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Best digital stream player

No matter how expensive any cd player is, it is just do a best guess of what is on the cd. I don't think cd player will be completely gone in a couple years because LP is coming back. But I feel the digital stream player have big advantage over cd player and all audio company will come up with their new digital stream player in the coming years. Digital stream player either use usb or network cable to directly read music file from PC/file server and are slowly adapted by audiophiles.

Digital stream player is still new to lots of people. Which one is the best digital stream player in the market?

1)DCS Scarlatti upsampler
2)PlayBack Designs MPS-5
3)Linn Klimax DS

Or is there any other newcomers better than those three?
yxlei
mst
163 posts
 
Do any of these sound better than an Olive or a Mac coupled with a good DAC? More expensive certainly, but better sound-wise? Just asking, I'm not being rhetorical here.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
On a realted note, is it possible for any traditional transport to be as good as something like the Olive HD feeding a high quality DAC?
4musica44107
520 posts
 
Recommend you audition the Naim HDX. It is hands down the closest thing to a good quality vinyl front end I have ever heard.
rakuennow
81 posts
 
Aside from the DAC implementation, what are these products doing to the digital stream that could impart their own sonic signature? When you install Windows, does the code change depending on if you're using an Asus DVD-ROM or a Toshiba one?
4musica44107
520 posts
 
Rakuennow et al:

I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to answer your questions. But I can tell you this. Sonically and musically for the auditioning I have done, the Naim HDX is far better than the ARC CD8, the DCS Puccini or Scarlatti (Can't remember which I heard), and a Mac through a $17500 Wavelength DAC. And those are some great digital sources as we all know.

No more CDP purchases for me. I intend to get a Naim HDX in 2010!
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