dedicated cd player or dvd-cd

My Marantz DVD player does pretty well. Running it 2 -channel via external stereo tube DAC drastically changes the sound in a way that will appeal more to tube lovers.

For multi-channel A/V however, the tube DAC I am using will not support other digital formats beyond 2 channel stereo that are multi-channel digital formats out of the DVD player player however. There may be other external DACs that do, not sure about that.

I can recommend the mhdt Paradisea and vouch for many of the good things others have said about it if you do a google search on it.

You'll find mhdt DACs listed on ebay by the maker. They are made in Taiwan I believe, and seem to have a lot of satisfied US customers.

I picked up both my Paradisea (tube) and Constantine (SS equivalent) second hand here on Agon.

CD players have DACs in them. You can upgrade the entire player or use an external DAC and just use the player as a controller and transport. Upgrading the player is easier but may cost more to get to a certain quality of sound. A good external DAC that is jitter resistant can probably get you there for less. AN external tube DAC is a way to introduce the benefits of tube sound for minimal cost. I think a good tube DAC (under $1000, not necessarily expensive) is a very practical solution for those that would like their digital sources to sound more like their analog sources.