How to evaluate CD DAC vs. outboard DAC quality

Recroom,

I have the same question as you regarding DAC vs CD and am to this point:

I decided that I like to touch and read about my music rather than listen from a computer which I more readily associate with either work or mindless entertainment.

That being said, I have an Audio Space CDP 8A with tubed front end that I like. It is smooth with quite a bit of detail but my Technics table with AT 150 cart beats it hands down because vinyl sounds more "live" in my setup.

All the reviews talk about needing to be in the $5K and up league to get the "live" performance from a CD player.

So.... off I go to the audio store and listen to an Esoteric for $6K and an Electrocompanient for about the same price.

Sort of waste of time, because while I could certainly tell a difference between the two units, played through maggie 1.7's by the way, I could not tell that either sounded better than what I already had.

The store was open to letting me bring in my player to compare to the Esoteric and Electrocompanient through maggie 3.7's (I have 3.6's).

That seems like a good way to proceed.

And the store claims to be willing to let me take home one of the players if my in store listening test indicates that i like the sound of one more than my cd player.

So...does this all make sesne - forget the opinions and listen yourself. $5K or $1K is a lot of money and unless you can give it back you are screwed on new gear.

sorry - I hit submit instead of preview first.

Did not want to sound dogmatic, but given the cost of this hobby, hearing is believing.

Oherwise, it is a bet where the best odds are that we are 50% wrong and it goes further wrong from there if we miss hearing a less expensive piece that sounds better than our new toy that we think is the best.

Please let me know where I have missed the point.

"I'd genuinely like to know A) whether modern-day DACs really are superior to those from five or ten years ago, and B) whether someone with a large CD collection and no interest in computer audio is better off forgetting about a DAC and investing instead in a better CDP, like Ayon or the like."

A) Yes, certainly - but perhaps not in ways helpful to you. USB DACs (computer audio) have come a very long way. i2S is pretty darned interesting. Then there's high-resolution audio (NOT upsampling). As for s/pdif and aes/ebu, and redbook only - I don't know... probably?

B) Like others, I'm really not trying to be flippant - but only you can tell if you like the sound better from one over any other given component. If it were my money, and I didn't want to go computer audio - I'd think about both the transport and the DAC, and maybe try to crank my budget up to $2k. So for my part, I prefer your Ayon suggestion.

I guess the best advice I can give (and I'm already parroting others here) is to find a local dealer you like that is willing for you to demo equipment in your home. Try some stuff out with your equipment, your cables, your acoustics - and pick the thing you like!