If you are going to play music from CD's the transport matters and definately affects the sound/performance. Saying differently is being dishonest or blind/deaf.
That being said, one's opinion that a good transport is irrelavent due to computer audio is an opinion based on the belief that one will not play music from CDs.
If I did not own a plethora of CDs and was just getting into the hobby, the computer based approach makes a lot of sense - certainly from a convencience perspective. However, if you already own many CD's and plan to continue to enjoy them by playing them (vs. ripping them to computer), the transport is an important aspect to achieve the best performance - without a doubt.
That being said, one's opinion that a good transport is irrelavent due to computer audio is an opinion based on the belief that one will not play music from CDs.
If I did not own a plethora of CDs and was just getting into the hobby, the computer based approach makes a lot of sense - certainly from a convencience perspective. However, if you already own many CD's and plan to continue to enjoy them by playing them (vs. ripping them to computer), the transport is an important aspect to achieve the best performance - without a doubt.