Buffered CD player?

Jazzdude, they might buffer data, but almost none of them reads in higher then 1x speed, and apply any validation of data integrity. I heard that some Meridians do so, but I'm not sure, and interesting if anyone knows more.

Yeah! My $600 PC with SPDIF output and 1GB of "Buffer"!!!!

You people are nuts! Still spending money on CD transport!

OPEN INVITATION! I WILL PAY $100 to anyone able to dell the difference between any CD transport and MY PC!

A<.

Not sure if anyone can hear the difference, but I guess a not perfect SPDIF card may cause plenty of jitter: not-perfect clock, electrical jitter, electrical noise from computer power supply, other boards (they are not shielded, right?).
Noise from funs and hard drive causes you to choose between it (the noise) and long run of cables if you put the computer into a closet.
Plus, I doubt you have a software HDCD decoder :)

In response to the bit about HDCD- Microsoft owns the technology. They bought Pacific Microsonics a few years ago. It is now included in Windows Media Player for free. See the following URL http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/windowsxp/whatsnew.aspx