what are the Best Direct to amps Digital Players ?

I was in line to get an in home audition on the Aesthetix DAC, but got impatient and bought an EMM Labs DAC2X when one showed up for a great price. I have since moved on to MSB Signature Plus and added an ARC RefSE preamp for good measure, but if I was shopping in the sub 10K price bracket and wanted an integrated disc spinner, this one would be top on my list.

@ Eddor, man, you are absolutly right, it is on the top of the list to listen to, thanks to you!, I never heard of this brand or there digital players!, One thing i do not like about it is the transport, it plays red book only cds, thats kind of crazy in todays world to do that, My ayon 2s has a phillips pro 2 transport that plays everything but sacd!do you know a player cost no object that is an intergrated disc spinner with the volume control, etc..?, cheers.

I'm a little confused here. Basically - with a few exceptions - there are: (1) CD players, (2) 2 channel CD/SACD players, and (3) Universal players. It is my understanding the Ayon 2 is a CD player, as is the Romulus.

In any event, if you have some serious money to spend, and want to go the Universal players route here is what you could do. Get the spanking new MSB Universal Media Transport (UMT) plus and an MSB DAC. This transport will connect to the DAC via I2S over a piece of CAT6 wire. You'll also need one of the MSB powersupplies.

Depending on what level DAC you buy you can spend between $20,000 and $50,000 on this three piece stack. It will give you the best DAC around (according to many), play every disc on the planet, and serve as a music streamer. You can do multi channel and video as well.

While not a single component, they are thee neatly stacked chassis, and since the DAC has volume control you won't need an extra set of expensive analog cabling.

I will be auditioning an MSB UMT plus transport myself shortly - not for CDs (I ripped my entire collection), but as a network streamer for 2 channel, and a disc spinner for Multi-channel (SACD / Blu Ray).

You can also look into the boulder 1021

The Romulus looks very interesting. Audiolabyrinths aspirations for a single box transport / DAC resonates with many audiophiles who are trying to keep the box count down!