Can a PC match the quality of the best CD players?

Actually, you don't need a burner to read CDs... ;)

The issue here is that if you proceed like some have recommended, *everything* behind the USB cord is isolated from the audio chain and--unless your computer is so bad it blows the buffering for the serial output or can't keep up with reading--will not affect the audio quality.

And, there are folks--like audioengr--who do audiophile mods for USB devices.

Semi:

I have the Wadia 861b, which doesn't have the digital I/O boards. When I got the "b" model a couple of years ago, it was at Steve Huntley's (GNSC) suggesion because he is of the opinion that having the digital boards hooked up has a "slight" negative impact on sound quality, so he recommends not having them.

I considered installing them when I started experimenting with a computer based system, but have decided for now to try different outboard DACs. I may still put the I/Os in the Wadia, but that will be more of a last resort because I am very reluctant to do anything that will be a step backward in the Wadia's sound, no matter how slight.

I'm likely going to try a Benchmark DAC1 next. Then I may try some mods on the Bel Canto.

Don't get me wrong, the Bel Canto actually does sound pretty darn good, and it may be unfair to compare it to the GNSC modded Wadia.

Ok you lost me there Edesilva, how do I get my CD data to the hard drive without 1st ripping it from a burner/reader?? I guess you must mean that it doesn't have to be a "burner" only a reader, but does a consumer grade cd rom drive perform as well as an audiophile transport for reading? And during the initial rip, and perhaps even during the hard drive playback, doesn't the power supply come into play?

Sorry, a CD burner is the lingo used to describe a drive that "burns" CD blanks--i.e., writes to them. To rip a CD, you need a CD reader.

A CD transport gets to read the data on a CD once and, even if there is some buffering, the bits read off the CD are basically what goes to the DAC. So, a transport is subject to the vagaries of power supplies, glitches, whatever. The disk has to be spun precisely, because it just gets one chance.

On the other hand, the software that controls a CD reader on a computer can tell the reader to read the same block of data over and over again. A good ripper--like EAC--does that and compares the data it gets, over and over again, until it is statistically satisfied that the copy created is a complete and accurate duplicate of what is on the CD. Because a computer can read the data created off a hard driver--where much more sophisticated error correction can be employed--timing sort of ceases to matter. The data is spit out asynchronously over USB--no timing information.

That is why I say everything behind the USB cable is irrelevant. The timing is supplied by the USB audio device, which buffers the data and outputs it based on its own clock.

To give you a very concrete example, I've got several "unplayable" CDs--stuff that won't read in my DV50S, my Theta David, my Sony SACD player... But, I can rip those with EAC and get a perfect set of .wav audio files off of it. Takes forever, and I wonder if replicating a bad CD is worth the wear and tear on a CD ROM that is basically running for 24 hours straight, but it works...

I think Edesilva explained many issues effectively. I just want to "amplify" that what PC replaces is just the transport. The big change is from reading a CD in real time to reading the hard drigve (much faster and error free) with plenty of time to spare; and hence, much better chance to obtain a low jitter, bit perfect digital stream.

The digital IC and the DAC in the final set-up are still subject to the same issues as a conventional transport and DAC set-up.

To evaluate a PC audio set-up is to evaluate whether it is a good tranpsort, but not whether it is a good CD players.