Ended up grabbing a “Technics SA-C600” amplifier-player thingy and an USB-C-to-USB-B-2.0 cable. Hope that’ll do the trick.
I was kinda ready to give up on CDs altogether but some nostalgic part of me likes the fact that there’s a player in that thing. xD
Nice surprise to see that the front USB port accepts FLAC files. Not sure it will recognize (and be able to power) an SSD, but that’s a bonus I guess.
But gosh, this piled up on top of a new monitor purchase, and the aforementioned SSD (my old drive is choke-full with music and I need an upgrade there as well 
). RIP, my money…