Am resurrecting this thread in the hope of getting some advice for my system. I hope Russe41 won't mind. I'm thinking about trying an outboard DAC to improve sound on playback of redbook CDs from a Cambridge Audio D500SE. The D500SE has a BNC digital out jack but no RCA digital out which I gather can limit choices. Is it realistic to expect improvements going to an outboard DAC with a max. budget of $600? Willing to buy used. The motivator here is that, I've been so impressed with the effect of upgrades to TT & pre-amp on vinyl, I'm wondering how I might get my CDs to sound better. Thanks in advance for your time and advice. (Equipment: JoLida 502B, Totem Forests, JPS Lab Ultraconductor speaker cables (bi-wired), Superconductor FX Interconnects).