Want to buy Ayre C-5xeMP but...

Well from my understanding even cheap CD players have good error correction and memory buffering with large enough memory chips, so I dont buy the myth that the reading of the disc is superior with computer vs. CD.

Relentless, I think you should definately ask your dealer what he has to say about what transport(i.e. music server) he uses and how he feels about about electrical noise from the switching power supplies.

Do you really "understand" enough to declare this a myth or have you just deemed it a myth because with your setup you prefer the CD and these co called myths fit your conclusions?

I think your assumption that even cheap players use FIFO memory buffering is a myth, and on-the-fly error correction can't compete with the solutions available when ripping.

My conclusions follow my experience and my experience follow the theories Ive been able do dig up so far.
This is not a proof.
I have had the same experience with other good DACs as well. They sounded better when fed with a CD transport than with a computer.

It depends on how you define cheap but I still think most cd players contain large enough RAMs for powerful error correction and memory buffering.

May I ask what server you run and has it beaten your CD transports?

I was reading the post with Charles Hanson comparing the C5 to the QB9 and he writes that they are comparable and each outshine the other in somethings. He did not go into specifics on what those things were. He was asked if he used a beefed up computer and he replied he used a mac mini for the comparison but they were plugged into a filter for clean power. Clean power I have so I am not worried about that.

I will ask the dealer about the electrical noise from switching power supplies. When he was telling me about his error correction theory I mentioned that the G08 has a cd-rom and spins faster than a normal cd player to make those corrections and he still felt that the hard drive solution was better.

It still comes down to can I get a server to sound as good as the C-5xeMP in my system. My hearing will be shot in 10 years so the cd dying argument is most likely a moot point.
I want sonic bliss now while I can still enjoy it.

My processor only has a pair of balanced inputs that just go to the volume control then to the amps so I have to chose one or the other for the best sound, I wont be able to get the best out of both of them in my system together.

Why not upgrade to the 808.2? A friend has it and sez it bettered his previous player(Spectral 4000)and the full DCS stack before it.