Berkeley dac1 versus Esoteric K-03

Regardless of all the Phile and TAS pulling people into computer audio, Every burned CD and download I've tried the CD sounds much better than any burned disc regardless of program and the downloads at times worse,if the mastering was better in the down load then a hair better, but that is rare. I am staying with well recorded CD and my LP's stay for Lp's that never were released on CD. I trust my own ears and don't need a reviewer telling me what sounds good or sucks. Besides they are now the mouth piece of the manufactures. Keep buying well recorded music, soon so much will be gone due to buyers buying tracks instead of a whole recording. I am have enough music for my lifetime already.

My K03 sounds better than my PC into the K03 dac (and I upsample and reclock) but I am conviced that is due to a shortcoming of the puter - somewhere, somehow. The CD should not soud better, but it does.

Cerrot,
Since getting a usb-to-spdif converter, I find that hi-rez sounds better than cd in the transport but ripped cd's from the PC still sound inferior to cd's via the transport. Have you auditioned any good usb-to-spdif converter in your system? I am using an iFi iLink converter to my K-01 coax input (bnc). The iPower that sits between the pc and the converter helps considerably in cleaning up the usb signal by separating power from the music signal. Cheers!

Jon, no. There is no way I would ever use any sort of USB output for audio. My hires does sound better than redbook and ripped cd better than the new, though I don't use a pc for burning. I use an alesis master link. I had a friend bring over CDs she ripped from her pc and they were pretty poor. Puters are a noisy place, jon.

Hello Cerot. Your words "emotional impact is what it's all about" very neatly sums things up. Reviewed your excellent system. Have you ever tried a Sound Application a/c product?