From my fairly limited experience, I agree Ckorody's thoughts.
Depending upon your budget, hardware, and needs, I believe an outboard USB DAC is the way to go.
I was in your boat a few months ago, and recently acquired a USB DAC -- the Wavelength Brick. After the fact, I can honestly say that this is one of the most prudent decisions that I've made during my many years in this hobby.
I divested myself of a $6K CDP ($8K if it had outputs; transport & DAC were identical).
My primary front end is a turntable, so CD playback is for media not available on vinyl, or simply for convenience. And PC audio is convenience PLUS! For the few weeks Ive had the DAC, Ive had more fun than I would have imagined playing more varied music as the mood strikes me, than I ever thought possible!
Because of vinyl, my goal was to improve music access, and if the USB DAC didnt quite achieve the same level of reproduction as my CDP, I wouldnt have minded. But much to my surprise, the opposite was true. Absolutely wonderful sonics; I believe better than before, with the added bonus of supreme convenience!
Believe it or not, the computer I originally used was an ancient PII 300mghz, with a 160GB HD.
State of the art hardware is absolutely overkill! However, depending upon how you plan to configure you system, silence IS important.
I have since bought a MacBook because of the funds I had left over after my CDP sale and the DAC purchase. Getting a multifunction PC (laptop), plus a music server, was the incentive, and this was my first non-Windoz based machine. So far, I love it.
Yep, there has been a learning curve for both the hardware and software components of my transition. However, this old dog finds learning new tricks to be fun.
Gordon Rankins Wavelength Audio website has some very helpful information about PC audio take a peek if you havent already done so.
Lastly, if youre going to use a Windoz based PC, your media player and hardware configuration is important. You need to bypass Windoz K-mixer. ASIO and plugins will help you do so with a player like Foobar. The same is true for J Rivers Media Center, however, the plugins are built-in and less difficult to acquire and install.
On the other hand, if you have an Apple and iTunes, just plug er in and let er go.
I hope this helps ..
Depending upon your budget, hardware, and needs, I believe an outboard USB DAC is the way to go.
I was in your boat a few months ago, and recently acquired a USB DAC -- the Wavelength Brick. After the fact, I can honestly say that this is one of the most prudent decisions that I've made during my many years in this hobby.
I divested myself of a $6K CDP ($8K if it had outputs; transport & DAC were identical).
My primary front end is a turntable, so CD playback is for media not available on vinyl, or simply for convenience. And PC audio is convenience PLUS! For the few weeks Ive had the DAC, Ive had more fun than I would have imagined playing more varied music as the mood strikes me, than I ever thought possible!
Because of vinyl, my goal was to improve music access, and if the USB DAC didnt quite achieve the same level of reproduction as my CDP, I wouldnt have minded. But much to my surprise, the opposite was true. Absolutely wonderful sonics; I believe better than before, with the added bonus of supreme convenience!
Believe it or not, the computer I originally used was an ancient PII 300mghz, with a 160GB HD.
State of the art hardware is absolutely overkill! However, depending upon how you plan to configure you system, silence IS important.
I have since bought a MacBook because of the funds I had left over after my CDP sale and the DAC purchase. Getting a multifunction PC (laptop), plus a music server, was the incentive, and this was my first non-Windoz based machine. So far, I love it.
Yep, there has been a learning curve for both the hardware and software components of my transition. However, this old dog finds learning new tricks to be fun.
Gordon Rankins Wavelength Audio website has some very helpful information about PC audio take a peek if you havent already done so.
Lastly, if youre going to use a Windoz based PC, your media player and hardware configuration is important. You need to bypass Windoz K-mixer. ASIO and plugins will help you do so with a player like Foobar. The same is true for J Rivers Media Center, however, the plugins are built-in and less difficult to acquire and install.
On the other hand, if you have an Apple and iTunes, just plug er in and let er go.
I hope this helps ..