I find this argument rather useless, but here's my post with the goal of providing my perspective to those on the fence and trying to figure this out, rather than trying to convince anybody with a preconceived notion that this cannot be so.
I've been on a computer-only system for a while now, a highly optimized PC, so can't offer current examples. However, a while back I had a Rotel RCD-1072 (or was it 1082?) and a Squeezebox Touch, both feeding a Metrum Octave DAC through SPDIF. FWIW, rest of chain was McIntosh 275, Lamm LL2, B&W 804S. Playing the CD, or the wav copy of the same CD through the SBT was indistinguishable to my ears, but provided a lot more flexibility thru the SBT, while the SBT was less than half the price of the Rotel. I kept both for about a year, but eventually realized I wasn't using the Rotel anymore and sold it. Oh, and the ripping was done with dBpoweramp following the guide put together at computeraudiophile.com.
So in my experience, there is no sound difference - at best. It could be argued that dollar for dollar a good computer source sounds better than a CD player. My experience post SBT certainly suggests this is true. An optimized PC demands a lot more involvement from the user than a CD player, and that can be a hassle, but dollar for dollar in my mind you get better sound from a computer.
I hope this helps someone, sometime.
Cheers!
I've been on a computer-only system for a while now, a highly optimized PC, so can't offer current examples. However, a while back I had a Rotel RCD-1072 (or was it 1082?) and a Squeezebox Touch, both feeding a Metrum Octave DAC through SPDIF. FWIW, rest of chain was McIntosh 275, Lamm LL2, B&W 804S. Playing the CD, or the wav copy of the same CD through the SBT was indistinguishable to my ears, but provided a lot more flexibility thru the SBT, while the SBT was less than half the price of the Rotel. I kept both for about a year, but eventually realized I wasn't using the Rotel anymore and sold it. Oh, and the ripping was done with dBpoweramp following the guide put together at computeraudiophile.com.
So in my experience, there is no sound difference - at best. It could be argued that dollar for dollar a good computer source sounds better than a CD player. My experience post SBT certainly suggests this is true. An optimized PC demands a lot more involvement from the user than a CD player, and that can be a hassle, but dollar for dollar in my mind you get better sound from a computer.
I hope this helps someone, sometime.
Cheers!