Native FLAC Player

If you are willing to shell out a little more, the new PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC with network bridge will do every PCM format and resolution. DAC is $2999 with the network bridge adding about $500 (available in the late fall).

As an added bonus, you don't have to have a computer to use it (like Slim Devices) - just throw your files on a NAS and your off.

Thanks everyone for your responses... Has anyone used the Escient FireBall MX-111 ? How good is the DAC on that? Does it actually decode FLAC natively?

The Escient Fireball MX-111 does natively decodes FLAC files. Additionally, it will encode your cd's to FLAC. It is a very nice media server solution. The software is easy to use and nicely catalogs and organizes your media. It also acts as a web server to any web enabled devices on your network. This is a very nice feature since you can use your touchscreen smartphone as a nifty remote.

The downside to the software is that it is a bit dated. Escient does not seem to support it with regular updates. Not that the software is buggy, but updates to support Pandora, Netflix and YouTube would be easy and welcomed additions.

As for its built in DAC, I haven't utilized it nor do I intend to do so. You must remember that this unit is nothing more than a proprietary branded pc running their software. You want to keep audio circuits as far away from this thing as possible. I use mine with a PS Audio Digital Link 3 for D/A conversion. This solution works very nicely.

Check out the MusicVault which to my mind is a hybrid NAS/Music server which auto-rips FLAC files and can send them wirelessly or wired to a network player. Also has squeezecenter built-in so you get internet radio, and Pandora/Rhapsody/Amazon etc. I feed the digital data wirelessly to a Modwright Transporter but there are lots of "player" or DAC solutions out there.

I'm not sure what you think transcoding does, but it most certainly does NOT necessarily mean "down convert" or down sample! You most certainly can transcode from one lossless format to another with zero information loss (ex. FLAC to Apple Lossless or even WAVE).

You said... "Some of them will use uPNP to connect to "media servers" but the media server has to stream the FLAC so it down-converts as it transcodes (translates digital info to music) over the network for the receiver to play"...This is incorrect- there is no translation of digital info into music taking place by the media server per se, transcoding simply changes bit information into something the end device can interpret. The server simply streams the bytes to your end device (DS, Receiver, etc.) that has a built in codec internally that translates the stream to music.

You mention you have both a PS3 and a 906- now what you need is a program called Asset UPnP @ dbpoweramp (my favorite for ease of use & more importantly sonically). What the programs does is transcode FLAC into WAVE or LPCM- which your devices both have codecs to decode natively. In the transcoding process no info is lost- lossless to lossless= lossless! As a matter of fact Linn recommends the program for their DS's.

I have the same combos as you mentioned and either through the PS3 or my 906- whether streaming M4A, WMA & FLAC (all lossless) sounds absolutely terrific! So much so that I'm just ripping & boxing my CD's now.