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And there are some other factors in play.....

A couple decades ago it was my modest goal to setup a computer based audio system that would be on par sonically with my favorite CDP. I owned several CDPs prior to buying and hanging on to my Accuphase DP-65V. It was already a few years old when I bought it and I kept it for 15 years. This was the "keeper" CDP I was searching for. But I hadn't used it in the past 5 years or more. Scratching my head about this fantastic piece of gear collecting dust, I finally sold it last year to someone who still appreciates excellent quality CD players and sonics.

The first computer audio setup was an old Mac Mini coupled to the Accuphase DAC input via Optical TOSLINK. No surprise but the computer based setup sounded very very similar to the Accuphase CDP. Slightly different but not better or worse. That was easy peasy even a couple decades ago.

Fast forward to now with dedicated outboard DACs. Is it really a matter of computer audio vs CDPs and which sounds best? I would argue that it has more to do with how the dedicated DAC sounds compared to the dedicated CDP. In particular, how do their analog output stages compare? I believe this is where the biggest difference comes from assuming modern bit perfect playback on the computer end.

In any case, my current computer based audio system with outboard DAC easily exceeds the modest expectations I set a couple decades ago.

As an aside, we have been comparing outboard DACs vs outboard DACs in recent years and again, I believe much of the difference comes down to how the analog output stage sounds.



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