What is the best hard drive based player?

McIntosh just came out with the MS300, I guess people can't here the difference between it and CD's and from what I hear is very easy to use. you can see it at
www.mcintoshlabs.com

Mark

thanks ..will definitely check them out. For some reason I find very little literature on these players: onlty PC driven solutions which are great but obviously requires a screen which I want to avoid!

The McIntosh server compresses the data, (FLAC lossless), the Yamaha does not. The Mac really does need not only a display, but an internet hook-up also for best use. It downloads cover art and text.
I own the Yammy and it too, for ease of use, needs a monitor, but you don't "really" need one. I simply purchased a cheap portable dvd player with a composit video in so as to view the self labeled discs.
The Yammy is $800.00, the Mac is over $3k I think. You decide!

Thanks Jtgale. What is the memory capacity of the Yamaha?

Why no screen? The software interface for a hard drive system is a combo database/spreadsheet. It really inhibits the usefulness, particularlly when you store a large number of CDs, to not have at least a 12" monitor screen. One of the great benefits of hard disk systems is the ability to organize your music into customized playlists. It's just much easier to setup and access playlists when you're using a monitor. Also, if you get a dedicated hard disk player such as the Yamaha, be sure that you can readily expand its storage capacity. A 100 Gb system can store roughly 150-180 uncompressed CDs.

I'm not sure where Jtgale gets his info, but a Mac system with built in digital output (optical), software, monitor and external HD can be had for $1,800.

BTW, tremendous system. Have you considered the Linn or Goldmund HD systems?