Sound Card with External DAC

Very interesting discussion, EAC is Exact Audio Copy, done by a cool computer dude thats probably gonna sell his now-free-shareware once its perfected. I read up on his digital extracting/burning software, (its recommended in Stereophile magazine by at least 2 writers there, for cd burning,) I must add that bits are bits but what happens when you MOVE bits is a whole nuther matter. To take bits from a disc and put them on your hard drive, even with all the numerous re-checking of data that takes place does put the integrity of the original in question. However, I would think that this is the lesser of the evils. Now that the data has to be re-read from the hard drive, we have a whole nuther question. Even if the bits are exact, when the bits are sent from the HD to the external DAC, is this going to be a truer transfer than a stand alone cd player? That is the one of the questions. To me at least. Jitter, dropped bits is another question. But what about the overall musicality of the bits? Does this exist yet? Has it been distorted yet? or has this "distortion from original, true bits assemble" not taken place yet? Is it the DAC or the data stream or both as a source of distortion, is the question I'd pose. We need to establish this to get on with the comparison.

This is still a much debated question in many various forms going on in audio. I cant fully side with "bits is bits" myself. Too many experienced audio people still struggle to account for differences and resort apologetically to subjective "magical" terminologies. Alotta audio dudes still feel that these indefinable, unscientific terms are essential in order to describe the differences that science thus far can't. Tubes vs. Solid state anyone?