From my perspective, the fundamental problem with PC audio is getting the source file to the DAC with minimal introduction of jitter. Toslinnk, SPDIFF, USB - they all have inherent structural problems. The best use of any of these has been the asynchronous USB approach used by Wavelength and a few others.
What I think is the best path is I2S. Some of the best mods and reclockers involve the use I2S for the transfer of the digital stream (Steve N can vouch for this). PS Audio's new Ultra DAC will use an HDMI connection to pass data in "native" I2S format without a mod. Granted, only their CD player will use the connection immediately, but it's the easy play for the future I think. Sources that can make an I2S connection using an HDMI port will bypass a lot of problems in my opinion.
Now, what I really want is a Sonos box that uses an I2S connection. That would make me happy.
What I think is the best path is I2S. Some of the best mods and reclockers involve the use I2S for the transfer of the digital stream (Steve N can vouch for this). PS Audio's new Ultra DAC will use an HDMI connection to pass data in "native" I2S format without a mod. Granted, only their CD player will use the connection immediately, but it's the easy play for the future I think. Sources that can make an I2S connection using an HDMI port will bypass a lot of problems in my opinion.
Now, what I really want is a Sonos box that uses an I2S connection. That would make me happy.