Sound Quality: Computer vs. CD Player

Dear Friends:

Thanks for your fast responses!

To clarify my question, my intent is to use my computer to sample and play music directly from the WEB - not to use the cd-rom as a transport. I'd like to eliminate a transport and dac entirely for this purpose!

I use a computer for mp3's and the kids music. I have tried many different cd-rom's with digital out an external DAC and they do not even come close to comparing to a good cd player. But then my main system is almost completly Cary.

Can anyone recommend a sound card for a compaq PC with spdif out?

Get a grip people.
Not even remotly close.
I will put my 10 year old Nikko thats in a third system up againt any computer.
Dont be fooled.
its the big lie all over again.Its like the hype lie we where fed 20 Years ago.REMEMBER PERFEXCT SOUND FOREVER.WAKE UP PEOPLE
ALL THE SHEEP GOT RID OF THEIR VINYL.
SHOULD WE NOT LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES.

Equa, if you intend to use the built in audio capabilities of the Mac to playback internet source music, then vitually any dedicated CD player will offer superior audio performance. Nearly all internet music downloads are heavily data compressed (MP3, for example) which definitely compromises sound quality. The internal Mac DAC is also not a high performer.

In my above 11/19 post I may have been unclear. I was referring to using a Mac computer as the center of a hard disk playback system. The CD-ROM mechanism is not used for audio playback. Instead the music is read directly from the hard disk. Effectively, the whole computer becomes the CD transport and when used with appropriate computer software, music can be sorted and played in ways unimaginable by conventional CD player based systems. Regarding sound quality, it is far superior to Natalie's Nikko and I suspect it equals or exceeds Lancel's Cary.