noob DAC question

I'm not sure wireless will speak well to my pocketbook, though it's a compelling way to configure a system. As I visualize in my mind's eye how the setup will work, what I foresee is using a Blu-ray rather than a standard CD player because of the variety of inputs available. I'd thought initially to steer clear of Blu-ray because more features means more things over time that could break - but variety of inputs seems to trump.

So first question is if bypassing the soundcard is imperative? If I use any of the soundcard outputs will the soundcard attempt by definition to interpret the data or can it be a straight pass-through? If the latter, what about using the video card's HDMI? Can the digital data pass straight through to the Blu-ray?

Does motherboard quality enter the picture - that is, does anything that touches the motherboard become subject to its quality as well? If I use an internal hard drive (2TB already sitting there ready to go), would I need to consider upgrading the SATA cable?

I use a Sonos myself for general background listening, but I reclock it with a Synchro-Mesh. It is very easy to use and the software works well, as long as you keep it up to date. The main limitation is that it only plays 44.1 files. It is one of the cheaper ways to get good audio, about $1K total.

I use USB for all of my 88.1-192 files, which are about half of them.

Sart- I don't understand why you are bringing the blu-ray player into the conversation. This is for playing disks and movies, nothing to do with computer audio.

The computer quality and particularly the power supply and the USB ports and topology all affect sound quality, but not as much as the interface that contains the MASTER CLOCK. This is the most important thing to get right. Here are some tips to get the optimum sound from a computer:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/recommended-systems

The problem with soundcards is they usually have cheap jittery master clocks and they are powered from a very poor computer power supply. I have had the very best ones here, (over $1K) and they need reclocking to sound decent. It is best to not use them and instead use a USB DAC or better yet a USB converter.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Every Bluray player I've seen can also play CDs and DVDs, so a Bluray player is a nice way to consolidate all of your shiny disc playback into one machine.

And if you can afford to get something like the Oppo BDP-103 ($499 new, $375+ used) you can then use the DACs in the Oppo to convert digital signals from your cable box or any other device which outputs a digital signal.

The Oppo also lets you stream music and videos from the web, making it a very cost-effective centerpiece for your system....

-RW-

lol - I'm too old school not to want a CD player. That's my starting point with the system. With this discussion, you've all been so kind as to open my eyes - I see what the future holds ultimately and I'll work gradually toward that goal. But I'm too obstinate not to start with the CD player and spread my wings from there.

As some others have mentioned, DSD downloads are becoming more popular. So it would be nice if the unit you gat can handle those. I believe that the Oppo BDP-103 will do this also...

-RW-