Hi, my question is very simple but i need advise from someone who knows what he's talking about.

I want to know what is the best option for THE CD/DVD burner which will RIP and BURN audio CDs with the highest possible audio fidelity.

I hope it can be had for $70 or less.

Thank you for your time.

Any of the last version of the CD Burners will serve your purpose well. You can still get it from some stores where they still carry the old stocks.

Isn't there a specific brand and model that is better?
I would like to backup my CDs with zero quality loss.

Either Sony, Pioneer or Lite-On, any other brands will be just fine. Keep in mind that if you just want to deal with CDs & audio, only CD burners will give you better results in terms of quality, reliability or compatibility.

These things can RIP in DIGITAL mode, so unlike the analog days, the drive should not be as much of an issue.

Basically, I'd rip to FLAC or WAV if quality matters most. I don't think any of the major brands will cause issues if you rip digitally, which I think is the default for Windows XP.