Can good speakers take edge off digital?

Better speakers, more transparency, the more digital flaws will be revealed. Good digital is a must or you will be begging for some digital band-aid....Analog is needed just to know a good reference for music.

You have your answer, your analog doesn't have this problem, the DAC is your problem. You can either tweak, mod or get a new DAC. At $1k it may be impossible to get both resolution and smoothness, I think you have to go to a higher price point to get both. If you are handy with a soldering iron, or hire a tech you could mod your DAC to smooth out the edginess. Some tweaks, those mentioned above could also be all you need.

Toufu,

My first recommendation would be the best Audio Note DAC you can afford; 2nd would be Wavelength or MHDT (which are astoundingly good for the money).

I kind of figured it was my digital source, but isn't Monarchy NM24 one of the better digital sources? I just don't want to go spend a few grand on a player or dac and find out that it stll can't beat my $1000 turntable (Music Hall 5.1 with Goldring 1042).

Agree with all suggestions by Bob_Bundus. Better quality IC and PC helped greatly. Biggest improvement came from using a balanced power conditioner dedicated to the digital sources. Digititus gone!