Stand alone dac vs built in dac what's the better

The biggest advantage to an outboard DAC is the delicate circuits are well away from the noisy transport mechanism. I purchased the best sounding player I could bring home and try regardless of price, but the sound was far more enchanting with a quality DAC.
Liz also has a good point, I also plug my I-Mac and video gear including Blue-Ray into the DAC.

My DAC (DACmagic) has a couple of inputs and it really improved what I hear from my old Marantz CD changer (well made thing that refuses to die). I've A/Bd it with the iTunes lossless signal sent to my Squeezebox Touch and on to the DAC and it sounds identical using similar AQ coax cables (VDM5, VDM3). It's also nice to know there are inexpensive things you'll feel less guilty about improving along the way.

Very open ended question...guess it really dependppos on the initial quality and age of your equipment...an older cd player, especially an entry or midfi
one...could possibly benefit from an external dac...however...in my experience...the additional cost of a dac and cables didnt justify the cost...at least in a cd based system...in which technology hit a ceiling years ago...so the real future is hi rez downloads...pc media...where a hi quality dac might be beneficial

Thanks for all of you guys input

Phasecorrect said,,, " At least in a cd based system... in which technology hit a ceiling years ago ". LOL, guess he hasn't tried a high end CD player made in the last few years. I have and there's been a world of improvements in the last three years.