Which matters more, DAC or transport?

You'll find a few words on the DAC vs transport question in the archives if you look about. I'm not much help I'm afraid. IMHE they both matter, and I've chosen the source-first approach most often. If you go for Esoteric--not a bad idea--go for the VRDS mechanism if at all possible.

My vote is DAC if you have to choose. But I do agree with Tobias you need both.
What about Ayres new DAC:

Ayre QB-9 USB Digital-to-Analog Converter

the DAC by far MSB Platium is one top in the world but for the money this is 80% as good http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1255906092&/Msb-Power-Dac-usb-coax-xlr-inp
Also look at their ilink then you don't need to spend a lot of money on a transport and the sound is twice as good

From experience, the Rotel transport I had with a Adcom 700 DA converter.. When I bought a Sony SCD777ES player, the "Sony as transport" via the Adcom DA blew away the Rotel via the Adcom. I was actually feeling embarassed to sell the Rotel.. as it sounded so crappy compared to the Sony as transport, both via the Adcom 700 dac.
So I will never say the transport does not matter!!
(Also, I tried a 200 disc player via coax out to the Adcom and it sounded poor. I have to again say it was the transport, being cheap, was unlistenable, and I returned the thing for my money back.)
So, IMO, you need a good DA converter, but you also need a good transport!! The idea of splurging on a DA then buying a cheap transport, is foolish.

Thanks alot for the input. I wish I had all the equipment I'm interested in to do an actual listening test. It's really the only way.