musicfid

yes, in theory (unless the cd is badly scratched or dirty laser head; which symptoms are skipping, etc.) any cd or dvd drive will be able to extract data. audio CDs are digital; just a bunch of 1 and 0 data bits so any drive in good working order with good cd extraction software would work... as for specifics, you may want to read (google) on how to accurately rip audio cd and the recommended features of cd/dvd drive; then search for reviews of cd/dvd drives. the EAC (or other cd extraction software) website typically would have some info on this too.

Thanks Eloise, for the link to the thread... very interesting indeed..

I think it does not matter as long as it can read the disc and perfectly extract data from the disc. The software that you use should be able to tell you whether it has extracted the data perfectly or not.. (like EAC)

Jonmarsh, its nice that you managed to be able to extract them because its a shame that high resolution stuff is not popular (relatively speaking; with the rest of the world crazy on mp3).. I have just recently gotten to know these high resolution stuff.. (I was basically out of the loop on audio gear for a while) Harrypt, you are right, cannot just put any computer. I was thinking along the line of a quiet/fanless computer with Lynx AES16, Asus Xonar, or other cards that could output bit perfect data. Then use a DAC like Bryston or Alpha. Thank you all, these comments were the stuff I was looking for. It gives me ideas of where I want to go with my audio gear.

Thanks all for the info. Those were exactly the information that I was looking for.

Hi all, Newb here, I have been reading various forums and this forum is great; similar path to where I am thinking of going to (a computer based system). I have been trying to find an answer to this question, whether music server/streamer (with DAC; like bryston or alpha) is better than the best cd player? I have read a few forums (including here) and people still have a cd player in their system which begs the question, can an expensive cd player beat a music server/stream system with DAC (bryston/alpha)? I am thinking that since a transport purpose is to output bit perfect data, then the only thing that can improve sound from a bit perfect output is the DAC, right? Thank you

Thank you for the info... by any chance would you know the maximum sample rate the A1008 DAC could take? 192/24 ? even the A1008 manual does not have any information on this.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows how does the Musical Fidelity A1008 (integrated amp) DAC compared to other DACs (like Bryston, Alpha, or etc)? Sorry if this has been discussed before but I cannot seem to find the information. Thank you in advance for your insights.