digital front end to rival best vinyl?

What about the Linn DS range?

Concept is to have no moving parts in the player itself - no hard disks, no CD transport. It has a network port and a DAC (or two, as you go up the range). Someone mentioned the Slim Devices Transporter, or the Modright fettled version, which works on the same principle.

Key thing with this design is the elimination of jitter-prone connections. Using ethernet (wired or wireless, though wireless can be unreliable), data is pulled down to the player well ahead of when the DAC needs it, and conversion to PCM stream happens right next to the DAC. No need to worry about any clock discrepancies between computer and DAC. Also no interference from computers or hard drives, which can be kept elsewhere.

Never heard one myself, but very highly thought of. Received wisdom is that each of these Linn sources better the CD player in the range above. Very probably going to get one soon.

4musica4410 Naim HDX is a music organizer, what dac was it using when you heard it? any new thoughts out there? still considering dcs heard from many owners who love them. my concern is that something less costly will come out and beat it up, any views or knowledge of future better options? i mean they are practiclly giving away older dcs's. thanks

Koegz et al:
The Naim HDX has an internal DAC that works just fine, but you also have the option to use an external Naim or other DAC. I heard the HDX most recently at "Naim Night" at Don Better's home and that time he was using a Naim external DAC. Absolutely stunningly musical. Again, the best digital source I have ever heard - by far. Add an iTouch for complete remote control and you are all set! Can't wait to get one!

I began my transition to computer based audio by choosing which interface I wanted to use. I decided on Sonos, and I am very happy with it. The problem with Sonos, however, is that it has very high jitter on the S/PDIF output. I addressed this by using an Empirical Audio reclocker between the Sonos and my dac. The improvements from reclocking were huge.

From my experience putting together a computer based setup, I can recommend: (1) Carefully select your interface, as it is a large part of the joy of a computer based setup; and (2) Find a way of getting the lowest possible jitter signal to your dac.

Another advantage to this approach is that you are free to choose from the widest possible selection of dacs to help you achieve the state of the art performance you're looking for.

Good luck!

I agree, digital and vinyl are two different animals. However having said that you can get pretty decent digital for little money these days. Vinyl will be more expensive at all comperable quality levels.

But the best digital is only comparable to mid level vinyl. Good vinyl transcends any comparison, and the more you put into vinyl the more it changes. Not so with digital - the changes become subtle and very costly.