new updates in transports or are they obsolete ?

A good hard-drive system can run the range from <$2K to over $4K. For under $2K you can have an Off-Ramp Turbo with a stock new Benchmark DAC-1. You will not believe how great this sounds. If you have to have the very best (the additional improvements get smaller and smaller as you spend more, but this is where the magic is), then $4K is more like it. Battery power for the Off-Ramp, mods etc...

Audioengr- you will also not believe how great a Stello CDT200 sounds with Aberdeen Components mods that cost alot less any of your mods etc...

Audioengr can you provide links to any industry reviews which support your claims? The computer setup you are recommending is two to three times the cost of a decent used transport, and since we are talking about the transport level only here, improvements are going to be governed by the law of diminishing returns - a factor not to be ignored. No offense, but you do stand to gain from sales.

One thing I will say is that if I were to go this route, I don't think I would buy a boxed music server. The post by Gunbei about Tivo points to the kind of mess you can get yourself into with a closed box type of arrangement. Better off with a standard computer/laptop and external disc arrays, I would think.

Kana, is the Stello front loading? I am interested in a decent front loading transport. I am not intersted in anything that has to be modded, though. I'd rather just get something that is engineered and built to work and sound good.

i dont think audioengr is trying to take anyones money(selling junk or something not needed)...

the solution that is offered is very elegant and pretty much where digital is heading like it or not (ie cutting edge)

in really looking at it... a high quality transport is still needed and a usb inferface for a dac and computer that would allow storage and playback of a cd library...

Baddabod-

I'll throw my $0.02 in here in defense of Audioengr, since I've got no skin in the game as to whether or not you go HD or transport. My computer based rig sounds to my ear as good as my Eso DV-50s when run through my dCS upsampler and DAC. In terms of economy, I use Apple Lossless (yes, it in fact is lossless, bit-perfect output from the USB) and, by my estimate, I could fit about 2000 CDs (this includes redundant 128 kbps AAC files for *every* song for use with my iPod), with album art and full tagging, on my 1TB RAID 5 box. My 1TB RAID 5 box was under $1K to my door (I've actually got two--a 1TB Terastation and an older Dell Powervault that was much more expensive, but probably unnecessary expense). Its a highly reliable system and the ability to access songs is unparalleled.

OK, you can buy a nice transport for less than a grand.

But, can you get to any song in your collection in less than a second? Can you create playlists that are accessible anytime you want? Can you play a playlist and have hours, or even days, or continuous music? Can your girlfriend/wife easily select songs and use your gear? Do you spend time cleaning CDs? Are there unplayable CDs in your collection (there used to be in mine, but EAC eventually gave me playable .wav files from them)? Here's my favorite... Can you access any CD from your transport when in different rooms? I use some thin-client network devices and can have access to similar functionality in my garage, my pool room, my study, my bedroom...

Trying to do a $ for $ comparison just doesn't work--computer based audio provides you with a host of functionality that a transport will not...