I just don't get PC Audio

It's the future, not only in how music is stored and played at home, but it's part of how music will be sold and delivered to your home. The same thing will happen with movies when bandwidth capacity increases. It's a paradigm shift. It won't be stopped any more than analog dudes with LPs stopped CDs from dominating the market (at least until now with the new downloadable services). If the audiophile doesn't want to make the plunge just yet, that's fine, but you should at least keep yourself informed of the developments so you will be knowledgeable for the time when you inevitably will make the change.

Arbuckle

RE "The point of my post is, am I the only one here who thinks hard drive systems have serious drawbacks that should prohibit an educated buyer not to jump in yet??"

One aspect of the truly intelligent or well educated is to consider alternatives in life. For me to discount or dismiss another plan or concept that is apparently alien to my own, which may yeild as good if not better results, is sheer ignorance.... and I've been quite ignorant in my life now and then, trust me on that one. I called it "being conservative" back then.... it seemed to help.

Often my plans for a system improvement just don't go according to plan. The end product is usually as good if not better than the predetermined one... so far.

Obviously here, given the entry fee to Esoteric players, and their upscale counterparts, cost isn’t really the prime consideration is it?

I don't think it is really.

RE Benchmark
I mentioned that DAC purely as a thoughtful USB option. There are numerous others so I also added the Apogee whose price point and build is commensurate with the Bench unit. The list grows readily... and routinely. Both serve as examples only to prove out one entrance fee ideal.

One has to admit at least this notion... CD players are all constantly on the move to more analog like - natural sound. CDPs however have built in constraints. The very nature of their designs possess built in obsolescence. Many are as well proprietary in their repairs or maintenance, and thus are expensive to keep running. However, if one can afford a Rolls, these last points are immaterial to them I should think. If ya can afford a $500K car... $2500 for scheduled visit to the dealership won't be a bother at all.

On the other side of the coin, computers, servers, software, and so forth are near plug and play these days but in the event of a failure have an abundant set of local and very affordable resources to remedy such occasions…. And local is always better!

Analog playback itself, unless done pretty well via system matching and so forth may not equal digital quality playback as it stands today. Analog has simply run it's course and provides merely variations on an older theme. I won’t discount it as outdated or worthless, not at all, merely it’s fast losing it’s hold as the pinnacle of audio reproduction.

Were I able to employ vinyl here I likely would... and I'd keep it around too... though that wouldn't prevent me from entering another realm of audio recreation.

I know what might, however... My Contempt prior to investigation, or perhaps, my unwillingness to change, and quite possibly my pride… or my own fears. All of these principles will perpetuate my own imprisonment to the old, rather than the new.

The keys to lock or unlock those doors are in my possession though.

If I had just laid out a ton for a CD player I might well be quite dissmissive of some alternative path to musical enjoyment, and might also need to support that ideal, by some rationalization or justification of my present path to make my previous judgement valid... and save some face in the meanwhile.

In the light of the overwhelming positive experiences being posted here and elsewhere online, for someone to not entertain the idea that another way can yield likewise results is pure folly. it's akin to the idea set that wires/cabling don't make a difference! Ever think of that? Or that power conditioners are a waste of money? Isolation is pure snake oil?

I held onto all the aforementioned ideas for some time, and it’s price was costly in both time, and money.

There are numerous paths to audio bliss... solid state, hollow state... flea powered amps... all separtes… integrated units… LCD… Plasma… projectors…. analog... digital... and now there is server oriented pure digital domain.

You are in a superior position just now, IMO. AS you can take your time entering & investigating this new lesser expensive, and non time sensitive aspect... and personally, I know of a few major makers of digital converters which have some remarkable devices due to be released in the near future at attractive price points which will further escalate the current level of performance in the DAC end of things. I'm certainly looking forward to these releases myself though the knowledge of them did not prevent me from opting for the DAC I own now. Nor does it make me want to sell my CD player egven though the reproduction level equals and surpasses it in a few ways.

At some point…regardless the concept or fashion we choose to undertake a systems construct, we have to take the plunge somewhere… sometime… with some thing. The only wrong of it at all is to NOT involve ourselves. That is the only true loss we might endure… for in that state we gain no experience, or knowledge, and we will perpetually remain locked in our own little world. This too, has been one of my own flaws, for I do not usually embrace ‘different’ very well. Stay the course… keep to what is proven, or that which I ‘think’ to be the best… and wait… and wait… and wait.

Gee whiz… it took me a few years to consent to the idea not all CD players sounded the same! Or that more money needed to be spent to gain greater results!

The analog products of just one decade ago have now been made far superior by many accounts. Amplifier technology improves if by no other means than the sum of the parts being used within it. Arguably even cable are improving.

Should I now await for still greater accomplishments to arrive before I make a choice?

Why? For at that moment… still more advances are yet to come… so let’s wait some more… and so on. Waiting is not a good idea in the end. IMO

Looking back now at my own experiences, I sure wish I had been more open to other ideas, sooner. It would have saved me much time, money, and frustration.

But the steadfast reasoning that this is too costly an event is ludicrous. The learning curve can be daunting, and initially there is an expense of time, but the rewards thereafter are great indeed.

Arbuckle, I understand and agree with you.
99 out of 100,at least, of our Audiogon associates simply have no exposure to the level of sound you may obtain from your Esoteric.
There are different worlds right here on earth.
Guys with Corvettes will not appreciate Ferraris.
That doesn't mean the differences are not enormous, obvious & offering entirely "breathtaking" differences.
Meanwhile commentators may comment that the Zero to 100 tomes are not that different. Right.

Well, I jumped in head over heels. Started with a Wavelength Audio Crimson DAC run from Itunes, and now have a Blue-Smoke server run to a Berkely Audio Alpha DAC. For me, the sound is the thing. My current setup is far more enjoyable than the esoteric X-01 Limited that I had before. Better dynamics and a sense of "prsesence" well as all the imaging , soundstaging , etc. I agree that if my esoteric had a digital in I would have kept it. I'm also waiting for hi-res (196) downloads. I plan to try the few at Musicgiants to get a taste of what's possible.

David

I am just not getting it, other than the two (some may say only one) pros I listed above, why else would an audiopile get a computer audio front end??? It is certainly not cheaper, in fact it is most likely way more.

I agree with you - however prices are getting close to the point where a hard drive solution is competitive versus software controlled stacked mega changers and an outboard DAC or DSP Preamp DAC...