A newbie deciding on a transport/DAC

Following up on Hifinut604, I've heard the Pioneer with the MSB and can attest that it works very well. I agree with his other suggestions as well. My two cents is to get the upsampling upgrade on the MSB, as I find that to be a worthwhile addition (I think it's in the Bel Canto as well?). I have trouble listening without upsampling, now that I've got it (I use dCs, but I've also heard the MSB's upsampling), and the MSB, at least, makes it defeatable if you don't find it to your liking.

You should take a look at Rega's Jupiter/Io transport/DAC combo. It's a very good system, particularly if you are able to buy it on the used market. You could also get the Jupiter transport (which is essentially an upgraded version of the Rega Planet CD player, with roughly twice the power supplies), and run it into a DAC of your own choice.

The Sony DVD S-7700 is arguably the best transport in the world, regardless of price (read planet hi-fi's review of it's predecessor, the S-7000, which I also owned). The Birdland upsampling DAC will give you, for under a grand, sound comparable to the Bel Canto DAC. There you have it, anything else, like the planet and IO DAC, even though they are fine machines, will not provide sound in the same league as the SONY / Birdland or Bel Canto combo. And with the best DVD machine on the planet as a bonus, it's a no-brainer. The Pioneer by comparison is clunky and cheap....Have fun!

Considering that the sony DVDS7700 is more than the parasound and the MSB together where I come from(new zealand) thats not going to happen :) I am not going to buy anything from overseas, as with the new zealand dollar low, id get ripped off. Any other good ideas on transports for me? Would the parasound be a waste of money - even at that price? I already have a DVD player, but Its not a good one, doesnt have a coaxial output etc.. not 24/96. Id like a better one if thats wbhat you reckon would be good. What other models would be as good as the DVDs7000?

I owned a DVD/MSB Link combo for about a year. For the price it was a great deal. However, I wasn't the best combo. The McCormack CD transport that replaced the DVD Player was a much better match for the MSB. This combo was more transparent and the soundstage was wider and deeper (but at the cost of more $$). There are alot of varying opinions when it comes to using DVD Players as transports for CD playback. Though it may be the cheapest route it isn't necessarily the best. Take what you read with a large amount of skepticism; especially when someone tells you that something is absolutely the best there is, was, and ever will be. I suggest that you try a few combos, if you can, before purchasing. Check out www.audioreview.com to help you narrow the choices. Auditioning can be time consuming but the end result is rewarding - the best musical reproduction for your hard-earned dollar (or whatever currency you have).