Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

This is the thread that convinced me to purchase the QX 5 unheard, while I cant chime in on the different dac,s  being currently discussed I can chime in on the optical ethernet vs straight ethernet or USB and yes the optical ethernet gives a much better portrait of the music in dynamics, soundstage, detail and air. I with back and fourth lately between USB and optic for the fact Im burning in a new preamp and its running 24/7 so during the night time I switch to the USB and when I switch back to the optical ethernet thier is a clear difference in those areas especially transparency. There is also a difference in volume levels between the two in my set up with the ethernet being a few db louder.

I feel the difference in straight ethernet vs optical is in the midrange on up, a tad more transparency and natural timber, bass is fantastic in both.

I've been using ethernet via DLNA for years.  Never bothered with USB and PC in my sound system ...  

Have you guys tried running MinimServer in a NAS drive so PC is not necessary to play music?  

Knghifi - how does MinimServer run on a NAS without any processing ? I get running it on Raspberry Pi or SheevaPlug. But I didn't think a NAS had any microprocessing ability, just storage. 

Reverendo - happy to talk speaker. 

Installing MinimServer on a QNAP NAS

Installing MinimServer on a Synology NAS

I haven’t tried MinimServer, but have been using Roon on a QNAP NAS with a i5 motherboard and 16GB RAM. It sounds great and is fast enough to run Roon’s DSP engine that outputs DSD128. Together with a Sonore microRendu Ethernet-to-USB streamer at the DAC and a Windows tablet for control, this is a simple, relatively inexpensive, high-performance solution that scales easily to mass storage. Setting it up requires just rudimentary IT skills. The high performance and relatively modest price makes me wonder if days are numbered for purpose-built audiophile servers.