The Audio Note gear is very nice! I've not heard the ML digital gear myself, but from what I've read about their CDPs when researching them is that they will offer more detail. But the one time I demo'ed a ML amp/preamp if that's detailed then thanks but no thanks. The AN is highly musical and involving. But the better AN DACs aren't cheap. Ask your dealer about the 3.1x sig compared to the 4.1x. AN is also releasing a new transport sometime in the future. A prototype has been built but it's not in production yet.
However, the VRDS transport combined with an AN DAC should be pretty dang good.
However, the VRDS transport combined with an AN DAC should be pretty dang good.