PC-Audio vs. High-end CD Player-GAME OVER

There is still a place for CD's and CD players. But when hard-drive playback is this good, and this conveient, Cd's are on their way out.

Now we are on the same wavelength - I wholeheartedly agree about the added convenience of hard-drive playback. IMHO it sounds as good too so I don't dispute that a particular PC setup and high quality DAC can sound better than a specific CD player,

Why waste time fiddling around with jewel cases and shuffling through shelves to find a CD!!! Progress is great!

I sold my Reimyo CDP 777 and my Esoteric UX-1 after buying a Wavelength Cosecant. I never thought I would give up my CD player, but the Cosecant driven by my computer totally changed the way I listen to music. I now find myself listening to a wider variety of music since everything is so easily accessible. Also, The Cosecant sounded better than the Reimyo or the Esoteric.

David ordered a Wavelength Crimson USB DAC. I now own a Wavelength Silver Crimson USB DAC. It is a NOS DAC driven by an internal SLA rechargeable battery. The tubes are 71A triodes that are simply magical in their rendition of music. The Silver refers to silver wire wound transformers. This is not a euphonic "tube" sounding DAC. It is very neutral sounding with great detail and a wide deep soundstage.

Why should we listen to CDs in the same manner as we did in 1984? There are other options available today. The Crimson DAC is just one of many exciting new possibilities in high end audio.

I just started trying this with an Apple TV 160GB. I ripped my library (again) in Apple Lossless onto a drive in my PowerMac then it sync's to the Apple TV over my wireless network. Any use of the library then is independent of the computer and the Apple TV doesn't have a fan. Comparing the sound of a CD through transport to a Genesis Digital Lens then a Theta CB II for DAC with the Apple TV to Digital lens and on reveals some very subtle loss of air but it is so damn convenient I've listened to more music in the week since I did this than in the last 2 months. I'll be looking for a better way at some point, but am pretty happy to appreciate the music and perhaps ignore a little of the sound.

Congrats on your new purchase. I've been following your posts on getting into PC-based audio. Sounds like you found a winner. If more people experienced hard drive based audio done right, there would be a lot more converts.

I purchased an arcus DAR300 music server which features a 160GB Harddisk, a CD/DVD PLAYER/RECORDER and software rip to Flac and to pull music from outside devices through USB and Enet. It has USB, Ethernet, Scart, digital in and out and analog out. It connects to internet radio stations automatically, pull CD data from freedb (if connected to the web ) and has no fan.
I am ripping CD's to Flac on my computer using Exact Audio Copy and Accuraterip, and then transfering the files to the DAR300 through ethernet. The DAR300 has a remote and the sound is better than from my CD player (MCD205). Very convenient to use and easy to transport anywhere and take all you music along.
Anything better out there? And for a cost of about 1800 Euros.