Music from hard drive better than CD?

Dazzdax - a properly configured computer makes an excellent transport. But I would always use an external DAC. There is just no way to properly shield/isolate/power condition the DAC on a PC soundcard.

Jwglista - slower drives run cooler and quieter and will probably last longer also. There is no point in putting a drive that spins faster than 5400rpm in a DigAudPC.

Fragmentation is not an issue since you only write the files once when you rip them. Players only read the files. Just run one defrag after you are done ripping everything.

Nickway - If timing errors occur it would be on the digital output. I'm not familiar with the apple OS. Does apple OS have mixer issues like WinXP? Is there something in the apple OS that would approximate kernel streaming or ASIO in WinXP. When I first went to a DigAudPC the increase in dynamic range was fantastic.

Jman66 - rip each track individually and play it back through foobar2000 or some other player without any pause between tracks. This is the normal way it is done in foobar. Foobar also allows you to crossfade the tracks if you so desire.