If you still spin CD's their is a reference level Transport for reasonable money

@whart 

Hey Bill, long time no chat! I am using the latest iteration of the Schiit Yggdrasil. They updated the analog output stage I think about a year ago, all updated units have a "B" to begin their serial number. While I would say it favors tone, texture, and musicality over imaging and spatial cues, it's really not a slouch at the latter either. 

I also love mine and see no reason to switch it out for anything else. It just sounds right. 

I had an April Music CDT100 that sounded great, but was weighted downwards. I also have a Musical Fidelity that sounds very very good, and doesn't do anything wrong, but it lacks the overall life and resolution of the Jay's Audio.

I'm looking around at dacs to see what would be a great paring for it. 

I wish more dacs had the HDMI i2s output, as I have to be able to utilize the transport tot he fullest. I'm thinking about a Rockna Wavedream (expensive) and still haven't completely ruled out the Terminator (better price, but I don't love that it's voiced to be warm and lush, as opposed to simply being as transparent as possible).

@lordcloud   The Denafrips Terminator accomplishes the difficult and rare feat of being both transparent and musical.

@david_ten 

I imagine it is fairly transparent. However the designers have said they voiced it to be lush. Most reviews also say it is in the warm side. 

I'm sure it isn't syrupy warm or lush, but I'm trying to avoid as much voicing as possible, and listen to what in the disc as much as possible. Or at least as much as my limited funds can get me.

I'm still not opposed to the Terminator, but if I can get more transparency and information retrieval, while not sounding bright or slow, I'll be happier.

I really wish someone was in Austin and had a Terminator, so I could hear it for myself.

I think the Rockna can perform preamp duties as well, but it would probably come down to how many sources you have as to whether or not that helps justify or offset any of its cost. I’m following Mike Powell on YouTube and his comparisons between Vermeer, Rockna, and Terminator are a lot of fun to watch, even if the format limits its ultimate effectiveness.

I wish they would settle on an i2s via HDMI standard, because as it stands I think there are some proprietary pinouts for sources and DACs so a custom cable may be necessary if the pinout on the CDT-2 isn’t exactly matching the DAC you end up with.

That said, and realize a LOT of variables have changed since this time, but I ran i2s from an audio PC to an Aqua DAC several years ago and just IMO, the Jay’s --> DH Labs Silver Sonic BNC --> Yggdrasil, which at least costwise is very equivalent to my old setup, is not just on another plane, it’s in another dimension for resolution and musicality. I say that just to make the point that i2s while theoretically better, it has its own limitations. Cable length used to be absolutely critical for it to work well. I used a 6" Cat6 cable back then, with the DAC stacked on top of the audio PC. Maybe it’s different now but just some food for thought.