How to get into high end digital? (Feeding a DAC)

Forget all that stuff.  Pitch it all out and get a set of the Dutch & Dutch 8c.    Not only are these loudspeakers amplified, they have built-in DAC and DSP EQ.  All you need are them and a digital source like a laptop, an iPad or even just your cell phone with Roon.

When you set them up, you tune them for your room and you're done.   They have some of the best imaging I've ever heard, at any price.  Truly uncanny.

Now there's no screwing around with matching components, cables (you get to eliminate speaker cables!), changing out tubes...    One stop shopping for the very, VERY best audio you'll ever hear.

Back in the day, is when I bought my Ayre QB9 and the emphasis was in how to make digital sound analogue. The technology has changed significantly since then. I was lucky in that Ayre has updated that DAC to the present. Maybe close to eight years ago I bought the Uptone Audio ISO Regen with linear power supply and found that it made a very noticeable difference. Today on my Ayre QB9 Twenty, the difference is minimal by comparison.

The criteria for choosing a DAC today is so much more complex, i.e. detail, soundstage, noise floor, jitter, etc… This in part is due to the DAC chip but more so, how it’s implemented. And because of this, I’d still recommend trying to visit brick and mortar stores to hear as many DAC’s and transports as possible.

I just set up my Brinkmann Nyquist mk 2.  I realize that I now need to get a preamp. I was under the impression I could use the internal volume control, but it guess that's not what it's designed for.  I'm waiting on a new one from a specific manufacturer, so I'll get a used balanced with zero feedback one until the one I want is ready.  Darn me!!!  That's the MS.  I can't always think straight and don't always understand what I read.  I could have sworn a reviewer used them directly to the amps. Oh well... Next piece of gear...:) 

JasonBourne says..‘The same thing applies to cables. Cheap here works just as well as expensive. A $10 Monoprice digital cable is indistinguishable from a three or four figure cable - regardless of what the "golden ears" crowd claims.’

LoL! Way to go to get things off to a contentious start! By the way I enjoy your posts and respect your opinion greatly.  On these two areas I would have to offer an alternative opinion though.

A) Digital Transport (for CD) - the Oppo UDP-205, Pioneer BDP-09fd, and Parasound Halo D3 all sound different. Even if the DAC is supposedly indifferent being asynchronous, As far as signal from CD transport, it is not all the same sound. 
B) Digital cables sound very different. The Black Cat SilverStar MkII I received from CFarrow is ultra high res. And provides a super-clear window on the music. The Black Cat Veloce is very good, but not as good as the SilverStar. Less resolving. The Canare is well behind both.

Cheers!