Berkeley dac1 versus Esoteric K-03

Cerrot,
It is interesting that you use the spdf out from your PC and not the usb. I have not tried this but the usb route from my computer to my K-01 player is nowhere near the sound from the CD transport, even with hi-res downloads.
I may try the spdf way but need to get a better pc set-up like yours first before running it to the spdf input of the K-01.

Thanks, Cerrot for the heads-up.
It looks like no matter how well implemented the usb interface is, asynchronous notwithstanding, spdif remains superior for sound quality.
An alternative to souping up my pc would be to get a high end usb to spdif converter betwen the pc and the spdif input of the K-01.
Cheers!

Cerrot,
Since getting a usb-to-spdif converter, I find that hi-rez sounds better than cd in the transport but ripped cd's from the PC still sound inferior to cd's via the transport. Have you auditioned any good usb-to-spdif converter in your system? I am using an iFi iLink converter to my K-01 coax input (bnc). The iPower that sits between the pc and the converter helps considerably in cleaning up the usb signal by separating power from the music signal. Cheers!