 rooms. Would you be looking for the same output gear in all 6 rooms (I.e . Sonos speakers in all 6 rooms). Or, would you be looking for one of these rooms to be your primary room with higher quality gear?
Also, does the Transporter have WiFi, or is it limited to wired Ethernet?
Because that is one of the features the OP was seeking… ability to pop in a CD and play it without ripping for those times when a friend comes over with a CD. Was thinking the Transporter might support this since it has a built in CD drive.
Got it. The CD player is only for ripping.
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If you use the SonicTransporter as the Roon Core and the Oppo as a Roon endpoint, you can p,ay the same music, the CD directly and the ripped music from Roon, through that Oppo to the same amp and speakers, by switching the Oppo.
In that case, my first assumption is that they would sound identical.
Second assumption: the Roon version will sound better because it is not dependent on the mechanical contraption that is the CD drive, and the Roon server with its hard drive is well separated. This is not certain, and likely a small effect, but most people believe in this.
Third, of course Roon can improve the sound through DSP, from upsampling to room correction.
I’m with @garym, can’t remember the last time I played a CD.
And I have an Oppo…
You will of course if using the Oppo as your Roon endpoint need to connect it to an amp and speakers for that area.
No but it can play the first track after it’s ripped. This is very close to the same thing.
Any time you play directly from a CD you are usually degrading audio quality.
Any time I have tried this the sound is much better when played from Roon.
Problem with is that in the scenario given by the OP, this is a friend’s CD, and thus he probably shouldn’t be ripping it into his collection.
Yes he would of coerce need to delete it when done (this is very easy to do). Or give the FLAC files to his friend to use as his one legal backup.
Thank you for the question, Edward. Yes, I am only interested in stereo music files, no multi-channel. Also, I messed up. I need speakers in 4 rooms, not 6. In two rooms there will be stereo paired speakers. The other two rooms will have single speakers. No, I do not need one room to have higher quality gear but my bedroom speakers must also double as my television speakers. I hope this helps.
But the OPPO is Roon enabled so it’s an endpoint? Please explain to me what is and isn’t an endpoint and why this matters. Are Bluesound speakers endpoints? Why or why not? Are Sonos speakers endpoints? Why or why not? Is it important to have speakers that are endpoints? Why? Thanks.
David as I noted earlier zones are not all equal. An endpoint is essentially a zone, and similar type zones can be grouped/combined to play as one together…but!!! An appletv zone can’t be grouped with say the oppo or the Sonos but the oppo as it’s a raat type can be grouped with the bluesound as it too is raat.
If you no need to play the same content simultaneously to different zones then this won’t be an issue.
Zones also have limitations based on their abilities, like what bit rate they can support and if volume controls might be controlled or not etc.
https://roonlabs.com/howroonworks.html
You should review this info. It will help you understand how Roon operates.
So far as ripping CDs go, I found using an existing desktop computer with dbPowerAmp to be relatively painless. It performs checks to identify any issues and ensure a bitperfect result.
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so much nicer said than I did 
I would go either Nucleus or the sonicTransporter as your Roon Core. The advantage of the Nucleus is it’s made by Roon and should be really hassle free and low maintenance. But, you’ll need a laptop or PC to rip your CDs. The advantage of the Transporter is that it has CD ripping built right into it.
Then, I would go with Bluesound Speakers in all of your rooms. You can put two Bluesound speakers in rooms where you want stereo and pair them. The Bluesound Soundbar would probably be perfect for your bedroom where you need to connect to your TV.
Lastly, note that you will need to physically connect (via Toslink cable) the OPPO to the Bluesound speaker where you want to play CDs. BTW, the OPPO is probably overkill for your needs in this setup.
Bear with me here, I’m doing this on my phone so there may be some typos.
Yes, the oppo is an endpoint. Which means it can receive a signal or data from the core procees the data and then output music to whatever it connected to it that can play that music. But it can’t send a signal back to the Core as in when you’re playing your CDs. In other words it won’t send the CD that you’re playing back to your core so that you can play that out to your other endpoints…
Endpoints receive packets of data over your network connection from the Roon core and process the data into music to play out to whatever speakers are attached to them . Speakers that are also endpoints means that it has the processing capability to receive the packets from the core process it and then play the music all in one device.
Speakers don’t have to be endpoints, but it’s more convenient to have them as endpoints because then you won’t need another piece of equipment to send music to them from your core.