Zune output vs. CD output

no you cant use a DAC with the zune as simply storage (i wish you could though)

The stock headphone out is really good for a portable, but i highly doubt that it will compare in any way to a Cd Player.

Why dont you get a sqeezebox instead? it can do wi-fi streaming from your computer, and it sounds pretty good to boot

er, uh, sqeezebox? I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

So, between the archos which has seperate RCAs in it's dock and the Zune which only has a mini-out... do you think the archos would sound better?

Alright... I just looked into it... and I am intrigued, without a doubt.

A couple things I don't understand though. First, I am skeptical that you could get just as good or better sound out of the squeezebox than you could an MP3 player (docked, of course) because it is fed via a wifi connection. There really is no loss doing it this way?

Second, that Stereophile review made it sound like it was pretty essential to hook it up to a DAC... so there is a $300 dollar machine, but without second glance he throws in that you should invest another $1000+ in a DAC... not to mention he had it hooked up to a $10,000 pre-amp... Mismatch?? I guess the sake of the review was to test it on a reference system, even though it doesn't reflect real-world systems that these will probobly be used with. Anyways... I don't understand why there would be a need to hook up a DAC at all considering it had internal 24-bit Burr-Brown DACs. That is the same DAC that is in the NAD C542bee CD player that is so highly acclaimed... and I was thinking of buying. Wouldn't a 1st-gen rip into a FLAC sound the same through this as it would the NAD in that case?

Ok, and third... something I totally dont understand... is the stereophile review said it had a 'wall-mart' (notice the mis-spell, he must not frequent the walmart) power supply. He also noted that there are companies that will modify / swap the power supply. What for? Is this necessary?

Oh... heh, well it appears I made an idiot of myself.

The stereophile reviewer said 'wall wart' referring to the type of power supply in the squeezebox... not 'wall-mart' as I wrote. Lol, I thought he was calling it a cheap power supply by associating it with walmart... I must have been tired.

Anywho... my threat seems to be dead. I think I am settling on a squeezebox... they sound really nice.

I have a couple questions... One, more theoretical one, is how much of a difference would I hear in the jump from a squeezebox (w/o DAC) to one with a DAC or even the 'transporter' on my given system: Nad c325Bee, Paradigm Atoms, all w/ quality interconnects & speaker cable. I mean, it sounds great to me but it considered low-end of hi-fi... so would such an upgrade be worth it?

Also, I saw that there is a USB 'Host' option on the new archos PVP and on the new cowon PVP (as well as a digital coaxial out for the cowon). Can these players be functionally hooked up to a USB DAC?

Djembeplay, don't think that archos will do it for you.
I have own 604 wifi and now 605 wifi. I try it and it sucks when connected to my big system.
Don't know about ZUNE but my guess is that it is the same junk.
I use SONOS and it works or get squeezebox for less.

If you want portability new IPOD - with some modding from ROSE.