thanks for the responses guys. my plan is to use a ps audio digital link 3 with the level three mods. from talking to a few people they say that it makes redbook cd sound like sacd. so i was hoping that i could avoid having to buy a "good" cd player. i am currently using a sony dvp-ns900v that was supposed to be modded by tube research labs (trl). but i am having second thoughts about doing that and going instead with the ps audio dac.