MY thoughts/opinions/experience... (you may get some polar opposite responses )....
The quality of your output on your pc...optical (if you have one)/usb, etc is kind of irrelevant...especially if you grab a usb to to s/pdif converter to tighten up timing... (even without this you can get amazing performance with a decent dac and lossless bit format).
This will spark debate--But IN MY EXPERIENCE, I've noticed Zero difference in performance of Digital cables (cheap vs. expensive)...in fact I have a/b 'd between my optical and coax dac outputs with very little sound difference...
For the kind of money your talking, I'm a huge fan of the PS Audio Dlink 3, it is a great performer...if you like warmth, body, etc (i.e. it's musical).... If you are a detail freak...there are better choices.
Don't let anyone tell you you can get hi-fi from a computer... I've got my "highest fi" using a computer and a great DAC. I will never go back to a CDP
YMMV.
The quality of your output on your pc...optical (if you have one)/usb, etc is kind of irrelevant...especially if you grab a usb to to s/pdif converter to tighten up timing... (even without this you can get amazing performance with a decent dac and lossless bit format).
This will spark debate--But IN MY EXPERIENCE, I've noticed Zero difference in performance of Digital cables (cheap vs. expensive)...in fact I have a/b 'd between my optical and coax dac outputs with very little sound difference...
For the kind of money your talking, I'm a huge fan of the PS Audio Dlink 3, it is a great performer...if you like warmth, body, etc (i.e. it's musical).... If you are a detail freak...there are better choices.
Don't let anyone tell you you can get hi-fi from a computer... I've got my "highest fi" using a computer and a great DAC. I will never go back to a CDP
YMMV.